Pryde was a marquis of the Astrax Empire and the captain of the emperor’s guards. Above all, he was a devil contractor.

Therefore, it was difficult to completely avoid accountability for the Holy War.

In fact, it was a miracle of merciful treatment that he could walk around inside the Holy See like this without being imprisoned.

Lin’s efforts played a big role in making this treatment possible.

He actively defended that Pryde led the imperial army to enemy lines and then blocked the devil’s power to minimize the damage to the Holy Army, and also played a major role in punishing the emperor and prince.

However, not everyone believed Lin’s words.

“Lin says you’ve changed, but I don’t know.”

Belly continued coldly.

“That friend can sometimes be recklessly optimistic.”

Marian also glared at him with eyes full of disgust and added.

“Right. Even if things were chaotic, just the fact that he didn’t ask a single word about the child…”

“…Child?”

At that word, Pryde turned his head with a face whose emotions were hard to read.

Seeing this, Marian exclaimed in a tone that seemed disgusted.

“Yes. Your child. We’re calling it a baby for now, but it doesn’t have a name yet.”

Marian abruptly held out the swaddled child she was holding to him.

No matter how much she hated her enemy, it was an undeniable fact that this man was the father of this lovely baby.

Moreover, as if recognizing its father, the newborn that had been sound asleep suddenly opened its eyes wide.

“…Delphine’s child.”

Could he dare to hold such a being?

After hesitating for a moment, Pryde soon recalled the fact that Delphine’s soul resided within him.

If so, it would be alright.

Pryde very carefully received the swaddled thing.

And immediately, he was surprised at how light the weight felt in his hands.

‘Is this… the weight of a human?’

Lighter than a cotton ball?

Lowering his head with a skeptical expression, the child’s face was visible between the white swaddling cloth.

A tiny child with an absurdly small fist tightly clenched.

Features neatly packed into an unbelievably small face.

Their baby closely resembled Delphine from her childhood.

Above all, those eyes staring at him without crying.

The moment he met that emerald color clearer than jewels, he had an illusion of the wind from that day blowing from far away.

An illusion of the skirt of Delphine’s pink dress fluttering when she was a girl.

Pryde instinctively felt, just as when he first met Delphine.

The women he would dedicate his life to had now become two.

“…He’s crying?”

Belly murmured in disbelief.

“Marquis Pryde is crying?”

Marian also jumped back in shock as if she had seen a ghost.

Her hand was already on the hilt of the greatsword on her back.

The only one who wasn’t surprised was Lin.

He just quietly stared at Pryde with a gaunt face.

Then, covering his face with one large hand, Pryde muttered softly.

“…Arwen.”

Marian immediately shouted, drawing her greatsword.

“What? What kind of code is that?”

“It’s the child’s name, Marian. Calm down.”

Lin chided.

Arwen.

It was a name meaning precious lady.

As if deaf to all the commotion, Pryde couldn’t take his eyes off the child’s face and murmured again.

“Your name is Arwen. Arwen… Pryde.”

“I mean your surname. How about Pryde? Ioan Pryde. I think it suits you well!”

He seemed to hear the cheerful voice of young Delphine in his ear.

There is a special power in the act of naming.

The moment she gave him a surname, he developed a greed he had never had before.

Because of her mother who called her Del, Delphine felt lonely all her life when called Delphine or Delphine Pembrook.

Pryde gathered his courage and softly murmured to the little angel looking at him.

“…Arwen!”

Like a newborn, Arwen soon fell asleep again.

After looking down at that angelic sleeping face for a while, Pryde quietly declared.

“I will bring Delphine back myself.”

“What? What do you mean…”

The fragment of soul remaining in her body was originally his.

So even if he entered her subconscious directly, it would surely not cause a rejection reaction to its former owner.

He even directly drew and taught the ancient magic circle for inducing soul resonance to enter the subconscious world to the priests.

The priests who examined the parchment Pryde handed over all brightened at once.

“Oh… Such a method. Is this also wisdom given by the devil?”

Although the devil had left, all sorts of ancient knowledge and wisdom left behind by the devil remained intact in Pryde’s mind.

“…Indeed, it seems a waste to just execute him.”

“According to that La Rouge executive, he actually played a big role in the Holy War.”

“Wouldn’t that be considered a mitigating factor in the trial?”

Despite the various whispers, Pryde just held Delphine’s hand and quietly looked down at her face.

“But entering another’s subconscious is still an extremely dangerous act.”

One priest cautioned in a worried tone towards him who showed an unusually obsessive attachment to Delphine.

“If you lose your way, you may never return. You’ve only just awakened from the brink of death…”

“What does that matter if there’s a chance to save her?”

Pryde retorted in an indifferent tone.

He could save Delphine.

If so, he would gladly enter even if it were the eye of a needle, and he couldn’t understand why everyone was making such a fuss.

She must live, and not only he but anyone should strive with their life for that.

That was such an obvious truth to him.

At that calm and obsessive appearance, everyone in the room was momentarily at a loss for words.

After a while, Lin quietly opened his mouth to advise.

“…Just in case, think of the child.”

He was worried that mad man might never return.

Lin added emphatically.

“Make sure to bring her back.”

Pryde nodded with a smirk.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The priests formed a huge magic circle around Delphine.

Meanwhile, not only Lin, Belly, and Marian, but also Esmeralda, Anna, and Betty.

All of Delphine’s acquaintances had gathered.

They were all looking at the peacefully sleeping Delphine with desperate gazes, hands clasped.

“…”

After watching them for a while, Pryde quietly stood in the center of the magic circle that had begun to glow.

He suddenly couldn’t help but recall the memory of standing on the devil sealing circle.

Back then he was alone in a basement no one visited, but now it’s different.

Many people who loved Delphine were together beside them.

Pryde himself had changed a little from back then.

He will no longer borrow the devil’s power.

By the will of humans.

By his own desperate longing.

‘I will surely bring you back.’

To my side, and our child’s.

As he quietly closed his eyes, a feeling of his consciousness sinking distantly overwhelmed him.

He departed for her subconscious, somewhere far away.

Once again, to fulfill his most desperate wish.

Delphine was in a beautiful space with blue fields spread out.

On top of a low hill.

Lying under a large tree with sunlight filtering through, a cool breeze blew from beyond the hill.

Delphine quietly closed her eyes and savored that gentle breeze.

‘It feels nice…’

How long has it been since such leisure and happiness.

The best thing was her mother’s hand gently stroking her hair.

Becoming a young child with her head on her mother’s lap, she couldn’t feel more at ease.

She just wanted to drift off into a deep sleep like this.

“I want to stay here with mom forever.”

Delphine nuzzled her head against her mother’s lap, acting spoiled.

Then her mother smiled benevolently and gently stroked her hair.

“Yes, Del. You’ve been through a lot. It was a very hard life…”

At that touch, Delphine murmured in a drowsy tone.

“Yes… So much…”

Enough to want to sleep like this forever…

“Yes. Rest here for a little while.”

Her mother gazed at Delphine lovingly and softly recited.

“I want to be with you a little longer too. Like this, just a little…”

The wind kept blowing from beyond the hill.

As Delphine slowly blinked her sleepy eyes while listening to the cool sound of leaves rustling in the wind, it was then.

“…Delphine.”

Mixed in with that wind sound, someone’s faint voice came through.

Who could it be.

That voice that feels nostalgic.

As she was thinking in her hazy consciousness, that voice called her strongly once more.

“…Del!”

Delphine vaguely opened her eyes that had been closed.

Beyond the hill covered in blue grass, a beautiful boy with dirty blonde hair was walking over.

That very boy who had made her young heart flutter so much.