“The demons…… strangely, nothing is happening.”

Listening quietly to Ludovica’s story, it went like this:

Just like when the plague first spread, they showed no noticeable movement.

They reveal themselves in areas they have already occupied, but do not attack civilian villages, she said.

While it’s good news if true, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

‘Siegfried won’t just sit still. I’m sure he’s planning something big.’

I couldn’t help but be tense, since they showed similar behavior patterns when spreading the disease.

My expression must have visibly hardened, as Dietrich, who had been quiet, tried to reassure me.

“It’s good to be prepared, but no need to wear yourself out in advance, Miss Vivian.”

“That’s right, Vivi. Don’t be gloomy. I’ve brought some good news too.”

“Good news?”

Ludovica nodded and replied.

“His Majesty the Emperor has promised the Imperial Princess the position of Crown Princess. Well, it’s still a secret for now.”

“……!”

I was momentarily excited by this unexpected information.

In the original story, Veronica never became Crown Princess. The next heir to claim the throne was none other than Siegfried.

Knowing he was a demon, she continued investigating until she was killed.

But now Veronica is to be appointed Crown Princess. This was a positive change from the original story.

‘Siegfried’s original plan was to become Emperor and easily take control of the Empire, so we’ve thwarted that for now.’

The only problem is not knowing how Siegfried will react when this news reaches his ears.

‘He’s not likely to let things go smoothly.’

Siegfried had many options, from using demonic powers to brainwash the Emperor, to finding Ren and stealing his body.

‘Of course, I’ll prevent the latter from ever happening.’

Even without that, he already had the support of many nobles as a highly respected prince.

Even if the Emperor named Veronica as Crown Princess, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to incite the nobles to oppose this.

‘Just thinking about it gives me a headache……’

The one fortunate point was that Veronica’s status had risen due to this epidemic situation.

It was thanks to her curing people afflicted with the Ledanipus disease, which had seemed incurable.

So I could leave secondary issues like noble infighting to Veronica and focus on preparing for Siegfried’s next move.

To think I can’t be purely happy even at this rare piece of good news.

Sighing at the stifling reality, I soon clenched my fists and shook off the negative thoughts.

‘With so much left to do, I can’t get tired already.’

I had momentarily forgotten my usual mindset due to resting these past few days.

‘Right, I’ve been too lost in thought.’

I glanced sideways at Ren beside me. The one responsible for distracting my thoughts was listening to the conversation quietly with an expressionless face.

Just looking at his profile made my heart race abnormally.

My body reacted so intensely just from seeing him.

If this continued, it might interfere with my future activities.

‘This really won’t do.’

Coldly speaking, now was not the time to be worrying about love or romance.

Countless lives hung on my every action.

They say great power comes with great responsibility, but this was especially true for me.

After all, this power was given to me to fight against demons.

I didn’t want to be swayed by personal emotions until I fulfilled my responsibility.

‘I suppose… it’s right to set aside these feelings for now.’

Of course, human emotions don’t flow as we wish… But I had to suppress this excessive reaction to Ren’s every action.

To be honest, I’m full of desire to ask Ren how he feels about me right now.

I keep hoping that maybe Ren feels the same way I do.

The urge to confirm this comes dozens of times a day. These unfamiliar feelings I’m experiencing for the first time keep making my heart flutter.

Even when I have things to do, thoughts of him dominate my mind.

‘This really can’t go on. …Let’s bury these feelings for just a little while, a very short time.’

And when the things I need to take care of are finally sorted out. When there are no more obstacles between him and me.

Only then will I look back at my feelings again, I thought to myself.

While I was lost in thought alone, Dietrich and Ludovica had already emptied their teacups.

“We’ll be going now.”

“Already?”

“Yes, we’ve confirmed that Vivi is safe in person.”

The two of them got up and placed some tea leaves on the table.

“What’s this?”

“I heard it’s good for the body. Take care of yourself, and next time let’s meet when you’re healthy, Miss Vivian.”

Seeing the gift they had prepared, I felt a small wave of emotion.

‘Neither of them is the type to be so attentive to such subtle things…’

I was really grateful that they had prepared this with me in mind.

“I’ll make sure to take it. I’m touched.”

As I hurriedly tried to take the items to the kitchen, Ren called out to me.

“Lady Vivian, give that to me. I’ll keep it.”

“Oh, yes! Thank you.”

As I handed over the container with the tea leaves, our hands touched slightly for a moment.

Though minor, the sudden contact startled me, but I tried to quickly regain my composure.

I had just decided not to be conscious of Ren, but I reacted like this right away.

‘I have a long way to go…’

Shaking off stray thoughts, I went to see off Ruby and Dietrich who were about to leave.

After exchanging farewells at the door, the two were about to leave immediately.

I watched their retreating figures for a moment.

That’s when it happened. Ruby seemed to remember something and turned back to approach me again.

“Vivi.”

“What? Did you forget something?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Wondering what was going on, I waited with round eyes for her to answer.

It didn’t take long for her lips to part.

“Next time, if there’s something you feel you must do, tell us properly. I won’t just blindly oppose you, I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

“Ah…”

“You acting on your own… it’s cute, but don’t make me worry.”

Saying that, Ruby lightly tapped my nose with her index finger, not enough to hurt.

“Anyway, I’m really going now.”

She threw her words like an announcement and disappeared into the distance with Dietrich.

“…”

I felt newly apologetic.

Even knowing they would worry, I acted on my own because I thought it was necessary.

Absorbed in the thought that I had to do what I needed to do, I had disregarded the feelings of my precious friend.

‘Honestly, I can’t say anything even if she gets angry at me…’

She must have been very worried about me, not even receiving proper news from Veronica.

She could have been upset and angry, but instead Ruby said she would listen to me next time.

‘…I must never do that again.’

It seems I gave up too easily on persuading them just because everyone was against it.

If I had tried a little harder, things might have been different.

I clenched my fist, vowing not to worry my precious people anymore.

Dietrich, returning to the mansion, had an unpleasant expression as if troubled by something.

His younger sister noticed this right away and was about to ask if there was a problem, but then stopped.

Come to think of it, Dietrich had often been in that state recently.

Since when? Probably since the time they reunited with their parents after a long time.

At first, she thought he might be blaming himself for not realizing how serious their parents’ condition was.

Dietrich appeared very insensitive on the surface, but Ludovica knew.

In fact, he was surprisingly sensitive.

So it wouldn’t be strange if he felt guilty about something that had already been resolved.

So at first, she naturally assumed that was the situation, but looking at his expression again, it didn’t seem to be just that.

He would worry like that but then immediately break into a happy smile.

For Ludovica, it was an incomprehensible change of expression.

She had no idea what Dietrich was thinking.

Out of curiosity, she had asked a few times at first, but each time Dietrich avoided answering.

Thinking it would be the same this time, she decided to just ignore it.

But for some reason, Dietrich spoke first.

“Didn’t those two earlier… have a strange atmosphere?”

“Who?”

Just when she thought he was starting a conversation for once, his question was incomprehensible.

The only people they had met recently were Ren and Vivian. But what strange atmosphere?

Ludovica pictured them in her mind. Come to think of it, the air flowing between the two did feel subtly awkward today.

“Hmm… did they fight?”

Those two had a relationship connected by deep bonds.

She thought if the atmosphere had suddenly changed, the cause must be a quarrel.

Ludovica believed she had made a reasonably logical deduction, but Dietrich’s reaction was unsatisfactory.

“No, that’s not it… Never mind. Pretend you didn’t hear anything.”

Dietrich shook his head as if frustrated and ended the conversation there.

‘To ask such a question to Ludovica of all people… She’s good at fighting but hopeless with human relationships.’

He inwardly scolded himself. He seemed to have become too hasty.

But Dietrich couldn’t help it. He had detected the subtle atmosphere flowing between Ren and Vivian.

Today’s Vivian was different from usual. She would get flustered and avoid his gaze if her eyes met Ren’s or even if their fingers just brushed.

It was clearly different from before when contact was natural.

It would be good if it was just a temporary quarrel as Ludovica said… but his instincts were telling him.

That it wasn’t such a simple problem.

The relationship between the two had changed. And in a direction that was negative for Dietrich.

“…”

He desperately hoped that this uneasiness he was feeling was just a groundless fear.

But on the other hand, he vaguely knew that his wish would not come true.