Recently, the elders at the village hall said these exact words while looking at the young people who were delaying marriage until late.

“Wow. Hearing such words from Ari makes me feel like I’ve come back to my hometown during the holidays, and it feels great.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“…I wonder who our Ari takes after to be so smart.”

Sometimes when she acts annoyingly, she seems to take after her father.

However, Arwen exclaimed with a face full of pride, puffing out her chest.

“Mom!”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes! Dad said so too! He said I’m exactly like Mom when she was young!”

Such a clever child couldn’t possibly miss the affectionate look on her father’s face when he said those words.

Above all, the child was immensely proud of her mother.

‘From a young age, she was a child who particularly followed and adored her mother.’

Delphine stayed at the Holy Palace for 3 years before coming to this island.

Thanks to that, Lin, who remembers all of Arwen’s baby days, chuckled.

As they walked and chatted, they soon arrived at the cottage.

It was a small but beautiful house located right in front of the sea.

“Dad!”

The child ran straight to her house and shouted loudly.

“Ari is here! Come out and see! Guess who I brought with me?”

Then, as if he had been waiting for the child, the man leaning against the doorframe of the cottage slowly straightened his body.

Lin examined Ioan Pryde’s appearance with fresh eyes.

He was a man who was too out of place to be in such a quiet rural village.

His handsome face, which exuded a cold atmosphere, was still unnecessarily captivating as if he had made a contract with the devil.

Even upon seeing Lin holding his daughter’s hand, he simply nodded his head without any hint of surprise.

“You’re here.”

Just two words.

It could hardly be called a greeting, and Lin also nodded her head bluntly in return.

Now, after 10 years had passed, the two had reached a state where their relationship could be described as neither bad nor good.

After all, they were the ones who had trusted and cooperated with each other in the midst of a raging battlefield.

Even if the time they spent as enemies was longer, such experiences had the power to make it impossible to hate the other person who shared them.

“Dad, Dad! I brought Uncle Lin with me!”

“Yes. Well done, Ari. Did you climb trees again? Let’s go wash your hands and change your clothes.”

“Okay!”

While the father and daughter briefly went into the room, Lin scanned the dining table with an awkward expression.

A modest but carefully prepared lunch.

‘The Marquis of Pryde preparing lunch in a cottage and waiting for his daughter?’

It was a fact that he couldn’t get used to even after ten years had passed.

Arwen quickly changed her clothes and came out.

Ioan, who was still standing at the doorway, grunted bluntly at him.

“You came without any notice. Unfortunately, there’s no meal prepared for you.”

“…Then what’s that spare bread and fruit basket on the table for?”

I take back what I said about their relationship not being bad.

He’s such a narrow-minded man.

Keeping his guard up for 10 years just because he had a momentary interest in his wife.

“Dad! Don’t be mean to Uncle Lin! He’s my godfather!”

“……”

When Arwen shouted sharply, Ioan couldn’t say anything to his daughter.

“Uncle, here. Sit across from me.”

“Alright, thank you.”

Lin, who finally got permission and took a seat while giggling, asked.

“Where’s Delphine?”

“That’s none of your business…”

“Lin!”

At the welcome exclamation from behind, Lin turned his head.

Through the open door, Delphine was standing with a fruit basket, smiling brightly.

Wavy red hair and the most vivid emerald eyes.

The saint who possessed a beauty that remained unchanged even as time passed.

Unlike the blunt expression he had when dealing with Ioan, Lin’s face had somehow softened.

“…..Delphine!”

Seeing that, the corners of Pryde’s eyes lifted a little fiercely.

Although he acted as if he had forgotten everything, that man clearly still had lingering feelings for Delphine.

Otherwise, what was the reason he, who had already reached the rank of a great wizard, still hadn’t married?

With his fairly handsome face, his magic skills that had improved by leaps and bounds, and even his status as a member of the Holy Palace.

I heard that women were lining up to follow him….

Anyway, since it was certain that he would be loyal to his daughter, I didn’t particularly stop Delphine from making him a godfather.

‘But it still bothers me.’

While Ioan glared at them with terrifying eyes, the two greeted each other happily.

“What brings you here? It doesn’t seem like it’s been long since you last visited.”

“Well, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Lin answered gently.

His way of speaking was also completely different from when he was dealing with Ioan.

“You must be tired from the long journey. First, sit down. There’s plenty of food, so eat as much as you want.”

“….”

Ioan bluntly placed a plate in front of Lin with a blank face.

Seeing him unable to say a single word now that his wife was here, Lin chuckled to himself.

Like that, they sat facing each other at the wooden table, eating and catching up on their accumulated conversations.

“Is the continent still the same?”

“Of course. I’m the one who’s surprised every time I come to this island. Because nothing has changed here.”

“Hehe. It’s always peaceful.”

“The cities are changing rapidly. Delphine would be surprised to see the number of trams running on the streets? No one rides horse-drawn carriages anymore.”

“Really? Absolutely no one?”

“I want to see the trams too. Can’t we install trams here too, Mom?”

“….”

Ioan only participated in the conversation when absolutely necessary while quietly taking care of the meal for the mother and daughter.

After enjoying the tea and dessert as well.

Lin, who had been watching Arwen’s reaction, slowly opened his mouth.

“…..Isn’t it time for Ari to go for a walk again?”

Then Delphine quickly replied.

“Yes, Ari. Go out and play now.”

“No, I want to stay here and have coffee with Uncle Lin too!”

The child shouted, shaking her head as if she wanted to be part of the adults’ conversation.

But Delphine, who had become a mother, was firm.

“Children should go out and play after eating.”

“But….”

“Arwen.”

“Tsk…. Then I’ll be back.”

And so, the child reluctantly left the house.

And when her little hand closed the door, Lin’s expression had already become infinitely serious.

“What’s the matter, Lin?”

Delphine also had the face of a saint who had once traversed the battlefield, not the face of a gentle mother.

“There’s good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

“Hmm…. The bad news first?”

Lin let out a deep sigh.

In fact, that was the very reason he had rushed here.

“It’s about the Astrax Empire.”

The demon empire that was now becoming a legend, destroyed by the hands of Delphine and Ioan.

Lin opened his mouth with a heavy face.

“We thought all the emperor’s direct descendants were killed in the Holy War…. But it turns out the emperor had an illegitimate child.”

“…..!”

Ioan’s face, which had been expressionless the whole time, turned cold.

“The Holy Palace only recently discovered this fact as well. Apparently, it was an illegitimate child the now-executed old emperor had with a maid, and the child was abandoned in the stable as soon as it was born. They say the child is now thirteen years old.”

“Then, when the emperor was alive, the child was only three years old?”

“The child probably has no memory of the father at all.”

“That’s right. That’s why the discovery was delayed. Moreover, since it was a child the emperor had with a maid, he never acknowledged the child’s existence until the end.”

That emperor, who valued noble bloodlines more than anyone else.

Delphine nodded her head with a dark face as if she understood.

“The child was raised ordinarily by the stable keeper, and recently, when the adoptive father passed away, the child learned the fact that they inherited the emperor’s bloodline.”

“…..”

“They say the child left the empire after that, and their current whereabouts are unknown.”

“So that means….”

In the heavy atmosphere, Lin deliberately answered in a light tone.

“It’s cliché, but it’s probably something like revenge for the family and father, right?”

The emperor’s illegitimate child comes to take revenge on the saint who caused the downfall of the demon empire.

At those unspoken words, Ioan’s expression became infinitely cold.

He glanced at the wardrobe where he kept his longsword.

Observing his demeanor that had instantly become like a bird of prey, Lin muttered in a low voice.

“…..Well, with that man by your side, a young child like that can’t do much.”

“Haha…..”

“But I came to tell you to be careful for now.”

“Alright. We’ll keep that in mind. We’ll be careful with Arwen too.”

Nodding her head, Delphine asked in succession.

“I’ve already heard the bad news….. What’s the good news?”

“Ah, it’s about that research.”

Lin replied in a much lighter tone.

The Holy Palace had been searching for a way to infuse Delphine, the saint, with holy power for ten years already.

After the Holy War, Delphine became the embodiment of the saint legend and a symbol of the Holy Palace.

In addition, with the active support of other saints, including Esmeralda, the Holy Palace was actively continuing research to increase her and Ioan’s lifespans.

“There has been significant progress recently. Perhaps within a few years, we may be able to develop a method to infuse holy power.”

“Within a few years…..”

However, Delphine’s expression darkened even more than when she heard the bad news.