That evening, after returning from their exhibition hall visit, the cadets went off to their rooms to spend the final night of the field trip. I was also about to do the same, but Iris came to me and said something unexpected.

I blinked at her in surprise. “What? Professor Baldwin prepared us an empty room?”

“Yes! It was originally supposed to be Albert’s, but since he’s gone to the main building, one room’s free now.”

“Hmm, are we even allowed to just use it like that?”

“P-Professor Baldwin said it’s fine!” Iris clenched her fists, her face full of determination. “Tomorrow the trip ends anyway, so, um, how about we have a light drink tonight?”

Normally, it was against the rules for cadets to drink together in their rooms during field trips. But since they weren’t minors but grown adults, the faculty rarely enforced the rule. The problem was that I had already caused enough trouble during this trip. I was already on thin ice with the academy, so breaking another rule didn’t sit right with me. Nevertheless, Professor Baldwin herself had given permission. So, this probably wouldn’t cause any issue.

I asked Iris, “Should we invite the others too?”

“N-no! Let’s just drink together!”

“Just the two of us?”

Iris swallowed hard, looking tense and nervous. “Yes!”

At that moment, I realized we hadn’t spent much time alone lately. During the beast legion’s attack, I had spent some moments alone with Professor Baldwin or Yurina, but I didn’t have a single chance to be alone with Iris.

Wait, there was that one time.

I recalled the disaster that had unfolded the last time she had invited me to her dorm room, and my face grew hot. Shaking my head, I immediately tried to banish the memory.

I answered, “All right then. Let’s have a drink, just the two of us.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. I’ll just run to the store real quick to grab some alcohol.”

“Oh! No need! I already have some from Professor Baldwin!” Iris replied.

“You do?”

Apparently, while I had been off on the tour, she had been making her own preparations for this private time.

“Then let’s go,” I said.

“T-this way.”

Iris led me to the room that had originally been reserved for Albert. As soon as we stepped inside and closed the door, an awkward silence settled between us. Iris coughed softly to break it, then went over to the small table. She uncorked the bottle of fine wine she had gotten from Professor Baldwin, and a rich, fragrant aroma filled the room.

“Smells expensive,” I said.

“Ah, yes. Professor Baldwin said it was hard to get and gifted it to me.”

“Strange. She usually goes for the cheap stuff.”

We lifted our glasses and clinked them lightly. The pale moonlight streaming in through the window, the faint chirping of crickets, and the wine’s sweet scent created a mood so romantic it almost felt intoxicating on its own.

“How was the exhibition tour?” Iris asked.

“Boring, mostly.”

Unless there was something extraordinary, exhibition tours were rarely exciting.

Iris took a graceful sip of wine and continued, “Hehe. But you met Lady Grace in person, didn’t you? That must have felt special. What was she like?”

“Well...”

“I’ve only ever seen her in paintings, but she must’ve been gentle and kind, like Pope Marianne, right?”

While I had told Iris about meeting Grace at the grave, I had not gone over what kind of person she truly was. To someone raised in the Holy Empire, Grace probably was the very image of compassion and holiness itself.

“Uh, y-yeah. Something like that.”

Iris’s eyes became bright as she nodded eagerly. “I knew it! I wish I could’ve met her myself. It’s a shame she vanished.”

“Well, she was only a remnant soul, so yeah.”

“Hmm?”

“Ah, sorry. Forget it.”

“Oh, come on, now I’m curious!”

For a moment, I considered giving her the relic Grace had left behind, but in the end, I decided showing it to Professor Bastion first and having it turned into a proper artifact would be a better choice.

I looked at her. “So, what did you do while I was gone?”

“Oh, um, we had dinner together, went to the hot springs, and then...”

“And then?”

She coughed and suddenly turned away. “Never mind!”

Her cheeks flushed. She had clearly remembered something embarrassing.

After taking a slow, steadying breath, she looked back at me. “Um, Dale.”

“Yeah?”

“Earlier today, I talked with Professor Baldwin and Yurina and Laneige too.”

The names alone made my shoulders tense.

“You probably already know how each of them feels about you, don’t you?”

“Well...”

“Hehe. No need to look so guilty. I told you before, didn’t I? People might think it’s strange, but I don’t think this kind of relationship is all that bad.”

I kept quiet.

Iris set down her glass. “But still...”

She slowly rose from her seat and gently sat down on my lap. Her soft warmth pressed against me, the faint scent of her skin filling the space between us.

Flustered, I looked at her. “I-Iris?”

“But sometimes, I want to be selfish too.” Her eyes, hazy with wine and emotion, lifted toward mine as she traced my lips lightly with her fingers. “You haven’t forgotten our promise, have you? That I’d be... your first.”

Our lips met slowly and naturally. The taste of sweet wine mixed with the soft, melting warmth of her tongue.

“I-Iris.”

She pulled back just enough to grin playfully, sticking her tongue out slightly. “Come to think of it, there was another promise too, wasn’t there?”

“Another promise?”

“Oh my! Pretending you don’t remember now? You said that if I won the treasure hunt, you’d grant me one wish.”

“Ah!”

“My wish is...” Iris trailed off, her cheeks flushing red.

Before she could even finish, I closed the distance between us and kissed her again.

“Mmmph.”

There was no need for her to say it aloud. I already knew what her wish was.

“D-Dale.”

“Should I wash up first?” I asked.

“N-no, it’s fine.” Iris gazed at me with eyes full of heat, her breath trembling with anticipation. “Dale, can I ask something?”

“Yeah?”

“This is, uh, your first time too, right?”

Technically, it wasn’t. But if I were counting my past life anyway, Iris was the only one I’d ever been with.

I gave a small, deliberate nod. “Yeah. It’s my first time.”

Relief washed over her face as she smiled shyly. “Hehe. I see.”

I gathered her into my arms and carried her to the bed. She lay back, her fingers tightening around mine, a mix of nervousness and excitement written all over her face.

She said, “Being here, so close to where Lady Grace’s tomb is, it almost feels like we’re committing a sin.”

I teased her. “Then should we stop?”

She puffed her cheeks. “If you quit now after coming this far, I might actually get mad.”

I chuckled softly. “Just kidding.”

I ran my hand through her hair. She faintly trembled at my touch. Thinking about how much courage it had taken her to get to this moment, I couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh. I should have been the one to take the initiative. I had known how she felt for a long time, and yet, I kept pretending not to notice, hiding behind excuses that I wasn’t ready.

It was because I was afraid. I was terrified, terrified that the fragile happiness I had finally grasped would slip away again like sand through my fingers, that I would lose everything again, just like in my previous life. So, despite knowing her feelings, I ran away like a cowardly child.

What a pathetic bastard, I said to myself.

I had sworn to change the future when I came back in time. I had sworn to protect everyone this time. Yet, here I was, trembling just because I was afraid of losing something precious.

Iris reached out her hand to me. “Dale? Hehe. What are you so scared of?”

Seeing me freeze like that seemed to ease her tension a little, and she smiled teasingly. “Worried you’ll be bad at it?”

“No, that’s not...”

She replied, “It’s fine. I heard it’s normal for people to make mistakes the first time.”

She patted my back as if to comfort me. But for some reason, that made something in me snap. No, that was not the case at all. I had just been caught up in my thoughts for a second, and she thought I was nervous? A strange sense of bitterness and pride bubbled up inside me.

All right then. Guess I’ll just have to show her.

Iris was the only one I had ever been with, but that meant I knew a lot about her. Her reactions, her weak spots, what she liked—I knew every little thing. So, I slowly undressed her, careful and deliberate.

The calm confidence Iris had shown a moment ago vanished. She looked up at me with wide, trembling eyes, nerves written all over her face.

“D-Dale.”

I smiled faintly, brushing my hand along her skin. “Don’t worry.”

I’ll make you feel so good you forget everything else.

***

Six hours later, the room was still so hot that even the winter chill couldn’t touch it. After putting every ounce of my past-life experience to use, I had successfully brought the night to its climax.

Suddenly, a wine glass shattered against the wall.

Iris grabbed me by the collar, fury blazing in her eyes. “You! You bastard!”

“Gah! I-Iris—”

“Y-you said it was your first time, you liar!”

“It is.”

Her expression twisted into pure outrage. “First time? FIRST TIME, YOU SAY? If it’s really your first time, then how the hell are you THAT good?”

“I, uh, there’s a reason for that.”

Tears welled in her eyes as she swung her fists at me. “You evil man! I trusted you! I believed you! Who is she, huh? Who is the woman before me, YOU BASTARD?”

“W-wait! Calm down, Iris!”

“Calm down? Are you seriously asking me to CALM DOWN, right now?”

She bit her lip, crying in frustration, tears streaking down her cheeks.

As I saw her like that, my words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself. “I-it was you! It’s because I did it with you before!”

Iris froze mid-swing, staring at me. “What? W-what do you mean by that?”