A look of unfathomable concern and slight regret flashed across his face.

After moving his lips silently for a moment, he soon recited softly.

“…… Then, I will buy flowers and fruits on my way back.”

Then, he affectionately kissed her round forehead.

Whatever the case, it was clear that she had once again guessed the correct answer to break through his defenses.

After finishing the meal, Delphine smiled brightly and waved at him as he prepared to leave.

Very obediently, sitting on the boudoir bed like a doll.

Not long after he left the room, Delphine slowly rose from her seat and approached the window.

Then, just like she had done sometime early in their marriage, she watched Ioan leave through the window.

The only difference from then was that there were now knights lined up guarding beyond the mansion’s walls.

Having confirmed him exiting the mansion’s main gate, Delphine very quietly headed to the hall on the first floor.

Fortunately, there was no one inside this mansion to watch over her.

Ioan’s possessiveness to exclusively have her to himself had ironically become his downfall.

Creak-.

The hall’s door, which had not been opened for a very long time, made a labored sound as it opened.

This hall, mainly used for hosting parties, was the very place where Ioan had beheaded his father.

After gazing at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling with an indescribable strange feeling for a moment.

Delphine took out the paper with the magic circle that the old doctor had secretly passed to her and grasped it in her hand.

Then, recalling the sensation of charging the Possum, she infused power into it.

White light leaking from between her clasped hands filled the spacious hall.

Delphine felt the magic circle in her hand instantly heat up and vanish into ashes.

And.

Amidst the fading white light, three faint figures were revealed.

“Lin…!”

Delphine let out a sound filled with deep emotion.

“Belly! Marian!”

In the span of just over two months, all three had become unrecognizably gaunt.

Even without asking, one could tell how much hardship they had endured during that time.

In contrast, how lavishly had she been treated in this mansion?

Once again, she became ashamed of herself for being intoxicated by the nights with Ioan and momentarily forgetting about them.

Soon, their initially faint forms became complete.

“Delphine.”

Lin was the first to approach and examine her condition.

“Are you alright? …… Damn it. I’m sorry. We couldn’t find any opportunity to come rescue you.”

“Of course. I’m the one who should be sorry……”

I’m sorry for occasionally forgetting about you in my mind.

Delphine firmly suppressed those words that she couldn’t bring herself to say deep in her heart.

Then, she quickly opened her mouth and asked.

“Tell me now.”

Everything had to be finished before Ioan returned. There was no time.

Delphine hurriedly spilled out in succession.

“Why did you have to come here in person?! What should I do now……!”

They also didn’t waste any time and directly got to the point.

“Delphine. We have a lot to tell you. First of all…… Do you have any memories of your mother?”

Is this the unfinished story from the previous communication?

They had said they investigated her mother.

Delphine nodded her head with a confused expression.

“You have told me many times that I have sides that are unlike a central noblewoman.”

Never be tainted by evil, always pursue goodness.

Be strong to the strong, and weak to the weak.

Always remember that material abundance is fleeting.

She had received an education with a different nature from other nobles who learned absolute loyalty to the Emperor and the Imperial family first.

“…… The one who taught me all of that was my mother.”

At that, they exchanged meaningful glances with each other.

“What exactly is going on?”

Delphine urged them again with an anxious voice.

Lin was the first to speak.

“Please don’t be too shocked, Delphine.”

Along with that, the story he revealed was indeed shocking.

The existence of gods and demons.

The Saint and the first Emperor who killed her and ran away.

And the culprit behind all these tragedies from the founding of this empire until now, the demon and its contractor.

“Ioan……”

Delphine uttered with a pale face, stumbling over her words.

He made a contract with a demon…… offering the lives of thousands as the price?

Then, from the moment he slit his father’s throat and reappeared before her eyes, he was already a being without a soul?

Inside that man who explored her body and heart every night, was there truly no room for emotions like love?

Suddenly, she felt like vomiting.

There was no part of her body that his hands had not touched.

That fact felt eerily disgusting, like the sensation of insects crawling all over her body.

“Ugh……”

“Delphine!”

Lin quickly reached out and supported her as she staggered.

Delphine barely muttered with a pale face.

“I’m fine. My body has been unwell lately……”

I need to get a grip.

This is not the time to show such weakness.

These people have come here at the risk of their lives.

She couldn’t let their efforts go to waste in an instant because of her frailty.

Delphine clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh.

The delicate skin immediately protested with a stinging pain, but the physical pain was more bearable.

“Then, then am I the descendant of that Saint……?”

Delphine uttered word by word with a face that looked like she might collapse at any moment.

“That’s why you investigated my mother?”

“That’s right. We looked into your mother’s lineage.”

Belly nodded firmly while looking at her like that.

“Your mother was a descendant of the only Saint who survived on this peninsula three hundred years ago.”

“Delphine. Learn this in case you ever need it when you go to that center someday.”

…… Yes. I remembered.

Mother always said that to me.

Those were clearly not the kind of things that an ordinary noble lady would teach her daughter.

And the various forbidden books in this peaceful Pembrook mansion, including ‘A Study of Ancient Demon Traces and Exorcism’.

“Someday, you will meet the person you love and give birth to a baby girl.”

“Just like how mom gave birth to me?”

“Yes. We can only ever give birth to a single daughter.”

Those words that I couldn’t understand at the time.

All of those things started to make sense at once, like pieces of a puzzle fitting together.

At the same time, like a fish that had taken the bait, memories that had been dormant deep in the subconscious began to pop up one after another.

“Delphine. If you ever want to know the truth, check …….”

“…… The first-floor corridor.”

Delphine muttered with a pale face.

“There is my mother’s diary there! Let’s go there.”

Delphine hurriedly left the hall and headed towards the corridor.

The reason why she was able to find the secret basement so easily at the Purcell villa.

The place where her mother had once taught her how to find secret spaces.

She quickly found the lone candlestick with a different pattern among the candlesticks on the wall and turned it sideways.

Then, the space that looked like a solid wall rotated along with the candlestick, revealing a small space inside like a safe.

What was contained in that secretive space was neither gold nor jewels.

It was old diaries.

Notebooks with her mother’s longed-for handwriting.

On top, there was a single letter with her mother’s signature.

“I had forgotten about this……”

Delphine muttered in a tearful voice.

Then, Belly, who had followed along, calmly advised.

“Your mother may have intentionally sealed your memories.”

“…… Hurry and check it, Delphine.”

Lin and Marian encouraged her in a warm tone.

Delphine reached out with trembling hands towards the letter placed on top.

[To my beloved daughter, my Del.]

As soon as she saw the word ‘Del’ written in her mother’s handwriting, Delphine burst into tears.

They were tears she had been holding back all this time.

To not become weak, to not become lonely in this world where she had lost everyone and was left alone.

“Delphine……”

Even Lin’s soft voice didn’t reach her ears at this moment.

Delphine read her mother’s letter through her tear-blurred vision.

[If you’ve come this far, you must have already made all the preparations.

You must have also uncovered the truth about this empire to some extent.

Yes, that’s right.

The ability you possess has been passed down from my mother’s, mother’s, mother.

Always living in fear of being discovered and killed by the Emperor, the secret has been kept, passed down only from mother to daughter.

So at this moment, facing death, it may be my duty to tell you, my young child, all the truth.

…… But Del. You still seem too young in my eyes for that.

As a mother, not a Saint, I just wish for you to live peacefully without knowing the heavy responsibilities.

I don’t care if the whole world condemns me as cowardly and selfish.

As long as only you can be happy.

All of this is an emotion I never knew before giving birth to you.

…… But my beloved Del.

Having already come this far, you must have made a decision, and I can no longer stop you.

You were always a child who never budged once you made a decision from a young age.]

Delphine let out a small laugh with a tear-stained face.

It was as if her mother’s longed-for laughter was soaked into the writing.

At the end of the long letter were the words her mother had always said to her.

[Del, always go in the direction your heart leads you.

That will become your pride.

No matter what kind of person you become, what you do, or where you are, mom will always love you.

Mom.]