Note: Not from Nara's POV

'I can't believe they did all that. Nara even promised me. Liar. Take this!'

Sistina punched her pillow.

It was past midnight but Sistina was still awake in her bed. It's not like she didn't try to sleep, she just couldn't because she had too many things going on her mind.

'It's not like I like him or anything, but...'

She put the pillow at the side and pulled the blanket up to her face.

She didn't know why she was even angry about it. She just felt angry when Arica told her the things that had happened during their shopping trip.

It's not like she didn't argue with Arica right there and then. But she couldn't hold her ground. The reason was simple, it was none of her business.

'It's just that, Nara is so easygoing. It's all his fault.'

Deep down she knew she was just trying to convince herself by making that a reason. But she had to come up with something to convince herself.

'But did he really call her D-d-darling?'

She still had doubts about it since Nara didn't tell her that himself. But she couldn't ignore the small possibility that it really happened.

Sistina pushed the blanket to the side with her leg. This wasn't her only worry. There was another one that had been troubling her for over a week now.

'I can't believe they will be going on a journey leaving me behind.'

Even though she knew that Nina and Miss Lilith would be staying in the dorm with her, she couldn't help but feel left behind.

'I even have Smasher now. Even though all he does is show weird poses whenever I summon him, he may fight when the enemy appears in front of him.'

Smasher could be called a good pet since it tried hard to impress his master. But as a summon, it was close to useless because that was all it did. It was untrained and relatively unfamiliar with the human world and culture.

'I mean it may not be as good as Anna's King, but it's at least better than Arica's mean looking monkey.'

She pulled the blanket towards her again and tried to fall asleep, but the thoughts kept coming in her mind. After a while, she was finally able to sleep.

\u003c--★--\u003e

'Oh God! I am late. Hope they didn't leave already.'

Sistina woke up later than usual. She had left the curtain open, so the bright sunlight was entering through the window.

She quickly changed into her Academy uniform from her light green pajama and rushed downstairs. Fortunately, Princess Anna was still there which means they hadn't left.

She breathed a sigh of relief thinking that she wasn't too late. When Princess Anna saw her coming towards the sitting room, she greeted her with a casual "Good morning".

Sistina yawned and replied, "Morning. I thought you guys were going to leave early today."

Considering that she didn't sleep for almost the whole night, it wasn't surprising that she would still look sleepy.

"Didn't I tell you yesterday that we will be leaving a bit late because uncle was going to send something for Nara," Princess Anna replied.

"Huh? I thought you only told us about the 40-gold coin reward. Did I miss anything?" Sistina asked looking confused.

"Yeah, you probably missed it because you were playing with Smasher. Uncle gave us 40 gold coins as a reward and he said he is going to send Nara a gift for his bravery," Princess Anna replied.

They had divided the 40 gold coins they got as a reward from the Duke among themselves. And everyone got 5 gold coins each.

"I wasn't playing with him, I was training him," said Sistina hastily. She then paused and looked towards the floor and asked, "And what kind of gift does he want to give him? I've heard that some nobles even give their daughter as a bride for reward."

"Well, that happens often but I don't think it's anything like that this time. He said he wanted to make Nara a noble. But since Miss Lilith wouldn't agree, he said he will send something that will be useful for Nara during the journey," replied Princess Anna with a smile.

'Phew! That's a relief.'

"Ah. By the way, where's Nara and others?" asked Sistina looking towards Princess Anna.

"Nara was saying that he forgot to do something very important and left for the woods behind the open area in a hurry. Nina is helping Marina with her preparation, and Arica and Eliane are also in their room packing things. This is going to be a very long journey, so we need to pack all the necessary things," Princess Anna replied. It looked like she too had no idea why Nara was in so much hurry early in the morning.

As they were talking, Princess Eliane, Nina and Marina came down.

"Are you all done with the packing," Princess Anna asked after they all sat on the sofa.

"Yes, Nina helped us, so we finished quickly," Princess Eliane replied.

"Y-yeah, she helped us a lot," said Marina in a low voice.

"Marina, you need to look more lively. You have been so quiet for a few days," Nina said looking concerned.

"I-it's just that I am not sure if I should go. I may just slow everyone down," Marina said looking a bit sad.

"Miss Lilith said that there is a reason you must go. So, I think we will need a lot of your help when the time comes," Princess Anna said to cheer Marina up.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Princess Eliane said.

Right after Princess Eliane said that, Arica came in. She had her usual smile on her face. Sistina said "ugh" and turned towards the other side when she saw her, but Arica didn't mind. She just came and sat on the sofa.

"Are you done with the preparations as well?" asked Princess Anna looking towards Arica.

"Yeah, I think I finished packing everything," Arica replied.

After a while, Miss Lilith entered the room saying, "Hmm... You all look ready. Where is that idiot pupil of mine?"

"He said he was heading towards the wood and left early. He will probably be back soon," Princess Anna replied.

Right at that moment, Sam entered the room and bowed lightly. It looked like he had something to inform everyone so everyone there looked towards him.

"The carriage has arrived," Sam said in his usual calm tone.

After he said that, everyone went to their rooms to get their bags. They then went outside with their bags. Surprisingly there was someone familiar outside talking to Nara.

It was Garo, captain of the knight squad they once fought. He was holding a long rectangular wooden box in his hand.

"The Duke has asked me to deliver this to you. It's a mithril sword called Aurora. Hope this sword will be a good partner in your journeys," said Garo handing the box to Nara.

Mithril was a metal that looked like silver but was many times stronger and lighter than steel. It was expensive, that is, if one could ever find it in the market.

Nara just replied with, "Thank you" while taking the box from Garo.

After handing over the sword, Garo said, "Have a safe journey" and left. It looked like he didn't know much about the journey they were heading to. Miss Lilith had probably kept it a secret.

"Took you long enough, what were you even doing?" asked Princess Anna right after Garo left.

"It just took a bit longer than I thought but things worked out in the end," replied Nara and rushed inside. After a few minutes, he came out carrying his bag.

Sistina looked like she was almost about to cry. Nara probably sensed that, so he went near her and petted her head saying, "Don't worry. We will be back soon." The tears that she was holding until now came out after Nara said that.

He then looked towards Nina and said, "Take care of Ronald and Sistina please."

"You guys don't have to worry about that. I obviously will. Just take care of yourselves," Nina replied in a voice that was a little heavier than usual.

"Do your best and don't die," Miss Lilith said in her calm voice.

After she said that, everyone got inside the carriage and Nara climbed into the driver's seat.

Just when they were about to leave Sistina rubbed her tears and said, "Good luck. Come back safely" with a smile in a loud voice.

Nara looked towards her and smiled saying, "We will" after which they left.