The work we had to do at the hunting festival in the first semester of the 3rd year was completed by me recovering the coil mouse’s corpse.

There was one big unexpected accident, and because of that, Prince Antonio’s party, including Delfina, was almost wiped out.

Fortunately, no one’s life was in danger and all of Prince Antonio’s party were able to survive.

Even so, it’s true that it was really dangerous at times.

Including Saint Clare in the party was a decisive move.

If it wasn’t for her emergency healing magic, at least one or two people might have lost their lives.

Surprisingly, the injuries of the three people who were buried in the pile of logs were much less than that of Delfina and Prince Antonio.

Of course, it meant less in a relative sense, and it would be the same as having to be hospitalized in a church.

Delphina, unaware of the preciousness of her body, used all the energy of her body to the limit in order to use more than the power she handled.

And Prince Antonio, who emptied five or six bottles of elixir alone in a short time, forcibly sealed his wounds, and consumed his body like expendable supplies.

The rest weren’t fatally injured anyway, but it was a miracle that these two were really alive.

As one or two of our party members came out of Prince Antonio’s party, I felt a look of surprise and bewilderment in the eyes of everyone watching from outside the forest.

Even though it was a hunting festival where people were prepared to lose their lives, the death of the prince who had the right to inherit the throne would have had a greater impact than the death of an ordinary student.

The school officials were relieved that they had safely saved something that could have happened.

The championship of the hunting festival was, of course, determined by our party.

Since the Orc Lord had even killed the Coil Mouse, it was strange that they couldn’t win the hunting festival with this achievement.

There was no extra point added to it, but it was well received in that it rescued Prince Antonio.

However, even during the hunting festival awards ceremony and the after-night ceremony, I was not at all comfortable in my heart.

Delphina’s injuries were so serious that she couldn’t wake up for two days.

In a situation where even family visits were forbidden, Saint Clare was helping Delphina heal.

In my heart, I was in the middle of a whirlwind of complex emotions such as worry, anxiety, sorry and gratitude.

Three full days have passed since the day Delphina fainted.

A letter arrived at my dormitory from the academy church.

It was written in St. Claire’s curly handwriting that Delphina had come to her senses, so she could visit her in the hospital.

* * *

As soon as I heard the news that Delphina had woken up, I immediately moved to the academy church where my sister was taking care of.

It was a serious injury that required not only the healing magic of high-ranking priests, including Saint Clare, but also the holy relics that could only be used in the church.

Even if I woke up again, there was no guarantee that there would be no aftereffects.

Even so, the mere fact that consciousness had returned meant that the worst had been averted.

I walked straight to the third floor of the church where the hospital rooms were gathered and opened the door to the hospital room with Delphina’s name on it.

As soon as the door opened, the four pupils in the room moved towards me.

The two belonged to Delphina, of course.

Two belonged to St. Claire, who helped treat her on my behalf.

“Brother… .”

Her hair, which was like a symbol, was completely undone, and Delphina, who had bandages wrapped around her head like a mummy, met her eyes first.

“You’re here early, Mr. Conrad.”

Next, St. Claire called my name and made eye contact with me.

Seeing her eyes full of fatigue, I could clearly feel that she devoted herself to her sister’s treatment instead of me.

“Saint Claire.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for waking my sister up.”

As soon as I met her after three days, I bowed deeply and thanked her.

These were words that came from the heart, without the slightest hint of lies.

I stuck by Delphina’s side, skipped the hunting festival’s awards ceremony, and took care of my sister’s life above all else.

For Saint Claire, no matter how many times she bowed, it was not enough.

“Don’t be too pressured. I just did what I had to do.”

“Then, as Delphina’s family, I can only thank you as much as I should.”

“It was nothing. really.

Also, if I had to question it, I received quite a bit of grace from Mr. Conrad, but Mr. Conrad didn’t take my gratitude too lightly, did he?”

“It is.”

“It’s nice that you’re honest.”

Saint Clare met my tired eyes, smiled at me and said.

“If you ever need my help, please let me know. We’re not in debt to each other, are we?”

“Are you between us?”

“A partnership that can protect and help each other for the rest of their lives… Also, between colleagues?”

“… I am grateful that the saintess thought so.”

Hearing her talk, I had a strange thought for a moment, but I quickly erased the nonsensical assumption that came into my head.

It must have just been Saint Clare’s expression that they had become so trustworthy.

Opportunities to repay today’s grace were to continue to arise in the future, so there was no need to erase the burden on my heart from now on.

That’s why I didn’t even know if I could get help from her.

At least it wasn’t the ideal human relationship I wanted to continue the relationship by weighing the profit and loss of those things.

“Since it was confirmed that Miss Delphina woke up safely, I will go back to my room today too.

Let’s talk about things that siblings haven’t talked about in a long time.”

“Please go in, Saint Claire.”

“Ah, thank you, Saint Clare… .”

“By the way, you know that Miss Delfina still has to be hospitalized for a few more days, right? I will come to see you tomorrow.”

Saint Claire left the last words and went out the door, leaving only the two of Delphina and I in the 10-pyeong hospital room.

It was also the point where I had to nag my younger sister in earnest.

“Delphina.”

“… Yes, brother.”

Calling out her sister’s name in a low voice, Delphina looked down as if she couldn’t bear to raise her head.

It looked a bit pitiful, but I still have to say what I have to say.

“I think I told you not to go to the northwest of the Demon Forest, maybe I’m misremembering?”

“… No, older brother is right.”

“Then did you wander into that dangerous zone because you got lost in the woods or something?”

“… No, it’s because I relayed my older brother’s words to Prince Antonio, and I went in following Prince Antonio’s strategy.”

“So that’s why you’re now living and living and being in the church?”

“… I have nothing to say even if I have ten mouths.”

Seeing her younger sister quietly bowing her head and repenting for her wrongdoing without making excuses, I felt mixed emotions.

There were countless things I wanted to say, but even if I said all of them, it would only be meaningless words.

He must have known his mistakes best.

What Delphina needs now is not a hundred words of criticism, but a word of sincere consolation.

“Delphina.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

I put Delphina’s bowed head on my chest and tightly wrapped my sister’s body with both arms.

“Brother?”

“I’m glad you’re really safe, Delfina.”

“Hey, don’t you get scolded? I ignored my older brother’s advice and went all the way to the northwest of the Demon Forest, but came back badly injured and couldn’t even make excuses… .”

“What does that matter? It’s important that you came back safely here now.”

He released Delphina’s body from his arms and briefly explained why he didn’t scold her.

“You know best what you did wrong. Does it make sense that I ask further questions there?”

“That’s right… .”

“Or are you going to do something dangerous again next time? If that’s the case, scold me now.”

“Oh, no. Of course that doesn’t happen.”

“All right then. After all, Delphina is probably the one who learned the most from being injured at this hunting festival.”

It was a waste of time and emotions for me to repeat something that the other person should already know.

To go further, it was simply an act of ignoring the feelings of others in order to make my feelings a little better.

I was not thirsty for affection to the extent that I had to take care of my superiority over my younger sister.

“Still, use it with care the next time you handle blue energy. It seems that you have temporarily reached the level of an expert, but even so, it is still a dangerous power to handle with your body.”

“… I’ll be careful in the future.

Actually, it was the first time I used it, so I didn’t know that it would put such a strain on my body.”

“If it wasn’t for the emergency treatment given by Saint Clare, the electricity supply would have been damaged.

Do not use that power for a while, and focus only on recovering your energy during this vacation.”

“I understand, brother.”

Fortunately, it seems that the last time I did the tree frog was enough.

After being treated badly once, Delfina returned to her original sister who was obedient.

Finally, after telling Delphina about some of the professors who studied energy as a major, she immediately moved to another hospital room a few rooms away.

To the hospital room where the 5th Prince Antonio, the first-class contributor who made Delfina that way, is hospitalized.

* * *

“You know why I came, Prince?”

From Delphina’s hospital room, three spaces to the right.

In the meantime, I passed the other people’s hospital rooms and came into the hospital room of the 5th Prince Antonio.

There, I met with Prince Antonio alone and started questioning him about what had happened at the last hunting festival.

Of course, everyone else in the room was sent out.

To be precise, Prince Antonio, who had been paying attention to me, came out first and made me step back, saying that he would talk to me alone.

“Yeah, I know.”

“As the party leader, do you have anything to say about dragging your teammates into the danger zone and making my sister like that?”

“… No, there is not. It is entirely my responsibility.”

Having said that, Prince Antonio bowed his head deeply and expressed his apology to me as if he was sincerely reflecting.

“Because I was blinded by victory, I dragged your sister to the place where dangerous monsters appear. And even to the point where it almost led to death.

As the imperial family of Alexander’s empire, I will take responsibility for him.”

“… … .”

“I don’t have much money to manage, but I will give Lady Delphina a reward for saving my life.

Of course, I will reward you for saving my life. How much money do you think will ease your mind? If you need something other than money… .”

“… The money is done. I didn’t come here to talk about that.”

Money wasn’t really in need from the beginning, and there was a high possibility that there would be problems later if the imperial family unilaterally extorted money.

Above all, it wouldn’t be of any help to Prince Antonio’s competition for the throne.

“Then what should I do… .”

“I didn’t come here to ask for anything. I just wanted an apology for the wrongs the prince had committed.”

“… Is that really all there is?”

“What would I gain by lying to the imperial family?”

In an aristocratic relationship, whether or not you can trust the other person is the same as meaning the entire relationship with that person.

It would be better for the prince to recognize me as a trustworthy person rather than having the distance with Prince Antonio become desolate with a mediocre amount of money.

“It’s better not to give Delphina a reward or something. Perhaps my sister will reject it as well.”

Delphina, who was obsessed with personal connections, would have been more happy to have a relationship of trust between herself and Prince Antonio than to be paid for her own life.

Even so, she risked her life to protect the prince in a crisis situation, and Delphina must be worthy of such a reward.

“So, if Prince Antonio didn’t even know what he had done wrong and would have made a naive excuse as soon as he saw my face, I would have been angry.”

“… … .”

“Fortunately, Prince Antonio said that he would make good sense and take responsibility, so I got a satisfactory answer with that alone.”

It was useful in many ways to leave everything else and not to stand up for Prince Antonio.

stupid… No, Prince Antonio is an exceptionally important figure among the heirs of the imperial family steeped in lineage omnipotence.

It meant that if she deposited the debt today, then in the process of Stella being recognized as a full-fledged warrior, she would acquire a handful of members of the royal family who would unconditionally agree.

“Yes, thank you. Prince Conrad.”

“Even so, only this once.”

“… … .”

“If Prince Antonio puts my sister in danger again, or puts himself in danger with a foolish strategy, Delphina will take her to our party no matter what.

Maybe the youngest spear expert, the talent seed that the prince likes.”

There is no way that Prince Antonio, who has a lot of meritocracy and greed for talent, will not listen to these words carelessly.

In particular, he was someone who witnessed his younger sister’s skills with his own two eyes not too long ago.

Delfina must have already become a top priority for Prince Antonio that he never wants to miss.

With that said, Prince Antonio would probably take care of himself from now on.

If I say this and commit a similar mistake again, then at least Delphina will be brought to my party somehow.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Prince Conrad.”

“Then that is all I have to say.”

After getting a confirmation from Prince Antonio’s mouth, I left him in the hospital room and got out.

By the way, is it a spear expert?

The news of Delphina’s growth, which I hadn’t had a chance to see in my previous life, made me feel excited in my heart.

Because Delphina, who entered an academy that she would never have seen before, being active was the most valuable thing in the future that I changed.