‘Why?’

Whether he was there or not, the Grand Duke’s palace was safe, and people were kind.

‘But why?’

She wanted to talk to him.

About what she had been doing these past few months, what thoughts she had, what new people she had befriended. She wanted to tell him such stories. They weren’t originally the kind of relationship to have such conversations, so she couldn’t understand why she felt this way.

There was only one thing she knew for certain.

That no matter what Roxiana said, he would listen attentively.

Even though she wasn’t with him, her heart fluttered and her chest felt tight. It was a feeling similar to yet different from when she was sad, happy, or nervous, so Roxiana was perplexed.

“When he arrives, there will be a grand celebration.”

At Hexten’s voice, Roxiana came to her senses.

“Another celebration, I see.”

“Of course. Our lord loves festivals. Ah, if the princess doesn’t mind, it would be nice to make this drink and share it with the returning knights. Everyone will be surprised. I’m especially curious to see what expression Arsen will make.”

Roxiana recalled the silver-haired knight with his usual expressionless face and cold gaze.

“Does that person even make expressions?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. If you saw that fellow with the dogs, you’d think he was a different person. He’s all smiles. Just like a madman… I tell you, he looks completely insane.”

+++

Blood gushed out.

Arsen felt blood seeping between his lips as he thrust his sword.

Shunk-!

The tip of the sword pierced precisely into the creature’s chest. As he pushed upward as if pressing against tough skin, the creature let out a terrible scream.

“Kraaaaaah!”

An ordinary human would have lost their mind and gone berserk just from hearing this scream, but Arsen’s reddish-brown eyes, splattered with blood, shone brightly without wavering.

Arsen glared at the monster he had named Minotaur. The beast with a human body nearly 3 meters tall, a bull’s head, and two massive horns didn’t seem to have taken much damage despite its heart being pierced.

Arsen skillfully dodged the monster’s fist flying towards his head and shouted.

“My lord!”

At the same time, a huge flame engulfed from the left. Arsen quickly kicked the monster’s abdomen and retreated using the recoil. But the Minotaur couldn’t avoid the flames.

The Minotaur, which had been fine when impaled by the sword, let out a terrible scream when touched by the flames.

“Kuaaaaargh! Kuaaaa!”

The flames moved as if they had a life of their own, completely enveloping the Minotaur’s body. The monster’s skin sizzled and gave off a terrible smell. Emitting an odor worse than burning corpses, the giant monster thrashed about before finally ceasing movement.

Kuung-!

The ground shook as the massive body fell to the floor. Only then did Arsen lower his sword and look around. Knights were stabbing the scattered monster corpses with their swords to make sure they were definitely dead. Floyd was holding the neck of a human-sized monster in one hand.

Crack-

As the monster’s neck bones broke in his grip, flames erupting from his hand swept down the monster.

It was difficult to kill monsters with the strength of ordinary humans. One had to behead them, split open their chests, pull out their hearts, and tear them to shreds to stop a monster’s movements. A monster’s heart was tough and remained alive even when separated from the body, so even if one was lucky enough to extract it, destroying it was no easy task.

That’s why holy knights were needed. A holy knight’s sword imbued with divine power could kill a monster just by piercing its heart, without the need to extract it.

And there was one more thing, Floyd’s flames.

Floyd’s fire was much easier than a holy sword. Monsters that had taken damage somewhere on their body would writhe in agony as if plunged into poison when touched by Floyd’s fire, and then lose their lives.

Floyd flung away the monster he was holding.

“Is it over now?”

“It seems so.”

Arsen wiped the blood splattered on his face with his palm. Floyd looked around, catching his breath. Indeed, there was no longer any sense of monsters around.

“It took longer than expected.”

“If we hadn’t brought the Black Bear Knights, it would have been tough.”

The knights and servants were still moving to collect monster by-products even though the battle was over. Adrian muttered ominously as he wiped the blood from his sword.

“We should kill Jorge III.”

It was natural for him to harbor anger towards Jorge III, the king of Enilta. Not just Adrian, but all the knights present were suppressing their rage towards Jorge III.

Jorge III had downplayed the extent of damage when reporting to Floyd. The monsters that flowed out of the rift were twice as numerous as Jorge III had told them, and the affected area was much more extensive.

Four cities and seventeen villages had been completely destroyed, and the hastily erected barriers were on the verge of collapse when Floyd arrived.

“We should cut him into tiny pieces from fingertip to toe and kill him. Don’t try to stop me.”

Adrian sang as he sheathed his sword. Cain was busy collecting monster by-products with the other knights. Adrian snorted at his twin brother.

“How diligent you are, my brother.”

“Why don’t you learn from him?”

“Why should I? You learn, Arsen.”

Adrian snapped and went over to Kirshan who was treating the wounded. Unlike the other knights, Floyd, who didn’t have a single drop of blood on him, brushed his hair back.

“We can’t kill Jorge, but we must hold him accountable. We could have suffered even greater losses.”

“Yes, you absolutely should. If the extent of Enilta’s damage had been known, we wouldn’t have received help from the temple, even if it wasn’t about Kanta.”

“So he tried to get help even by deceiving me. How truly audacious. I have to give him credit for that.”

“What do you think you’ll demand in return?”

“Well, what would be good?”

“Land would be best, of course.”

“Land…”

Floyd looked around at the land that had become uninhabitable for a while due to magical contamination and thought of the power Roxiana possessed. With her power, this area could be purified. Plants that had turned black from the magical damage would miraculously revive through her power. Even more lush than before.

‘No.’

Floyd shook off the thought that had briefly crossed his mind.

The emotion he felt when he discovered her in the forest was still vivid. The moment he saw her frozen blue like someone whose life had ended, he felt as if the ground beneath him was caving in.

He never wanted to feel that terrible feeling again. He didn’t want to see her looking as if she might faintly scatter away.

Floyd had expected Arsen to mention Roxiana’s power and suggest taking this area from the Kingdom of Enilta and incorporating it into Torkan. This region was a shortcut to Kanta, so it would be useful in many ways if it became Torkan territory.

He was pondering how to persuade this stubborn fellow when he made such a proposal, but Arsen didn’t say what Floyd had anticipated.

“But Enilta has also lost such vast territory, so if we ask for land, they might as well tell us to cut open their bellies. We need to give them room to breathe, so it would be better for us to take a step back on this part.”

“Then what should we demand as compensation?”

“Three mines in northern Enilta, road construction rights from Torkan to Enilta, exemption from tariffs on Torkan export items, and discounted passage fees for merchants bound for Torkan would be good.”

Floyd grinned at his words, which seemed to be taking several steps forward rather than stepping back.

“You’re quite the devil yourself.”

The collection of monster by-products was almost complete. Floyd mounted his horse and called out to the knights.

“If Jorge doesn’t want to be carved up by Adrian, he’ll give us what we want. Everyone hurry up. Tonight, we’ll drink until Enilta’s royal treasury is empty!”

+++

King Joseph V of the Kingdom of Gania was in a foul mood even before meeting the envoy from the Hoburn Islands. It was because of the woman Crown Prince Lucas had brought to the audience chamber.

Although she was standing among the officials rather than next to Lucas, perhaps mindful of watching eyes, her crimson hair, which didn’t fit this place, irritated him every time it entered his field of vision.

‘The presumptuous thing. How dare she come here.’

Joseph V had been considering whether it would be better for Gania to pass the throne to his second son, Casar, rather than Lucas, who was weak-willed and easily swayed by others. Then Lucas had devised a scheme that beautifully made the Kingdom of Kanta, which Joseph V had long coveted, Gania’s possession.

Joseph V was very pleased with Lucas’s actions, which had brought the Kingdom of Kanta into their hands through strategy alone, without much bloodshed. He came to think that Lucas had merely been hiding his sharp claws, and was actually a clever fellow.

But that was as far as it went.

‘To bring such a woman here.’

Elise Hailis.

Joseph V was well aware of what had happened to the Hailis ducal family. The corruption and embezzlement committed by Duke Hailis were so enormous that one might think Victian IV, the former king of Kanta, had shown too much leniency.

‘No matter how much help she gave this time, still… How much help could such a woman possibly have given?’

Moreover, there was a secret rumor circulating among the people Lucas had taken with him, and of course, that rumor had reached the ears of Joseph V, the king of this country. When the head chamberlain first quietly relayed the rumor, Joseph V thought he had misheard.

‘Killing the Franche family and throwing them into a well… There’s no way. It can’t be true.’