Keira went out of the tent after tidying up. The delicious smell of eggs greeted her. She sees Aster sitting by the campfire, collecting the sunny side up eggs to a plate who knows where he pulled it from. Keira approached Aster and sat beside him. Aster went rigid for a moment before returning back to normal with an even more radiant smile.

"Where did you get the eggs from? No more importantly, where did you grab that plate? If I remember correctly, I didn't see any plates from your bag yesterday."

"The eggs are from the ration that the knights brought this morning and the same can be said with the plates." Aster still has his glowing smile present.

Keira who felt like she'll get blinded by the male lead's smile replied, "Oka— Wait what? What do you mean knights?"

"The knights I sent yesterday to escort your 'friends' have arrived, just this early morning."

Aster felt the need to put emphasis on the 'friends' part as he still felt annoyed at the thought that if he didn't know that Keira would go to Berrick Valley with two guys, she would be alone in a carriage with two strangers she just met.

Keira sensed the male lead's gloom but she couldn't understand the reason behind it. More importantly, she couldn't understand how Aster's attitude changed so much in just one night. She didn't know that the male lead could get this bright, not like he wasn't already bright to begin with, Now it was simply blinding.

"Then where are the knights now?"

"They are waiting by the road. I didn't want to wake you up as you were sleepy very peacefully."

'And cutely too.' Aster added on his mind, and the distress just now was completely washed away as he recalled the events of yesterday night.

"Wait, so they have been waiting since this early morning for me to wake up?" Keira was astounded by the words that Aster uttered.

'How could I let the King of a nation and his royal knights wait for a supposed nobody like me? Is Aster like this to everyone?' Keira began reflecting on yesterday's happenings.

'Yes yes, that's right. He was even so kind as to let two simple citizens enter his royal carriage to have them get treated.' Keira somehow manages to convince herself that the male lead is just this holy similar to his title. But what perplexed Keira was— Aster's attitude upgrade.

"Don't mind them. Here, your breakfast. You should eat more Kei." Aster remarked as he reminisced on how frail and small she felt in his arms last night.

'I should fatten her up some more back at the castle.'

Keira gratefully received her plate as she was already feeling hungry from the smell of the fried eggs. She grabbed the fork Aster handed her and began eating the eggs in a calm manner. Even though she knew people were waiting for her, Keira didn't feel the need to rush because the male lead already assured her so it must be okay.

After eating her delicious breakfast made by the male lead, Keira felt satisfied. Her sleep was good and to add to that, even her breakfast was amazing. How could her mood not be good? Seeing Keira having a delighted expression displayed on her face, Aster also felt pleasant.

A knight appeared after Keira had finished eating her breakfast like they were waiting for her to finish before coming in. The knight said, "Your excellency, the carriage is ready to depart."

Aster, "Good. Clean up this place and catch up to us right after."

"Yes!" The knight saluted and began ordering his subordinates accordingly to do the King's commands.

"Then my lady Kei, shall we go?" Aster lowered his head and offered his right hand to Keira. Keira accepted it and she felt like a soft electric current passed her hand as their fingers touched. Before Keira could withdraw her hand however, the male lead already grasped her hand tightly.

Keira: [What was that?]

System 999: [???]

Keira: [Nevermind, I just felt like a weird connection the moment our hands touched each other.]

System 999: [Must be your imagination Host(*^▽^*)]

Keira: [Must be…]

Keira decided to brush off the weird feeling she felt earlier as the male lead and she went along the path back to the main road. A simple looking carriage came into view. Although it looks simple on the outside, Keira could tell that it would not be the same on the inside, because she rode the exact same carriage before for how many times already in the past, when they were hopping from place to place, fighting demons.

At the sight of the carriage, Keira couldn't help but glance at Aster with a slight frown on her face. Aster noticed this action so he also stared back and asked,

"What's the matter? Is it not to your liking?"

"No, it's not like that." Keira lowered her eyes, trying to avoid the male lead from reading her expression. As Keira removed her gaze from Aster, Aster's eyes glowed ambiguously.

"Oh? Then may I ask what may be the problem?"

Aster precisely asked his subordinates to the same carriage they had ridden in the past. He wanted to bring out a reaction from Keira. Aster was already 100% certain that this was his Keira.

Even though he had a lot of questions, especially regarding how she came back and why she is insistent on hiding her identity even from him, he could not bring himself to question her as he was afraid that it would only make Keira distant herself from him. She is hiding her identity for a reason. Furthermore, he could just back Keira into a corner until she had no choice but to reveal everything to him.

Keira finally replied after coming up with an excuse on the top of her head, "I was just surprised how you manage to think all of this through. This was not part of your plan after all, as you only accidentally encountered us before."

When those words came out of Keira's mouth, she just now realized how odd everything seems to be.

'Is it truly a coincidence? Or was I already dancing in the hands of the male lead from the very beginning?'

Keira took a glimpse at the male lead's face. The male lead noticed her small movement and revealed a very bright smile to Keira. Keira can still see the sincerity on Aster's smile and yet, she couldn't help her back shiver from that intense gaze. His golden eyes are still as brilliant as ever but it felt scary somehow. If you were to stare more deeply into his eyes, you could see a whirlpool of intense emotions swirling beneath the surface.

When they finally arrived in front of the carriage, Aster elegantly opened the carriage door and Keira stepped right in. She was immediately struck with nostalgia. The interior was the same as before. Nothing has changed. Even the comfort of the seat still remains the same.

Keira was now beginning to question Aster's motive. Before, she had not held her guard up as she believed that the male lead is as pure as before, but it seems like the same thing couldn't be said to the Aster who is currently getting in the carriage.

'Is he truly here for the inspection in the Berrick Valley? If so, what are the chances of us going at the same time and him, 'coincidentally' bumping into our accident? Wait… was the carriage incident even an 'accident' in the first place?'

Keira felt goosebumps form on her body. Her mind was telling her to get off this carriage immediately, but her body was still in shock to even move. Moreover, she couldn't escape now, she is stuck in a small space with the male lead right in front of her.

Aster noticed Keira's pale complexion and asked worriedly, "Are you alright Kei?"

"Huh?" With those words, Keira was brought back from her thoughts. It took Keira a second to process what Aster just asked.

"O—oh, I'm fine. I just remembered something terrible." Keira was too scared to look at Aster's face so she could only answer by looking at the ground.

"Something terrible? What happened?" Aster asked in a full tone of concern.

"Nothing, just something that happened a very long time ago." Keira could only leave those ambiguous words and she was still afraid to look at the male lead directly.

Seeing Keira's guarded demeanor, Aster could only drop that subject for now. He knows when to push things through and when to retreat. If he were to keep pushing the topic, he knows Keira would only get agitated. But Aster still decided to ask one thing.

"Are you really fine? Then… Why are you not looking at me?" Keira felt her heartache just by the pained sound coming from Aster. Keira couldn't help but look up to see Aster's expression.

Keira immediately regretted her decision as he peered at the wounded expression displayed on Aster's face. His eyes reveal how much he felt wronged by the simple action of Keira refusing to look at him. Keira felt her breath get caught up in her throat. Keira was then overcome with guilt. The thoughts she had before vanished as she continued to look at the sincere gaze of the male lead.

'Maybe I am overthinking things. Everything is just an assumption after all.'

Keira manages to somewhat reassure herself because if she didn't, she would lose her mind thinking that she has to spend a week in the Berrick Valley with this shrewd person.

When Keira finally looked at Aster back, Aster felt delighted and displayed a very bright smile. Keira felt her heart jump and she avoided his gaze once more but now, her ears were bright red. Aster felt satisfied by Keira's reaction and hummed in silence.