Dietrich, who had been hiding in the cave, waited for the demons to disperse.

And after a few hours, when the number of demons decreased, he escaped from the forest while carrying Vivian.

He almost lost his way, but by following the sword marks, he was able to easily get out of the forest.

At the entrance of the forest, the family carriage he had ridden was waiting. He put the sleeping Vivian in the carriage.

The carriage immediately departed for the mansion.

In the quiet carriage, Dietrich secretly worried.

He was anxious that Vivian might wake up and attack him in a frenzy, just as the knights who had gone to the forest with her in the past had done.

‘She seems fine while sleeping, but…’

The scene from 9 years ago when he entered the forest was still vividly etched in Dietrich’s memory.

If Vivian had changed like his comrades, she should have woken up and attacked him right away.

Even though the situation seemed safe enough to relax, he couldn’t help but feel tense.

Because he absolutely didn’t want to lose her.

He anxiously waited for Vivian to wake up. After a while, she finally opened her eyes.

“Mmm…”

Noticing her small voice, Dietrich hurriedly grabbed her shoulders.

“Lady Vivian, are you awake?”

She was still dazed and couldn’t answer easily.

Dietrich became even more impatient and asked.

“Do you recognize who I am?”

“…Dietrich?”

His heart was instantly relieved at the sound of her calling his name.

“Thank goodness, really…”

As he let out a sigh of relief, she regained her senses, adjusted her posture, and looked around.

Then, as if she had grasped the situation, she apologized.

“I’m sorry for falling asleep in such an urgent situation. It must have been difficult for you to escape alone while carrying me.”

“It’s fine as long as you’re safe.”

Silence fell between them for a moment. Dietrich was the first to speak.

“More importantly, I have a lot to ask…”

He glanced to check Vivian’s condition.

Bruises were visible all over her arms, legs, and various parts of her body.

Not only that, but perhaps she still lacked sleep. He saw her barely keeping her eyes open while listening to him.

In this state, it seemed difficult to have a conversation.

“Given the situation, let’s return to the mansion, treat your injuries, and talk properly.”

Vivian nodded in agreement and added that she would explain everything.

“You must be tired, so get some more rest on the way back.”

“Then I’ll excuse myself for a bit…”

No sooner had she finished speaking than she fell fast asleep.

In that short time, she had fallen into such a deep sleep that she didn’t even stir despite the carriage’s movements.

Dietrich lent her his shoulder, hoping she could sleep more comfortably.

Her head, which had been swaying back and forth with the carriage’s movement, finally steadied.

Only the sound of her soft breathing filled the interior.

After rushing for a while, the carriage finally slowed down. They had arrived in front of the mansion.

Vivian, who had woken up, got out of the carriage with Dietrich’s help.

Thanks to the good sleep, her body felt much lighter compared to when she was fighting the demons.

However, her condition was still not as good as usual.

As the two figures entered the mansion, Nils, who had been waiting for them, hurriedly came out to greet them.

Usually, they wouldn’t have important conversations outside the study, but now was not the time to be picky about location.

There was something urgent to convey.

“Young master, the maid attending to the master urgently sought you. It seems there’s some problem with the master and madam.”

Vivian, who was listening nearby, couldn’t believe her ears.

‘If he’s talking about the master, that means Duke Belvedere…!’

Sleep vanished completely. As far as she knew, there was only one serious thing that could happen to him at this time.

For a moment, scenes from the original story flashed through her mind.

Duke and Duchess Belvedere, having finally succumbed to the accumulated magi, attacking their servants in a state of madness.

Dietrich later discovering the scene of his parents’ murder.

‘No. If this continues, the same thing as in the original story will happen.’

Before her thoughts could even be organized, her body moved first.

As soon as Nils finished speaking, Vivian ran to the basement of the mansion. Fortunately, she had previously noted the location of the stairs.

The basement was deeper than she thought.

After descending dozens of steps, what greeted her was a massive door.

She urgently turned the doorknob. She needed to get in as quickly as possible, but the door was locked.

As she was wondering what to do, a baritone voice was heard.

“Stand back.”

“Pardon?”

Looking to the side, Dietrich was suddenly standing next to her, with his magic sword summoned.

“I had noticed something was off with my parents. Lady Vivian, you know something, don’t you?”

“I’ll explain everything later. For now, it’s urgent. We need to get inside right away!”

Whoosh.

As Dietrich swung his magic sword, the iron door collapsed with a loud crash.

In the past, when he had broken down the door of the hideout, it had been so frightening, but now it was nothing but reassuring.

Clearing away the debris of the shattered door and entering, what came into view was a servant dangling from the Duchess’s hand.

Vivian gasped in surprise.

Dietrich was equally shocked, but he had no time to freeze and observe the situation idly.

Because someone immediately attacked them.

Sensing the killing intent, Dietrich instinctively defended.

Clang!

The sound of swords clashing fiercely filled the underground space.

“Father…?”

The attacker was none other than Duke Belvedere.

The face of his father that the son encountered after 9 years had changed a lot.

His skin was wrinkled, and his pupils were hidden by the whites of his eyes.

Although he often wore a cold expression, he had never shown hostility towards Dietrich even for a moment, but now for the first time, he was displaying clear murderous intent towards him.

“Father, what is this…!”

Dietrich shouted to try to stop the Duke.

Ignoring his son’s cry, he continued his attack as if deaf, not even pretending to have heard.

A black magic sword, identical to Dietrich’s, came attacking him.

Once again, Dietrich quickly threw himself to block the attack.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The swords of the two repeatedly clashed. Dietrich called out to his father desperately a few more times, but his voice continued to be ignored.

“It’s no use! No matter how much you call!”

Vivian had somehow activated her ability and rescued the servant from the Duchess’s grasp.

After putting the servant down in a relatively safe place, she shouted towards Dietrich.

Dietrich, who had been only defending, unable to bring himself to attack his father, asked her back.

“Then what should I do…”

“Catch this!”

Before he could finish speaking, Vivian threw something at him.

With incredible reflexes, Dietrich managed to catch the object while dodging the magic sword aiming for him.

What landed in his hand was a plant stem with a few leaves attached.

‘Isn’t this… a weed?’

Though he couldn’t recall the exact name, he remembered seeing the leaves of this plant several times while walking.

This weed was the solution to this situation?

It seemed absurd, but Dietrich decided to follow Vivian’s instructions for now.

After all, he had no choice but to trust her.

He didn’t know any solution to resolve this chaos.

“Feed him that! Right now!”

With that urgent cry, Vivian focused again on dealing with the Duchess.

At that moment, the Duke came swinging his sword wildly left and right. Dietrich blocked the attacks one by one while watching his father.

The Duke’s swordsmanship was different from what he knew.

Though the force with which he swung the sword recklessly was fierce, that was all.

His movements full of openings proved that he was not in his right mind.

Dietrich instantly targeted those openings and shoved the weed into the Duke’s mouth.

Feeling something enter his mouth, he instinctively swallowed it and lunged at Dietrich again.

But just as Dietrich was about to dodge the attack, the Duke’s movement stopped.

As if electrocuted, he suddenly froze for a moment and then collapsed. The magic sword in his hand had vanished at some point.

As if something was blocking his throat, he coughed while supporting himself on the ground.

Then he vomited a black liquid substance.

“Father? Father!”

Dietrich called out to him desperately, but he fainted right there.

“He’ll wake up soon, so don’t worry too much.”

Turning towards the voice, he saw Vivian holding his mother in her arms.

Her condition was a complete mess.

As if she had engaged in a violent battle with his mother, her clothes were all torn, and black liquid was smeared all over her body.

It seemed to be his mother’s vomit.

Vivian, not minding her dirty state, was wearing a gentle smile all over her face.

Her kind eyes conveyed her feelings to him.

She was telling him with her gentle gaze that there was nothing to worry about.

Watching that scene, Dietrich felt as if his brain circuits had been damaged.

It was clearly the messiest he had ever seen her, yet paradoxically, it was the most beautiful.