Due to the Empire’s ominous atmosphere, the graduation party was canceled, and the graduation ceremony was moved up. Thanks to this, Rukna’s number of absences decreased, allowing her to meet the graduation requirements.

“Rukna Golden? Was there such a cadet?”

The principal tilted his head to the side as if hearing that name for the first time. At that reaction, Matian’s smiling face began to stiffen.

“Have you forgotten, sir?”

It was already the umpteenth time. Matian tried hard to suppress his anxious feelings.

He became desperate, feeling like Rukna, who had disappeared from his sight, was also being erased from others’ minds.

“Well… I think I’ve been forgetting things because I’ve been busy lately. Who was it again?”

“It’s Rukna Golden. Please make her diploma now, even if belatedly.”

“Ah, right. That was the name.”

Matian stood there and watched the principal write Rukna’s name on the diploma and sign it before leaving the principal’s office.

He felt dazed all day thinking about Rukna.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Are you okay, Matian?”

A worried voice asking about his well-being resonated inside his ears.

“…Rukna?”

Without distinguishing the voice, Matian turned around, calling the name of the person that came to his mind.

“Are you out of your mind? There’s no room for confusion, but you mistook me for that loser!”

It was Bolton. To think he mistook someone who didn’t resemble her one bit for Rukna.

“The lecture ended ages ago, so why are you sitting here?”

Bolton pointed to the red-tinted window outside. It must have been around 8 p.m., given the long days of the season.

“Haa.”

Matian couldn’t remember how he had walked here, let alone the lecture.

His diligent body had habitually found the lecture hall, but his mind was solely occupied with thoughts of Rukna.

Matian picked up his textbook and rose from his seat. As he trudged along the empty corridor, a certain locker caught his eye.

It was the very locker where the bullied Rukna had been trapped.

Matian stopped walking and stared at it intently.

Recalling how frightened she must have been back then, he wanted to shatter Zvai’s gang and that locker into pieces.

Matian clenched his teeth and tightened his fist.

He was about to throw a punch at the locker when he noticed crooked letters engraved in the corner of the locker.

〈Rukna Golden.〉

It was the name Rukna had engraved while vowing never to suffer such a thing again, driven by desperation.

The trembling fist lowered again. He carefully traced that name with his fingertips.

“I think I understand now. Why the Holy Sword chose you, not me.”

The answer was very simple. Because you were stronger than me.

How desperately did you have to struggle to survive among men with that small, fragile body?

You must have mustered all your strength, to the point of getting cramps in your legs, in order not to be swept away by the adversity they had arbitrarily imposed on you.

“I’m sorry.”

He realized it way too late. He became afraid that his past self might have also been one of the adversities you had to endure.

Nevertheless, even so, he misses you. He wants to hold onto you no matter what it takes.

He wants to rush towards you, even if it means becoming a rough tidal wave. So that you can never escape from him again…

‘Let’s stop.’

Matian wiped his face with both hands, shaking off the obsessive thoughts that kept building up.

Then, as he lowered his hands and turned his head, his expression reflected in the window across from him looked as terrible as a demon panting with desire.

Recently, demons have been swarming all over the Empire. The Red Eagle has begun to reveal itself above the surface.

The current Steward Emperor is faced with the task of subjugating the demons, keeping the Red Eagle in check, and stabilizing the people’s livelihood.

The only good news was that Matian, a descendant of the hero, had become the owner of the Holy Sword.

The Emperor pressured Princess Tolia to capture Matian Wiegratz as soon as possible in order to restore the shaken authority of the Imperial Family.

The Wiegratz Grand Ducal House held power that the Imperial Family could not recklessly force a marriage proposal on, making the Imperial Family even more impatient.

‘But Matian Wiegratz has not the slightest interest in me, Father.’

The princess could not dare to say those words and instead participated in the graduation ceremony of the Military Academy.

The Emperor was also scheduled to attend, but the ruler abstained, citing the reason that it was the place the Red Eagle had attacked a few days prior.

Perhaps due to the series of social issues, the atmosphere of the graduation ceremony was somewhat rigid.

‘Come to think of it, someone seems to be missing… I can’t remember.’

The princess pressed her throbbing temples and stared at the podium.

The student representative, Matian Wiegratz, was standing there in a fine uniform, reciting a formulaic speech.

His gentle yet low voice spread heavily in all directions.

It was captivating in itself.

How wonderful would it be if that handsome man became her husband? If that happened, the Imperial Family would also acknowledge her.

‘Even a formal marriage is fine.’

Yes, a contract marriage.

It was the view on marriage that Mela, who was now staying in a rural territory under the pretext of recuperation, had advocated.

‘It’s okay even if Duke Matian has someone else in his heart. As long as I can hold onto his body at least!’

The princess fidgeted her lace-gloved hands while gazing at Matian.

Right now, after receiving his diploma from the principal, he was requesting one more diploma for someone.

When the principal furrowed his brows, Matian sighed and personally rummaged through the stack of diplomas under the podium. Then, finding what he wanted, he tucked it under his arm.

‘Is he taking care of it for a cadet who couldn’t attend today?’

She had an ominous feeling.

Throughout the ceremony, the man who had not spared a single glance here was now holding that diploma as if it were very precious, and she didn’t like the sight of it.

Matian stepped down from the podium and moved to the row of graduates.

He pretended to keep his place, then secretly slipped out of the hall when the principal’s speech began.

‘I have to follow him!’

The princess abruptly stood up from her seat and chased after Matian. The ladies-in-waiting nagged at her to maintain propriety, but there was no time to worry about such things.

‘He still walks fast.’

Even when he was with her, he never matched his pace to hers. However, it wasn’t just with her but with other young ladies as well, so she didn’t feel particularly wronged.

But now, she strangely felt sorrowful.

The fact that he didn’t look back at her, the fact that her heels were completely worn out from running in new shoes, all seemed to be because of the diploma he had tucked under his arm.

‘I want to tear that apart.’

The place the princess arrived at was the stable.

Matian, who had just walked out with a horse, faced the princess and hesitated for a moment before breaking into a smile.

“…Your Highness.”

The person who hadn’t even glanced at her throughout the graduation ceremony now finally looked at her.

The princess was momentarily dazed. Ah, it felt so good. That made her want to tear apart someone’s diploma he was holding even more.

“I’m disappointed, Duke Matian. I came to see your graduation, but you left without even greeting me.”

“You didn’t come to see my graduation, but as an Imperial representative to celebrate the graduation of all cadets, didn’t you?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

No. Don’t be pushed back. I am a great member of the Imperial Family.

“To me, Duke Matian is the most important.”

“I’m honored. But other cadets will also need blessings from the Imperial Family, so please go back and keep your place.”

“I, I don’t need any other cadets!”

Gasp, huff. The princess unknowingly shouted and quickly covered her mouth.

Her shoulders trembled, fearing that his contemptuous gaze would soon pierce her. As is typical of the Imperial Family, the young duke who would inherit the grand duchy would also dislike such a vulgar mistake.

But the actual reaction that came back was unexpected.

“I was like that too, Your Highness.”

“Wh-what?”

“I stood on the podium representing other cadets, but I recited the sentences thinking of only one person. Even though I knew it was wrong, I couldn’t help it. So let me tell you this.”

Matian looked down at the diploma tucked under his arm.

“Please stop making meaningless efforts from now on.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“When I was young, there was a group that threw stones at me whenever I visited the Imperial Palace. Those rascals harassed me, calling me a demon.”

One day, Matian, who was too angry, retaliated against those bastards while avoiding the eyes of the Grand Duke and Duchess.

Only after hearing their statements did he learn the exact details.

“You were behind it, Princess.”

“Wh-what are you talking about! This Tolia has never done such a thing!”

As expected, the princess denied all charges, but Matian knew the truth.

The princess had incited the pride of the young rascals by saying things like, ‘Duke Matian, who has a fragment of the demon embedded in him, is scary,’ and ‘Only a man who can throw stones at him is a true hero.’

And she invited those bastards to the Imperial Palace in time with Matian’s visit schedule.

The princess tried to thoroughly isolate Matian and then appear as a savior to capture his heart. Of course, all attempts failed miserably.

“From now on, you really shouldn’t do that. If you show such behavior one more time, I won’t tolerate it either. I will take away what is most precious to you, Princess.”

“You are the most precious to me.”

“No, it’s not. Isn’t the most precious thing to you the title of princess?”

At those words, Princess Tolia’s face turned bright red.

How dare you belittle my love? You judged me as such a materialistic person?

Just as Princess Tolia was about to get angry,

Matian brought his finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture while raising the corners of his mouth.

“You should be careful. If you shout again, won’t your frivolous mistake be reported to Her Majesty the Empress?”

Matian pointed his chin at the ladies-in-waiting and guards standing behind the princess.

“Are you threatening me now?”

“Yes. I also want to live while protecting what’s precious to me.”

Matian gave a rough nod as a greeting and swiftly mounted his horse.

Just as he was about to pull the reins without hesitation, the princess grabbed his ankle, saying, “I have a question!”

“About those rascals who threw stones at you. They haven’t been seen for a while, so what happened to them?”

“Who knows? Since you were acquainted with them, shouldn’t you know better, Your Highness?”

“At some point, I lost all contact with them. The rascals who dreamed of becoming knights don’t appear at the Military Academy either.”

“Oh my, how unfortunate.”

Matian left an answer devoid of any emotion and disappeared, riding his horse.

The princess clenched her teeth and stared at his back.

Her heart was pounding. At first, it was because she liked him, but now it was filled with nothing but fear, causing that reaction.

Perta looked up at Matian, who came again today, with deer-like eyes.

At first, he trembled at the sight of him, but seeing him every day, he developed immunity to this as well.

“Rukna is not here. How could she be?”

Perta answered the question the other person didn’t even ask first. What he was going to say was obvious.

Every day without fail, he would come and ask Perta, “Is Rukna here?” as soon as he saw him.

Matian stared at Perta silently, a smile on his lips.

Perta instinctively shrunk his body but mustered up the courage to blurt out the sentence he had practiced hundreds of times since this morning.

“Ah, please refrain from visiting in the future, Duke Matian.”

“What is the reason?”

“Because you come in and out so often that the threshold is wearing out, people around us are gossiping about whether this is the Grand Duke’s residence or the Count’s residence.”

At Perta’s words, Matian tilted his head askew. His brazen expression seemed to ask, “So what?”

“Rumors are spreading that you will propose to our Giselle. That’s why Giselle has become tired.”