Floyd slowly blinked his eyes. Thinking that he would be the one buried by her.

-“I have Your Highness.”

Just those words gripped Floyd’s heart.

-“As long as Your Highness is by my side, I won’t be devoured by them.”

Just that whisper eroded and shook Floyd’s firm resolve.

“Also, at the end of my path will be not only those responsible for my family’s death,

but also those who control Your Highness’s life. Under Your Highness’s clear light, I will face them as well.”

Control my life? They?

He wanted to say no. He wanted to protest that no one controls his life.

But Floyd knew that wasn’t true.

The king’s indifferent gaze and the queen’s damp voice, his mother’s screams as she burned, Lucas’s mockery upon seeing it.

Floyd still remembered. He remembered very clearly.

Those gazes and voices and screams and mockery still controlled Floyd’s life, gripping his ankles and filling his stomach. He had only tried to ignore and turn away from them.

The emotion that burst forth the moment he realized it reddened the corners of his eyes. His jaw clenched, teeth grinding with a heavy sound. The blood drained from his clenched fists, and his enraged heart pounded as if it would explode.

Even in her presence, he couldn’t suppress the flames that rose up. A great fire surrounded Roxiana and Floyd.

As grass and trees burned and the pond water rapidly dried up, Roxiana and Floyd quietly faced each other within the massive flames.

Silently watching Floyd’s chaos, Roxiana slowly reached out and stroked his cheek. Instantly, the uncontrollable flames subsided.

“Your Highness.”

Roxiana cupped both his cheeks with her hands and bent her waist. From that close distance where their noses almost touched, Roxiana whispered.

“I will annihilate the Pelur royal family.”

Her voice burrowed into his ears as if it had a life of its own. It was incredibly sweet yet filled with a strong will that made his heart race.

Floyd stood up from the half-burned bench, paced around the blackened garden for a while, then suddenly came to his senses and said.

“I’m sorry. The garden is a mess because of me.”

“No. It will recover soon.”

As she said, new life was already sprouting from the burned ashes. Now she had gained enough power to sprout small life without risking her own.

“So… you’re going to destroy the Pelur royal family?”

“Yes.”

“If you’ve made that decision because of me, stop it. Just get revenge on the crown prince and that woman, his princess friend. I’ll help you.”

“No. Soon the entire Pelur royal family will become my enemy.”

“What do you mean…? Ah.”

Floyd recalled what she had muttered in the dining hall.

-“To cover this up, they’ll create dirt on our Franche royal family and spread false rumors. They’ll further tarnish my family’s honor.”

Floyd thought the same. Joseph V would drag the Franche royal family’s honor deep into the ground to cover up Lucas’s crimes.

“If Joseph V chooses to acknowledge his son’s wrongdoing and repent, I won’t touch him. But… I don’t think he will. So my path will have the same destination as the one Your Highness once wanted to walk.”

Floyd doubted whether the woman standing before him now was the same person who had begged to be killed just a few months ago. Holding back the urge to ask ‘Who are you! What have you done with the princess?’, he said:

“The same destination as me… Then it won’t be easy.”

“It won’t be easy. I never thought it would be. But if I walk steadily, I’ll reach it someday. That’s how destinations are. They’re always there.”

“This destination moves. It has life and will. Do you think it will be in the same place years from now?”

“Yes, because I’ll tie it firmly in place.”

Roxiana’s eyes gleamed coldly. Floyd felt like he would be swallowed by her eyes, but he couldn’t look away from her eyes that were like a blue forest.

The girl he had seen over a decade ago was before his eyes.

The girl who had fearlessly offered an umbrella to Floyd, called the cursed one, with clear eyes telling him not to be sick, was now whispering revenge in front of him.

The two who had walked different paths for a long time were now standing at the same point, facing each other.

Floyd had to admit.

I can’t stop this woman’s revenge. Far from destroying the path she’ll walk, I’ll end up following her no matter how dangerous it is. Like a moth helplessly drawn to a beautiful flame without knowing how hot it is, I’ll be drawn to this woman and leap into the fire.

Floyd slowly closed his eyes and opened them. Her eyes were still shining brightly before him, unchanged.

“Do you have anything in mind?”

“First, it’s the seafood distribution network.”

“What?”

Hearing words that didn’t fit the current situation at all, Floyd was bewildered. To suddenly mention seafood after talking about revenge against Gania.

Wondering if the lobster they ate earlier was overly delicious, he was dumbfounded, but Roxiana smiled softly and started walking. Floyd hurriedly followed her.

She explained as she gracefully walked between the flowerbeds.

“Countries in the middle of the continent find it difficult to obtain seafood. Only when it’s cold enough for seafood not to spoil during transport can they barely eat salted seafood.”

She was right.

Occasionally, at the request of wealthy people, sea creatures are transported in huge tanks, but even then they can’t maintain the same freshness as when just caught. No matter how much seawater is filled, they tend to die from stress or the tank water spoiling during long journeys.

“So the seafood that people in the central continent encounter is mostly dried fish, dried shellfish. And it’s very expensive.”

Seafood that coastal people don’t even eat and throw away is used as a luxury ingredient in the central continent.

“Yes. That’s why we’re also looking for ways to keep seafood fresh for distribution, but it’s not easy. Of course, if we request it from the magic tower, they might create a usable spell, but it would cost a fortune. Moreover, the magic tower would want a steady payment of part of the profits.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that when using magic to make a profit, the magic tower usually demands 50 percent of those profits.”

“It’s nothing short of highway robbery.”

“But I’m different. 5 percent. Just that much.”

“…Do you know how to use magic?”

Roxiana slowly shook her head, then raised her hand. As she moved her hand like an orchestra conductor, the wind came and gathered at her fingertips, then brushed past Floyd’s hair.

“I handle spirits.”

“…”

“Before, when Dennis and Jewelry picked flowers for me, I put them in a vase. Even though I didn’t change the water in the vase often, those flowers stayed alive and vibrant for a very long time. So I thought. Then couldn’t I use this power to boost seafood distribution? Couldn’t fish stay alive and fresh for a long time in a tank filled with seawater touched by my power?”

While Floyd was away from Torkan, Roxiana had been busy in her own way. This was one of those things.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard from the knights, but the juice I make relieves fatigue and eases pain. Not just juice, but food too.”

“I heard from Hexten. He was excitedly talking about it as if he had done it himself.”

“Without risking my life as Your Highness worries, I can do many things. So I’m going to create a small guild. I’ll use an alias instead of my name, and that guild will do all sorts of things that an unknown guild master can do. The first is to help with seafood distribution, and the second is to open a tea house that sells strange drinks good for physical recovery.”

“What do you aim to gain from that?”

“The guild’s reputation and money. Also, the revival of Torkan.”

Certainly, if seafood distribution becomes active, Torkan will prosper much more than now. Until now, most fish were discarded because distribution was difficult no matter how many were caught.

But what if all those fish could be sold? No, what if even more fish were needed than before?

More fishing boats means more jobs.

“Also, I can help when improving the road from this Torkan to the central continent. I can make the ground soft or hard.”

As if to prove her words, the ground vibrated. It was a subtle vibration, but Floyd felt it clearly.

“This too will be commissioned by the guild I create, but if it’s Your Highness’s request, I’ll do it for a very low price.”

Floyd was amused by her somewhat playful tone.

He realized that he had been listening to her plans too seriously, becoming sensitive beyond understanding when it came to her affairs. He recognized that he had been preparing to oppose her plans at any moment, anxious that she might risk her life again.

But now he understood.

Roxiana Franche, who had not abandoned her family or name, was no longer someone Floyd needed to anxiously protect. She was not someone he needed to be on edge about, fearing she might die.

She could walk her own path without anyone’s support.

‘Then my role is…’

Floyd grinned.

‘A companion.’

A companion to walk that path side by side.