“His Majesty is truly foolish. It would be beneficial to accept my help while pretending not to know. Why do you insist on nitpicking?”

Ricarion stared at Yuriella with an uncomprehending expression.

“If I help, it would be much easier to save Kasandra. Even if I get caught, it will benefit the North. If I fall into the trap I set to catch the Grand Duke, it would be equivalent to declaring that the Magic Tower has joined hands with the North.”

“Do you think I haven’t made that calculation?”

Yuriella gave a bitter smile, feeling apologetic for thinking of using the person who had saved her life twice.

“Then why are you refusing my help?”

Yuriella hesitated, moistening her lips, then let out a small sigh.

Her real sincere feeling was being more sorry to the Lord of the Magic Tower.

“It’s difficult for me to allow secrets beyond what you’ve already discovered to someone who could become my master’s enemy at any time.”

“Are you worried that I will harm Frost Ielheim?”

“No. Before that, I’m worried that I may end up killing the Lord of the Magic Tower. I’m sorry. If it harms the Grand Duke, I will not hesitate to strike you down.”

Despite furrowing his brow as if in a difficult position, the Lord of the Magic Tower finally burst into laughter at her unwavering, upright gaze.

“Your Majesty is truly wise.”

Yuriella raised one eyebrow at the unexpected reaction.

“Just a moment ago, you called me foolish, Lord of the Magic Tower.”

“Opposites converge, Your Majesty.”

Ricarion gave a fluffy smile that didn’t match his large build.

“You did well. You should be wary of me just like now. I was planning to go to the Swan Palace with Your Majesty and take the Flamma. The well-being of a mere dark magician is of no concern to me.”

To her who had honestly revealed her true feelings, Ricarion also showed his true heart for the first time.

“I don’t want the Sword of Fire to be in the Emperor’s hands, nor do I want it to be used for the North. So I will take the Sword of Fire by any means necessary and hide it where no one knows.”

It was as she had guessed, but now that she heard it directly, Yuriella’s heart felt even heavier. He was too strong an opponent to turn into an enemy.

“Lord of the Magic Tower.”

“Today, go with Popo. You can trust Popo.”

“…Thank you.”

“Don’t overdo it. If Your Majesty gets hurt, the Imperial Palace will freeze into an ice castle.”

Ricarion gazed at Yuriella who kept glancing towards where the Grand Duke had left.

A bitter smile unknowingly appeared on his lips, as if worrying about and arguing with each other was something only possible between people who had allowed their hearts to each other.

*

“Head maid. Am I looking at the Grand Duchess right now, or a human peafowl? The attire is excessively gaudy to the point of being ridiculous, just for going to a tea party to drink a cup of tea.”

As I emerged from the dressing room, the Grand Duke, who was leaning diagonally against the window of my private quarters, suddenly picked a fight with Rosalinne.

“What are you saying? She looks lovely.”

Rosalinne snorted as if it was nonsense, and narrowed her colorful eyes, looking proudly at the collaborative work between me and the maids.

“Overshadowed by the beauty of the North’s mistress, not only the Empress Dowager but all the ladies attending the tea party will look like plucked crows.”

“Thank you, Rosalinne. I’ll go and kill them all so that your efforts are worthwhile, then come back.”

As I clenched my fists to show her, a scoffing laugh was heard from the window.

“Rosalinne. Tell your lovely mistress. Even if she kills all the plucked crows, there will be no home to ‘come back’ to. So she better be careful when stepping out of my house.”

“Your Majesty. How can you say such bad things…!”

The head maid and maids had been fidgeting anxiously, not knowing what to do since the Grand Duke entered my room with a sullen face.

“Rosalinne. Tell your petty master. My steps have always been careful, and coming back from the Swan Palace doesn’t necessarily mean this house.”

My curt attitude toward the Grand Duke was equally distressing to them.

“Your Highness, please…!”

The Grand Duke glared at me with his eyes while snarling at Rosalinne.

“Rosalinne. Tell your ‘careful’ mistress. Where else does she have to ‘go back’ to besides this house? If she’s thinking of going to the residence of Count Grande, who is her father only in name, it wouldn’t be a suitable shelter as he only intends to use his daughter. If she plans to go to the inn where her father-in-law stayed, it would be difficult to properly guard even if half of the Angelus Knights are sent, so that’s not a wise destination either.”

The Grand Duke’s silver hair, which uttered unpleasant words whenever he opened his mouth, glittered beautifully under the afternoon sunlight pouring through the window.

He must have been quite angry at my words about not returning home, as his tightly closed elegant lips were redder than usual, looking alluring, and his blue eyes glaring at me as if to kill seemed as mysterious as the shimmering waters of Lake Isylian.

But loveliness was one thing. A marital quarrel was another.

“Rosalinne. Tell your master, whose mind is narrower than a hummingbird’s nostrils. Why would it matter where a disobedient and insolent subject goes? There’s no need for guards, and no reason for him to know the destination.”

“Rosalinne. Tell her you think I can’t find her if she doesn’t tell me.”

“Rosalinne. Tell him why he would look for a subject he has already cast aside.”

“Rosalinne. Get the story straight and tell her it wasn’t that I cast her aside, but that she kicked me out herself.”

“Rosalinne. Tell him what’s the difference, it’s all the same. Anyway, it’s none of his business.”

The head maid and maids, who had been rolling their eyes back and forth between me and the Grand Duke, slowly started to take steps back. And one by one, they skillfully slipped out through the door crack the butler had quietly opened.

I briefly heard the sound of Commander Leo clicking his tongue from the corridor beyond the door.

For a moment, silence floated around the room.

‘Grand Duke. Have a safe trip. I’m sorry for making you worry. And. You look especially handsome today. I’ll come back safely and hug you tight.’

I swallowed the words I really wanted to say and left the room.

I also coldly ignored the Grand Duke’s gaze that clung stubbornly to my back, as he had not taken his eyes off me for a single moment since entering my room…

When I went down the main stairs, the Lord of the Magic Tower was waiting in front of the carriage.

“Please, don’t overdo it and come back safely.”

On the hand the Lord of the Magic Tower held out with worrying words, there was Popo.

“Thank you.”

Popo, who had moved onto my hand, shrank his body to the size of one finger joint and neatly entered the handbag I opened.

I felt the Grand Duke’s sharp gaze shooting at me from the terrace, but I pretended not to notice, got into the carriage, and slammed the door.

Once out of the Grand Duke’s sight, the sigh I had been holding back escaped.

I was well aware of what he was worried about. Because I was also anxious about what danger lurked in the Swan Palace.

Even I, who had served the Emperor at close quarters as the commander of the Imperial Knights when I was Solas, knew very little about the Empress Dowager’s Swan Palace.

However, I had heard rumors about the Swan Palace maids and servants who had suddenly disappeared.

Most of them were from humble noble families or orphans with no relatives, and even if their families searched for them, their lonely circumstances could be silenced with a few coins.

Thinking about it now, they may have been used and discarded as experimental tools for those tainted by black magic, such as the Empress Dowager or Hellena.

Perhaps their blood and flesh became the ingredients needed to turn the holy sword Flamma into a demon sword.

‘Flamma… Just endure a little longer. Show me your miracle one more time…’

It was a miracle in itself that it had endured until now, trapped in that terrible magical energy.

But I, an incapable owner, could only chant a spell for it to endure more.

Feeling a ticklish sensation, I looked down and saw Popo crawling out of the handbag, wriggling on the back of my hand, gauging my mood.

[Owner of Airy. Do not hate my master too much. That child also has many troubles.]

“I don’t hate him, Popo. How could I hate him?”

He readily gave Popo, who was like a part of himself, to me, who had openly declared that I would kill him without hesitation if he tried to harm the Grand Duke.

[You can hate him! Hate him, Yuriella.]

Airy flew in through the open carriage window.

[He said he would take Flamma! Ricarion is a traitor! For the sake of that damn neutrality, he would even join hands with the crazy Emperor!]

My little friend, who opened her tiny eyes in a triangle shape and fluttered her transparent wings, looked so happy that I unconsciously stretched out both arms towards Airy.

“Airy! How did this happen?”

[The Lord of the Magic Tower called me.]

“The Lord did?”

[Indeed. It seems Ricarion was uneasy, so he unnecessarily called that child.] [Yuriella, I thought I would die from missing you. Sob.]

Airy sat on the back of my hand, pushing Popo away with her bottom, hugged my hand with her whole body, and shed tiny tears the size of sugar grains.

[Nikon is dirty and smelly. The East is creepy. No matter how much I search, I can’t find my sword. Wah.]

“Don’t cry, Airy. You did well. I love you.”

[If you love me, don’t tell me to go back to the East. I want to stick close to Yuriella.]

“Okay. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to, Airy. I love you.”

[Ugh. If you say I don’t have to go, I can’t insist on not going anymore.]

“Airy, I feel so reassured that you came. I love you.”

[Just trust me. I’ll save Kasandra too! I’ll smash the heads of the Emperor and Empress Dowager!]

“You must never make a move before I say so. It’s better to come back empty-handed than to have you exposed or hurt. Understand?”

[Am I that precious?]

Airy flew up with googly eyes and burrowed into my hair. I could clearly see her barely holding back from asking, ‘More than Flamma?’

[Ah. Yuriella’s scent!] [Tsk tsk. Let’s put off the touching reunion for later and come up with a plan for what to do if we encounter the unknown dark magician who also turned Flamma into a demon sword.]

Popo, who had been thrown to the floor, clicked his tongue and floated in the air.

Airy popped out of my hair and whirled around, swinging her fists in the air.

[Don’t worry, Yuriella. A small piece of god tainted by black magic. Airy will send it flying to the ice sea with one punch!]

I calmed Airy down and sat her on my lap.

“A tainted piece of god? What do you mean, Airy?”

[The owners of the holy swords are small pieces of god left by the goddess. Yuriella and the Grand Duke are all pieces of god.] [Ricarion is also a sacred and lovely piece of god.]

At Popo’s point, Airy snorted.

[Hmph. That sinister guy who boldly said he would steal Flamma is also a piece of god.]

I had heard it before.

The story of the four children loved by the goddess and the four holy swords entrusted to them is a favorite song of minstrels.

As time passed, the sanctity faded and it became difficult to find traces. But I heard that the privilege of becoming the owner of a holy sword is only allowed to the pieces of god.

“Pieces of god are originally sacred. But how can they be tainted by evil black magic?”

Popo answered with a deep sigh.

[Pieces of god were originally splendid fragments of light. If the light has been blackened by darkness… That dark magician must have suffered pain worse than death.] [With the degree of evil purity felt in the Golden Hall that time, it must have started from the moment of birth, when the first cry was made in this world.]

“Really…?”

It wasn’t that I felt sympathy, but just imagining how immense the pain must be made my legs tingle.

[Even a sliver of light is bound to pierce through pitch-black darkness. To maintain that degree of evil purity, they must be enduring ceaseless pain even now, layering darkness upon darkness.] [The pain of flesh being torn and limbs being ripped off would be just a tickle compared to that?]

Airy shuddered, saying it was terrible.

“Shh.”

The carriage stopped. I signaled to the two spirits and took a deep breath.

“Let’s just confirm today. If Hellena is indeed a tainted piece of god, tap the handbag once from inside.”

As I put Popo and Airy into the handbag one by one, the concealment magic circle the Lord of the Magic Tower had engraved inside the handbag shone brightly, hiding the small spirits.

Following the servant’s guidance, I entered the banquet hall and saw the figures of young noblewomen and fresh-faced young ladies.

“Your Highness!”

Lady Davano spotted me and ran over, clutching the hem of her dress as if she was flying. Then she pointed with her eyes to a young lady entering the banquet hall.

‘That woman over there. That’s Lady Hellena you asked about, Your Highness.’

Even without Lady Davano’s eye gesture, I could tell at a glance that she was Hellena Figuera. She looked exactly like the Emperor escorting her, as if painted while tracing over carbon paper.

When a stunning beauty with radiant golden hair, deep blue eyes, blood-red lips, and skin so pale it was almost transparent met my gaze, she smiled with her eyes prettily narrowed and gave a light curtsy.

And then. Tap. Tap. Tap.

As she took the Emperor’s arm and approached me step by step, the spirits inside the handbag sent a signal.

A piece of god tainted by darkness had entered this room…!