“The ‘fang’ that the Emperor is secretly preparing… Flama, you say?”

Yuriella’s eyes trembled violently with shock.

It was already unbearable for her heart to see the sacred sword of fire bound by evil magic. Just how many more dirty deeds was that bastard Justin planning to use Flama for…!

Yuriella tried not to reveal her agitation, but her whole body shook with rage.

“You were right. It seems the Emperor didn’t keep Flama by his side just for sentimental value.”

Aeri soared up and cried out loudly.

[Let’s just kill the Emperor and his crew! They’re nothing but insects that only bring harm to the world anyway!] [If we harm them and can’t find a way to undo the black magic? Flama’s flames might be completely extinguished, trapped in that magic.]

Popo, being the spirit of wisdom, desperately suppressed her anger and soothed Aeri.

Yuriella clenched her trembling fists tightly and raised her head.

“What exactly was Cassandra trying to convey?”

Frost deciphered the glittering code on his hand for her.

“Confident that once transformed into a true magic sword, Flama’s power will be difficult for Iello and Gaius combined to handle. No information yet on the designated new owner.”

“A true magic sword…”

Yuriella muttered as she closed her eyes tightly. Then she slowly opened them again.

Her red eyes, filled with a sharp glint, no longer held any confusion or agitation.

“We’ll have to thoroughly search Figueira.”

Since black magic was a talent passed down only to Figueira women for generations, the search shouldn’t take too long.

“I’ll start by looking into the Figueira family members in the capital.”

“The Empress Dowager’s entourage as well. The one we’re looking for could be among her close maids or servants.”

“True. They may have laundered their identity since black magic is an ability that needs to be hidden. And they’d need to be close by to move immediately at the Empress Dowager’s command. I’ll take action right away.”

Frost approached Yuriella and rubbed her furrowed brow with his hand to smooth it out.

“I’ll handle everything else, so forget it all and get some rest.”

Yuriella lowered her eyes and slowly nodded.

But Frost quietly looked down at the cold flames flickering in her red eyes beneath her lush lashes.

It seemed his wife had no intention of just watching.

Well. When she joined the Imperial Knights at age 17, Solas Moretti was already the owner of the Holy Sword. Though never revealed, she likely took hold of Flama much earlier than that.

“Your Majesty. Please grant Cassandra the right to interrogate. It’s a necessary measure as he has greatly harmed the North. Give her at least a brief respite this way. If possible, send in a physician disguised as an interrogator as well.”

Frost slowly nodded.

He couldn’t even bring himself to say he understood despite his aching heart. She was one who gave her whole heart even to those she merely glanced at.

How much more would her heart ache for the spirit of fire she had endured lonely and horrific battlefields with for so long?

Frost felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

As the lord of the North, the empire’s guardian. He found the cheers and exaltation annoying. But he did feel a bit of conceit that there was nothing he couldn’t do if he set his mind to it.

But now it all seemed like empty titles, and he felt utterly ridiculous for acting so conceited. Wasn’t he just a shoddy man who couldn’t even resolve the pain of his own woman right in front of him?

“Let’s go to sleep now. You must be tired from the long day.”

Kissing her forehead again, Frost turned and walked towards the door.

Tap tap.

The sound of running footsteps followed. Frost was caught by his wife’s two arms softly wrapping around his waist from behind. Her body pressed tightly against his back without any gap.

“Thank you. Thank you, Frost.”

“I don’t think I’ve done anything well yet.”

Frost tilted his head slightly and gave an embarrassed smile.

“What have I done well?”

Burying her face in Frost’s firm back, Yuriella let out a deep sigh.

“I can breathe.”

“Hm?”

“Because you’re here, Frost, I can breathe.”

“Yuriella.”

“Thank you. For being by my side like it’s only natural. For cherishing me like it’s only natural. None of it is a given. But thank you for making it feel that way… Really, thank you.”

Frost quietly placed his two hands over Yuriella’s small hands that embraced his body.

A surge of emotions that couldn’t be fully expressed in words rushed in like turbulent waves, and Frost closed his eyes for a moment, surrendering his heart to those waves.

“I should be the one thanking you.”

His voice, barely escaping at the end of the silence, cracked.

“Thank you for coming to me.”

There seemed to be so much he wanted to say, but that was all he could think of.

Even while fully understanding Yuriella’s situation. The secret that the Tower Master clearly knew, that Aeri knew, that Popo knew – the feeling of being secretly upset that she wouldn’t share it with him, her husband – it all vanished in an instant.

Yes. What does it matter?

As long as you are by my side. And I am by yours.

Even if you pile secret upon secret and try to do something without my knowing. What is there to worry about or be upset over?

Whether I know everything or not, it no longer mattered.

“I’ll always be by your side, like it’s only natural. So you stay by my side like that too, as if it’s only natural. Then I’ll have nothing more to wish for.”

Frost thought as he slightly turned his body to embrace his wife.

Starting tomorrow, he’d have to assign Leo as Yuriella’s close bodyguard.

The red flames that had flickered in Yuriella’s eyes were breathtakingly beautiful, but at the same time, they made Frost’s heart drop.

He mustn’t let his guard down just because she appears as a frail grand duchess on the outside.

She was a knight to the bone.

A warrior who would unhesitatingly offer an arm or leg to the enemy’s blade and slit their throat for the sake of what she must protect. He must never forget that.

Frost’s mind became busy thinking of various safeguards for his wife’s safety.

*

The next day.

Yuriella left the house, saying she was going to briefly visit the inn where the apothecary group was staying.

And Leo, who had received Frost’s secret orders, also changed into commoner’s clothes and stealthily followed the grand duchess.

The grand duchess stopped by the inn to deliver food and precious medicinal ingredients prepared at the mansion to the apothecary group, then boarded the carriage.

But at the fork in the road to return to the mansion, the carriage turned its head in the opposite direction of the Grand Duke’s mansion.

Leo following behind grew tense.

[Are you paranoid? Making me run around doing this and that, and now even tail Her Highness the Duchess!]

He felt a little sorry for spewing such words at his friend before leaving the mansion.

Yuriella got off the carriage midway and changed to regular carriages used by commoners three times, heading to the outskirts slum at the edge of the capital. Her clothes and wig changed each time she switched carriages.

Leo clicked his tongue at the grand duchess’s skill in shaking off pursuers.

‘Our Duchess has no fear. What if something bad happens to her in a slum like this?’

But he wasn’t really worried. Inside the long cloth bag the Duchess held was Lady Adelia’s famous sword. If anything happened, he could step in.

What concerned him more was.

The identity of the person the Duchess was meeting secretly inside the carriage right now.

Nikon Nivera.

Former elite knight of the Imperial Knights and a wanted fugitive pursued by the Emperor.

Just what was their relationship, and what secret talks were they having in there?

Why did the Grand Duke instruct not to have the Duchess wear any eavesdropping magical devices, and to only ensure her safety?

As if he knew everything his wife was trying to do in secret.

.

.

Yuriella handed Nikon a small glass bead.

“What is this?”

Nikon’s eyes widened as he fiddled with the glass bead. The clear green light rippling inside the bead was quite mystical.

Aeri popped out of Yuriella’s purse and fluttered up, flapping her wings in the air while grumbling to her master.

[Yuriella. This guy is too shabby. He smells musty and is dirty. I don’t want to go with him.]

Nikon suspiciously eyed the flitting spirit and tilted his head.

“Is that tiny thing really the spirit of the Holy Sword Aeri, Commander?”

Its skill in instantly transporting them from Fort Falco to the capital last time was impressive. But for a holy sword’s spirit, it seemed too… light?

[Tiny thing, you say! Shabby, do you have two lives?]

Aeri puffed out her cheeks as if she would blast him away any moment.

“Aeri, I love you. And I’m sorry for putting you through this.”

Aeri’s triangular raised eyes softly closed as she perched on Yuriella’s shoulder.

[Consider it an honor, Shabby. The number of humans Aeri directly shows herself to can be counted on one hand. Hmph!]

“Aeri has a situation, Nikon. That’s why I need your help.”

Still eyeing Aeri suspiciously, Nikon nodded.

“If I can believe my dead commander has been reborn as a pretty woman, I should also believe that tiny spirit is the spirit of the Holy Sword Aeri that’s been missing for 500 years.”

“I was originally a woman, Nikon. And quite pretty too.”

Yuriella recalled her own painting hung in the Imperial Palace’s War Memorial Hall.

She was displeased that the Emperor arbitrarily hung her face so large. But seeing her real face for the first time in a while, she was surprised at how quite beautiful she was.

“I don’t usually look in the mirror much, so I didn’t know. But I was an extraordinary beauty. Good thing I kept it hidden. Those guys would have swarmed around me like flies, quite annoyingly.”

“Huh? Haha. Oh my stomach. Hahaha. Oh dear, my stomach.”

Nikon guffawed, making the carriage shake.

One of Yuriella’s eyebrows arched up sharply.

“Life must be comfortable these days, Nikon Nivera? Shall we have a ‘precious learning session’ for old times’ sake?”

Seeing Yuriella cracking her pale, slender neck, Nikon turned pale as a sheet.

He had plenty of experience with ‘precious learning sessions’ already at Fort Falco.

“What can I assist you with, Commander?”

Nikon quickly straightened his posture and held up the glass bead in his hand, diverting the fierce commander’s attention.

“Go with Aeri and find the main body of the Sword of Wind. That bead contains Aeri’s energy, so it will react if the holy sword is nearby. It’s an urgent matter, so hurry.”

[Yuriella. But why keep it a secret from the Tower Master? Ricarion is a mage who found even me hiding in the aurora beyond the Icy Sea.]

Aeri grumbled, her mouth sticking out, asking why she had to go with the shabby and dirty guy instead of the capable and handsome Tower Master.

“That’s why.”

[Huh?]

“It’s strange that the person who found you hiding in the aurora says he can’t find your sword.”

[What do you mean?]

“A reasonable suspicion that he may not be looking for it even though he can find it?”

[A reasonable suspicion?]

“The Tower has maintained neutrality. They call the current state neutrality. But if the Holy Sword Aeri, missing for 500 years, goes to the partner of the Holy Sword Iello?”

[The balance would be broken? Since there would be two powerful holy swords in the North.]

“Right. That’s why you and Nikon need to move secretly without the Tower knowing.”

That’s why she met Nikon in secret, disguising herself several times.

It was best to be cautious in a situation where the extent of the Tower Master and Popo’s abilities was unknown.

[That bastard Tower Master! Are you saying he lied, pretending not to be able to find my sword even though he could? After I pushed for him so much!]

“Aeri. Everyone has their own circumstances.”

[Phew. I think I’d be really disappointed if that Tower Master guy really did know but pretended not to.]

“Don’t let Popo know either.”

[So I have to pretend not to know even though I do know, for my own reasons, with Popo?]

Aeri sighed heavily, seeming burdened by having a secret from her friend. But when she met eyes with her master looking at her with worried eyes, she brushed away the shadows and showed her clenched fists energetically.

[Don’t worry, Yuriella. I’ll definitely find my sword before Flama becomes a true magic sword!]

Yuriella smiled and nodded.

[Yuriella. Will you be okay without Aeri?]

Knowing the answer was no, Yuriella shook her head greatly.

“Of course I won’t be okay! But this is a really important task that only Aeri can do. So even if I miss you, I’ll endure and wait.”

[Yes! I’ll be back soon. That Tower Master guy! Just wait! I’ll beat you until your teeth fall out!]

Aeri swung her small fist towards the air.

A shadow fell over Yuriella’s face as she smiled at Aeri.

The Tower Master was her savior who had saved her life twice. He also felt like a big brother she could comfortably lean on.

‘I hope we can remain friends. He’d be quite a headache to have as an enemy too.’