The Half Elf rested quietly against the bed, her head turned to gaze out the window.

The sound of the door opening caught her attention.

Her gaze shifted to the doorway.

She’d actually noticed someone approaching earlier but hadn’t cared.

What mattered was that Jetri hadn’t come yesterday.

Why hadn’t he?

The Half Elf watched the open door, thinking this.

Vya entered first.

No ripple stirred in the Half Elf’s crimson eyes.

“How are you today?” Vya asked with a smile.

Like the sunlight outside.

Vya was probably always like sunshine.

But if Lilith remembered right, Vya hadn’t always been this way.

“I should be almost recovered,” the Half Elf said, her voice raspy.

Victoria followed Vya in. “You still need rest. Who knows if you’ll end up cursed like Richard, unnoticed?”

Worry flickered on the princess’s face.

Unclear who she worried for.

Still…

Richard?

The Half Elf sharply caught the shift in how he was addressed.

Vya noticed too but kept her gentle smile, as if untouched.

“Wasn’t it called a blessing?” Jetri squeezed in.

He looked at Victoria, confused.

Her blood-red eyes gleamed faintly.

He’d come after all.

“What good is a Succubus’s blessing!” Victoria snapped irritably.

What happened between them?

The tension between Jetri and Victoria made the other two wonder.

“You’re right,” Jetri said, smiling as he accepted her mood.

But his smile looked forced.

“We’re all just visiting the patient…” he added lazily.

Like giving himself an out.

“Seriously, when will Lilith fully recover?” Jetri turned serious.

“I can get up now,” the Half Elf said, a trace of nervousness in her voice.

Her crimson eyes locked onto Jetri.

“Let’s hear the doctor first,” Jetri sighed, waving off Lilith’s uncertain words.

The Half Elf breathed a sigh of relief.

So he still cared.

She nodded obediently at his words.

Three pairs of eyes turned to Victoria.

“Lilith’s body is nearly healed, but as I said, we’ll observe her another day or two to be safe,” Victoria stated firmly.

Everyone nodded.

No one wanted a teammate collapsing mid-mission.

Even ignoring feelings, a four-person squad couldn’t survive sudden failures in battle.

No one carried a time bomb waiting to explode.

“Can I get up and move around?” Lilith asked.

“Of course, but avoid fighting,” the princess said gently.

The Half Elf exhaled deeply. “I thought you’d say no…”

“I feel awful after just one day in bed.”

She smiled.

Drill commands echoed outside the window.

The Delan Eastern Stronghold had woken before the Radiant Star Squad.

Except for some.

Like the soldiers who drank with Jetri last night.

After Lilith got up, the patient-visiting mood vanished.

Victoria headed to the stronghold hospital. Vya went to the command post.

Lilith said she’d wander.

Jetri had business—checking on yesterday’s soldiers.

“Your leave was ONE NIGHT! Not a day! Not a week! ONE NIGHT!!” A sergeant’s roar reached Jetri from afar.

Delan Eastern Stronghold’s soldiers were mostly freemen and minor nobles, unlike other Delan territories.

Here, soldiering was a profession.

This sergeant was a minor noble himself.

By rank and birth, he had every right to yell.

Especially after this morning’s mass tardiness.

He’d lost all face.

Daily drills started with full assemblies. Who knew his expression when other sergeants’ units stood ready while his had only stragglers?

“Ahem…” Jetri coughed awkwardly twice.

The furious sergeant turned.

His face shifted seeing Jetri’s Sage robe, then shifted again recognizing Jetri.

“Oh! You’re… here?” His tone softened. He jogged over, gauntlet clanking against his breastplate in salute.

Jetri returned it, hand resting on the Sage emblem.

The scolded soldiers’ faces lit with hope seeing him.

“I came to apologize. These guys drank with me last night—I forgot to check their leave. Sorry for the trouble,” Jetri said sheepishly.

“Oh! No problem! Drinking with you means drinking plenty!” The sergeant beamed, flattered.

A Sage truly is a man of honor, he thought.

The armored soldiers mid-swing saw nothing odd in his shift. They’d be more terrified.

“This…” The sergeant hesitated, whispering, “So… I should let them off?”

“Not at all. I’m just apologizing. As for them…” Jetri shot a wicked glance at the sweating soldiers, whispering, “No leave, drank too much, overslept—they deserve punishment. Let them learn.”

Their voices were low, but his expression sent chills down the soldiers’ spines.

“You embody wisdom and reason,” the sergeant chuckled slyly.

“I’ll take my leave. Carry on,” Jetri said, departing.

“Yes.”

Jetri walked away.

The sergeant turned back to his troops.

His sly smile exploded into rage. “Eyes front! Don’t move!!”

Spittle flew toward the nearest soldier.

The latecomers’ emotions swung wildly.

The stronghold was all military zones, soldiers training everywhere.

Routines varied by officer.

Depended entirely on their sergeant’s whims.

Jetri passed training squads and found the Half Elf in a quiet spot.

She stared blankly at the dark forest on the distant Demon Clan border.

Her smooth black ponytail whipped in the frontier wind.

Jetri stood behind her. The Half Elf slowly turned.

“Hmm…” Seeing no surprise on his face, she sighed slightly in relief. “Do it.”

Her cold face stayed blank as she closed her eyes.