Although not a loud voice, his voice reached Riana.

As Riana stopped with a start, Eclas stepped forward.

“I asked her to step aside as this is not a place for a maid. Besides, with the noble Deputy Chief Giselle here, shouldn’t the servants be bustling about?”

Eclas narrowed his eyes with a smile.

Sched saw the red pupils pointing to the Deputy Chief beside him.

A gaze seeming to urge prudent behavior in the presence of his fiancée.

At that, Sched bit his lower lip once and released it.

Since that day, he had not met Riana.

Though he had nightmares every night, he could neither go to see her nor summon her to his side.

It was because the memory of that beast-like dawn bound him.

Instead, he asked about Riana’s whereabouts every day.

It was due to anxiety.

Fearing she might disappear like that day.

Fearing she might vanish in an instant like in his nightmares.

To his persistent questions, the head butler Werner reported on Riana’s daily life for morning, noon, and evening.

Though he knew he might look crazy, he had to do so to somehow peel off the nightmares.

Despite being so curious, he couldn’t continue speaking at Eclas’s gaze.

He didn’t know what words to say to her.

He had called out to her unthinkingly, but what on earth was he supposed to say?

He fumbled through countless words, but none could flow between the two of them.

It was as if all paths leading to Riana Serpens were cut off.

Sched could only stand in that isolated, unreachable place.

“Lord Lester, don’t you have much to talk about with your fiancée, Deputy Chief Giselle Marlhein, after meeting her after so long?”

Eclas said, looking back and forth between Sched and the woman beside him.

Meanwhile, Riana had disappeared beyond the corridor as if fleeing.

Sched took in the sight of her retreating figure vanishing around the corner.

Eclas flashed a broad smile at the two of them.

Returning to her room, Giselle thought of Sched Lester.

She had never been pushed aside by anyone before.

Everyone listened to her words, and some even excessively exalted her.

But that big-bodied fiancé was terribly stubborn, as if his body was made of rock.

Though extremely irritating, she could understand to some extent.

Without such a strong personality, the beast couldn’t have risen to the position of duke.

He doesn’t give off the boring and refined scent of a born upper-class.

The wild smell unique to someone who has clawed their way up from the bottom.

Yet someone who somehow has the air of ‘one who reigns’.

Sched Lester is neither boring, nor obvious, nor simple.

Unlike those who sent proposals while groveling, he was always confident.

For a Lupus, that demeanor caught her eye and appealed to her.

A man worthy of standing beside Giselle Marlhein should have that much composure, right?

The young lady admired by all loved that aspect of her fiancé.

At the same time, she hated that aspect.

Giselle herself thought her taste was quite nasty.

When choosing a fiancé, she never once planned for a happy family or sweet and romantic love.

She knew she had deliberately chosen a difficult path.

Still, she was confident she could handle it.

Because she was Giselle Marlhein.

But her fiancé was not as easy as she had expected.

Giselle pressed her brow firmly.

Her fiancé always had an unlikable side to him.

But today he was especially irritating.

‘Something’s different…’

Giselle recalled her fiancé whom she met after a long time.

He looked gruff as always, but how to put it, the atmosphere had changed.

He was originally an insensitive fiancé, but now it was beyond that…

‘A feeling of pushing me away.’

She could clearly feel his discomfort towards her.

Until now, he had let her do as she pleased, as if he didn’t care either way.

When she linked arms in front of people, when they went to balls together, when she embraced him in front of others.

Even when hugging, it felt like hugging a rock, but at least he didn’t forcibly avoid or push her away.

So she thought he would remain indifferent to the marriage proposal as well.

That he would be dragged along as she wished…

That he would leave everything to her as if telling her to do as she pleased.

But today, his eyes showed clear discomfort.

A feeling of not wanting to even touch her.

Why on earth?

If she were to consider the reason, there was only one thing that came to mind.

‘That woman.’

The maid Sched Lester had called out to.

A woman with auburn hair, a pale face, and a slender figure.

A neat and pure beauty that stood out even from afar.

‘To think Sched Lester would call out to a woman.’

Giselle knew how insensitive her fiancé was to women.

But he was different with that woman.

That tone and gaze.

She saw his face, usually hard as an iron fortress, crumble in an instant to a flood of emotions.

“Haa… I knew he was gruff, but I didn’t know he was stupid.”

Giselle muttered, twirling the wine glass with her fingertips.

Just then, a knock, knock sound called for her.

“Deputy Chief, I’ve found out what you asked about.”

It was the voice of her maid, Justin.

“Come in.”

Giselle put down her wine glass and spoke in a thoroughly sweet voice.

As she sat up straight, Justin politely opened the door and entered.

“You must be tired, I’m sorry for asking such a troublesome thing right after you arrived.”

Giselle erased her irritated expression from earlier and spoke with kind concern.

“Not at all, Deputy Chief. It’s my pleasure to serve you.”

“May God’s blessings always be upon Justin.”

As Giselle expressed her gratitude and blessed her, Justin’s face brightened.

“So, about that woman?”

“Well, when I asked about the maid you mentioned, everyone told me right away.”

Justin relayed to Giselle the story she had heard from the servants of the Lester family.

“Her name is Riana Serpens, and Duke Lester personally brought her from the Godwin household not long ago.”

“Personally?”

“It seems he’s quite fond of that maid.”

Justin relayed everything she had heard from the servants.

Even the story that Sched Lester has been checking on her whereabouts every day recently.

‘Ha…!’

Giselle silently bit back a curse in front of Justin, holding a silent prayer in her mouth.

The stone-like Sched Lester has started to care for a woman? And for a mere maid at that?

Giselle barely managed her expression that was about to contort.

“…Thank you for letting me know, Justin.”

“…Are you alright, Deputy Chief?”

Justin worried about Giselle, who had just heard that her fiancé was captivated by another woman.

“Justin. Do I look like someone who would be shaken by such a man?”

“Ah, no! Absolutely not!”

“Right? Don’t worry.”

Giselle flashed a spotless smile at Justin, who was waving her hands.

The maid nodded, seeming relieved.

“Then rest well, Deputy Chief Giselle. May God be with you.”

“Yes. May God be with you.”

The man wiped his bleeding mouth with his forearm.

“Ha, if I were that girl, I wouldn’t waste time regenerating a mere arm like this.”

He muttered, moving the arm he had lost.

It took some time, but the arm that had been cut off by the Swordmaster’s blade had regenerated perfectly.

The heretic stepped on the corpse on the ground and climbed to a high place.

The Paradel Castle could be seen in the distance.

The protective barrier shimmered faintly like an aurora in the night sky.

His teeth ground at that beautiful sight.

“This damned barrier is no joke.”

It was a meticulously and perfectly constructed barrier.

It wouldn’t be easy to destroy with this incomplete body.

Moreover, inside was a Swordmaster strong enough to cut off his arm.

“And now the priests have come swarming like dogs…”

At first, it seemed only a few would come, but yesterday another priest came for support.

He couldn’t see up close, but clearly another Deputy Chief had been added.

The holy power felt was at a level he had never seen before. If he were to clash with such a person, he would likely be defeated with high probability.

A clever strategy was needed.

For now, he urgently hunted humans outside of Paradel.

More sacrifices than usual were needed to prevent his body and self from collapsing, and to regenerate his arm.

“I need to get stronger.”

But how?

That cursed creator of his had died. After injecting black magic into his body without completing the spell to the end.

He sought ways to complete his body on his own.

But it was impossible to continue the long-forgotten black magic spell alone.

The priests who came here 8 years ago had burned all related materials.

“How long does that stupid girl intend to stay there?”

He gnawed on his blood-stained lips while looking at Paradel.

He couldn’t understand Louise Ideana at all.

There were already five or six priests staying in Paradel. Add to that the formidable Deputy Chiefs and a Swordmaster, and even she wouldn’t be safe if discovered.

‘Even if she’s a complete product, it would be hard to face them alone… Or does she not care since she won’t die?’

He twisted his lips disgustingly, licking them with the tip of his bright red tongue.

‘If that girl would join my side, everything would be simple.’

Anyone could see they were on the same side, right?

One with heretical power, and those who reject heresy.

He could sympathize with her joy and pain better than anyone in the world.

If the two were together, taking over this empire would be a piece of cake.

But that stupid and foolish woman was immersing herself in the worst choice.

“I can’t let them keep running amok… Should I lure them one by one and rip out their throats?”

Just as he was earnestly pondering, rolling his eyes.

“Ripping out throats, how scary…”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice cut in behind him.

The heretic turned around with a start.

“Who’s there!”

He quickly scanned the chilly surroundings.

Then a strange shadow revealed itself from behind a rock.

“Long time no see, Half-baked one.”

The eyes of the heretic called Half-baked widened.