The candlelight cast thin shadows across the corridor. Sakurai Misaki clutched her notebook to her chest as she made her way down the hallway of the Glesia mansion, one careful step at a time. The second-floor floorboards creaked faintly beneath her feet. She walked on her tiptoes to avoid waking anyone, but the old building refused to stay quiet. (…Well, I guess I'm basically a burglar sneaking around in the middle of the night.) The building was two hundred years old, constructed of stone. The cold of the walls seeped into the corridor's air. Outside the windows, darkness still reigned, and the night of Glesia territory stretched on endlessly. The archive was at the back of the first floor. As she descended the stairs, Misaki wiped away the traces of last night's tears with the back of her hand. After crying herself to exhaustion and sleeping a little, she'd woken to find her hastily scrawled notes jumping out at her. The Land Reclamation Incentive Edict. A kingdom law enacted fifty years ago that halved taxes for five years if wasteland was converted to farmland within three years. That clause—the one Glesia territory had never once utilized. If she formally submitted the application, the threat Julius had planted in the farmers' minds—"the central nobility will move"—would be reversed. Anyone obstructing the recovery based on the application would be the one ignoring kingdom law. But the application required Lucian's signature. And this morning, a carriage was coming. (So it has to be now.) She turned down the first-floor corridor. The archive door came into view. Light was leaking from the gap. Misaki stopped. The candlelight flickered. It was lantern light. Someone was here. In the archive, in the middle of the night. She pushed the door open gently. Between the shelves, there was a person. Sitting deep in a chair with a law compendium open on their lap. Short black hair with a single red streak running through it. A small scar on the left cheek. Silver eyes that froze the moment they saw Misaki in the doorway. It was Lucian Von Glesia. Misaki froze too. The two of them stood completely still for about three seconds. [cold] "…What are you doing at this hour?" [surprised] "That's my line." Lucian's gaze fell to the open law compendium. Then he looked at Misaki's notebook. Silence again. Misaki slowly entered the archive. There was another chair by the small table at the back of the shelves. She pulled it over and sat directly across from Lucian. [serious] "Before you throw me out, just listen to one thing." Lucian's expression didn't change. But he made no move to dismiss her either. Misaki decided to interpret that as "permission." After all, she'd previously interpreted his "do as you like" as permission and tilled the fields anyway. She opened her notebook. Her voice trembled slightly, but her mind felt oddly clear and cold. [serious] "I'll explain three points. First." Misaki began to speak. If she formally submitted the Land Reclamation Incentive Edict application, Glesia territory's agricultural restoration would become a legitimate exercise of rights under kingdom law. If the Pelvant Nobility Council—the political body formed by the twelve powerful noble families at the center of the Fortina Kingdom—tried to obstruct it, they would be the ones ignoring kingdom law instead. The threat Julius had planted in the farmers' minds—"the center will move"—would be reversed the moment the application was submitted. [serious] "Second point." Julius giving silver coins and wine to a few farmers to ruin the fields wasn't harassment. If Glesia territory's wheat production increased, it would shake the trade route monopoly that Sorel territory controlled. The thick pipeline with the Mildis Trade Federation—the mutual aid association of merchants along the Mildis River—supported Sorel territory's economic foundation. If cheap wheat from Glesia territory flooded the market in large quantities, that balance would crumble. Julius feared that. Lucian's silver eyes never left Misaki's face. He didn't interrupt. Misaki continued. [serious] "Third point. This application requires your signature, Lord Lucian. I can't move alone. So—" She got too heated. She pulled a piece of parchment from her notebook and spread it on the table, her pen flying across it. [excited] "If we submit this application, the taxes we'd save over five years would be—let me calculate—Glesia territory's current annual tax revenue is roughly one hundred twenty Zera, and taxes are thirty percent of that, so—" She wrote numbers while calculating rapidly in a high-pitched voice. She knew her voice got faster when she got excited. But she couldn't stop. The parchment shifted toward Lucian, and in the middle of her calculations, she made a large gesture with her pen—and the ink spilled. A black stain spread across Lucian's shirt sleeve. Silence. Lucian looked at his sleeve. Misaki looked at his sleeve. [scared] "I-I'm so sorry! It'll wash out! Um, linen shirts should be rinsed in lukewarm water—" [cold] "…That's not the point right now." [scared] "You're right, that's not the point, I mean what I was trying to say was—!" Lucian let out a short breath. He wasn't laughing, but somehow the air seemed to loosen slightly. Misaki took a deep breath. She'd deal with the ink stain later. Right now, she had to finish what she was saying. [serious] "…I love this land." Her voice dropped. The rapid-fire speech stopped, replaced by a quiet voice. The words dissolved into the cold air of the archive. [serious] "The stone pavement of Halbert Village. The clay soil of the northern fields. The drainage ditch that Mina and I dug together, covered in mud. Corne's general store. Toma's blacksmith shop. I love the people here." Lucian didn't move. Misaki set her notebook on the table and bowed her head. [sad] "So please, just one more time, give me a chance." Silence fell. The old shelves of the archive creaked faintly. The lantern flame flickered. Outside, the sky was still dark. Then Lucian, after a long pause, opened his mouth. [sad] "…When I thought you might go to Sorel territory…" His voice was lower than usual. [sad] "For the first time, I was afraid." Misaki looked up. Lucian kept his eyes down, continuing with difficulty. His fingers moved faintly on his lap. [sad] "…I couldn't protect this territory alone. For ten years, that was my regret. So when you came, even though… I was afraid to hope for anything. Afraid to hope and lose again…" His words trailed off. Something burst inside Misaki's chest. Had that been hidden behind those cold silver eyes all along? What had his hand been feeling when it wrote the expulsion notice? (…This person…) As she searched for her next words, Lucian suddenly stood up. His face was completely red. [angry] "…Forget it. That was nothing." [surprised] "Wait, you just said something really important—" Lucian roughly pulled the curtain. He grabbed the lantern. Still facing away, he spoke in a low voice. [cold] "Bring me a draft of the application. I'll have a framework ready by dawn." Misaki blinked. (Wait, suddenly business mode?) But. Misaki looked at Lucian's ears. Even in the dim archive, she could see they were red. His nape was slightly flushed too. He was completely putting on his business mode while facing away, but only his ears were honest. Misaki couldn't stop her lips from curving into a smile. (…His answer isn't here yet. This conversation isn't over.) But for tonight, this was enough. --- When night began to break, Misaki and Lucian sat across from each other at the dining hall table. The draft application was spread out before them. Based on the wording of the Land Reclamation Incentive Edict, they were confirming each phrase one by one. Misaki wrote, Lucian corrected. Lucian pointed out, Misaki rewrote. In low voices, matter-of-factly. But steadily, their two names lined up on the paper. [serious] "That phrasing—'commenced work' is legally stronger than 'began work.'" [serious] "Ah, you're right. Past perfect tense reads more easily as an established fact." [serious] "Kingdom law formatting is more readily accepted in past perfect than present tense. It's basic." [excited] "Is that explicitly stated somewhere in the archive's law compendium? If we can cite it, the application's persuasiveness would—" [cold] "Third article, annotations. Fourth shelf from the left." [excited] "Amazing…!" Gilbert, the old butler, appeared in the dining hall doorway during his morning rounds. The elderly servant froze at the entrance. The two of them sat across from each other, huddled over quill pens and documents in quiet consultation. Morning light streamed through the window, falling softly on both of them. Gilbert's hand gripped the wall. [crying] "For them to be in such harmony…" His shoulder shook as he pressed his sleeve to his eyes. Misaki looked up. [surprised] "Gilbert? Are you alright?" [cold] "Quiet. Keep working." Lucian said this while looking away slightly, toward the still-dim sky outside the window. Gilbert quickly lowered his sleeve and cleared his throat. He returned to his usual composed expression and entered the dining hall. [gentle] "The lord's seal is in the left drawer of the study. I believe we'll need the land survey records as supplementary documents—the old ledgers are in the storehouse. Shall I retrieve them?" [serious] "Please." [gentle] "Very good, sir." Gilbert disappeared down the corridor. But a little way off, Misaki could sense him pressing his sleeve to his eyes again. She decided to leave him be. --- When the draft application was nearly complete, footsteps echoed from the entrance. Running footsteps. Heavy, desperate footsteps. The dining hall door burst open. It was Mina. Her pale green short bob was disheveled. The freckles on her cheeks stood out against her flushed, breathless face. Her bright brown eyes found Misaki and lit up. [excited] "Misaki! There you are! Thank goodness, you're still here!" [surprised] "Mina? What's wrong, so early in the morning—" [excited] "I went around the whole village!" Mina leaned on her knees, breathing hard, and continued. [serious] "When I found out you were being sent away… I started before dawn, going to every house. Hans's place, Toma's place, Corne's place, and even all the way to Liese village—" [surprised] "Alone?" [crying] "I asked them what would happen to the fields if you left! How you got covered in mud for us, completely serious about it!" Misaki's chest ached deeply. That night, she'd heard Mina say "please don't go" outside the door. That child had run through the village until dawn. [serious] "Mina…" [excited] "And I also asked them to help with the thing about how you and Lord Lucian obviously like each other but neither of you noticed!" The dining hall went silent. Blood rushed to Misaki's face. Even her ears felt hot. [scared] "What?! That's definitely information you didn't need to share!!" Across the table, Lucian dropped his pen. It rolled across the floor with a dry sound. Lucian stared at the floor without speaking. His ears were redder than before. [surprised] "But everyone was curious about it too! Corne even said 'that's right, that's right'—" [angry] "Mina." [scared] "Y-yes!" [serious] "Let's talk about that later, just the two of us, okay?" [scared] "…Okay." Lucian slowly picked up his pen. He tried to compose his face as if nothing had happened. But his ears remained stubbornly honest. --- An hour later, people began gathering at Halbert Village's assembly hall. Toma arrived first. The forty-year-old blacksmith was as taciturn, large, and silent as ever. He simply held out a new hoe to Misaki. The blade, freshly sharpened, gleamed as it caught the morning light. When Misaki accepted it, Toma simply crossed his arms and stood agai