Shuher glanced at the familiar gun and asked as if he couldn’t understand.

“Why did you bring this out?”

“I heard from Lord Demil today. That this gun is a very special item.”

“Ah, that.”

Ibnel was rather deflated by his too nonchalant reaction. She was asking seriously.

“No, this is not something you should talk about so casually. I heard it was given by none other than His Majesty the late Emperor. Why on earth… What were you thinking when you gave this to me?”

She asked bluntly out of genuine curiosity. Shuher, finally realizing why Ibnel had come, picked up the gun placed on the table.

“I didn’t give it to you, I just lent it temporarily.”

“I didn’t come to see Your Majesty to hear such wordplay. I really can’t understand with my mind. I was so preoccupied today I couldn’t even focus on training.”

Perhaps recognizing her seriousness, Shuher turned his gaze to the gun. Looking at the pattern paired with the sword, he began to speak in a more solemn voice than before.

“As you’ve heard, this is something my father gave me. He had a sword and a gun made for the future. To fit me best.”

The black eyes were already lost in memories. Recalling when he first received this gift.

Shuher was too young when he first received this, so he could only use it when he had built up his strength and was able to handle it fully.

Since that day, he had used the sword his father gave him whenever facing any enemy. He also cherished the rarely used gun. Because it was an item with such special meaning, it was indeed surprising that he had handed the gun to Ibnel.

“But is that so important to you, young lady?”

“Of course. How could I use it comfortably knowing it has such deep meaning? Moreover… I who am of Aodin.”

Besides, knowing everything that happened between the late Emperor and Aodin.

“It’s too heavy for me to use.”

Ibnel felt as if a heavy weight was attached to her hand when holding that gun. As if the heavy karma of the past was clinging to it.

Her gaze fixed on the ground with her head bowed down spoke of her complex feelings.

“You were so happy when you received it, what happened to that?”

“That was when I didn’t know these circumstances…”

Ibnel raised her head but had to stop speaking when she saw the gun held out in front of her. Her eyes, clearly bewildered by the meaning of the action, alternated between looking at the gun and Shuher’s face.

As Ibnel just stood still watching, he practically threw the gun into her arms. She received it reflexively.

“No, why.”

“Don’t make me say it twice. This is already something that has left my hands.”

“What did you hear from what I said? What if someone sees this in my hand? You know what people will say, don’t you?”

If even Demil knew, there would be almost no one who didn’t know the story behind this gun. If it became known that Shuher had given it directly, there would surely be people who would doubt his intentions.

Shuher snorted at her worried words.

“Who are you worrying about in your current position?”

“I’m seriously saying…”

“When my father gave me this sword and gun, he had something to say.”

Ibnel stopped what she was saying and showed interest in what he was saying. What did that have to do with him giving this gun to her?

“What did he say?”

“To use it to protect Karies.”

Shuher recalled the rough hand that patted his head along with those words. He had never once forgotten that voice filled with his father’s earnest wish.

As Ibnel said, his father, the late Emperor of Karies, had suffered miserably due to Aodin’s betrayal and struggled to survive.

Yet ironically, it was because of those words that he had no choice but to decide to give this gun to her.

“That’s why I entrusted it to you, young lady.”

To Ibnel, those words sounded like this: Because she had taken the lead in protecting Karies, she was qualified to hold this gun.

She looked down at the gun she was holding in both hands.

Though his tone was still blunt and indifferent, she felt somehow choked up as if she had heard words of comfort. Perhaps because she hadn’t expected to hear such things from Shuher at all, it felt as if he had acknowledged her existence.

Thinking that way, she no longer felt that weight that had been pressing down on her just moments ago.

“And it doesn’t matter what people say. Do I look like I’d be swayed by such trivial matters?”

Ibnel shook her head as if entranced by that question. Thinking about it again, it really was a needless worry. He would make anyone submit completely.

“Why are you doing this?”

He thought she would have understood enough with what he’d said so far, but the words that came out of her mouth made even a hint of annoyance appear in Shuher’s eyes.

Just as he was about to say that he was done arguing, Ibnel’s voice was heard once more.

“If you say that, it makes me hope. That… I can stay here.”

His mouth closed in tandem with her voice that seemed either filled with emotion or on the verge of tears. He couldn’t easily define the emotions contained in those eyes where joy and sorrow coexisted.

When their eyes met, he coughed awkwardly a few times.

Ibnel, holding the gun tightly with both hands, poured out the worries she had been having all day. It was also the story she hadn’t finished telling last time.

About what she would do from now on.

“Now that Davian has appeared, the condition for me to leave this palace has been met. Your Majesty won’t be able to deny that.”

Shuher had nothing to say about that part since he had agreed to it himself. Who would have known this situation would arise?

“Actually, I was originally planning to leave without looking back. I wanted to live quietly somewhere where no one knew me.”

But her words didn’t end there.

“But when it actually came to it, I found myself hesitating. I must be crazy even by my own standards. What good things have I experienced here? Even now, there are only people who disapprove of me everywhere, why am I volunteering for such a thorny path?”

Ibnel smiled as if finding herself ridiculous even as she said this. She looked dejected, but somehow also relieved.

“Even until I came to meet Your Majesty, I couldn’t make a decision. Whether to just leave as originally planned.”

“Have you made a decision now?”

“Yes, I completely made up my mind just now.”

Shuher was now anxiously waiting for what she would say. He had never been this nervous even when facing countless monsters.

Ibnel looked straight into his eyes without wavering. And she gave an answer full of conviction that made her previous hesitation seem meaningless.

“I want to stay here. This time, by my own will.”

If her decision to stay in Karies the first time had been an unavoidable second-best choice, this time she wanted to be here by her own will.

“It would be a waste of all the effort I’ve put in so far, and I’ve grown fond of this place despite myself. I guess I’ve become attached to this place without realizing.”

She really didn’t want to admit it, even out of spite, but the truth was she liked the connections she had made in Karies. The knights, Emil, Hebre, Henea. At least they saw her for who she was.

Ibnel was embarrassed by her sudden change of heart, but since Shuher showed no reaction, she raised her voice unnecessarily. She wished he would say something quickly.

“Why aren’t you reacting? Shouldn’t you be happy?”

“Why should I be?”

“Of course you should be happy. An excellent talent is saying they’ll stay here.”

When she put her hand on her chest and spoke proudly, a deflating laugh was heard from him. The tension he had felt until just now disappeared in an instant.

In fact, he was unknowingly feeling relieved. At the fact that Ibnel was not leaving.

Ibnel didn’t know, but in that brief moment, countless thoughts crossed his mind. What he should do if she really said she was leaving, whether he would have to use cruel methods as a last resort.

Even though there was no need for that now that Davian was here, Shuher was too naturally trying to tie her down. He only thought that Ibnel needed to be by his side.

As Shuher didn’t answer to the end that she should stay, Ibnel’s worry gradually rose. She wondered if she had counted her chickens before they hatched when no one had offered her anything.

“Did you perhaps think this was a good opportunity to get rid of me, but I got ahead of myself? If so, I think I might be quite embarrassed right now.”

“You know you’re getting ahead.”

“So what are you going to do with me? Should I leave or stay?”

At her devil-may-care tone, Shuher thought it was just like her, but his mouth was already uttering that answer.

“From my standpoint, there’s no reason to kick away prey that’s rolling in.”

“What an expression. Would it kill you to just say you’re glad?”

But since she had said everything she wanted to say, Ibnel stood up with a relieved face.

“I seem to have taken more of your time than expected, so I’ll be going now. You seem to be still busy. Working at this hour.”

Ibnel, who was about to leave, remembered something she hadn’t said and asked him.

“But what are you going to tell the nobles? I don’t think they’ll easily agree just because Davian is here. Even now they’re grinding their teeth thinking of how to kill me.”

Shuher, who was walking towards his desk after also standing up, stopped at those words and looked at her. Then he asked in a lower voice than before.

“How did you know that? Did you hear it from Demil?”

“No. Actually, I happened to meet Duke Halan on his way to the meeting today. He was saying it openly. That they would decide how to kill me today.”

She spoke so calmly, as if talking about the weather, that he ended up asking accusingly.

“Why didn’t you think I would agree to that opinion? Such promises can be easily broken.”

Despite his look of incomprehension, Ibnel answered without hesitation. As if she was certain there was no other answer than this.

“Because Your Majesty would not have agreed.”

“So how can you be so sure of that? I could kill you. I’ve said that many times.”

“Don’t you think it’s too late for those words?”

Despite knowing that Shuher could kill her as he said, Ibnel’s face was still full of composure.

Just as he was about to open his mouth at her seemingly mocking attitude, she closed the distance of a few steps in an instant. Then, with her hand holding the gun behind her back, she leaned slightly towards him and said in a voice clearly filled with laughter.

“I’m sorry, but from the moment Your Majesty gave me this gun, I saw through you. That you… won’t kill me.”

Ibnel looked at him with challenging eyes as if daring him to refute if he could. Even before hearing Demil’s story, from the moment he entrusted her with his possession, she was certain it wouldn’t happen.

At that sight, ripples spread as if a drop of rain had fallen on calm water. In the cool black eyes, and in Shuher’s heart that had been devoid of even a hint of warmth.