This was a magic circle that Lin had engraved to transport just one person – herself.

She had never tried transporting two people before.

She wasn’t even sure if it was possible.

Above all, Lin had clearly shouted at her, who had just given birth.

“Releasing aurum in this state is no different from committing suicide!”

She could already feel in her body that his words were true.

After losing a lot of blood during childbirth and overexerting herself without rest, her consciousness was gradually fading.

The bones and muscles all over her body were screaming at her to stop now.

She had an intuition that if she forcibly teleported two people in this state, her body would definitely not survive unscathed.

“Baby. I’m sorry, baby…”

Delphine muttered pathetically in a fading voice.

I haven’t even given you a name yet…

The blurry light in the basement felt just like moonlight.

In her hazy consciousness, the image of a full moon she had seen before came to mind.

“If you mix blood over water illuminated by the full moon, you can share pieces of each other’s souls.”

A memory she shared with him when they were boys.

Holding onto that one small memory and mulling over it again and again, her childhood was as lonely and barren as it could be.

It must have been the same for Ioan.

No, he was much more desperate for the affection and warmth of others than she was.

So much so that he would cling to her for a lifetime, holding onto the one piece of affection she had shown him, the one name she had given him.

A streak of tears flowed down her cheeks.

Delphine quietly closed her eyes.

“…If I can have even a piece of you, lady, I would be happy.”

That’s how you answered that day.

And though I was too shy to answer that day, the truth is I felt the same way.

If I had known it would be like this, I would have had many honest conversations with you.

A dazzling white light enveloped Ioan and her body.

Dizzying pain pierced through her entire body.

The teleportation magic circle engraved on her forearm burned black from the demands that exceeded its limits.

Along with the pain that seemed to shatter her whole body, her vitality rapidly drained from her.

‘Just a little more. Please endure just a little more, my body…’

Before long, she faintly felt the sensation of her ruined body collapsing to the floor with a thud.

The excruciating pain that had been piercing through her entire body had now reached its limit and finally turned into numbness.

‘Did it… succeed?’

Delphine, who had been clinging to consciousness with strong willpower, blinked her eyes.

For some reason, she couldn’t see anything in front of her.

But very faintly, she could hear the commotion around her.

“…Her condition is too… It’s serious.”

“Delphine… Even healing magic is already…”

That’s Lin’s voice, isn’t it?

It succeeded.

Only then did Delphine feel relieved.

Ioan will be able to live.

Someone’s crying and urgent shouts gradually faded away.

Soon, even the sound disappeared with a sharp beep.

In that still silence where she could neither see ahead nor hear, Delphine completely let go of the thread of consciousness she had been holding onto.

Pryde had a long dream.

‘Am I dead?’

Has that arduous life finally come to an end?

If so, is this place engulfed in darkness the very bottom of hell?

Even with the thought of hell, he didn’t feel particularly frightened or repulsed.

His life on earth had already been like hell.

In order to survive in it, he had to struggle and fight all his life.

Difficult and arduous days where nothing came easily into his hands.

So if he could just forget his worries and rest comfortably, even if this place was hell, it seemed good to continue lying down like this.

‘Yes, maybe I was a little tired.’

Pryde breathed in and out slowly.

How long had he been lying there with his eyes closed in that dark space where neither time nor space could be sensed?

Tearing through the cozy, long darkness, the dawn broke far away.

That light took the form of Delphine.

The light that illuminated him, who had descended to the darkest bottom of life.

The light that had forcibly pulled him out of the darkness and made him live.

Even if looking at it seemed to blind his eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to look away from her.

She was everything he didn’t have and admired.

Affection, warmth, kindness, stability.

Everything he had never felt or even dared to dream of while living on the outskirts of District 3.

I want to give it all back to you now.

His hand, which had been lying still, trembled.

His tired heart blazed again.

Yes, I want to see you again.

Life may still be difficult and painful. It may be so heartless that you can’t get anything without struggling for it.

Still, if only I can be with you, I want to live this life once more…

Pryde opened his eyes that he had closed.

“…I knew it! His hand just moved!”

“Hey, can you hear me? Can you move your body?”

Flustered voices were heard from around him.

As he turned his head, he saw Lin and the other La Rouge executives staring at him with surprised eyes.

Pryde sat up straight on the white bed.

For a moment, the arm supporting his body wobbled.

Slightly furrowing his brows, he immediately asked Lin.

“How long was I asleep?”

“21 days.”

Lin, who answered promptly, added in an exasperated tone.

“Saying you were asleep is too mild. You almost died. Your heart stopped once.”

My heart stopped?

…Maybe the place I saw in my dream really was hell.

Thinking absentmindedly, Pryde looked around.

A room with a neat atmosphere decorated in white all around.

Lin was sitting comfortably by his bedside, but since earlier, the other La Rouge executives had been glaring at him with tension and disgust evident on their faces.

Ignoring them, Pryde asked again.

“Where is this?”

“Seongguk.”

Lin answered calmly.

“To be precise, it’s the Holy Imperial Palace located within it.”

The Holy Imperial Palace?

Are they saying they put him, a demon contractor, in such a luxurious room?

Dubiously feeling his heart, Pryde soon realized.

The demon inside him had disappeared.

“The demon…”

“Yes. It’s gone. From this earth, completely.”

“Impossible!”

Pryde sharply retorted.

His soul was bound by a contract with the demon.

Even if the demon disappeared, there’s no way he could be alive and well like this, right?

“You’re right. Your soul vanished along with the demon.”

Lin calmly answered him.

Since Belly and Marian had been refraining from speaking with a wary expression, the explanation was entirely up to him.

“That’s what the high priests of the Holy Imperial Palace testified, so it should be certain.”

“Then, how am I…”

“They say you had a fragment of a soul inside you.”

At that moment, a memory flashed through Pryde’s mind.

“If you mix blood over water illuminated by the full moon, you can share pieces of each other’s souls.”

Then, did that childish act they unknowingly performed when they were young really have some effect?

When he immediately brought up that memory, Lin nodded.

“The priests also speculated the same. It seems it was possible because Delphine was a saint.”

Because a saint’s blood has the power to bind souls.

That’s why her blood was needed for the demon sealing ceremony.

Finally fully understanding the situation, Pryde looked at his own body with an unfamiliar face and spread his hand.

“Of course, since it’s a fragment of a soul, your remaining lifespan is limited. It’s a body that could die at any time.”

Lin’s additional explanation was heard, but it didn’t matter at all.

For a sinner like him, just being given a chance to live again was more than enough.

Looking down at his own hand, Pryde shuddered.

Now his soul no longer belongs to the demon.

And instead, what moves him inside this body is a fragment of Delphine’s soul.

To think that the soul of such a pure and kind woman, the one he loved all his life, is in his body…

The faces of Belly and Marian, who were watching the moved Pryde, became complicated.

The duke they had seen had always had a ruthless face without a hint of warmth.

Although they heard all the explanations from Lin, who would have thought they would see such a humane side of Duke Pryde?

“Where’s Delphine?”

Pryde, who had learned all the circumstances, immediately asked.

He wanted to see her again.

He wanted to stand before her with an appearance that had uprooted all the roots of evil and become confident.

He hesitated a little and belatedly added.

“…And the child?”

Now he had the courage to hold the child in his arms.

However, Lin couldn’t easily answer that simple question.

Belly and Marian, who were behind him, also lowered their heads with sorrowful faces.

Pryde’s face, which had been immersed in joy as if he had been reborn, instantly froze coldly.

Suddenly, an ominous premonition brushed his heart.

Only then did he notice that Lin’s face looked extremely haggard.

His face was filled with so much sorrow that even he, who had no interest in others, couldn’t fail to notice.

“Delphine is…”

“Well, that’s…”

Pryde shouted at them, losing his reason as they hesitated.

“Where is she?!”