After packing the necessary items for discharge, we headed straight to Ren’s residence.

‘It feels new to visit Ren’s personal space.’

Since I had arranged all the spaces he previously lived in, I was curious about what a room he decorated himself would look like.

We soon arrived at our destination.

The place Ren was staying at was a small house in a residential area.

At a glance, it looked like an ordinary neighborhood, but I was told there was tight security around it.

As I was looking at the exterior, Ren opened the door for me.

Entering with a bit of anticipation, he walked down the hallway and explained the structure of the house.

“It’s overall small for two people to live in, but it has everything needed. It won’t be uncomfortable for you to stay here for the time being.”

“Okay.”

Ren showed me around the house with a smile on his lips, seeming to be in a good mood.

As he said, the house had everything necessary. It was evident that Princess Veronica had put a lot of thought into it.

However, the more I looked around, the darker my expression became.

“Ren. How long did you say you’ve been living here?”

“From what I remember… about three months.”

My heart ached at the mention of three months. I could visualize what kind of life he had been living.

Ren’s house was too cold, without any warmth for a place where someone lived.

A person’s preferences inevitably remain in a space they inhabit for a long time.

Just as there are many green objects in the house of someone who likes green, and various cooking tools in the house of someone who enjoys cooking.

However, the indoor furniture was just basic achromatic furniture, and the refrigerator was empty.

It seemed like he had never cooked in the kitchen, as there were no cooking utensils at all.

When we lived together in the hideout, Ren often made blankets or scarves for me as a hobby.

But there were no knitting tools anywhere either.

He used to read quite often, but not a single book was in sight…

The only place that showed signs of life was the bedroom.

‘Did he just come at night to sleep and go out to fight every day?’

I recalled the contents of the notebook Ren had left for me before.

It contained records of the past days when he had faced Siegfried’s schemes.

‘He must have been busy without a moment to spare. And it must have been a burden.’

Thinking about how the few days I spent in the Dragon Realm were agonizing months for Ren made my heart ache.

At that moment, Ren looked at me with worried eyes, noticing my darkened expression.

“What’s wrong, Lady Vivian?”

“I feel upset thinking about how much you must have suffered…”

Ren laughed playfully at me as I was feeling dejected.

“I did suffer a lot. Because I missed you so much, Lady Vivian.”

“What? No, not that…”

“Other than that, there wasn’t really anything difficult? I told you before. That I might wither away from missing you after you left. Actually, I was at my limit, so I’m glad you came before I died.”

No matter how much he missed me, does it make sense to say that was harder than fighting demons every day?

I was about to lightly scold him, telling him not to joke around. At that moment, Ren pulled me into a tight embrace.

“I couldn’t tell you at the hospital… Now that it’s just the two of us, I’ll say it.”

“…”

“I missed you, truly.”

His low voice echoing in my ear tickled my eardrum.

Somehow, I felt my cheeks heating up. I didn’t want him to see my expression.

Fortunately, Ren had his face buried in my neck, so he probably couldn’t see my face.

Without realizing it, I stroked his soft hair at his puppy-like behavior.

The more I did that, the more strength entered his firm arms holding me.

“Ugh…”

Siegfried, sitting in his office, let out a groan of pain.

With an unpleasant expression, he looked at the left side of his waist.

It was the area where he had been hit by Vivian Schmidt not long ago.

Although it had been about a month since that battle, the aftermath still remained.

The cause was divine power.

Demons could basically heal their own wounds, but there was one exception. When injured by divine power.

It was partly because divine power had a good compatibility against demons, but the main reason was that the power lingered in the wounded area.

If one tried to forcefully mobilize demonic power to heal, the remaining sacred energy would only aggravate the wound.

So rather than forcefully trying to treat it, one had to wait until the energy dissipated and the flesh naturally regenerated, but that wasn’t easy.

Because the divine power itself continued to inflict pain on the body.

‘This is why I tried to avoid direct combat with Vivian Schmidt.’

If only he hadn’t expended his power opening a portal right before encountering her, he wouldn’t have suffered like this.

Blinded by anger, he was late to assess the situation.

‘It would be best not to take the lead until my body fully recovers.’

In this state, if he were to fight her again, he couldn’t guarantee victory.

But he couldn’t just sit still either.

‘I suppose it’s time to use that.’

Once he dominated the human world, Belial intended to turn ordinary humans into playthings for demons.

Eliminating too many humans meant reducing the number of souls that could be turned into toys in the future.

So this plan, which was no different from indiscriminate mass slaughter, was something he had no intention of carrying out if possible…

But it seemed like it was no longer time to delay.

‘However, before that, I must make those who dared to deceive me pay the price.’

Siegfried blankly stared at the calendar on his desk.

Two days from now was his wedding day.

The mansion of the Schmidt Viscounty was unusually noisy today.

The reason was obvious. Leonie’s wedding was just around the corner.

The servants shed tears at the fact that their precious young lady would soon leave, and rejoiced that she was marrying a good husband.

The Viscountess was similar.

On one hand, she was proud of her daughter marrying the best man, but on the other hand, she was sad that her young and lovely daughter was leaving her side.

But regardless of her feelings, what needed to be done had to be done.

While packing luggage to take with Leonie, the Viscountess was examining a jewelry box when she called for her daughter.

“Leonie.”

“Yes, Mother. Did you call for me?”

The Viscountess took out a necklace stuck in the corner of the jewelry box and held it out in front of her.

Seeing the necklace with a lusterless black gemstone connected to a silver chain, Leonie’s expression instantly hardened.

However, not noticing this, the Viscountess asked in a curious tone.

“This is the first time I’ve seen this necklace. I don’t remember buying something like this for you. Did you receive it as a gift from someone?”

Leonie quickly covered her darkened expression with a smile.

Then she answered in a bright voice.

“Yes, I received it from a friend before. I haven’t been able to wear it because I didn’t have any matching clothes, so it’s the first time you’re seeing it.”

She naturally took the necklace from her mother’s hand.

Instead of putting it in the pouch containing the items she would take with her, she placed it on the desk.

Seeing this, the Viscountess brought the necklace back and put it in the pouch.

“If it’s a gift from a friend, don’t leave it behind and take it with you. Palace life can be lonelier than you think. A friend’s gift will give you strength at such times.”

“You’re right, Mother. Then I will do just that.”

Leonie was smiling with her eyes closed adorably, but inwardly, she was clicking her tongue.

Because she had no desire to take that necklace, which was no different from trash.

In fact, that necklace wasn’t a gift from a friend or anything like that.

The person who gave it to her was her half-sister, Vivian.

On the day she went to capture Vivian according to her fiancé Siegfried’s words, it was the necklace her sister had given her to use on the first night of the wedding.

It was so disgusting that a bastard child pretended to be concerned about her and gave it, so she definitely threw it away, but it was in the jewelry box.

It seemed a maid had arbitrarily put it back in.

‘To think I have to take this all the way to the palace…’

Just when she wished Vivian would disappear from her life, she always found a way to get on her nerves.

She had even hired an assassin to put an end to it because she hated it so much, but she hadn’t heard any news of success, and the wedding was already approaching.

‘I’ll have to throw away this necklace again once I get to the palace.’

She was already in a situation where her mother told her to take it with her.

Regardless of her inner thoughts, Leonie was satisfied with the role of an obedient daughter who listened well, so she decided to prioritize following her mother’s words.

Leonie rummaged through the pouch containing the items to take and glared at the black gemstone necklace with displeasure.

She didn’t know.

That she would regret this moment the very next night.