“What’s your real purpose for wanting to go to the banquet?”

There is only one purpose for wanting to go to the banquet.

Nocturne Frey.

The only joy in my life before possessing this body.

Although he was a supporting character in the novel, to me he was no different from the protagonist.

If I miss this chance to see Nocturne, I feel like I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.

That’s why I want to go!

‘I shouldn’t say it like this.’

If I do, Dietrich would obviously suspect how I came to know Nocturne.

I couldn’t say I read about him in a novel, so I had to think of something else to say.

Under Dietrich’s gaze that made it difficult to even breathe, I barely parted my trembling lips.

“I heard rumors!”

“What?”

“I heard that the young master of the Frey Marquis family is incredibly handsome, so I wanted to go to the banquet!”

Sometimes, if you want to solve a problem, the straightforward approach can be easier.

I recalled what I had heard from Yurian and said:

“I heard rumors that he’s so handsome that even the young ladies can’t keep their wits about them. I was so curious. As you know, I haven’t seen many people because I was trapped in a cave.”

“Are you saying you committed the outrage of sneaking into my bedroom just to see Nocturne?”

“Yes! I really did it to see the young master of the Frey Marquis family.”

I thought I had conveyed well that there were no other bad intentions, but somehow Dietrich’s expression seemed even more sour than before.

Judging by his deeply furrowed brow, his mood seemed quite bad.

“Hah, you say you did it to see Nocturne Frey.”

Suddenly turning away from his seat, Dietrich walked over and picked up Harpe.

Harpe, my true form, still displayed its beautiful majesty with a luminous green jewel embedded in it.

“Well, if you want it so badly, I’ll take you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ll take you.”

I hadn’t expected him to agree to take me so easily, so I clapped my hands and jumped up and down.

“Wow! I’m so excited!”

“But.”

“But?”

Tilting his head slightly, he curled his lips up wickedly.

“Say thank you.”

Witnessing his arrogant expression, I froze on the spot.

Saying thank you isn’t difficult. But being told to say thank you with such an unpleasant expression made me absolutely not want to do it.

“Don’t want to?”

“This isn’t just for my benefit. It’s good for both of us, so why……”

“Well, I don’t really care if I don’t take it.”

Dietrich shrugged nonchalantly and put the sword down on the table as if he really wouldn’t take it.

Feeling a sense of crisis, I bit my lip and tried to calm myself down.

‘It’s okay, you can do it, Harpe. What’s so hard about saying thank you?’

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Wait!”

I met the beautiful eyes of my ill-tempered contractor.

Then I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted.

“Thank you!”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I’m tearfully grateful that you’re taking me!”

“I accept your feelings.”

Wow, this is really infuriating.

Dietrich was a master at making my teeth grind.

“Stay quietly inside the sword. Don’t think about doing anything else.”

“Of course! I’m not that stupid.”

“I suppose not. And anyway, you won’t be able to freely enter and exit this sword.”

At his words about not being able to freely enter and exit the sword, I couldn’t stop my mouth from falling open.

‘I didn’t know that!’

Clearly, when I was alone trapped in Hermes Cave, I could freely enter and exit the sword as I pleased.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t tried to enter the sword alone since Dietrich broke into the cave and called my name.

If Dietrich’s words were true, it meant I could only enter and exit the sword at his call.

“That’s impossible!”

“Try it yourself.”

Dietrich tossed Harpe onto the bed and turned away without hesitation.

He was wearing a white shirt with a cravat, perhaps in preparation for the banquet.

The young master of the Duke’s family tying his own cravat without the help of a maid or assistant.

Feeling a complex mix of emotions that were hard to admit, I quickly lowered my head.

Staring intently at Harpe on the bed, I squeezed my eyes shut.

I tried to imagine entering the sword as I had done in the cave, but…

“Huh?”

As Dietrich had said, I was still standing in his room.

‘Oh no. It really doesn’t work.’

It worked before meeting Dietrich, but not after meeting him.

From what I could roughly guess, it seemed that Harpe, the treasured sword of the Delgado ducal family, really did form some kind of contract upon meeting someone of the family’s bloodline.

To think that the lie I had hastily made up to avoid being sold in the market was actually true.

I sat down on the floor with a dazed expression.

Dietrich picked up the suit jacket he had draped over the sofa and said, as if he had known this would happen:

“Didn’t I tell you it wouldn’t work?”

“How did you know?”

It was quite suspicious that he knew something even I hadn’t known until now.

Did he know something about Harpe?

‘He didn’t seem to know much about the spirit of the sword.’

Even the smallest bit of information about ‘Harpe’ was precious to me, who needed to find a way to break free from the sword’s constraints.

“Just a guess.”

However, Dietrich didn’t seem to have any intention of telling me how he knew.

“You jerk! Tell me in more detail!”

“Do you realize what you just said out loud?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps because I had become more familiar with Dietrich since first seeing him, I tried a bold action.

Dietrich just frowned and glared at me for a moment, without saying anything else.

It seemed like he had gotten used to me acting as I pleased.

Brushing his hair back as if tired, he buttoned up his black formal jacket and said:

“On the day you disappeared without a word to eat at the maid’s dining hall, I called your name. But you didn’t return to the sword. That’s when I knew. When your body is far away from you, you don’t return even if I call your name. That means you can’t enter the sword at will anymore.”

It seemed that Dietrich had become a mediator between me and the sword’s main body, disrupting the close connection we once had.

“Are you going to keep standing there like an idiot?”

Dietrich, who had finished preparing, jerked his chin, gesturing.

He meant for me to bring ‘Harpe’ from the bed.

I picked up Harpe and handed it to him.

Then, receiving Harpe, he smiled and said:

“Ah, I meant I would take Harpe to the banquet.”

“…You mean this sword, not me?”

“Yes. Isn’t this Harpe too?”

…Eek!

I felt my blood boil at Dietrich’s words, which were clearly teasing. And at the same time, I felt a little depressed.

It seems like he’s teasing, but is it really true?

I carefully observed his expression and asked:

“Come on, stop joking. You’re going to take me with you, right?”

Despite trying to hide it, my gloomy feelings seeped into my voice.

“…Do you want to see Nocturne Frey that badly?”

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Dietrich, with the scabbard at his waist, stroked Harpe’s green jewel and asked:

“So, do you want me to take you along?”

I clasped my hands tightly and tried to make my eyes sparkle.

Usually, this makes people’s hearts soften and they decide to take you along, right?

I even furrowed my eyebrows to look as pitiful as possible. It was perfect.

Now just say you’ll take me! Say it!

My mouth went dry as I waited for Dietrich’s heartless decision.

Finally, Dietrich let out a big sigh and said in a small voice:

“Fine. Come along.”

“Hurray! Hurray!”

I was so excited that I started spinning around Dietrich, but he grabbed my wrist and warned in a low voice:

“I won’t be taking you out of the sword at the banquet. That place is full of people trying to find my weaknesses. We can’t let anyone know about your identity.”

“I understand. That doesn’t matter to me anyway.”

I could read Dietrich’s expression that showed he didn’t trust me at all, but I pretended not to notice.

Right now, I could only think about Nocturne.

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The banquet hall we entered, with me hanging at Dietrich’s waist, was perfect and magnificent, making all the hard work from this morning worthwhile.

The giant ribbon decorations that Marie and I had painstakingly hung adorned every wall, adding to the splendor of the hall, while the massive chandelier in the center showcased the wealth of the Delgado ducal family.

Looking around at the finger foods placed here and there and the immaculate hall, I whispered proudly:

“How is it? I did all this!”

“Be quiet. Someone might hear.”

However, Dietrich, whose emotions seemed to have dried up completely, appeared unimpressed.

He didn’t even bother to look around the banquet hall, and just passed by the nobles approaching to greet him.

It was clear that everyone found it difficult to approach Dietrich due to his cold attitude.

‘His personality is really not good.’

No wonder Nocturne is his only friend, and the female lead becomes his sole savior!

Knowing that Dietrich’s true nature wasn’t actually a bad person, I could only sigh at his twisted attitude.

If he were just a little friendlier, he’d be surrounded by people.

As soft melodies began to play, everyone started to move, looking for their partners.

Countless young ladies were glancing at Dietrich, but he showed no interest at all.

Dietrich took a glass of wine from the table with finger foods and leaned against a wall in the corner of the banquet hall.

“Are you going to stay here the whole time?”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“Well, not really……”

I was about to say, ‘I’m just worried that bringing Harpe will be meaningless if we do this,’ but I closed my mouth.

Because I could see a hint of loneliness in his gaze as he looked somewhere.

Following his gaze, I saw Yurian in a navy suit with a red jeweled cravat, and the still beautiful Duchess, talking amiably among the nobles.

Whatever they were talking about, the two of them would laugh brightly and then continue conversing with other nobles.

In contrast to the warm atmosphere over there, an unapproachable silence surrounded Dietrich.

This must be a difficult scene for Dietrich, who lost his mother at a young age.

Dietrich muttered with a bitter smile:

“I should have left this damn banquet earlier.”

Dietrich’s low voice sounded terribly lonely and infinitely weak.

So different from the cold demeanor he had shown me so far.

‘Why does it make my heart ache so much?’

In the midst of the bustling banquet hall, he looked like someone left alone forever, and I wanted to say something, anything, to him.

“Hey, Dietrich.”

“Young Master Dietrich. Have you been well?”

A cheerful and lively voice overlapped mine.

“Ah, I thought you hadn’t come because I couldn’t find you anywhere in the banquet hall, but of course you were holed up in a place like this!”

“……Nocturne.”

“Well well, Nocturne Frey has returned from his long journey! So why don’t you cheer up a bit?”

I held my breath to hide my trembling voice.

‘This, this voice……’

The male protagonist that I love and cherish so much.

It was Nocturne Frey.

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