It didn’t take long to explain the contents of the original work to Ren.

As I did with Dietrich, I added that I learned about it through foresight.

Fortunately, Ren believed my story.

“The existence of demons, me being able to see the future. Honestly, even I would be suspicious, but Ren, do you really believe this?”

“Of course. From the moment you kidnapped handsome men, I had a feeling you were hiding an unusual secret.”

With reddened eyes, he took my hand.

“And if I don’t believe Vivian’s words, whose words can I believe?”

Come to think of it, Ren was the guy who cooperated with the kidnapping and confinement just because I ordered it.

In a way, it might be natural for him to believe such words.

“However, I do feel a bit hurt.”

“Huh? About what?”

“That you were carrying such worries alone. If you had told me earlier, I would have helped you in any way I could…”

He let go of my hand and slightly rolled up the end of my sleeve.

The bandage I had wrapped to treat the wounds from fighting the monsters was revealed.

“If you had, you wouldn’t have been hurt like this.”

Though he had only just stopped crying, his eyes became moist again.

“No, it doesn’t even hurt that much.”

“But your whole body is covered in bruises, isn’t it?”

Ren’s gaze as he looked at me was full of sorrow.

‘Really, it’s nothing…’

Of course, it would be a lie to say it didn’t hurt at all.

However, considering the lives saved in the process, it wasn’t a big deal.

But Ren seemed to think differently from me.

Feeling sorry for Ren, who continued to give me worried looks, I immediately changed the subject.

“By the way, was there anything special while I was gone?”

“Something special… Oh, that’s right!”

Ren stood up as if he had remembered something. After a moment, he brought back an invitation.

“The day after you ran away, this arrived.”

I’ve been receiving invitations quite often these days. I had never received one before.

“What’s it about?”

“That… I think it’s better if you check it yourself.”

What kind of invitation could it be? I tilted my head as I opened the envelope.

I immediately understood why Ren had told me to look at it myself.

It was none other than an invitation to Leonie and Siegfried’s engagement party.

Looking at the date, it seemed the engagement party had already taken place two days ago.

‘So they got engaged after all…’

My head throbbed at the sudden news. Do engagement parties usually happen this quickly?

It hadn’t been long since Leonie announced she would be engaged to Siegfried.

I thought there would be some time left before the actual engagement preparations.

If Leonie got married following the engagement, her terrible death would be all but certain.

So I had planned to somehow persuade her to cancel the engagement when I returned after successfully preventing the Belvedere tragedy.

Unfortunately, it was already too late. Since the engagement party had already been officially held, that plan had to be scrapped.

‘Of course, I’ll try to dissuade her from getting married if I get the chance, but…’

It wouldn’t be an easy path.

Dietrich and Ren fortunately believed me when I said demons exist, but the chances of Leonie believing are 0%.

If I try to stop her by saying Siegfried is actually a demon, she’ll probably just think I’m crazy.

‘…How did I end up worrying about Leonie like this?’

The person I resent most in the world isn’t Marquis Schmidt, my biological father who despises me, nor the Marchioness who has abused me since childhood, but Leonie.

It was strange that despite hating her so much, I couldn’t turn a blind eye to her being in danger of death.

No matter how much I had twisted the flow of the original work, causing Leonie to be in danger of death, she was the one who made all those choices.

‘I could just leave her be…’

I was clearly an idiot for not being able to do so.

But I couldn’t help it. There was no way to change who I am.

I put down the invitation I was holding. Then I rummaged through my bag and took out the Elaine flower.

A magnificent black flower.

Like its green stem, it was full of mana-resistant substances, but its use was different.

While the stem was used to treat minds corrupted by mana, the flower was used to create artifacts that block demonic brainwashing.

‘In the original work, Ludovica used that artifact to block Siegfried’s brainwashing.’

Regrettably, it could only be used once, but it would still be a great asset at a critical moment.

If I made one and gave it to Leonie, it would surely be helpful.

‘I hope she’ll be safe until then…’

I was anxious, worried that she might be brainwashed before that.

In the imperial palace garden, four people were gathered having tea.

They were the Schmidts and Siegfried.

“We are grateful for your invitation, Your Highness.”

The Marchioness Schmidt put down her teacup and expressed her gratitude to Siegfried.

“It’s only natural, as you are my fiancée’s parents. There’s no need for thanks.”

Siegfried replied with a gentle expression. A smile played on his lips.

Looking at this scene, the Marchioness Schmidt was very satisfied with the situation, though she didn’t show it outwardly.

‘Such a kind attitude. He’s the best as a husband. And he matches Leonie so well.’

It had been quite a while since the engagement talks between Leonie and Siegfried began.

It was natural, as the Schmidt family was the representative noble family of Siegfried’s faction.

However, Leonie had always expressed negative opinions about the engagement, so it had been called off.

Time passed, and Marquis Schmidt decided to marry Leonie to Dietrich Belvedere, but the Marchioness privately opposed it.

He was a man with the nickname “murderer”.

No matter the political reasons and external charms, she didn’t want to send her delicate daughter to such a man.

On the other hand, what about Siegfried?

Though not as much as Dietrich, he had beautiful looks and his personality was incomparable.

His straight back and elegant, graceful posture were even more satisfying.

Of course, what pleased her most was his status.

The Marchioness firmly believed that Siegfried was the right material to become emperor, now that Veronica was being pushed aside.

‘And our Leonie will take the place beside him.’

How upset she had been when there was trouble with the Belvedere family last time.

She couldn’t even protest properly out of fear of their retaliation.

‘If Leonie becomes the most precious woman in this empire…’

Such things would never happen again.

The Marchioness looked at her daughter and future son-in-law with a pleased expression.

She had no idea that everything she saw was merely Siegfried’s mask.

Meanwhile, someone was secretly watching this situation from afar.

‘Oh my. The king is surrounded by humans.’

The identity of this someone was none other than the high-ranking demon, Baphomet.

He, who had fought with Dietrich in the Black Wood Forest, had finally arrived at the imperial palace where his king, Belial, was.

If he had been in his normal physical condition, he would have come in an instant.

However, the further he got from the forest, the thinner the mana concentration became, so it took a long time to get here.

‘The impact of being defeated by that human swordsman is probably significant too.’

The limbs he had lost were somewhat recovered, but the after-effects of the fight with that human were severe.

Having suffered fatal wounds to the point of losing four heads, he wanted to return to the demon realm to recover his strength.

However, Baphomet, who was a loyal servant, flew here with the sole intention of reporting what had happened.

The king extremely disliked being approached when he was with humans, but now time was of the essence.

Baphomet flew around erratically, trying to catch the king’s attention while avoiding human eyes.

Finally, the king seemed to notice him and slightly furrowed his brow.

The demon waited for Belial to drive those humans away.

After some time passed, the humans stood up from their seats.

Belial bid them farewell with a kind expression that could never be seen as demonic.

Baphomet couldn’t help but admire his attitude.

To think a demon could act like that. As expected of the demon he served as king.

As soon as the humans disappeared, Belial’s face changed. He looked very displeased.

Baphomet followed the king, avoiding people’s eyes.

Eventually, they arrived at a quiet room.

Creak. The door closed.

Siegfried’s gentle expression instantly turned cold.

“You look absolutely wretched having lost your power. Surely you didn’t come to see me for such a trivial reason? I clearly ordered you not to come unnecessarily.”

Baphomet involuntarily hiccupped.

When he had four more heads, he didn’t realize, but standing before the king in a weakened state was burdensome in itself.

Under the oppressive pressure that pushed down on him like gravity, he barely managed to open his mouth.

“My king, it is by no means a trivial matter.”

Belial, wearing Siegfried’s disguise, gestured with his chin. It meant to continue speaking.

“I believe I have found a human with holy power.”

The moment he finished speaking, Baphomet bowed his head under the increasing pressure.

Even without seeing it directly, he could sense that an enormous amount of killing intent was flowing from the king.