Although Vivian had only discovered Ludovica and Dietrich, in fact there was another person she knew well in the courtroom besides the two of them.

Melphis, who had heard the news that the serial handsome man kidnapper had been caught, deliberately disguised himself and secretly hid in the gallery.

It was to watch Vivian’s trial.

‘It would be troublesome for me if she ends up in prison.’

Melphis had unfinished business with Vivian.

He recalled how he had recently transformed to look exactly like her and thrown off the investigators at her request.

At that time, Vivian had clearly promised to grant his request in return for helping.

Before she had even fulfilled his request, it would be troublesome if she received a heavy sentence like life imprisonment.

‘What an opportunity I’ve gained, after all.’

Melphis intended to watch the situation and, if the verdict was not to his liking, take Vivian away right then and there.

Human laws did not allow such a thing, but he had no particular need to follow them.

Even if he was pretending to be human, in reality he was a different kind of being from them.

He had attended with that mental preparation, but the result of the trial was unexpectedly bland.

Two weeks of house arrest.

It was quite a light punishment for a criminal who had shaken the country.

‘Well, it’s not like Vivian did anything bad.’

Having been imprisoned by her hands countless times, he knew well.

The victims would surely not be able to hate Vivian. If anything, they would be grateful.

After confirming the result, Melphis quietly stood up from the gallery.

Knowing that Vivian would return to her daily life in two weeks, there was no need to stay here any longer.

‘Should I visit her in about a month?’

Previously, whenever he wanted to meet her, he just had to transform into a handsome man. Then she would take him away on her own.

But now the situation had changed.

Her identity had been exposed and she had even been put on trial, so Vivian would stop kidnapping handsome men. It seemed it would be difficult to meet her unless he visited directly.

‘That’s a shame. Being kidnapped was kind of fun.’

Watching Vivian exert herself to kidnap him with her small body was one of the few amusements Melphis enjoyed in the boring human world.

Now that he thought it would disappear, he felt regretful.

Melphis took one last look at Vivian’s face and then turned around to leave the courtroom.

But at that moment, an alien force began to envelop the entire building.

A power he hadn’t felt in hundreds of years.

Melphis instinctively, very naturally realized. That this was the power of a demon.

“Kyaaa!”

People who sensed the danger began to scream one by one. However, Melphis’ attention was focused on one person.

‘Vivian is in danger.’

He quickly checked her surroundings.

The pieces of the cracked ceiling were not falling straight down, but were pouring only over her head.

Melphis then searched, sensing where the demonic power was coming from.

In the distance, he saw a demon watching only her. Though wearing a human shell, that was certainly a demon.

‘That demon bastard…!’

Melphis stretched out his hand forward. The fiercely falling debris of the building stopped in mid-air.

He tried to run towards Vivian. But he was a step too late.

Dietrich Belvedere had leapt out in one bound, embraced her, and protected her.

Melphis clicked his tongue lightly and shook his head.

‘I’ll concede the cool part.’

It’s not like he came to score points with her anyway, he just came to check the verdict.

Since he had achieved his purpose, there was no need to obsess over unnecessary things. As long as Vivian was safe, that was fine.

He moved his outstretched hand this way and that.

The floating debris in the air changed direction following his moving hand.

The building debris that seemed about to cover people was cleared away in an instant.

People who had been covering their heads with their eyes tightly shut opened their eyes one by one, sensing something strange.

They soon realized. Who their benefactor was.

“Thank you, Magician!”

“Thank you so much. Thank you for saving us.”

Among those he had saved, there seemed to be quite a few wealthy people mixed in.

A middle-aged man with a protruding belly approached Melphis with shining eyes.

“Thank you for saving my life. Who exactly are you? I’ll reward you generously.”

However, Melphis merely smiled lightly, finding it bothersome to deal with the humans expressing their gratitude.

“I’m just a wandering magician. No reward is necessary.”

“No, no matter what, you saved my life! Not giving a proper reward would go against our family’s principles.”

“That’s right, Magician. I’ll reward you somehow too.”

More and more people gathered and surrounded him.

Melphis, finding it bothersome to respond, used teleportation magic to shake off the people chasing him.

‘Ah, I ended up doing a good deed by chance.’

Melphis didn’t particularly have a hobby of saving humans.

Originally, he wasn’t very interested unless it was a human who piqued his curiosity.

Saving humans this time was just a coincidence.

If Vivian hadn’t been in the collapsing building, he wouldn’t have cared whether humans lived or died.

Even if hundreds died, he would have just left them be.

Not knowing these inner thoughts, he felt uncomfortable with the humans expressing their gratitude.

He stopped in his tracks and checked Vivian’s condition one last time.

Then, with an enigmatic expression, he disappeared in an instant.

“Miss Vivian, are you alright?”

“Di-Dietrich?”

It happened in an instant. Being slow to grasp the situation, I only came to my senses when I heard the voice calling me.

“What? Why am I alive?”

Until I saw Siegfried staring at me disgustingly, I thought I would surely die immediately.

But somehow I was fine.

Only belatedly did I realize the reason.

It was thanks to Dietrich embracing and protecting me.

As evidence, unlike my clean self, his face was covered in dust.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Last time and this time too. I’ve survived thanks to him twice already.

But Dietrich shook his head.

“It wasn’t me. It seems some magician saved us.”

A magician?

Come to think of it, although covered in dust, there wasn’t even a small scratch on Dietrich’s face.

It seems there was someone else who blocked the debris falling threateningly towards me.

Still, gratitude is gratitude.

“Don’t say that. The fact that you embraced me is still a clear truth.”

Dietrich was embarrassed by my words of thanks.

I smiled slightly, then looked for the magician he mentioned.

It didn’t take long to find him. The gallery area was especially noisy.

The man presumed to be the magician was surrounded by people, looking troubled.

‘That person is…’

Although it was a face I was seeing for the first time, I felt a subtle sense of déjà vu.

I tried to examine him closely with my eyes narrowed, but he soon disappeared.

After the magician vanished, the gathered people quickly dispersed. Only then did the chaotic courtroom come into view.

Not only the ceiling but even the walls had collapsed in the inner part of the courtroom where I had been standing.

The surrounding judges’ seats were also in a miserable state.

‘Come to think of it, are the judges safe?’

Seeing the judges’ seats in this state, it seemed like even if someone was trapped under the debris, no one would notice.

Fortunately, contrary to my worries, the judge was fine.

Judging by how he was being princess-carried by Ludovica, it seems she had saved the judge.

‘Thank goodness… It looks like no one died.’

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Ludovica, who had moved the judge to a safe place, approached me shortly after.

“Are you okay, Vivi?”

“Yeah, I’m fine thanks to Dietrich. What about you, Ludi?”

At my worried tone, Ludi just laughed as if it were ridiculous.

That’s right. It was an unnecessary question. Of course Ludi would be fine.

At that moment, Dietrich joined the conversation.

“To think the building would suddenly collapse. And at such timing.”

“I know. It smells fishy to be a coincidence.”

As they suspected, this situation was definitely not an accident.

“It’s not a coincidence. I think it was Siegfried’s doing.”

I looked at the place where Siegfried had been until just before the building collapsed.

By now, he had disappeared without a trace, as if he had never been there in the first place.

“I can say for certain. Siegfried must have tried to kill me.”

I had my own reasons for being so sure.

‘Because this is when I’m most vulnerable.’

Unable to use my ability due to the restraints, I was no different from a normal person right now.

It seems Siegfried’s original plan was to use the empire’s laws to have me executed.

However, when the verdict came out differently than expected, it looks like he tried to target me directly in my weakened state.

Even going so far as to collapse the building.

‘That way it would be easier to disguise it as an accidental death.’

I could understand him targeting me. I must be an annoying enemy to him.

What angered me was the fact that in the process of targeting me, everyone in the courtroom could have died.

‘People almost died getting caught up in this because of me.’

By chance, there were strong magicians and magic swordsmen in the courtroom, so luckily everyone survived.

I hung my head low in frustration.

‘To endanger others just to catch me.’

I was most angry not at Siegfried, but at myself.

I felt so weak for not being able to do anything even in this situation.

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Dietrich patted my back without saying anything.

That touch felt like it was telling me it wasn’t my fault.

Nevertheless, my heart wouldn’t calm down easily. Because I knew.

That I was the root cause of this incident.

Looking at the wrecked courtroom, I sank into self-loathing.