“Over there.”

Before they knew it, Dietrich and Vivian had arrived near her residence.

“It’s closer than I thought.”

As Dietrich was observing the exterior of the building from afar, his eyes suddenly caught someone.

Ren was standing in front of the door as if waiting for someone.

At the unexpected appearance of this person, Dietrich’s expression instantly darkened.

“Is she still living with that man?”

“That man? Ah, Ren? Yes! To be exact, I’m currently staying with Ren. This place was originally where Ren lived alone. I’m temporarily imposing on him because I don’t have a suitable place to stay.”

Dietrich, who had been quietly listening to her story, hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I’ve been curious about this for a while, are you two……”

“Yes?”

Vivian, who had been waiting for the rest of his words, tilted her head and widened her eyes.

Seeing that innocent expression, Dietrich didn’t have the courage to say the rest. He shook his head as if it was nothing.

“No, it’s nothing.”

No matter what words came out from between those lovely lips, it seemed they wouldn’t be what he wanted to hear.

He had waited ardently for months just to reunite with her, but if he heard a cold answer, he might have crumbled.

Just as he was smiling bitterly, Vivian also spotted Ren.

“Ren? What! Why are you out here?”

“I was worried because you were late coming back.”

Although they had actually been apart for only an hour or two since they attended the meeting together, the two were very happy to see each other.

“But why is that person……”

“Ah, Dietrich offered to bring me back! Thanks to him, I didn’t have a boring trip back.”

Vivian turned her body that had been facing Ren towards Dietrich. Then, with a smile, she expressed her gratitude.

“Thank you, Dietrich!”

Ren, who had been watching her actions, approached Dietrich.

Then, wrapping his arm around Vivian’s shoulder and closing his eyes gently, he said,

“Thank you for escorting our lady Vivian back. I appreciate you doing what I should have done.”

The word ‘our’ was particularly accented.

Dietrich was dumbfounded.

Ren’s remark was not a simple greeting.

He was very blatantly expressing his possessiveness over Vivian while keeping a smiling face.

‘Disgusting bastard.’

Every single word he uttered was unpleasant. How could even his way of speaking be so offensive?

Even though he used to confidently speak informally to Dietrich when Vivian was still in the Dragon Clan, he had changed 180 degrees in front of her.

Aside from his face, he seemed like a completely different person.

Of course, Ren equally disliked the other party.

Although he was smiling on the outside, he was clicking his tongue inwardly.

He had gone home early because he wanted to prepare a delicious dinner before Vivian arrived, but if he had known those two would return together, he shouldn’t have done that.

And why were those two walking so close together?

It irritated him even more because he knew Dietrich’s heart was directed towards her.

Ren glared at Dietrich with his back turned to Vivian.

Dietrich was also not the type to back down.

The two engaged in a battle of nerves while making laughing sounds with their mouths.

Until Vivian stopped them, that is.

“What are you two doing?”

At her question, they both responded smoothly at the same time.

“It’s nothing, lady Vivian.”

“Nothing at all.”

“Is that so……? It seemed like something happened.”

Although she was originally the number one in being oblivious, perhaps thanks to some recent growth, Vivian noticed an unsettling atmosphere flowing between the two.

However, she decided to let it go due to their attitude of trying to brush it off.

‘Did they fight while I was gone? It doesn’t seem like they get along well.’

Vivian was puzzled.

Both Dietrich and Ren were absolutely not the types to pick fights with each other for no reason, so she was slightly curious about what could be the reason for their battle of nerves.

She never imagined that she herself could be the cause.

“More importantly, lady Vivian, let’s go inside. I made beef stew. You should eat before it gets cold.”

Ren smoothly changed the subject and wrapped his arm around Vivian’s waist.

At the same time, he glanced at Dietrich with his head tilted.

“We’ll be going in first.”

His gesture of leading Vivian inside seemed as if he was trying to show Dietrich how intimate their relationship was.

In response, Dietrich inwardly laughed as if it was absurd.

He briefly wondered how he had managed to cooperate with such a guy all this time.

Meanwhile, Vivian hurriedly came to bid him farewell.

“Thank you for everything today. Please go back safely.”

“Yes, I hope you have sweet dreams tonight.”

“Have a good night too, Dietrich.”

As Ren watched the two exchanging warm farewells, he sensed a strange atmosphere.

Vivian’s expression was oddly bright. She also seemed somewhat refreshed, as if she had put down a burden in her heart.

It seemed like something had happened with Dietrich.

As soon as he entered the house with her, Ren casually asked in a calm tone,

“It must have been awkward seeing each other after a long time, what did you two talk about on the way?”

Although he was talking in circles, the point was simple. Ren wanted to know what had happened between the two.

But Vivian just laughed awkwardly and evaded the question.

“Nothing much… We didn’t really talk. Just things like how we’ve been doing?”

This was a big shock to Ren.

Vivian was hiding something from him.

Until now, this had almost never happened.

That wicked guy must have surely tried something on her. Anyway, he had never liked that guy.

Regret lingered for a moment.

Even though Vivian had told him to, he shouldn’t have come back home first. It would have been better if he had waited and returned together with her.

He seemed to have made a mistake, being preoccupied with the thought of preparing dinner for her when she would be hungry.

However, the regret didn’t last long.

“I was hungry, and the stew is so delicious.”

“I prepared it as a hearty meal because you seemed to be lacking energy these days. I’m glad you find it tasty.”

Seeing her eating happily, he thought his choice wasn’t entirely wrong.

Although he still couldn’t figure out what had happened between Dietrich and her, Ren decided not to mind it.

No matter what tricks that cunning guy used to get closer, as long as he took care of her in his own way, it would be fine.

‘Then someday……’

Ren wanted to believe that she would choose him.

Despite the long meeting that had taken place, the demons were strangely quiet for a whopping half a month.

Contrary to expectations that the invasion would continue, they showed no significant activity.

At most, they were just defending the already invaded areas to prevent them from being recaptured.

Even Siegfried, who was staying in the imperial palace, was quietly handling official duties.

Only a suspicious stillness filled the empire.

People harbored hopes that the demon invasion might have ended, but Vivian knew. That was absolutely not the case.

Belial would never give up on the human world.

Rather, it was reasonable to assume that he was plotting another grand scheme.

However, since no actions were visibly revealed, there was no way to figure out what it was.

Although investigations were conducted to some extent, no significant gains were made by the time the next meeting was held.

Vivian, who had arrived at the meeting room early, checked the clock.

The princess, who always arrived punctually, had not shown up for 10 minutes.

Waiting itself wasn’t a problem, but she was worried that something might have happened.

Fortunately, the princess arrived before long.

However, seeing the dark shadows heavily settled under her eyes, the worry deepened.

The reason could be easily understood.

“A plague suddenly broke out in the north. I was late because I was handling related tasks. I have no excuse.”

At the word plague, everyone’s attention turned to the princess.

A plague in this situation where they had to face the invasion of demons? Although it wasn’t unusual now that the weather was getting colder, the timing wasn’t good.

“Is the situation serious?”

“The number of infected people is not high yet… but as it’s an infectious disease, it could become serious at any time.”

Veronica, who had been answering Vivian’s question, then looked at Ludovica and Dietrich.

“So I’d like to ask the viscount and lady who were in the north until recently, how was it before you left?”

According to the princess, the characteristics of the disease were that in the early stages, patients suffered from coughing and high fever similar to a cold, but as it progressed, they fell into a state of hallucination and caused disturbances.

Fortunately, there were no fatalities yet.

Having heard this, Ludovica and Dietrich fell into contemplation for a moment before answering.

“…Certainly, there were quite a few people who looked like they had a cold. But we didn’t see anyone who fell into hallucinations.”

Starting with Ludovica’s answer, the three had a conversation about the plague.

“That means you two may have been exposed to the plague as well. Do you have any symptoms?”

“I’m fine for now. My elder brother should be the same.”

“You two have very healthy bodies in the first place…. Still, be careful just in case. It would be troublesome if the disease spreads to the capital too.”

Watching from the side, Vivian was lost in thought.

‘Was there any content about a plague in the original work?’

She tried to recall, but there was no such content at all.

‘In a war situation, a plague is fatal. If such a thing had been a problem, it would have definitely been mentioned in the original work.’

However, judging from the fact that there was not a single mention of it, it could be thought that either the plague did not occur or it was well contained early on and did not cause problems for the empire.

‘I hope it passes without much trouble this time too……’

Vivian prayed inwardly with an anxious heart.

However, things in the world do not always flow as desired.

After a week, a large number of deaths occurred among the northerners who had been infected early on. But the problem did not end there.

Even in the capital, countless people began to complain of the same symptoms.

A great plague had struck the empire.