Chapter 5: The Difficult First Date (1)

The Northern Duke, Grace Northraine.

She was the main character in the Northern episode of the fantasy novel Brave Road, a sub-heroine.

Although she never ended up with the protagonist, she became an overwhelmingly popular character among the heroines.

She wasn’t even a main heroine from the beginning, only being mentioned early on, but from the middle of the story onward, she gained incredible popularity. The reason for her popularity was simple:

A versatile woman.

That’s the word that sums up Grace.

She was a heroine with the best abilities, and she didn’t engage in annoying actions.

Her abilities weren’t the only remarkable thing; her character arc was also excellent.

And she didn’t go around acting like a lone wolf; she knew when to step up and when to hold back, avoiding any favoritism controversies.

So much so that readers who initially frowned upon her being pushed as a love interest later found themselves saying, “Yeah, it’s good to have someone like her.”

Ah, but she wasn’t entirely flawless.

Her perfect abilities and high status made Grace somewhat arrogant and proud.

However, that aspect of her personality was only directed toward her enemies. To the people of the North and her subordinates, she was a kind and considerate ruler, which made her a likable character. Her strength in taking decisive action for the sake of her people, without worrying about what others thought, was also very appealing.

‘Why is she here…?’

At a shop in the street, alone, without any guards, dressed in civilian clothes, eating French toast.

Grace wiped her mouth with a napkin and spoke.

“I understand that you’re surprised, but you should at least greet me. We’re not strangers.”

Is this the sharp instinct of humanity’s strongest?

Without even looking in our direction, she had already noticed us precisely.

“Oh! My apologies, Your Grace.”

At Grace’s call, Elaine immediately saluted her with the same neat posture she would have had in armor. I also saluted with a sharp stance.

Only then did Grace turn her head, meet our eyes, and nod before pointing to the seat next to her.

“It seems like you’re here to eat. If you haven’t chosen a seat yet, would you mind joining me? There might be some things we can talk about that can only be shared between us.”

A dining invitation from a superior, the head of the company.

How could we refuse?

Whether in a fantasy world or the modern world, if you live off a salary, you’re all just office workers.

“Thank you. If it’s not a bother, I’ll join you.”

At Grace’s invitation, Elaine immediately responded, and I too had no choice but to agree.

In this situation, if we were to say we were eating separately, it would surely cause misunderstandings.

The table where Grace was sitting was a square, four-person table, with one person sitting on each side.

Elaine sat across from Grace, and I sat between them.

By some coincidence, Elaine was on my right, and Grace was on my left.

For a moment, the image of a flower with both hands crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it.

This wasn’t a situation like that.

‘Ah, I’m going to feel bloated already.’

What kind of development is this?

Just a moment ago, I was enjoying a date with Elaine on my right, moving forward to a new life.

But now, on my left, was a heroine I had just given up on pursuing yesterday.

It wasn’t like I was caught cheating with Grace, since we hadn’t even had a romance, but emotionally, this was a very awkward position.

“The order…”

Elaine, who was usually calm, briefly faltered at the sight of meeting Grace, but as a professional, she quickly regained composure and calmly ordered the food.

Her gaze was firm, as if she had already made up her mind on what actions to take.

“Oh, I’ll have the same, please.”

As expected, Milky Way was a fantasy-style brunch café.

They sold simple drinks like coffee along with meals.

Despite the constraints of the North, the menu was surprisingly diverse, much like modern cafés. They even served fruit.

It was clearly one of Elaine’s favorite spots.

Originally, I had planned to ask Elaine for recommendations to learn more about her tastes.

But with Grace sitting next to us, it didn’t feel like the right moment to do so, so I ordered the same thing as her.

If Elaine chose it, I was sure it would be delicious.

After placing the order, I glanced at Grace to check on her.

‘Ugh, what the hell, that scared me.’

Grace was looking at me.

She stared without blinking, and I almost screamed without realizing it.

‘She must be curious.’

It wasn’t just anyone—her bodyguard captain and a new recruit she had recently taken an interest in were spending time together on their day off.

For Grace, who was involved with both of us, it was only natural that her curiosity would be piqued.

“I guess I should start with my story first.”

After a moment, Grace withdrew her gaze, took a sip of her coffee, and began to speak.

“I was tired today, so I decided to take it easy for a day. I was thinking about what to do, and I remembered this place you mentioned last time.”

Grace’s voice was calm and steady.

Her tone was similar to Elaine’s, but where Elaine’s was stiff and polite like a knight’s, Grace’s carried the dignity and ease typical of someone in a higher position.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t expect Grace to be on vacation today.’

Both Elaine and I belonged to the Northern Duke’s guard.

If we were on a mission, it meant we were escorting Grace.

If the guard had been granted a three-day vacation, it was clear that Grace, their master, was also dealing with the fatigue of battle.

“Is the food to your liking?”

“I just started, but it’s excellent. As expected, this is a recommendation from someone I trust. The fluffiness of the eggs is exactly to my taste.”

Though her expression was as impassive as usual, Grace nodding her head meant she was approving of this place.

Elaine gave a small bow, expressing gratitude for the compliment, but…

“Still, leaving the guard behind is not ideal. While one team may be on vacation, there are others. To prevent any accidents, you should bring them along when you go out.”

She quickly poured out her reprimands in front of Grace.

Elaine was fiercely loyal, always standing one step behind and serving her lord with respect. But she wasn’t just a silent servant—she wasn’t afraid to voice her concerns and criticism when necessary.

One of the reasons I liked Elaine so much was because of this side of her.

“Ha, I knew you’d say that.”

Grace, seemingly unbothered by the deluge of advice, let out a light chuckle.

“Is it really necessary to have more guards than this?” she said, tapping the sword beside her on the table.

Though her words might sound arrogant, I mentally gave her a thumbs-up.

If Grace had a sword in her hand, to assassinate her, you’d need at least a high-ranking demon.

Or perhaps a dragon disguised as a human.

Anyone who could kill Grace at a human level would be strong enough to be a major villain in a story.

And I, as a reader, can confirm—it doesn’t exist.

There are assassination organizations in the villain faction, but even they would find it impossible to deal with Grace.

Actually, there was one attempt in the novel when Grace didn’t have her sword, but…

That day, the readers learned why the heroine was called “The Strongest in Humanity,” not because of her appearance, but her power.

So, I wasn’t worried in the slightest.

‘Still, I should prevent any assassination attempts.’

I had planned to protect Grace’s safety as a good event to boost her favorability, and I still intended to do so even though I had abandoned the route.

If I protect Grace’s safety, I could show Elaine a heroic side of me.

“Besides, bringing the guards would make too much noise and disturb the citizens who frequent this place. You wouldn’t have had this chance to meet by accident, either.”

“Still, you must always bring guards. Your safety is the safety of the North.”

“I know. It’s only because you were on vacation that this walk was possible. Normally, you’d be watching me closely, so I wouldn’t be walking alone like this.”

Grace smiled playfully at the flustered Elaine and, while scooping mashed potatoes with her fork, murmured softly.

“And I’m not really alone.”

After that vague statement, Grace continued eating, but Elaine, having understood, stopped her scolding and spoke.

“Shey is nearby.”

Shey.

That name caught my attention.

Surprisingly, this was a character I had never heard of before, not even an extra.

But once I joined the guard, I learned who she was.

If Elaine was the captain of the guard who protected the Northern Duke in the open, Shey was the shadow warrior who secretly protected the North from the shadows.

Think of her as a ninja-like figure.

That was Shey.

I had only heard of her existence, but I didn’t know her face, age, or gender. She was a secret agent.

It wasn’t even clear whether her name was real or just a code name.

The only ones who seemed to know about her were Grace, the head of the North, and Elaine, the captain of the guard.

“Well, I think I’ve told you enough. Now it’s time to satisfy your curiosity.”

Before I could respond, Grace, eager to move the conversation forward, said, “Elaine, and Guard Luke. I knew you two were close, but how did you come to be here together on your day off?”

She didn’t flash a mischievous smile, as would be expected from someone like her, but her eyes gleamed with interest.

From the moment she stared at me, I had a hunch she wanted to hear this.

“Ah, well, we—”

Our meeting with Grace was an unexpected incident, so we didn’t have the chance to synchronize our answers, but making up an excuse wasn’t a problem.

Unlike Bill, Grace knew about our relationship, and it was exactly because of that that she would dig deeper into the details.

We ran into each other by chance while out on our day off.

Elaine was impressed by my performance in the recent mission and decided to treat me to a meal. This simple scenario was enough.

Grace knew that Elaine cared about me, and she also knew that I always worked hard during missions. It wasn’t at all awkward for a superior to treat a subordinate they favor to a meal. It could be naturally passed off without creating unnecessary misunderstandings.

Of course, even though it could be explained this way, there was still room for misunderstandings, given the situation. But if it was Grace, I wasn’t worried.

Grace, the popular heroine from Brave Road, was known for not always having the best reactions when she appeared in the story. Sometimes, the readers even found her frustrating. This stemmed from her indifference toward romance.

Even though Grace had romantic flags with the protagonist, their relationship never developed romantically. This wasn’t solely because the protagonist was oblivious—there were other factors. As the heroine with the highest status and the only one who held her own faction, Grace was incredibly busy. She also had a workaholic personality, leaving her no time for romance.

Moreover, due to her abilities and background, Grace was surrounded by love and attention, making her unable to understand the need to actively pursue someone to attract their affection. Raised in an aristocratic family, she never considered that men and women might casually date before marriage.

These various factors combined meant that Grace never understood the need to appeal to someone’s romantic side. Without understanding the fun of romance, she never paid attention to other people’s love stories.

In Grace’s simple view, half of the world is men, and the other half is women. As she lived her life, she would naturally meet someone she liked, spend time with them, and eventually get married.

This attitude frustrated the readers, as other heroines were actively pursuing the protagonist, while Grace remained passive. Still, because Grace clearly had feelings for the protagonist, the readers held out hope that, one day, the romance would pick up pace. But even by the end of the episode, it hadn’t progressed. Instead, their relationship ended in a close friendship, not a romance.

I wasn’t just trying to win Grace over for nothing. I had been carefully working to show her my feelings, hoping that one day, she would notice. I knew that to capture her heart, persistence was key.

Considering Grace’s indifference to romance, I didn’t expect her to dive too deep into my relationship with Elaine. If I gave a proper explanation, she’d likely respond with, “I see,” and pass it off with something like, “It’s important for comrades to maintain good relations.”

As I said, although I had been trying to win Grace’s heart, there had been no significant interactions or events between us yet. We had no real connection.

“During the outing…?” Grace paused, her fork hovering over her mashed potatoes as she blinked, confused.

“I’m in a relationship with Luke. We’re on a date right now.”

“??”

Both Grace and I turned to look at Elaine.

Elaine, the one who had dropped the bomb without any warning, was sitting there with a completely calm expression.

“We’ll both be careful not to let personal feelings interfere with our mission, so you don’t need to worry, Your Excellency.”

Elaine said this as she placed her hand over mine.

I hadn’t intended to reveal this to Grace just yet, but Elaine was going ahead without any preparation. Considering Elaine’s personality, it wasn’t totally surprising, but it was still quite sudden.

Most of all, she wasn’t the type to make a rash decision like this without consulting me first.

Curious about how Grace would react, I cautiously glanced in her direction. Grace was still looking at our hands, which we were holding, with her usual unreadable expression. But then—

“7”

Did I imagine it?

In that brief moment, I thought I saw Grace’s eyes twitch just slightly.