I exclaimed happily the moment I saw him.

“Meteor!”

So, he was here too!

It had only been a single night, but it felt like ages since I last saw him.

However, Meteor’s expression was serious as he spoke in a stern tone.

“Leaving the temple outside of training hours is against the rules.”

“Uh?”

“You can’t leave the grounds unless it’s the weekend. Don’t pretend you didn’t know—you were seen wandering around the village yesterday, and there’s more than one witness.”

“….”

Tch.

I clicked my tongue, unable to retort. It seemed Meteor had found out about my little excursion outside the temple during my free time yesterday.

Not only had he caught on, but he even had witnesses lined up to confirm it. There was no point in lying; I had already told Cardinal Reuben the truth. As long as you weren’t causing trouble, most senior knights turned a blind eye to brief outings.

Of course, it could still be a problem if you got caught.

“How did you find out?” I asked, a little sheepishly.

Meteor’s expression didn’t change in the slightest as he replied.

“How else? When you skipped training and disappeared from the dorms, did you think I’d just sit around?”

“Huh?”

Shouldn’t he have just waited for me at the temple, then? What was he doing, chasing me down?

Meteor furrowed his brows.

“Let me remind you that you’re under my mother’s protection. And my mother worries about you constantly. If you disappear without notice, I have no choice but to go looking for you.”

“….”

My lips parted slightly in surprise. I hadn’t realized it before.

Had Meteor really gone around the village searching for me while I was in the Demon Realm?

That hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“You… were looking for me?” I asked hesitantly.

Why would you do that?

Meteor sighed deeply at my reaction.

“I’m not your real family, but the situation is similar, isn’t it? And for the record, it’s not like I wanted to do this.”

He ran a hand through his hair, looking tired and frustrated.

I could tell he didn’t mean to take on the responsibility of finding me. But from his perspective, with me missing from training and unaccounted for, he must have felt obligated to act.

The thought struck me that I must be a real nuisance to him. We weren’t anything to each other, yet because I was under his mother’s protection, he had to clean up after me.

Perhaps what he truly wanted was for me to ease his burden a little.

“So, you just want me to tell you whenever I’m going somewhere, huh?”

“That’s not what I—!”

My comment made Meteor bristle, but he quickly shut his mouth and shook his head.

“Well, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Though I’m not asking you to report every little thing to me. That would be ridiculous.”

“Hmm.”

I mulled over his response, understanding his point. He probably just wanted me to stay somewhere predictable, at least.

Even so, it seemed a bit overkill to report my every move.

After giving it some thought, I softened my gaze and spoke with a bit more kindness.

“It’s nice to know someone cares about me this much.”

“Yeah, well, you should be thankful to my mother,” he replied curtly.

No, I was talking about you.

Meteor still wore a slight scowl.

I took a deep breath and continued in a lighter tone.

“But Meteor.”

“Hm?”

His gaze shifted to meet mine at the change in my voice.

I began to speak as casually as I could.

“I really appreciate the concern Lady Rearwin has shown me. I don’t want to worry her, either. But if something like this happens again, where I suddenly disappear… you don’t need to come looking for me. If I’m going somewhere far, I’ll make sure to let you know beforehand. But if it’s something out of my control, I’d rather you just focus on your own time. That would put me at ease.”

“…Hey.”

Meteor looked at me in disbelief, his voice carrying a hint of irritation.

I didn’t want to be the source of anyone’s worry, and I certainly couldn’t handle someone searching for me if I went missing.

Especially not Meteor.

I didn’t think I deserved that kind of attention.

Even now, I benefited so much from the Pluto Ducal House. If he went out of his way to care for me any more than this, I wouldn’t be able to bear it.

I didn’t want my existence to waste his precious time.

To ease the awkwardness, I smiled a little and added lightly, “Anyway, thank you.”

***

A few days passed, and the weekend arrived.

The weekend was when all the trainee knights returned to their homes.

Of course, staying at the temple to continue training was an option for those who wished to, but I needed to visit the Pluto Ducal Estate to see Marchioness Rearwin.

As always, I packed my things and boarded the carriage sent by the Pluto family.

Inside the carriage, Meteor was already seated by the window. When he turned to look at me, I greeted him casually.

“Oh, hi.”

“Mm.”

A short, expressionless reply.

Meteor barely acknowledged me before turning back to gaze out the window.

I shrugged off the awkwardness and sat across from him.

It seemed he was still upset about what I said a few days ago.

After all, I had dismissed his efforts to find me by telling him not to bother looking for me in the future.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that he hadn’t slept at all that night and had spent the entire time searching for me.

Even so, I would’ve said the same thing again, but now I felt more guilty about it.

Carefully, I broke the silence.

“Lucas told me… that you spent the whole night looking for me when I disappeared.”

“I told you, it’s not like I wanted to.”

“…Still, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how much trouble I caused you. I never imagined you’d go through so much.”

“It doesn’t matter. It won’t happen again, and you came back safely. That’s all that matters.”

“….”

Meteor crossed his arms, leaned against the window, and closed his eyes, signaling he didn’t want to talk anymore.

I rolled my eyes.

‘Wow, he’s really sulking. What should I do?’

<“Dragon Slayer Sylvester” says that Meteor has every right to feel upset.>

<“Yuri-Loving Druid Gabriella” says that from Crescent’s perspective, it’s understandable to feel burdened. She praises Crescent for speaking her mind clearly, saying that overprotection doesn’t suit her.>

‘…Okay.’

Even with Gabriella’s agreement, I couldn’t shake my concern.

How was I supposed to deal with this awkward tension when we had to see each other all the time?

For a moment, I worried about the days ahead, but then I shook my head.

‘Forget it. Time will smooth things over.’

At the very least, I had been honest about my feelings. Going forward, Meteor would probably stop fussing over me so much.

That would make things easier for both of us.

With that thought, I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes. The constellation chat continued to pop up.

<“Dragon Slayer Sylvester” asks why Meteor keeps searching for Crescent everywhere.>

<“From Maid to Saintess—Astina” stammers, trying to deflect.>

<“Yuri-Loving Druid Gabriella” urgently grabs “Dragon Slayer Sylvester” by the collar and drags him away.>

‘…?’

What’s this about?

Why are they dragging each other around?

Confused, I thought about it briefly before dismissing the chatter and sinking further into the seat.

The fatigue from the past few days was catching up to me, and I soon drifted off to sleep.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I was woken up.

“Wake up, Crescent. We’ve arrived.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.”

Already?

It felt like I’d barely slept, but we had arrived at the ducal estate.

I quickly got up from my seat. Meteor had already jumped out of the carriage and was walking ahead.

As we approached the estate’s grand porch, Marchioness Rearwin burst out the front door. The moment she saw me, her eyes widened in shock.

“Oh my heavens, Centi!”

“Marchioness! Hello!”

I greeted her brightly, but she didn’t seem to have the composure to respond properly.

Rushing over to me, she frantically examined me from head to toe, her voice rising in alarm.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you? I’ve been holding myself back from running straight to you! Twice—twice in the Demon Realm! Can you believe it? My nerves were completely shot! Damn those wretched demons!”