Four hours rocked by the carriage.

We passed through the Alestel mountain range, where the academy is located, and continued across the plains toward the royal capital. It should have been the same road I traveled three months ago, yet the scenery didn't quite ring a bell. Perhaps the reason was that I had been completely knocked out the last time, making this journey feel surprisingly fresh. Moreover, unlike before, I wasn’t traveling alone. With company to talk to, I had no reason to doze off like last time.

"Suuu..."

"Well, six hours is a long time, after all."

On the seat across from me, the hero was sprawled out, quietly breathing in his sleep. Departing early in the morning and enduring the unfamiliar long-distance carriage ride must have naturally accumulated fatigue.

At first, Weiss had tried to stay awake out of politeness, but forcing himself would have done no good, so I let him rest. However—

"Fuhii... My first outing... and with Lord Claym... fuhii, fuhihihi—"

—being forcibly left alone with this clearly unhinged woman was unbearable.

—Was she always like this...?

My memory of the past... no, quite significantly, didn’t match up with this deranged woman sitting beside me. I felt myself tensing up involuntarily. I was deeply sorry to say this, but I needed the sleeping hero to wake up as soon as possible. If not, I feared that the woman beside me would eventually do something reckless. And frankly, she was terrifying.

For some reason, ever since this morning, she had been muttering strange incantations or delirious whispers to herself, even letting out unsettling giggles. When Weiss had still been awake, I had managed to ignore her, but now it was impossible. Worse still, she kept casually slipping my name into her monologue, which only served to further rattle my nerves.

By my estimate, we still had at least two more hours until our destination. Naturally, the hero in front of me showed no sign of waking up, and I wasn’t sure my sanity would survive another two hours of this bizarre atmosphere. Thus, as much as I loathed to, I decided to take action.

"Hey, what exactly are you mumbling so fervently about? A curse? Are you trying to hex me to death?"

"Hae!? Y-you mean you heard that!?"

Of course I did—how could I not? We were sitting right next to each other, and unless she had whispered at an almost inaudible level, it was impossible not to hear. On top of that, her "muttering" was way too loud to be considered a mere soliloquy.

"And another thing I’ve been meaning to ask..."

"???"

"Could you stop calling me 'Lord Claym'? I’m really not that important of a person, and having 'Lord' attached to my name just makes me uncomfortable..."

For the record, I had made the same request to Lady Gravitell, but she showed no signs of changing her ways, so I had given up. Still, letting people around me call me 'Lord' would only give rise to unnecessary rumors, so I had to put a stop to it. Which meant I had to correct her way of addressing me, too.

When I asked Levia to correct herself, she tilted her head in confusion.

"Um... but Lord Claym, you’re my 'owner,' aren’t you?"

"...Huh???"

"For someone like me, who is merely an object, it would be inappropriate to address you without an honorific..."

"..."

I was at a loss for words.

Did I just hear something I really shouldn’t ignore? No—my instincts told me I absolutely should not touch upon this topic. As I was seriously debating how to reason with this woman, who had leaped to such an extreme conclusion, she began nodding to herself as if she had reached some sort of understanding. Also, for the record, you are not my possession.

"...Ha!? Does this mean I can call you by a nickname!? Is that what you're saying!? B-but that would be far too disrespectful... but, but! It’s not that I don’t want to! To be honest, I’d love to call you 'Lord Clay' instead—"

That was no "understanding"; that was pure misinterpretation. This lunatic, who had launched into a one-woman celebration, was beyond my ability to stop.

"Was she always this insane...???"

Giving up, I tried to search my memory for the first version of her I had known. No matter how much I recalled, her current self bore no resemblance to my memories.

In my first life, she had been a cunning, deceptive woman who feigned innocence and naivety, excelling at manipulating people’s hearts. Yet now, in this second life, she was completely unhinged, her personality warped beyond recognition.

—How did this happen?

Or... could this be yet another act? At this point, I could no longer discern her true intentions.

And so, the hero remained fast asleep until we had well and truly arrived at our destination.

The royal capital, which I was visiting again after some time, hadn’t changed at all. Well, not that a city could change in just three months. Even so, I felt a strange sense of nostalgia. That feeling only grew stronger when we arrived at the estate.

"We’ve arrived. Welcome back, Master Bradley," the coachman informed me.

In fact, the moment I stepped off the carriage and laid eyes on the estate, the nostalgia intensified.

"Thank you."

I expressed my gratitude to the coachman as he handed me my luggage. The middle-aged man smiled warmly, gave a respectful bow, and then departed. I watched him leave before turning back to face my home.

"Whoa... this place is incredible!" Weiss exclaimed in amazement.

"This is Lord Clay’s family estate... Lord Clay’s origin... This is practically a holy pilgrimage!" the lunatic woman beside him muttered.

Ignoring the latter’s ridiculous remark, I turned to address them both.

"Welcome to the Bradley estate. While you’re here, treat it as your home and make yourselves comfortable."

"Yeah!!" Weiss responded enthusiastically.

"Y-yes..." Levia murmured.

With that said, I took the lead and walked forward.

Since I had been quite busy lately, I hadn’t informed my family that I would be returning. Naturally, there was no welcoming party, and the front of the estate was quiet. I wondered how my family would react to my sudden visit, along with my academy friends.

—I was kind of looking forward to it.

A small, mischievous thrill ran through me. In my first life, I had committed far worse pranks—no, let’s call them misdeeds—but somehow, this felt more exhilarating.

As we crossed the front garden, we ran into the gardeners tending to the estate.

"Oh! Young Master Clay, you’re back sooner than expected!"

"Huh? Oh, I’m back," I replied.

One of the old gardeners, who had tended to this place since my childhood, gave me a slow, respectful bow. His composure was remarkable—he showed no surprise at my unexpected return.

—As expected of old man Reb. He wasn’t fazed in the slightest by my little prank.

Perhaps because I had a history of turning his carefully maintained gardens into wastelands as a child, he had developed a certain resistance to my antics. He showed no sign of surprise whatsoever.

As I resigned myself to this, old man Reb continued speaking.

"The Master, Mistress, and Lady Alice are all expecting you. You should go show them you’re well."

"Ah, right... Wait a second, Reb," I interrupted.

"Yes? What is it?"

His words caught me off guard, prompting me to hastily stop him. He tilted his head in confusion. Ignoring that, I asked him a question.

"You said my father, mother, and Alice are waiting for me? But... I never told them I was coming back."

"Oh? Was that so? A little before you arrived, your fiancée, Lady Freesia, visited the estate and said you would be returning."

"...What???"

Stunned, I was at a complete loss for words.

Who told her? Who did she tell? Who said I was coming back?

Without realizing it, my feet began moving toward the estate.

"Cl-Clay!?" Weiss called after me in surprise.

Seeing this, both Weiss and Levia hurriedly followed. I had originally intended to introduce them properly to Reb, but there was something I needed to confirm first.

—Why did she return before I did?

"No, more importantly, why is she at my house...?"

From the very beginning of my homecoming, something entirely unexpected was already unfolding.