Ha, goodness me. Rukna was flustered, fanning her face with her hand.

“Marriage? What marriage? As a priestess, I should serve the gods and pray.”

She had a diverse range of adult experiences with Matian, but her mouth spoke of piety.

As if pricked by her own words, her expression was not good.

“So you’re still single?”

“Well, yes.”

Indeed. Now she had to be alone. Rukna nodded, swallowing the bitter taste lingering on her tongue.

In contrast, Aaron’s stoic expression brightened.

“I see.”

Out of the blue, Aaron took out a bundle of keys from his pocket.

Various keys dangled from a circular ring. He shook it in front of Rukna’s eyes as if hypnotizing her.

“…Aaron?”

When Rukna tilted her head, wondering what on earth he was doing, Aaron was perplexed.

“Looking at these keys, doesn’t anything come to mind?”

“What keys are they?”

“Warehouse keys.”

From here to here is the grain warehouse, this one is the dried fish warehouse, this one is the seed warehouse, this one is the dried fruit warehouse…

Aaron diligently recited the warehouses he owned.

‘Is he bragging about becoming rich?’

Since his school days, Aaron had enjoyed being alone, so he didn’t have a single friend to listen to his boasts.

Rukna felt sorry for him and gave a thumbs up.

“Congratulations, Aaron.”

However, Aaron’s expression with furrowed brows was not good at all. Was the compliment too short?

“It’s amazing that you maintained such great wealth even in wartime.”

“…”

Not this either. Rukna showed her other thumb.

“You’ll be a great lord.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Huh? I thought it was a rather lengthy appreciation.”

“Ha.”

Aaron let out a long sigh. I’m the idiot for expecting anything from this clueless woman.

“You should hope for what you want.”

Aaron put the keys back in his pocket and heaved a long sigh.

“Did I make a mistake, Aaron?”

“No. I also don’t like that my successor is a half-blood.”

He bluntly spoke as if in a bad mood and walked away.

“What?”

“I mean I’m more conservative than I thought.”

“Really? Haha.”

Perhaps because she was dazed by Chad’s situation.

Rukna couldn’t fully grasp the context of the conversation. She let out an awkward laugh and fidgeted with her fingers.

Aaron seemed like he was going to hold her hand, but then clenched his fist again and lowered his arm.

“I’ll get going now.”

“Already?”

“Already? Even in this busy wartime, the only reason I came all the way here was because of you, Rukna Golden.”

Aaron left a crooked smile and exited.

Unlike his unwavering gait, he was anxiously clenching and unclenching one hand.

Chairn Steward was born as an unknown numbered bastard child in the womb of his mother, who was an imperial palace maid.

The first emotion he remembers is hunger.

To survive in the imperial palace, he often starved while filtering out poisoned food, and his mother, tired of this life, died young.

His mother, who was always in the back room, ridiculously left such words.

‘You should do well yourself. Dying in vain and why are you nagging your child.’

The best the young him could do was survive.

Growing just enough to not catch the empress’s eye and not become a blemish required constant effort.

‘I can do better!’

The desire to be recognized created an even greater hunger.

As much as he was born with greed, his hunger only grew. He wanted to open his own new era.

It was when Chairn was strolling through the imperial palace, imagining trampling his half-brothers who had nothing but their bloodline.

He saw Matian Wiegratz, the descendant of a hero or something. People were praising the young him as the savior who would save the empire.

‘Even though he’s only half, I’m nobler than that bastard. I’m the one who will become the leader of the new era!’

However, the world’s attention was still on Matian. That bastard wasn’t even grateful for it and was making a face like he had eaten shit.

‘I want to cut off that arrogant bastard’s arms and legs.’

The 8-year-old child gritted his teeth, imagining the most brutal scene from the fairy tales he had read.

Then, an absurd prophecy was made. A prophecy that a red-haired imperial family member would destroy the empire.

“I am not at fault, Your Majesty!”

Why does someone become a hero with a single word, and someone becomes a traitor who will destroy the country?

He protested his innocence while cutting off his own red hair with his own hands, snip snip.

However, the emperor, who cherished the empire and power, drove him into the forest of death without hesitation.

The hundreds of pleas he uttered were crushed by a single word of prophecy.

It was the bishop who found him when he was dying then.

“I meet our leader like this as prophesied.”

She claimed to be his new mother. From then on, Chairn abandoned the imperial family name and became ‘Chad Buteau’.

The bishop’s teachings were harsh. The whip flew without a day of peace for his body.

The bishop called it love.

She said if it wasn’t love, she would have abandoned him in the forest crying like a loser.

“Are you perhaps angry and afraid now, Priest?”

The bishop told him to remember that emotion. It was the most powerful and clear emotion a human could possess, enough to be the driving force of black magic.

There was no particular reason for choosing Rukna as the sacrifice to defile the holy sword.

On the day of the military academy entrance ceremony, the only cadet Matian, who took the top spot, paid attention to was none other than Rukna.

But after that day, Matian never acknowledged knowing Rukna.

However, Chad had already taken a liking to Rukna.

Whenever he saw that pale bastard like a woman, he had the urge to cut off his fingers one by one. There was no particular reason.

On days when Chad lost to Matian, he harassed Rukna.

When those green eyes were filled with fear and hatred, it felt like he was the master of the world.

Although he failed to make Rukna a sacrifice, it was quite a big amusement to watch Rukna become a saint.

And in the exact same appearance as the Black Sage he had seen.

“This feels like destiny, Mother. Don’t you think so?”

Recalling the past, Chad gleefully exclaimed, looking down at the badly mangled corpse of the bishop.

He had succeeded in opening the portal called the ‘Devil’s Egg’ for a moment.

He even tried to make the demon that flowed out at that moment possess the bishop’s corpse. It was quite a successful experiment.

“What is that bastard Matian doing?”

Chad plopped down on the golden chair and asked. A red eagle bowed its head to him.

“He is clearing the western position and returning to the center.”

“Oh, he will come this way soon. The imperial family will pride themselves on their victory. Foolish things.”

“Where shall we prepare the final altar?”

“Let’s do it in the capital as planned.”

Chad grinned heinously, imagining the collapsing imperial palace.

“Now is the right time when the troops guarding the capital have scattered to various places.”

Rukna went to Mela Chamber’s tent with a clean cloth.

It was to treat Mela, who was injured while fighting a grotesque demon.

“Could you take off your armor for a moment?”

Mela stared at Rukna for a while, then began to unfasten her shoulder epaulets one by one.

“Priestess, do you happen to have a brother?”

“No. Why…?”

“The man I once had feelings for looked just like you.”

At those words, Rukna trembled her hand. Confirming that reaction, Mela smiled bitterly.

“So it feels strangely embarrassing to take off my armor in front of you. You are… a woman.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I can call another female priest. However, please let me purify the wound. My holy power is quite effective.”

Rukna examined the part where blood had soaked through the chain mail.

Then she placed another white cloth over it and placed her hand on the cloth.

As holy power flowed from her palm, the dark power that had seeped into the wound disappeared like smoke.

When Rukna was about to leave the tent after finishing the purification, Mela suddenly began to confess to Rukna’s back.

She said she actually wanted to die. She said she had been tricked by the red eagle’s scheme and had suffered something terrible. It was unfair, but there was no way out.

“That’s when he appeared and saved me from the pit of fire. Worried that I was obsessed with chastity, he took off his shirt completely and thoroughly wrapped me so that my bare skin wouldn’t show.”

Mela said she was worried about becoming an impure woman even in a life-or-death situation.

And being trapped in a burning warehouse left her with a trauma of being afraid of even small sparks.

“After that, I couldn’t overcome the aftereffects and went down to a rural estate. I thought I was a ruined being. I stood in front of a cliff, not wanting to live anymore… but then I remembered the benefactor who would come running for me every time.”

Mela said she had been practicing swordsmanship since then.

She took off the corset that tightened her waist and cut her cumbersome hair short. Wearing armor instead of a dress, she stood in front of the mirror and cried her eyes out.

“Only then did I feel like I could breathe. The reflection in the mirror looked very unfamiliar, but it felt like the real me.”

She never let go of the sword in her hand, even during meals and bedtime. That effort made her the great swordsman she is now.

“Thank you.”

At the sudden words of gratitude, Rukna turned around and gazed at her. Mela had an expression that she already knew everything.

Rukna hesitated for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders, pretending not to know.

“What do you mean?”

“…It seems like your holy power healed even my wounded memories.”

“Well. As far as I know, holy power cannot heal experiences or memories. Instead, we build new memories on top of memories.”

Rukna answered like that and approached Mela again.

Looking up at Mela, who was a hand taller than her, she placed her hand on her forehead. And she infused it with holy power. It was a kind of blessing.

“Have you heard of physiognomy, young lady?”

Rukna, who had been subtly avoiding eye contact, now looked straight at Mela.

“It’s my first time hearing it.”

“It’s a divination method used in a very distant country, where they read the other person’s future based on their appearance. I know a bit about it, and you, young lady…”

Rukna’s hand touched Mela’s forehead, passed her nose bridge and peach-like cheeks, and came down to her chin.

Sparkling holy power seeped in like stardust where her touch passed.

Mela closed her eyes. She felt like she wouldn’t be able to bear it if she opened her eyes and saw the serenity that power conveyed.

“Many people will cherish you, and you have the features to achieve your desires step by step.”

The words close to a blessing carried an earnest wish for it to be so.

Mela swallowed her tears. She didn’t even say thank you.

She just showed a little tantrum to Rukna, who had hidden her identity from her, and to the still kind her.

“So keep living as you are now. Because from now on, happy memories will pile up one by one on top of your wounded memories.”

The shadow of a huge dragon loomed over the barracks where Rukna was staying and disappeared.

People squinted at the sky and soon cheered.

The hero Matian with the holy sword had appeared.

People applauded him as he stood upright against the sun. But the sound soon died down. Because the hero looked miserable.