On the night before they left the marquisal House Trevache, a small banquet was held in Marquis Edelmar's name. It was an intimate gathering of the marquis's own people, rather than one to which outside nobles had been invited. Its arrangements, however, were anything but modest.

Food and brilliant lights filled the hall, with a space set aside for dancing. The theater troupe's musicians began to play, drawing their bows across violins and striking the piano keys. Lively music filled the hall, and the atmosphere grew festive. Once the gathering was sufficiently animated, the marquis stepped onto the balcony.

His hair neatly slicked back, Marquis Edelmar raised the glass in his hand and offered a toast.

"To the two guests who have come to Trevache. Cheers."

With that brief toast concluded, the music resumed. One by one, people moved toward the center of the hall to find partners: the children of several noble houses belonging to the Cambria Foundation, the marquis's people, and...

'Is this supposed to be so uncomfortable?'

-I think formal clothes usually are.

Najin, too, was preparing to step onto the floor. Unaccustomed to wearing a tailcoat for the first time, he was fidgeting with the back of his neck when someone rested a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Marquis Edelmar standing behind him.

"Now, now. What is the star of the show doing standing over here? Isn't your lady waiting for you?"

"... Pardon?"

The marquis clicked his tongue and gave Najin a gentle push in the back. When Najin looked back in bewilderment, the marquis winked at him, as if wishing him luck.

'I have no idea what's going on...'

It was all unfamiliar—the atmosphere, the lighting. Feeling awkward, Najin took a step toward the center of the hall and sensed gazes turning toward him. Unable to understand why, he merely tilted his head.

... Najin had no way of knowing, but the story of his escape with Dieta over the past several days had been embellished and spread far and wide with the marquis's influence behind it. The more widely it spread, the stronger their justification would become.

A woman imprisoned by a ducal house, and a man who ventured in alone to save her. Wrapped in romance, that story had reached the ears of everyone gathered here at least once. Naturally, all eyes turned toward him.

With everyone's attention on him, Najin crossed the hall toward Dieta, who was probably waiting for him, as the marquis had said.

2.

Lively music rang out. People would find partners during this piece and begin dancing when the next one started. In a corner of the banquet hall, Dieta held her hands together, stroking the back of one hand.

'It really does feel unfamiliar.'

She had attended banquets before, but no one had ever asked her to dance. That was only natural. Dieta was the ducal house's abandoned child, and asking her to dance meant becoming an object of ridicule alongside her.

So she had always watched from the sidelines. Never once had she danced in the center of the hall or been the star of that glittering stage. As a child, she had admired the people who danced there.

'That's all in the past now.'

Dieta gave a faint smile.

Wasn't she already an adult? She was twenty now. Surely it was embarrassing for a woman of twenty to feel her heart flutter at a ball like this.

THUMP, THUMP...

It was embarrassing. Terribly embarrassing.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

Why was her heart beating so loudly? Swallowing hard, Dieta looked across the hall. Najin should be standing on the other side. Would he be able to find her? There were quite a few people here. What if he couldn't see her...?

It was while she was entertaining those silly thoughts that it happened.

Dieta noticed the guests searching for partners stopping one by one. Their gazes were converging on a single spot. Following them, she saw someone walking across the center of the hall: gray-white hair neatly swept back and tied, eyes the color of sunset, and an impeccably worn tailcoat.

Only belatedly realizing the man was Najin, Dieta's eyes widened. He looked so different from usual that she hadn't recognized him at first. He was quite handsome to begin with, but dressed up like that, he made an entirely different impression.

TAP.

With all eyes upon him, Najin crossed the hall and came straight toward Dieta. The attention focused on him naturally spread to her as they saw where he was headed.

Then came one final footfall.

TAP.

Najin stopped before Dieta. Following the etiquette Wolfhild had taught him over the course of a day, he extended a hand and bowed his head and waist slightly—the proper stance for requesting a dance.

"May I have this dance?"

Dieta stared at him blankly, then nodded with a smile.

"Yes. Gladly."

She took his hand.

Together, they moved toward the center of the hall. They were indisputably the guests of honor tonight, and the other guests naturally made way for them. Dieta stood tall at the heart of the hall, where the lights shone brightest.

The current piece drew to a close, and a new one was about to begin. In the brief silence between them, only her pounding heart echoed in Dieta's ears. But even that sound was soon buried beneath the music.

Lively music filled her ears. Before her eyes was Najin, holding her hand.

Heat rose to her face, but Dieta let out a short breath and cautiously took her first step. Neither she nor the man before her had ever properly learned to dance, so this was bound to be a mess. They would have to move carefully if they didn't want to fall...

That was what Dieta had thought.

At least... until Najin, after stumbling a little, began to 'watch intently' the man and woman dancing most spectacularly—and suddenly became proficient himself.

* * *

When the piece ended, they took a break at a tea table in a corner of the banquet hall. Seated on a chair, Dieta caught her breath and stole a glance at Najin. At first, he had awkwardly tried to match her movements... but at some point, he had begun leading as though he had mastered dancing. It had been quite impressive.

'Though can I really call that leading...?'

He had caught her by the waist to correct her posture, pulled her arm, and even twisted his own body to compensate whenever her movements went awry. Dieta had never danced properly, but after being pulled this way and that by Najin, she had finished the piece to a flood of applause.

Even the professional dancers had been shaking their heads in amazement, so their performance must have been quite accomplished...

It was almost absurd. Dieta gave a disbelieving laugh and spoke.

"Tell me, have you had dance lessons?"

"I've never taken lessons."

"Really? You certainly didn't look like someone who'd only danced once or twice."

"Today was my first time."

"... Really?"

"Yes."

Watching him nod, Dieta laughed. His first time. So that was how it was.

"What an honor. I was the first dance partner of a man who will someday become a Sword Master. That sounds like quite an achievement."

"... A Sword Master?"

"You said you would carve a star, didn't you? If you're going to reach the highest place, isn't Sword Master your goal?"

Najin smiled at her question.

"Well, you're not wrong. Becoming a Sword Master is one of my goals."

"It sounds as though there's more to it."

"Becoming a Sword Master is a step along the way, not my destination."

"A realm people can't reach even after devoting their entire lives to it is just a step along the way, not your goal. Honestly..."

Though she laughed, Dieta couldn't deny it. There was certainly something special about the man before her. He was someone racing toward heights ordinary people couldn't even imagine.

"A step along the way, not the destination..."

Turning those words over in her mind, Dieta propped her chin on her hand and gazed intently at Najin.

"Then perhaps I should dream a little higher, too?"

"It couldn't hurt. For example?"

"My original goal was to build a trading company large enough to swallow the ducal House Arbenia. To reach the pinnacle as a merchant."

"But," Dieta murmured, "if I look higher... there is somewhere to go."

A tower built of gold coins. From her perch atop that tower, there would still be greater heights to climb. Once she had reached the pinnacle through gold, it would be time to scatter that gold and seize power.

"Perhaps I should become a pillar of the Empire?"

She spoke lightly, but the goal was anything but light. What were the pillars of the Empire? Figures of absolute power, standing above dukes with only the emperor above them.

Recognized by the emperor, they sometimes purged even members of the imperial family. Required to bow to no one, they were, quite literally, the pillars supporting the Empire.

The five pillars, known as the Empire's Five Points, were the highest station a wielder of political power could attain. In a sense, their title was comparable to that of Sword Master. Indeed, the Empire's first pillar was Sword Master Gerd, so the comparison was hardly mistaken.

"If you become a Sword Master..."

Dieta smiled at Najin.

"I think I'd need to become at least one of the Empire's Five Points to stand on equal footing with you."

"Is that so?"

"That's how it is."

She leaned back in her chair and let out a contented breath.

"It's still a long way off, but as you said, there's no harm in dreaming big, is there?"

"Well, that aside..."

Murmuring those words, Dieta looked straight at Najin.

"I had a wonderful time today. I feel like the heroine of a fairy tale. I never imagined I'd dance in the middle of the floor. It's such a strange feeling."

Every part of it felt wondrous. Tomorrow, she would have to return to being the Snake That Swallows Gold, deal with complicated matters, and confront the ducal House Arbenia head-on...

But at least tonight, she had been able to enjoy herself as Dieta.

That thought brought a happy smile to her face, along with a little regret. Special moments probably felt special precisely because one eventually had to return to everyday life.

'Still...'

Dieta glanced at Najin. Not everything would return to the way it had been. She didn't think these feelings for him would disappear. With him, at least, she felt she could always be herself.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

Her heart pounded noisily, but these fluttering beats belonged entirely to her. And she would let no one take them away. The Snake That Swallows Gold never let anything she set her sights on slip away.

3.

With the long ordeal finally brought to a close, Najin and Dieta boarded a carriage bound for Cambria as the marquis saw them off. The carriage moved smoothly forward, cutting through the wind.

What came next would be simple. Once they returned to the city, Najin would have his nameplate colored red and proudly take his place among the highest-ranking adventurers, while Dieta would regain her position as head of her trading company. There had been no shortage of trouble and mishaps, but everything had ended well.

Everyone believed that without a doubt.

What they hadn't anticipated was that the ducal House Arbenia's eldest child was far more persistent than they imagined—and that he had refused to believe the rumors he heard.

"I challenge you to a duel."

The moment Najin and Dieta returned to the city, they were greeted by Lord Agesio and the knights lined up behind him. Despite orders to return to the ducal house, Agesio had postponed his departure and waited for them.

He couldn't accept it: that Dieta, an abandoned child, had gotten the better of him, and that a single adventurer had ruined all his plans.

Even if he had to retreat, he first had to restore his house's trampled prestige. That was Agesio's reasoning, and the wrong answer he had chosen. He didn't know how to admit defeat or endure humiliation.

He had never been defeated, nor had he ever endured humiliation.

Of course, Najin was under no obligation to accept his challenge. There were no grounds for it, and no reason to agree.

"Surely you won't refuse? Someone who dreams of knighthood is unworthy of becoming a knight if he won't accept an honorable duel. Wouldn't you agree?"

But then...

"If you know honor and pride..."

The moment Agesio spoke those words so lightly, Najin had grounds. He had a reason.

"Accept the duel..."

Before Agesio could finish, Najin drew his sword. It scraped harshly against its sheath as it emerged, its edge gleaming coldly.

That was his acceptance.

As one of the five knights began to step forward, Najin gave a hollow laugh and flicked his drawn sword. Having answered their cheap provocation, he offered the knights a cheap provocation of his own.

"Is there any need for you to come at me one at a time?"

Najin flung his empty scabbard to the ground.

"I think it would be a little more balanced if you all came at once."