(Thank you very much to 'darkrad', 'Wuyao', 'Pokémon', 'Liunian Zeng Zhuiyi', 'Shangxin kerk Lengjiu', 'Wufeng Haotian', and 'You Bi Ji Yue' for their rewards!)
"What are you spacing out over there for?"
Seeing Noah still sitting in the tree, his hand clenched around the Spirit Crest carved into it, Alice furrowed her brows, her tone full of severity.
"Get down here already!"
Hearing that, Noah curled his lips. He pushed himself up, braced one hand against the trunk, and lightly leaped down, landing gracefully right in front of Alice.
"—!"
As Noah landed, Alice, who stood less than a meter away from him, was immediately enveloped by a masculine scent unlike the light fragrance of the girls around her. Her entire body stiffened, her pretty face flushed, and she hurriedly retreated, pointing at Noah with a red face.
"Don't... don't suddenly appear right in front of me, idiot!"
Noah was rendered speechless by Alice's accusation.
"It's not okay if I don't come down, and it's not okay if I do? What exactly do you want?"
"Cough..." Alice seemed to know she was being unreasonable, so she could only fake a cough before changing the subject.
"Did... did you sleep well last night?"
Noah looked at Alice in surprise.
Didn't this girl hate him?
Why was she suddenly concerned about him now?
"D-Don't misunderstand! I'm only asking as the Knight Captain!" Alice shouted at Noah, her face red.
"It's not because I'm worried about you!"
Instead, Noah smiled.
It seemed that although Alice had not said anything, she felt somewhat guilty about Noah ending up having to sleep in a tree.
If Noah had obediently stayed in that shabby little cabin last night, it would have been one thing. At least it had walls and a roof, keeping out the sun