Diana placed the huge portrait opposite the bed, panting for breath.

“Phew… I barely managed to bring it.”

Raoul’s portrait was so huge that Diana had to wrap her arms around it and waddle to carry it.

The maids, captivated by the splendid golden frame, glanced at her with strange looks, but unable to see the contents, she hid the painting in her arms and headed to her room alone.

‘If they knew the subject was Raoul, strange rumors would spread again, right?’

Diana was not someone who particularly cared about her reputation. But she was also not a masochist who enjoyed listening to gossip.

‘I just want to live quietly. I don’t want to teach, admonish, or pressure anyone.’

Such things happening was just tiring and annoying to her.

Diana caught her breath and pondered where to place the portrait.

“…Hmm, this spot won’t do.”

After a while, she moved the painting’s location from opposite the bed to the other wall.

Although she knew it was a painting, the piercing gaze was so blatant that it felt embarrassing to look at it.

There was also the fact that waking up in the morning and immediately facing the portrait felt quite strange and perverted.

Only after covering it with a red cloth did she smile with relief.

‘Yes. This is much better. Stay like that for a while. You’re an emergency portrait in preparation for when you leave.’

The masterpiece that was painstakingly completed was covered because it was embarrassing to look at.

The painting, abandoned for a rather absurd reason, lamented its situation. But it could not say anything.

Because it was just a painting, after all.

But the living, moving Raoul was not as docile as the painting.

At that moment, he was bare-handedly ripping out the heart of a monster, saving a soldier who had fallen into a life-threatening situation.

The man, collapsed behind Raoul’s large back, came to his senses upon hearing the sound of the blade being drawn from the scabbard at his waist.

Swish!

Thud.

With a clean whoosh instead of a messy noise, the blood-soaked head fell to the ground.

“Cut out the heart yourself.”

He threw the blood-stained sword to the ground and coldly recited. The man hurriedly picked up the sword and shouted.

“Yes… Yes!”

The man clicked his tongue, looking at the back walking ahead.

The faintly crazed eyes, as if obsessed with battle, and the overbearingly huge physique were enough to inspire awe regardless of race.

“If there is a god of war, he would have such a form…”

At the ends of his fluttering gray hair, droplets of blood formed.

His cold eyes sharpened, muscles swelled, and his top began to tear.

“…Maybe we can make it back alive.”

The moment the lycanthrope revealed his claws, the exhausted soldiers raised their swords again.

Expectations for victory heightened, and the flames of hope for returning home reignited.

Raoul, whom they met as a comrade on the battlefield, was not a persecuted minority. He was their last hope and savior.

Young soldiers flocked beside him as he returned to the barracks.

They tried to build rapport with the lycanthrope knight by bringing him water or towels.

“Is it true that lycanthropes become stronger on the night of the full moon?”

“I heard they can beat a wild fire bear with their bare hands then?”

“You guys! What disrespectful words are those! Not just a wild fire bear? I was in awe today seeing him tear apart a monster larger than a bear with a single claw? Comparing him to a mere bear is preposterous!”

Raoul let out a soft sigh and disappeared into the barracks.

They couldn’t dare follow him in and muttered in front of it.

“He could have joined us for a drink…”

“Be quiet! Let’s go and clean our swords! Didn’t you hear what he said last time?”

“Ah! You mean those words?”

One boy imitated Raoul in a dignified voice.

“No one wants to deliver the news of death to their loved ones. From today, throw away your wills. Fight with the resolve to die. And then return. Everyone who wields a sword under me fights with that mindset.”

The boy next to him stroked his chin and continued.

“Abandon the misguided notion that dying is glorious! Endure for the sake of the families and lovers who will lose sleep, not for the monarchs who drove you to this hell! Heh… Could he be a hidden prince of the lycanthrope kingdom that we don’t know much about, not a former slave?”

“Every word he says is just… remarkable. Truly remarkable.”

They didn’t stop talking until Raoul roughly opened the barracks door and showered them with a sharp glare.

Finally sensing the quieted atmosphere outside, he let out an irritated sigh.

‘There’s never a moment of peace.’

He enjoyed his alone time.

It was not easy to think of Diana in a place mixed with the smell of blood and sweat. So this time of quietly reading and re-reading her letter was very precious to him.

He absolutely did not want to be disturbed.

He smelled the lingering scent of the letter, worn from too much reading, and thought of Diana’s face.

‘I should have brought your portrait.’

At that moment, a war raven poked its head into the barracks, holding a yellow paper in its beak.

Caw.

Raoul saw the illustration in the newspaper and immediately frowned.

‘Is it you again?’

The girl who had brought the beastmen to join the rebels was flying in the sky, lying on top of a giant bird. And his handkerchief was still tied to her arm.

“When did she even…!”

Not only had she joined the rebels who dared to hurt Diana, but she was also brazenly displaying the memento of the two on her arm, which was unforgivable.

‘Utterly unpleasant.’

Raoul crumpled up the newspaper and tried to suppress his uneasy feelings.

His breathing rising and falling above his tightly closed lips was rough.

His pale blue eyes were as dark as the deep sea without a glimmer of light.

‘Is this how elves repay kindness?’

He took off his ruined tunic, threw it away, and headed to the valley.

Today, he had carefully chosen words to tell Diana, wanting to convey his still shining heart amidst this chaos. But with this mood, it was impossible.

Gritting his teeth, he thought of the rebels threatening Diana’s body and mind. It was a situation where he absolutely could not maintain composure.

“…Who’s worrying about whom?”

Diana let out a hollow laugh as she read the densely written words.

The raven she had named Courage also made an incomprehensible breathing sound, “Pish-shung.”

“You also find your master’s actions absurd?”

Caw.

Although it was a completely different meaning from what Diana expected, she couldn’t understand it anyway.

Raoul was worrying that she might be kidnapped or captured by the rebels and suffer hardships.

“Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself first. Vishak is always following and protecting me.”

Giggling, she read the letter that replayed Raoul’s tone several times.

I’m always thinking only of you. Then I can endure even this barren land.

Diana didn’t know why Raoul emphasized that he only loved her. She just thought it sounded really nice to hear.

A considerable amount of time had passed since then.

For about half a year after discovering Lu, Diana did not visit the abbey.

It had already been several months since she stopped going.

She was afraid of accidentally encountering Lu again, and most of all, when she thought of the nuns, she no longer wanted to act thoughtlessly.

‘How distressed must they have been every time I visited.’

Sometimes she missed the children, but it wasn’t unbearable. Above all, the fact that she became really busy during this period played a big role.

Her father, who had neglected Diana all her life, suddenly summoned her to the drawing room.

And out of the blue, like a bolt from the blue, an unexpected announcement was made.

‘Debutante.’

Yes. She was to make her formal society debut, which did not happen in her previous life.

And with an unexpected partner at that!

The moment the drawing room door opened, Diana was startled and widened her eyes.

She did so knowing it was not polite. Because she had a feeling as soon as she saw him.

Diana did not properly know the true identity of the continental tycoon in her previous life.

She only heard that he was a formidable wealthy man who had ventured into maritime trade with the West early on. She knew nothing about his age, appearance, personality, or anything else.

But her father introduced her debut partner this time as her fiancé whom she had never met before. And he…

“My name is Yun Sihwan.”

He was not the pot-bellied ship owner Diana had imagined.

He was the kind of man that women from the East would turn to look at least once while walking down the street and harbor feelings for in their hearts.

Beneath the black hair, neatly combed back with pomade, resided a cold impression exuding mature charm.

Sitting across from her father in the drawing room and conversing, he stood up upon seeing Diana.

Although smaller than Raoul, he had a good physique like Vincent, who was called a giant, and was wearing a modern and stylish suit that looked like it would be sold in Marcel’s clothing store.

“……”

Diana, startled, alternately looked at Duke Carlyle and him.

“Seeing your bewilderment, it seems you haven’t been explained.”

Since her father, who should have explained and mediated this situation, remained still, the man called Yun Sihwan approached first and held out his hand.

“I have been consistently requesting to meet you for several years, but he refused, saying you were still young. As this is a hard-earned opportunity, would you please give me a chance to formally greet you?”

Diana could not ignore the hand extended before her eyes and eventually placed her hand on it.

The moment his lips touched the back of her hand, the man’s straight and deep eyes also met Diana’s face.