Soleil sighed at my round-eyed stare and grimaced.

“Well, you’ll hear the details from the captain later anyway… Yep, no matter which angle you look from, she’s sparkling perfect! The pitiful mud-caked stray cat turned out to be a pure-white fluffy angel when washed—shocking glow-up! I did amazing work, if I do say so myself!”

She gave a big thumbs-up and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, reached to pick me up again. I hurriedly stood.

“I’m okay! I can walk now!”

“…Ehhh—”

For some reason Soleil looked deeply disappointed and wiggled her fingers.

“You don’t have to hold back, you know?”

“I completely trust your strength, Soleil-san, but being princess-carried in public by a smaller girl is still mortifying. And since the moment we leave here Sieghart-san will 100 % take over, I must respectfully decline with all my might.”

A super-handsome guy’s princess carry had shaved off my mental HP at terrifying speed. They say dreams reflect your desires, but this dream was too realistic—my heart might actually stop. Dying of heart failure inside a dream would be way too unfilial.

Soleil tilted her head cutely.

“Nagi-chan, do you hate Sieghart-san? He’s actually pretty popular with girls.”

“It’s not hate—he’s so handsome it’s bad for my heart. Admiring from afar might only make me flutter, but that beautiful face is not meant to be viewed at point-blank range.”

When I answered dead-seriously, Soleil paused a beat and burst out laughing.

“I see~ His face is bad for the heart~”

“Yes. I’m still too young to die.”

Soleil seemed convinced by my desperate plea. She still wouldn’t let go of my hand for walking support, but that was infinitely better than a princess carry.

The low-heeled lace-up ankle boots were surprisingly light and comfortable. Being able to walk on my own two feet, even slowly, was an enormous relief.

“If it gets hard, feel free to lean on me, okay?”

“Thank you.”

When we left the bath, Sieghart was leaning against the wall. The instant he saw me, his eyes widened and he stared. Soleil, still holding my hand, puffed out her chest proudly.

“How’s that, Sieghart-san! She’s clean now, totally transformed, super-duper cute, right!?”

“…Right now I’m feeling vague terror toward the maids of this mansion who prepared perfectly fitting clothes and shoes after only catching a distant glimpse of her.”

Soleil half-glared at his completely straight-faced reply.

“That’s exactly your problem, Sieghart-san. That’s why you’re not popular with your looks but still single.”

“Shut it.”

Sieghart glared at Soleil, then took a breath and looked at me again.

“You can walk now. Good.”

“Yes! Thank you for all the trouble!”

I’m totally fine—look, I can walk by myself! I insisted with clenched fists. Confirming I was indeed steady, Sieghart turned to Soleil.

“The kitchen staff are panicking over what to feed her. Go give them some advice.”

“Yay— I mean, roger that! See you later, Nagi-chan!”

Before I could stop her, Soleil bounced off happily and vanished in seconds.

Left dumbfounded, Sieghart spoke to me gently.

“Don’t push yourself. …Also, mind if I call you Nagi?”

“Eh? Ah, sure.”

The sudden switch to my first name flustered me.

In my entire life I’d never had a boyfriend, so the only males who called me “Nagi” were family I lived with.

I’d avoided the princess carry, but being alone with a super-handsome guy was still nerve-racking enough. The name-calling shock on top made me not know where to put my hands and feet.

Sieghart gave a small smile.

“Right. Come to think of it, I never introduced myself properly. Sieghart Hauer. Call me Sieghart or Val, whichever you like.”

“…Y-yes sir.”

Super-handsome guys really shouldn’t smile carelessly. Mainly for the hearts of ordinary citizens who take direct hits.

Maybe even without the princess carry, the cardiac damage wouldn’t decrease. Trying to ignore that sad truth, I started walking as prompted.

(He’s matching my current snail pace perfectly… Are handsome guys handsome in their actions too?)

I’d thought the same thing on the way to the bath—this building really was a maze. I remembered hearing somewhere that noble mansions used as fortresses were deliberately built complicated to hinder invaders. This place—Reddington Court, was it?—belonged to Isaac, captain of the Mage Knight Order, so the complexity probably served that purpose.

(Isaac-san’s full name… yeah, I already forgot it.)

I did vaguely remember Soleil’s passionate speech praising his muscles, though. Since Isaac himself had such magnificent muscles, he must be deeply particular about them.

Looks: perfect muscle hunk. Personality: ultimate polite gentleman-noble. …This is what they call gap moe, right? Honestly, I could stan.

After several corridors and staircases—I’d completely lost track of which floor we were on—Sieghart finally stopped. A heavy, polished door had a brass knocker shaped like a beast’s head.

“Captain. Brought Nagi.”

“Yeah. Come in.”

The moment the door opened, my eyes went round.

Inside the extremely luxurious room stood muscle-gentleman Captain Isaac, the noble blond pretty-boy I’d suspected was the personification of English class, and the Japanese-colored beautiful boy who’d been called Seiad—I think—wearing the same uniform as Soleil.

The huge map spread across the table they surrounded was apparently a magical tool; lights blinked and moved across it.

The map was fascinating, but no matter where I looked the room sparkled with excessively handsome faces. I nearly yelled “My eyes! My eeeeyes!” and escaped reality, but I didn’t want to be labeled suspicious again, so I endured.

The three of them stared at me with wide eyes—déjà vu—then I bowed politely.

“Thank you so much for the bath and the change of clothes. You really saved me.”

“…Miss Nagi? That you?”

When Isaac asked for confirmation, I gave a small wry smile.

“Yes. I was shocked too when I saw myself in the bath mirror. I was that filthy.”

“I… I see. Yes. You were indeed in quite a state earlier. Yes.”

He seemed pretty shaken that the girl he’d rescued turned out to be this hyper-level beauty. I totally got it.

(Rio was the classic “oblivious natural beauty,” but I’m fully aware the current me is objectively gorgeous. To be honest, from my own perspective I always watched Rio’s actions with warm indulgence, but “oblivious natural” is actually a landmine. It makes you want to take a running start and paper-fan-smack her head from behind. Therefore, I’m going to stay completely normal mode, thank you very much.)

After finishing my self-analysis, I decided to pointedly ignore the fact that “I’m a staggering beauty right now.” A “beauty only on the outside who’s aware of it” is even more cringe than an oblivious natural beauty. Total landmine.

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