“Are you satisfied?”

A quiet corridor where everyone had retreated.

Sched, who had stopped walking, asked.

Riana slowly raised her head.

Sched, who had been walking ahead, had suddenly turned around and was looking down at her.

The constantly cloudy weather had suddenly cleared, and light was pouring in through the window. This made the contours of his face stand out more, and it was also more apparent that he was angry.

As deep as the light was, the shadows were also clear, so while one side of his face was shining brightly, the opposite side was deeply immersed in darkness.

Even his purple eyes seemed to be of different colors on each side. One side sparkled as if it would cry, containing light, while the other side had a dark and piercing light as if it would kill someone right away.

Riana parted her lips while taking in his face.

“I won’t go to Ideana.”

Her lips stung at the corners and her cheeks tingled with every movement, and her jaw felt stiff. But she pronounced the sentence accurately.

Then a darker shadow fell over Sched’s face.

“You can’t defy my orders.”

He warned in a low voice.

“I haven’t yet agreed to become a maid of the duke’s family, ugh…!”

As Riana tried to argue, Sched pushed her against the wall.

Her back ached where it hit the wall.

“Don’t mistake yourself for some noble young lady.”

Sched’s face, with his back to the window, was completely immersed in shadows.

So, only the boiling anger remained in his eyes.

“I’ve never mistaken that. I just have a choice too.”

“A choice…?”

As if the word ‘choice’ was a forced joke, he raised the corners of his mouth unpleasantly.

“Did a subordinate ever have such a thing?”

The hand gripping Riana’s shoulder tightened.

Her shoulder hurt as if it would break.

“Are you asking if I had such a choice, Louise Ideana?”

His whisper, as oppressive as if he had completely erased his past as a slave, weighed down on her.

Riana’s eyelids, which had been resisting until just now, trembled finely.

“Was my will ever reflected in entering and leaving the Ideana County? Huh?”

His question flew like a dagger and gouged her heart.

Faced with the memory of the past that he had dredged up, Riana could make no excuse or claim.

Only her green eyes wavered uneasily like leaves shaking in a gentle breeze.

“Seems you’ve finally understood.”

The strength drained from the large hand gripping her shoulder.

Sched slowly stepped back one step.

“If you understand your situation, follow quietly. After all, you’re returning to your homeland, aren’t you?”

Riana’s expression wavered at his carelessly uttered words.

He was mocking her while knowing what Ideana meant to her.

The place where the Ideana family, who had committed the crime of heretical rebellion, had been exterminated.

The land where she had fallen.

Riana’s small shoulders trembled finely, but Sched opened his mouth indifferently.

“So, be glad.”

For returning home after many years.

At this short remark, Riana bit her lips tightly.

Sched turned away, leaving Riana behind.

He disappeared, striding away with large steps.

Left alone in the quiet corridor, Riana sank to the floor, leaning against the wall.

Her hand clutching her black skirt was trembling.

“You’re going straight to Ideana?”

Eclas’s eyebrows twisted slightly.

But no answer came.

Sched Lester had been staring at the light shadow reflected on the table for a while now.

The light passing through the wine glass flowed in a distorted direction, rippling.

Ideana. Sched had been thinking about that name constantly.

A word that was both the name of the land and the name of that woman.

The more he savored that name, the sweeter it became.

Whether the land or that woman, they were now in his hands. Having lost their past glory and been tainted.

Sched recalled her trembling, curled up like a bird with broken wings.

‘Louise Ideana.’

She was small before, but she had become even smaller in a few years. She was thin and a mess. Dirty and insignificant, buried in the mud.

Just like Sched Lupus from 8 years ago, she seemed so easily manipulable.

When he reached that thought, he felt a slight irritation, but also satisfaction.

‘Going back to Ideana. Taking her with me.’

Just the thought made Sched Lester’s blood pulse.

Until he received the Ideana territory from the Emperor, he wasn’t pleased about that land. It was a place with only disgusting memories.

But the moment he discovered Louise Ideana, he sensed fate.

The Ideana territory was the perfect stage for revenge.

Sched wondered what expression Louise Ideana would make when they reached that land.

Will she tremble with a frightened face again? Or will she cry with tears? Will she kneel down and beg with both hands, saying sorry? Or will she get angry, being thick-skinned and unreasonable?

Sched couldn’t imagine her face.

Many things had changed in 8 years, and so had Louise Ideana.

“Lord Sched Lester. Are you listening to me?”

Only after Eclas called out once more in a clear voice did Sched’s eyelids slowly lift.

Displeased that the Duke was lost in thought in front of him, Eclas’s brow was furrowed.

“…I’ve sent important messages through Hedrick, so it doesn’t matter if it’s delayed by a few months.”

Sched parted his lips in a monotone voice.

From early on, he often left Münher Castle for war or beast hunting. There were many capable vassals and officials who could substitute for his absence.

Moreover…

Sched glanced at Eclas.

‘There are also eyes to watch.’

He thought, looking at the suspiciously shining red eyes.

The red eyes that met Sched’s gaze narrowed in displeasure.

“But everyone will be preparing to welcome you at Münher, won’t they?”

Eclas recalled the news the lark had delivered yesterday.

“A week ago, Marlhein’s carriage crossed the border. It even had the holy insignia, so it must be the High Priestess.”

The carriage of the Marlhein ducal family had gone to Münher Castle.

The Marlhein family was one of the Elector families holding the right to elect the Emperor.

Among the people of that family, only one person could bear the holy insignia of God. The person in that carriage that crossed the border was certainly the High Priestess, Giselle Marlhein.

The important thing was that Giselle was Sched Lester’s fiancée.

She must have come a long way to congratulate him after hearing the news of Sched’s victory.

But Sched was going to stand up his precious fiancée who had come a long way and change his destination to Ideana.

It was a decision that no one with a proper mind would make.

But Sched reached for his wine glass indifferently, resting his chin on his hand.

“The victory celebration was already noisy enough, there’s no need for another headache with a welcome ceremony.”

“I don’t want to meddle, but standing up your fiancée is not good in many ways. Especially if it’s the High Priestess of Marlhein.”

At Eclas’s advice, Sched’s fingertips paused as he was about to pick up the wine glass.

Sched recalled the woman he had made an engagement vow with years ago for strategic necessity.

So, that woman who had signed next to his name…

Well, what did she look like? He would recognize her if he saw her, but trying to recall in his mind, he couldn’t even remember what color her hair was.

What he remembered was that she was quite an ambitious woman.

But at the same time, wasn’t she quite righteous?

Sched thought lazily, stroking his chin.

Ambition and righteousness. Words that didn’t go well together.

For ambition, one can’t pursue justice, and to keep justice, one can’t achieve ambition, so probably one of them was wrong.

Whichever he had misjudged, it was clear that she was a woman born well, raised well, and still doing well.

Even at the engagement ceremony, she was busy greeting and chatting with other great noble gentlemen. As one of the few High Priestesses in the empire, many people revered her.

There were so many people around her that in his memory, Giselle Marlhein was just a mass of people.

Sched brought the glass back to his lips, recalling his fiancée.

“The merciful High Priestess will understand with her broad-mindedness.”

Sched drank his wine indifferently, pushing thoughts of his fiancée to the back of his mind.

Riana curled up on the small, worn bed that was like a coffin, closing her eyes.

Ideana. Once, people called that land paradise. A land so beautiful and abundant that it could remain prosperous even when far from the imperial territory and neglected by the center.

The blue sea surrounding the small peninsula, the lemon trees blooming with white flowers, and the wheat fields spreading along the hills were more lovely than any other land.

To the north stretched the Prunig mountain range, high enough for eternal snow to accumulate, and to the south lay emerald seas and white sand beaches.

Louise Ideana was born in such a land blessed by God.

But the beautiful Ideana she remembers no longer exists.

It was devastated by the curse of heresy called black magic, and butchered under the crime of treason.

The one who made that land like that was Louise Ideana herself.

“Louise, you will now live an eternal life.”

Riana curled up even smaller.

The disgusting memory rose like a swamp, pulling her down.

‘How did I escape, why did I have to leave…’

Riana recalled the reason why she left Ideana.

She couldn’t return there. No, she shouldn’t return.

For her own sake, for the sake of the abandoned land, and for Sched Lester’s sake.

As she reached the end of her deliberation, she made up her mind.

Riana rose from the bed.

The sun had completely set, but outside, people were still bustling about, preparing for tomorrow’s departure.

Since she had no luggage to bring, there was nothing to pack.

All she picked up was one old, yellowed skirt given by the head maid, a little money for travel expenses, and a small pocket knife she tucked into her bosom just in case.

Riana waited for people to disperse, then draped the ash-colored hood hanging beside her over her shoulders.

The worn shoes that left limping footsteps left the room.