Riftan almost had to take Maxi back to the castle on his horse.
After taking her to her room, he bathed her with warm water, dressed and fed her, and laid her on his chest to make her sleep.
This wasn't the first time Riftan had looked after her so tenderly.
When they were together, he acted little different from a babysitter.
He constantly tried to feed her, and was particularly insistent that they bathe together.
In the morning, he liked to take Ludis's comb to comb Maxi's hair.
Such actions left her perplexed.
All his life he was told that courtesy, disinterestedness, politeness, and duty were all that constituted the relationship between husband and wife.
She had never heard of a man treating his wife with such affection.
Maxi wondered if most husbands were actually as caring as Riftan.
It could be that she simply hadn't been informed of this fact.
After all, she had led a reclusive life within the walls of Croyso Castle.
She was only allowed to leave the castle to visit the church, and even those visits were banned when she turned fourteen.
Everything she knew about the outside world came from snippets of conversations she had heard from guests at the castle.
The two people who most influenced his worldview, however, were his father and Rosetta, whose cynicism knew no bounds.
Lately, she had been struck by the feeling that her knowledge of the world might not be accurate.
“You are good with your hands, my lady.”
Ruth's voice brought her out of her thoughts.
He was inspecting his calculations with a satisfied smile.
"And she's also a quick learner.
I must say, I'm surprised."
Unsure if her words were a compliment, Maxi smiled wryly.
“D-Doing the same thing over and over again ends up making someone m-faster.”
"We're almost done.
At this rate, we'll be able to finish the device by tomorrow."
Maxi sighed in relief and massaged her tense neck.
His initial enthusiasm didn't last long.
She was tired of the endless calculations and drawing diagrams, and just seeing a piece of parchment was enough to make her retreat.
"I d-didn't know that doing magic required all these d-documents.
I thought it would be more s-spectacular..."
"Magic is one of the highest forms of learning, my lady.
It requires meticulous calculation and research.
Only during battle can you see such spectacles.
The sorcerers in the Wizards' Tower never get to experience such glory.
They spend their entire lives making diagrams like these."
Maxi paused in his work and gave Ruth an inquisitive look.
“Y-Were you a member of the T-Mage Tower?”
“Yes, at some point.”
Maxi's eyes widened.
The Tower of Mages, also known as Nornui, was an artificial island in the Isiriyan Ocean that was built by ancient mages.
It was the birthplace of wizards and the greatest repository of knowledge, and even Maxi had heard of the tower countless times before her marriage.
Home to sages who protected world order, Nornui was a neutral territory that never interfered in the affairs of other states.
Ruth, however, seemed disenchanted.
He began to mutter in disgust.
"Sorcerers in the Wizards' Tower must accept certain restrictions the moment they become a great wizard.
In exchange for learning the dangerous and classified magic of Nornui, they are placed under constant surveillance to prevent them from disrupting the world order by using magic for personal gain.
That's why I left."
“I-I-Is this p-permissible?”
“Certainly not, that’s why the wizards of Nornui still treat me as a traitor.”
Ruth's tone was indifferent.
Maxi wondered if all wizards were as brazen as him.
“S-So you met R-Riftan after leaving the tower?”
"Indeed.
I met him shortly after I became a mercenary.
At that time, he was already a notable figure."
Maxi's eyes lit up with curiosity.
“W-Why?”
"For obvious reasons.
He was incredibly handsome and extraordinarily well built for a sixteen-year-old, and he had nerves of steel.
Everyone thought he was crazy back then, too."
“U-A crazy person?”
Maxi's eyes widened at the crude choice of words.
Ruth shook her head slowly as if to imply that this was the most polite expression he could think of to describe Riftan."The boy knew no fear.
He would fight ogres, armed only with a dagger, or throw himself into a drake's mouth to cut off its skull.
He would do all kinds of crazy things without blinking...
The memories still give me chills.
I was nervous every time I had to complete a mission alongside him."
Maxi gaped in horror, cold sweat running down her back.
To think that Riftan had been so reckless at the tender age of sixteen… He had even been younger than Rosetta, who was in the prime of her years, and the cheerful young squire Ulyseon.
Maxi licked his dry lips.
With a trembling voice, she asked, “I-Is he still so i-reckless?”
"To this day, he charges forward without regard for his physical safety.
But he no longer makes the dangerous gambles he used to.
To be precise, he no longer needs to.
He is powerful enough to slaughter most monsters without putting himself in danger.
The only time I've seen him risk his life in recent years was during the Dragon Campaign."
“Wh- What happened?” Maxi asked, unable to contain himself.
Ruth let out a deep sigh.
"Sir Riftan has the unusual ability to temporarily absorb the enemy's magic and transfer it to his sword.
It wasn't something he was born with, but an ability he acquired after years of battling monsters.
I suppose being constantly covered in bile and monster blood had something to do with it.
So, to answer your question, it was this ability that helped Sir Riftan defeat the Red Dragon.
He cut off the Dragon's Breath “ the most powerful magic that exists in the natural world “ and transferred the dragon's magic for his sword, which he then used to cut off the creature's head.”
Maxi shuddered, imagining Riftan charging headlong into the dragon's flames.
Ruth gritted her teeth.
The memory alone seemed to be enough to make him shiver.
“The slightest mistake could have turned him to ashes, although it is thanks to this bravery that he is now considered the bravest knight on the continent.”
Maxi had heard praise for Riftan's performance during the campaign, but was completely unaware of how reckless his deeds had been.
Riftan could have died, and she might never have had the chance to meet him.
Their terrible first night together could have remained the only memory she had of him.
His whole body was shaking.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you, my lady,” Ruth murmured, surprised to see her pale.
"That was not an appropriate conversation to have with you.
Damn it!
I apologize.
Being in the company of rude men can make one quite tactless."
“I- I w-was the one who t-asked.”
She doubted that it was his company that made him tactless, but she decided not to voice the thought.
Maxi went back to work in silence.
His mind was in turmoil.
As a knight, Riftan would have to face dangers again in the future.
Once winter was over, he would have to answer King Reuben's call and lead his knights on another campaign.
That was a knight's duty.
Who knew if he would return from the next battle?
Riftan was powerful, but he was not invincible.
The thought was enough to choke the air from Maxi's lungs.
She hadn't realized how fragile her current state of comfort and happiness was.
“I see you are distracted.” Ruth squinted her eyes as she surveyed the table to gauge their progress.
He lowered the feather.
“Why don’t we stop here today?”
Maxi got up and left the library to take care of the new servants who would arrive that day.
She had asked Aderon to hire thirty skilled servants after discussing the matter with Riftan.
She greeted the new hires and assigned servants to train them.
When that was done, she went to the kitchen.
She was greeted with the usual bustle, but with winter preparations almost complete, the place no longer looked like a battlefield.
Once the preparations were complete, time would slow down in the castle, and Maxi would no longer need to run around frantically.
“We will see the first frost in a few days, my lady” said Rodrigo.
The butler trembled and pulled his coat closer to himself.
The temperature had dropped considerably in the last few days.
“Will we be able to finish all the winter clothing by then?”"I'm told they're almost ready, my lady.
With the additional help, they should be ready before the bitter cold."
As her last task of the day, Maxi inspected the castle's rooms to ensure they had enough firewood.
Then she was able to retire to her room to write her diary.