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Ekaterina had braced herself for a barrage of questions from Mina, Oleg, and the others, but no one tried to ask her anything.
Only Oleg, noting that they had been delayed more than expected, suggested that it might be better to hurry on. Mina, meanwhile, persistently checked—almost to an excessive degree—whether Ekaterina was injured or tired, and Ekaterina had trouble stopping her from trying to carry her back to the carriage in a princess carry. That was all.
No one asked what had happened after she left with the black dragon, or what the black dragon’s words had meant.

This is…
The knight order and the combat maids must have a very strict chain of command. Whatever someone above them does, they accept in silence—that must be thoroughly ingrained.

Or rather… the knights are kind of backing away from me.
They’re even more courteous than before—endlessly respectful, bowing deeply—and giving off an air like, “There’s no way we can speak to her.”

Well, of course.
A black dragon suddenly appeared, I spoke to it from our side, got taken away—and then came back riding on the dragon’s back.
Anyone would be like, “Who is this person?”
…It can’t be helped if they think I’m weird…

It’s not that… I just knew that if I spoke with memories from my previous life, he would understand… I’m just a villainess with memories of being a thirty-something corporate drone from another world…
Come to think of it, what even is “just a villainess”?

Anyway, since I’m their lord’s younger sister, even when something this absurd happens—no, precisely because it’s so absurd—they must think they shouldn’t ask, that they must not ask.

In that case, I’ll gratefully… take my time thinking about what to report to Onii-sama. Mina and Oleg will probably report what happened exactly as it occurred, after all.
I absolutely can’t say anything about memories of a previous life, so I’ll have to gloss over that somehow!

.

And so the group set off.
They lost more time with the coachman bursting into tears at seeing Ekaterina safely returned, and with Regina and the other hounds lowering their tails in shame—she soothed them by vigorously petting and ruffling them, saying that it couldn’t be helped given the opponent—but since they had been traveling in haste to begin with, it seemed they wouldn’t be delayed too badly.

Still, they wouldn’t make it to the town where they had planned to stay by sunset, so the group stopped the carriage early at a somewhat larger town along the highway.

“My lady is exhausted. She should rest as soon as possible, somewhere with decent facilities.”

Mina said firmly.

Wait a moment. Why is Mina deciding whether I’m tired instead of me? I wanted to make more progress.
But Mina seems to be quietly carrying flames behind her, and I can’t say anything… Waaah, I’m supposed to be the noble lady here.
Well, even if we’re a bit late, we’ll reach my brother tomorrow. It’s my fault for worrying everyone, so I guess it can’t be helped.

With that dutiful mindset, Ekaterina accepted the early stop. After entering the town, they halted the carriage and waited for the return of one of the knights who had been sent ahead to secure lodgings.

The town lay in a valley and bordered a river. It seemed to be thriving as a port where timber and ore brought along the highway were loaded onto transport ships. The valley itself wasn’t very wide, and when she tried to look toward the northern capital where Aleksei was waiting, the road quickly disappeared into the mountains, swallowed from sight.

Then—

Regina, who had been lying beside the carriage, suddenly sprang up.
She lifted her nose high, sniffing the wind as if startled by something.
Then she looked up at Ekaterina inside the carriage and barked loudly.

“Regina… is something wrong?”

When Ekaterina called out, Regina trotted off toward the highway. She quickly came back and barked loudly again, clearly trying to convey something.
The other three hounds also lifted their noses to the wind, pacing restlessly.

The next to react was Mina, standing by the carriage. She suddenly raised her face and listened intently, then ran toward the highway. Without caring that she was in a maid’s uniform, she crouched down and pressed her ear to the road, listening for something.
She sprang up and ran back.

“My lady, a mounted group is coming from the direction of the northern capital. The sound of the hooves is heavy and steady—it sounds like a well-trained, armed unit.”

What.
Ekaterina instinctively looked at Oleg, who nodded once without looking surprised.
Which means…

Ekaterina hurriedly got down from the carriage and looked toward the highway.
At once, the group came into view.

—the Jurnova Knight Order.

A heavily armed company of knights was riding at a canter. Because of their disciplined movement, the thunder of hooves was indeed steady, like the beating of low-pitched percussion.

At the head of the group rode a rider on an exceptionally fine steed.
Wrapped in the attire of the knight order’s master, different from the knights behind him, tall of stature, a longsword at his waist—a gallant figure. His light-blue hair streamed behind him as he drove his horse forward with a grim, determined expression.

Ekaterina cried out without thinking.

“Onii-sama!”

.

From this distance it should have been impossible, but as if he had heard her voice, Aleksei’s gaze turned toward Ekaterina.
Then, with masterful handling of the reins, he wheeled his horse and drove in the spurs.

In an instant, the steed broke into a full sprint.
It came straight toward Ekaterina. Aleksei’s neon-blue eyes fixed on her from horseback.

“Onii-sama!”

She shouted again and started running.

Rationally, she knew she should just wait there. But with her brother in sight, there was no way she could stay still.
Lifting her skirt, she ran at full speed, not looking at her footing, staring only at Aleksei.

Aleksei tightened the reins and tried to check the horse. But the steed, having been at full gallop, tried to run past Ekaterina.

From its back, Aleksei leapt lightly down.
Jumping from a running horse is by no means easy. But with his exceptional athletic ability, Aleksei landed cleanly right beside Ekaterina.

“Ekaterina!”

Spreading his arms wide, Aleksei swept his sister up into them and held her tight.