When Airy infused her spirit into it, a green aura enveloped her entire body. The harp’s color also deepened and its radiant light pulsated as if throbbing.

A faint green energy slowly filled the empty center of the harp like a transparent film, giving off a sparkling glow.

And as it neared the Seed of Wind, the yellow seed began blinking faster and faster as if reacting to the harp.

The pulsating speed of the harp and the seed became identical, as if two hearts were resonating and beating at the same pace.

Now!

Like catching a dragonfly with a net, Airy scooped up the Seed of Wind with her harp!

It’s done!

As Airy touched the Seed of Wind, the fist-sized seed shrank to the size of a bean and was absorbed into Airy’s hand.

As if by magic, the wind subsided.

.

.

As the wind died down, Nikon and Yuriella plummeted rapidly.

“Captain! Captain!”

Nikon cried out, sobbing.

Even while unconscious, Yuriella tightly gripped Nikon’s collar.

Yuriella’s complexion was as pale as a corpse, her lips, cheeks, and neck stained red from the blood she had vomited.

“Captain! Captain!”

As Nikon desperately called out to Yuriella as if “Captain” was the only word he knew, a dark shadow fell over his head.

A large carriage that had been swept up in the whirlwind was hurtling towards the two of them.

“Ack!”

It was coming at an unavoidable speed and position.

Nikon hugged Yuriella tightly and closed his eyes.

Kwakwang!

A thunderous sound rang out right in front of them.

Nikon flinched and opened one eye.

The carriage that Frost had frozen white exploded and scattered like snowflakes, swallowed up by the whirlwind.

Nikon gaped and stared at Frost, who stood tall holding the holy sword Ielo.

Strands of silvery wind extended from the tall man surrounded by an aura of ice, forming a curtain-like barrier around Nikon and Yuriella.

His hair that had been whipping in the gale settled down.

The dust that had been painfully striking their faces disappeared.

Frost took Yuriella from Nikon’s arms, and his expression sank upon seeing his wife’s blood-stained face.

“Yuriella…!”

Airy, who had been quickly descending while wrapping the two horses in a gentle breeze, was also shocked to see her unconscious owner.

But getting everyone safely to the ground was the top priority, so she bit her lip and focused solely on controlling the wind that had come under her command.

Inside the circular wind barrier Airy created, it was soft and fluffy.

But outside, where the fierce gale had subsided, a light rain began to fall as the icy winds turned into a warm breeze.

Frost chanted his wife’s name like a prayer.

Yuriella. Yuriella. Yuriella.

Inside the wind barrier that did not let in a single gust or drop of rain, the grand duke’s silver eyelashes trembled, moist with tears.

*

On a distant hill, a voice also flowed from the red lips of a honey-blonde man gazing at the empty sky where the massive whirlwind had vanished.

“Solas. Solas…”

The woman he killed and came to love even more.

The one and only name engraved on his heart.

The emperor simply stood and watched until the grand duke and duchess disappeared beyond the plains.

He had long known that dark mages were conducting experiments to subjugate the wind in the East.

They had nearly succeeded 8 years ago, but it failed when the owner of the holy sword Ielo happened to get caught in the whirlwind. It took another 8 years for them to attempt it again.

Because it wasn’t just the massive whirlwind, unauthorized by nature, that had been cut by the fierce aura of the holy sword Ielo at that time.

A significant number of the high-ranking dark mages who led the experiment suffered internal injuries and lost their magical power. Several of them had also died.

After a long preparation, the experiment resumed, and they had barely succeeded again, which the viscount of the East had informed him not long ago.

He knew but pretended not to know.

He didn’t want to know either.

Because just enduring the imperial palace without Solas, no, even breathing was difficult during those days.

A chill ran down his spine when he heard Carina’s words in the Great Temple.

Justin did not return to the palace but leaped into the teleportation magic circle heading straight to the East.

By the time he arrived, the whirlwind was already starting to subside.

When he saw Yuriella unconscious in the grand duke’s arms, he almost lost his mind and ran to her.

‘It’s okay. Solas will be fine.’

The grand duke would not let any harm come to her. Although it left a bitter taste, now was the time for patience.

‘Solas will come to me as promised.’

If he were to be swept up in a moment’s anger and hurt the grand duke, she would turn her back on him forever. That mustn’t happen. Not when he had obtained this chance somehow.

Justin tried hard to suppress his desire to chase after Solas right away.

Instead, he thought about the things he wanted to do with her after giving up everything and leaving the imperial palace.

Since Solas thinks of food even when looking at fluffy clouds, it would be good to travel the southern coastal areas first, where ingredients are diverse and the climate is mild.

They must also visit the coral island of Scalato, where the waves glow blue at night. During the day, they could take out a small boat and go fishing, which she enjoys.

“Ugh. Ugh.”

The sound coming from his feet pulled Justin out of his pleasant imagination.

Cold blue eyes looked down at the groaning man, the smile wiped from his face.

A man in a black hood and cloak lay sprawled on the bloody mud, writhing in pain.

“Your Majesty… Why…?”

Justin stared indifferently as if watching a trivial insect die, then lifted his gaze to the empty sky where the whirlwind had disappeared.

“Because of you all, my precious person was almost gravely injured.”

“Ha, however… All of this was for Your Majesty…”

The dark mage coughed up blood, a squirming black magic coiled around his neck like a snake.

As if unwilling to grant him an easy death, the magic tightly wound around the man’s gaunt neck, constricting and loosening repeatedly to prolong his suffering.

And behind the man, black cloaks could be seen groaning and rolling on the ground, enduring the same punishment.

“Go and tell your leader. If he wants to live, leave this land at once and hide as if dead.”

“Your Majesty… However, that person is Your Majesty’s…”

The black cloak raised his head in a pleading gesture and let out a scream. “Aaargh!”

The black magic that had been coiled around his neck greatly expanded, completely engulfing the man, and the dark mages who had been sprawled out groaning were also swallowed by the magic that billowed up like a black cloud.

As if bored with punishing the men, Justin turned his horse’s reins and descended the hill path.

The black magic that had finished its task flowed smoothly and seeped into Justin’s body.

Sereno, the first falcon who had been silently following the emperor, asked with a puzzled face.

“Are you not returning to the palace?”

The horse the emperor was riding was heading in the direction the grand duke and duchess had disappeared earlier, not towards the gate management office where the teleportation magic circle was located.

“No. The emperor’s play will end soon anyway.”

“Your Majesty…”

“When I leave the imperial palace, you and your colleagues should leave too. If there’s anyone you want to kill before that, go ahead and kill them all. I’ll use my last exemption privilege for you.”

“…Must you really take off the crown?”

“Do you also think I’m crazy?”

Sereno fell silent for a moment at the emperor’s question. Then he gave an answer mixed with a sigh.

“Thinking is not my place. I simply follow Your Majesty’s orders.”

Justin’s gaze fell to his hands holding the reins.

The black magic that had punished the dark mages who had harmed Solas was still swelling in his hands, unable to calm its excitement.

His gemlike blue eyes that always shone brightly were also tainted black, exuding an ominous energy.

How long could he control this power? It would be stranger not to go mad with the darkness consuming him.

The emperor, who had been looking at the plains swept by the whirlwind, murmured as if joking.

“Sereno. While we’re here, shall we sweep away the entire East? They sent vile undead assassins to Solas too. If we leave them be, they’ll just pester Solas to win me back.”

Sereno’s hair stood on end. The emperor was not joking right now.

Confining Her Majesty the Empress Dowager to the Swan Palace was not solely out of concern that she would oppose abdicating to the crown prince.

Regardless of the target, Sereno was rarely flustered or made mistakes.

But when his thoughts reached the possibility that the emperor’s next target might be the empress dowager and the House Figueira, his mind went blank.

Sereno shook his head and cast the spell he always chanted to himself.

‘Thinking is not my place. I simply follow orders.’

*

After escaping the whirlwind, the place the grand duke and duchess headed with their entourage was a marketplace in the nearby territory of Viscount Salle.

Sometimes, shops or inns in the marketplace provide more vivid information than renowned information guilds.

Like now.

As they took their seats in the inn’s first-floor restaurant, peddlers were gathered around, engaged in a lively discussion about the whirlwind that had appeared out of nowhere.

“But isn’t it strange? It’s exactly the same as 8 years ago. Back then, a village was emptied out. The same thing happened this time too.”

“That’s right. This time as well, the houses were left untouched without a trace of disturbance, only the people disappeared. Even the cows and pigs in the barn were still there.”

“It wasn’t a small village like last time either. I got goosebumps passing by that village earlier.”

“I heard the lord didn’t even show his face despite an entire village of people vanishing.”

“But where on earth did they all go? They didn’t ascend to the sky or sink into the ground.”

Yuriella’s face noticeably darkened at the peddlers’ words from across the table.

“Where is the village that the people went missing from? Did all the villagers really disappear?”

When a striking beauty in plain shirt and pants showed interest, the peddlers drinking dark beer chattered away.

“We can’t say it with just our mouths.”

“What will you give us if we tell you?”

“You look like newlyweds. If the pretty bride sings us a song, we’ll tell you.”

“But you are incredibly beautiful!”

“Beautiful is an understatement. I thought a fairy had walked in and my eyes nearly popped out.”

Frost pulled Yuriella close by the shoulder and smiled at them.

“Will it suffice if I pay for everything you eat today?”

Getting a bright smile from a handsome man not inferior to his fairy-like wife, the peddlers felt an eerie chill.

It wasn’t just their imagination that the restaurant’s temperature seemed to suddenly drop.

Nikon was the only one unaffected by the cold energy the grand duke exuded.

Finding even the time to order a waste, Nikon barged into the kitchen and gleefully emerged carrying an entire pot of braised lamb and vegetables, but he abruptly stopped upon seeing outside the window.

“Captain. Those people, who are they?”

At Nikon’s gesture, Yuriella turned her head towards the window.

Frost’s gaze, unable to leave his wife, also followed.

Knights who had ridden up stirring dust were dismounting their horses and walking towards the inn.

The faces of the men wearing the uniform of the knightly order of House Salle looked quite grim.

Striding into the restaurant without hesitation, a dull-blonde knight knelt on one knee and paid his respects to Frost and Yuriella.

“I greet Your Graces, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess. I am Dicu Lackra, the commander of the knightly order of House Salle.”

The knights standing behind him also knelt in unison and bowed.

The peddlers who had just made mischievous jests to the grand duchess turned pale and quietly slipped away from their seats.

“Viscount Salle requests an audience with Your Graces.”

Frost gestured for Dicu to rise and asked curtly.

“How did you know?”

His gaze was cold, asking how they knew who we were and that we were here.