“How vividly I remember the miracle of that day.”
“Was it like a miracle?”
“Beyond words.”

He wore a thoughtful expression as he slowly continued.
“From the moment I saw your face, to the seconds I turned back and ran—every bit of it felt like a dream.”
“And then…”
“And then…”
“Yes, at that time, I hadn’t eaten anything for two days except for thin gruel, and I was in a state of poisoning. You, like a fairy, made me forget all of that. As I ran, I thought to myself…”

His gaze, as though fixed on some distant point, shifted and locked onto mine. His upright blue eyes gleamed.
“If this were a dream, I didn’t know what I might do. That’s how desperate I was.”
“You knew where the marquis’ residence was, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I don’t know how you knew, but… in truth, no beggar who revered the sword in those parts was ignorant of Capile Marquis’ capital estate.”

Indeed. That was why I had confidently told him to find Capile.
“But…”
It seemed there was more to the story.
“Amazingly, the marquis, whom I never expected to meet, let alone find alone, was by himself in the rear garden of the estate. On the very pathway outside the estate.”

“Ah,” I gasped. It seemed I had been carrying some remarkable fortune on that day.
“And the moment I saw him, I mustered all my remaining strength to launch a technique at him…”
“And then?”
“I collapsed. Or rather, I fainted.”

Mikhail gave a quiet smile. It was such a beautiful smile. Unlike Allenan’s clear laughter, it was a smile of peony-like elegance.

According to him, Capile Marquis, nearly knocked over by the blow, barely regained his balance and caught the fainting young Mikhail. Even for a rival of sword masters, being caught off guard and almost toppled by a child’s strike was unexpected. Seeing the spark of potential, the marquis brought the boy into his estate.

Mikhail, still wearing his peony-like smile, glanced at me and continued to smile softly.
“When I woke up, I was fortunate enough to find myself in his mansion. My critical strike had landed. The marquis asked me about my background and, after that, my reasons for attacking him.”

Indeed, the reason for the attack must have been significant. If it had been a trained assassin, the situation would have been grave.
But the young Mikhail had answered,
“A fairy told me to.”
“Pfft, wasn’t the marquis bewildered?”
“He was. And then he burst out laughing. He laughed for quite a while before telling me to get some more sleep.”

Who would have expected such words, akin to the ramblings of a half-asleep child, to come from such a solemn boy?

After giving Mikhail another chance to rest, Capile questioned him about his background and status.
“And then he asked if I was willing to learn under him.”
“Your answer, of course, was yes.”

“I didn’t just agree. I felt like I was dreaming.”

And so, Mikhail became a disciple of Marquis Capile.

It wasn’t as though the marquis had taken in a noble or even a commoner—he had plucked a beggar boy from the slums to teach swordsmanship. Unsurprisingly, this drew criticism. But the marquis silenced them all with a single thunderous statement:
“Is there anyone here who can even come close to toppling me?”

“My face turned completely red when I heard that,” Mikhail said.
“You really are just like my grandfather,” I remarked with a chuckle.
“Duke Gelbart is the same way, isn’t he? But thanks to Marquis Capile, I was able to become a knight.”

His journey to being knighted had not been without its difficulties. It wasn’t just the controversy surrounding a slum child being made a knight; his age was also a point of contention.
“There were moments of hardship and harassment, of course.”
“Mikhail…”
“But every time, I thought of the fairy.”

A soft smile spread across his usually stoic face. It was the kind of smile that seemed to look past me, into the distant memories of his own past. Then his gaze returned to me.
“I resolved to grow stronger for your sake.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit excessive?” I asked.
“Not at all. You were a miracle to me, Princess.”

Marquis Capile, curious about the identity of the fairy who had sent the boy to him, had pieced it together from Mikhail’s description. He immediately realised that the fairy, ‘Artiel,’ was none other than Princess Myrthi.
“A child with silver hair that shines like the moon in the night and violet eyes like a nocturnal fairy…”

“That could only have been me,” I said with a small laugh.
“Yes, and he added that you were so stunningly beautiful you hardly seemed human.”

I blushed and let out a shy laugh, finding it strange to hear such direct praise from someone with such a composed demeanour. It made me uneasy but not unpleasantly so.

It wasn’t surprising that Marquis Capile, a rival to Duke Gelbart, would have guessed I was his youngest granddaughter. Capile had reportedly been impressed with my keen eye and remarked on how I was the only one to recognise the hidden technique.

“They say the third child in that household is always particularly gifted. Perhaps His Majesty should consider having another child,” he had quipped.

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and Mikhail’s gentle chuckle followed. Then, slowly, he knelt on one knee before me.

“I intend to fulfil the vow I made back then,” he said calmly.
“Back then?” I asked, tilting my head.
“The childish promise I made—to dedicate everything to you. This is my way of keeping it.”

I rubbed my cheek in slight embarrassment, thinking it over. By all rights, this was the point where I was supposed to fall in love with him, and he with me. In this situation, our love would only deepen as time went on.

But now… things were a little different. At least, for me.