D’Artano gasped a little as he crept inside the ship belonging to Viscount D’Silva.

D’Artano’s ship, the Serene, does not look like a pirate ship at first glance, but it was hidden in a remote place, as one would indeed be wary if approaching it.

Conversely, Rakka’s naval ships kept their distance from Viscount D’Silva’s ships, keeping a conspicuous distance. One would not expect to find pirates nearby with a naval ship in close proximity.

　D’Artano ducked into the warehouse where the ship’s cargo was being loaded to avoid detection by the ship’s crew, but he found something strange among the items being loaded.

“The viscount is outrageous” 

D’Artagno looked back at his vice captain who had infiltrated with.

“Go to Raqqa and tell him to send his Navy men to this ship immediately. We found what we are looking for.”

　　　　　☆

“Orion, where are you going?”

The next day, when Sophia went down to the dining room for breakfast, she was told by Orion, who had packed for her trip, that she would be away for a while.

“I’m sorry to bother you at a time like this.”

“It’s nothing. There’s nothing for us to do, to be honest…”

D’Artano and his team were searching for Marana’s sealskin. Meanwhile, Sophia and the others could only wait.

Orion said once again, “I’m sorry,” and hurried out of the inn.

She  should have at least eaten breakfast, but she seemed to be in such a hurry that even that was too much to spare.

‘Orion… Weird”

Come to think of it, Randall was a little strange yesterday, too. What was wrong with both of them?

Sophia tilted her head, but there was no use in thinking about something she didn’t understand.

　When the breakfast was laid out in front of Sophia, Randall came downstairs, sat down in front of her, and asked the hostess for a cup of coffee. This morning’s breakfast was pancakes with lots of fruit. They looked delicious, but Randall didn’t want them. 

Sophia asked him if he wanted some, and he gave her a surprised look.

‘Did I say something strange?…By asking if he wanted some from mine?’

But she hadn’t put her fork in her mouth yet, so she didn’t imply that he eats the food she was about to eat. She wondered what was wrong?

Randall stood motionless for a while, then quietly said, “Just one piece of fruit there.”

　Sophia stabbed the fruit Randall pointed at with her fork, and after a moment’s hesitation, she handed it to him. Since there were no plates, that was the only way.

But when Sophia held out the fork, Randall froze again.

Did something go wrong again? When Sophia was about to lower her fork, Randall opened his mouth, seemingly reluctantly.

‘… ?’

‘Is he asking her to feed him?’

Sophia had expected him to accept the fork, but this was unexpected.

But since he opened his mouth, she had no choice but to put it in.

Sophia brought the fork to Randall’s mouth, and blushing cheeks, he popped the fruit stuck in the end of the fork into his mouth.

　After chewing, Randall swallowed with a loud gulp, as if he were swallowing something difficult to swallow, and then looked around restlessly, before slumping down to drink his coffee.

‘I wonder what is wrong with him’

She asked Randall if there was a problem, wondering why he had suddenly began to fidget, and he gave a small shake of his head. 

Sophia then cutted the pancake into pieces and put them in her mouth. 

‘indirectly…’

Sophia’s head was about to boil.

But she had already put it in her mouth. It would be strange to ask for a change of fork now.

Sophia’s heart suddenly began to pound loudly.

She glanced up and met Randall’s eyes. A strange, awkward silence fell over the table.

Sophia suddenly felt embarrassed and started to swallow her pancake without even chewing it. The pancake looked so delicious, but she couldn’t taste it at all.

As Sophia continued to mechanically put the pancake in her mouth and swallow it down, Randall was visited by Raqqa.

Rakka didn’t even say hello, and whispered something into Randall’s ear with a stern expression…

“Sophia, I’m going out for a while. You stay at the inn.”

Randall’s expression changed quickly, and he and Raqqa left the inn.