Late at night, Ren stood outside the back door of the hideout, secretly meeting with the Master.

His relationship with the Gerald Information Guild had to be kept a strict secret from Vivian Schmidt.

Now that he was living with her, he needed to be careful not to accidentally let her find out about this fact.

“…This is the information confirmed by the guild member who infiltrated the Imperial Palace.”

Having finished his concise report, the Master tucked the documents into his jacket.

Today, he reported that three corpses were discovered in Siegfried’s palace, and they were presumed to be members of the Schmidt Marquis family.

The Master recalled the guild member’s description of the corpses.

Two bodies covered in scars all over their skin, making it difficult to even recognize their faces, and Leonie Schmidt’s corpse lying next to them.

The guild member said it seemed like Leonie had brutally murdered her parents and then committed suicide.

After conveying all these facts to Ren, the Master shook his head slightly to shake off the unsettling feeling.

Though he rarely flinched at most things, the description of the corpses was so gruesome that he felt averse to even speaking about it.

He frowned without realizing it.

Fixing his expression, he then looked up at Ren’s face.

But.

‘Did he just… smile?’

It was only for a fleeting moment, but it seemed like a smile had spread across Ren’s lips.

Despite having been together for a long time, the Master had never seen Ren smile when Vivian wasn’t around.

‘It must have been my imagination. How could Sir smile, especially during a conversation like this.’

The Master brushed off the stray thought and soon bid farewell to Ren.

His business was done, so it was time to return to the guild headquarters.

Ren made sure the Master had disappeared before entering the house again.

Given the late hour, one might think he was going to bed, but he actually headed to Vivian’s bedroom.

He quietly pushed open the half-open door and stepped inside.

The faint light coming through the window illuminated Vivian.

Covered halfway by the blanket, she shivered as if cold.

Ren pulled the blanket up to properly cover her shoulders again.

He was worried she might catch a cold due to the suddenly chilly weather.

Having done what he came to do, Ren was about to leave immediately.

But at that moment, he noticed a teardrop caught at the corner of her eye.

‘She pretended to be fine, but… she must have been upset after all.’

Earlier during the day, when he delivered the news that the Marquis and Marchioness Schmidt had been captured, Vivian seemed quite shaken.

Even when he asked if she was okay out of concern, she just pretended to be calm, as if not wanting to be caught being upset over her family.

But it seemed her true feelings were different after all. She was crying in her sleep.

Ren gently wiped away the tears caught in the corner of Vivian’s eyes with his thumb.

He felt pity for Vivian swallowing her tears alone. Ren prayed in his heart that she would not be sad.

“Don’t cry, Lady Vivian. It may be upsetting now, but… I actually think it’s for the best.”

Ren stroked the back of Vivian’s hand and whispered in a voice soft enough not to wake her.

It’s fortunate that the Marquis and Marchioness are dead.

If Vivian heard that, she might be disappointed in Ren, but he meant it sincerely.

Ren already knew how the Marquis and Marchioness Schmidt had raised Vivian.

She had been clearly abused by her biological father and stepmother her whole life.

So one would expect her to feel exhilarated about their predicament of being captured by a demon, but Vivian couldn’t feel that way.

He definitely loved Vivian’s personality of not being able to truly hate others, but… Ren didn’t like it when the target of that was someone other than himself.

Especially those leech-like humans tied together under the name of ‘family’ didn’t need to be the recipients of Vivian’s kindness all the more.

It always twisted his insides to think that they, who stabbed her heart, always occupied a corner of Vivian’s heart.

In the midst of that, now that they were all dead… it was a welcome development for Ren.

However, seeing Vivian upset because of it wasn’t so pleasant after all.

“If they were alive, they would have held you back until the day they died. So don’t be sad.”

“……”

“If you feel empty, I will fill that space completely without leaving anything out. I will overwrite all the bad memories with good ones.”

Ren, who had been offering comfort as if talking to himself, let out a hollow laugh.

What was he doing talking to a sleeping person? What if she woke up like this?

Ren tidied Vivian’s disheveled bangs one last time before stepping outside.

“Sweet dreams, Lady Vivian.”

He carefully closed the bedroom door and recited in a low voice with his eyes closed.

He hoped his prayers would reach her.

Another secretive meeting was held under Veronica’s auspices to counter the demons’ invasion.

They had gathered a few times since Vivian’s return, but today was different from other times.

It was because everyone was getting together for the first time in a while.

Seated, Vivian examined the faces she hadn’t seen in a long time.

She had seen Veronica while she was hospitalized, but this was the first time meeting Dietrich and Ludovica since returning to the human world.

It had been a while since the two of them returned to the capital.

Vivian felt happy to see them, but she didn’t show it.

She judged it was better to focus on the meeting rather than show personal feelings right now.

“Viscount Belvedere, how did the investigation in the North go?”

At Veronica’s question, Dietrich methodically explained what had happened.

He began with the story of how he and Ludovica headed North, deceived by Siegfried’s scheme.

It seemed Ludovica and Dietrich had spent busy days in the North while Vivian was hospitalized.

‘In any case, I’m glad they’re both unharmed.’

Vivian felt relieved seeing Ludovica and Dietrich looking uninjured.

She had worried a lot while in the dragon realm, but she felt reassured in an instant.

“Well done, Viscount. I think we need to talk about Siegfried this time.”

As soon as Dietrich’s general explanation ended, the princess immediately brought up the next topic.

“Three corpses were recently discovered in Siegfried’s palace. It seems he killed my sister-in-law and her family…”

“Your Highness.”

Dietrich suddenly interrupted Veronica’s words and gave her a glance.

He intended to remind the princess that this could be a sensitive topic for Vivian.

Veronica then realized her mistake and trailed off.

However, Vivian wasn’t particularly bothered.

Her mind was fully occupied by the mention of three corpses.

‘The Marquis and Marchioness were ultimately done in by Siegfried too…’

Not knowing how to react, Vivian just bit her lip and stared blankly. At that moment, she felt gazes directed at her.

Everyone in the meeting room was looking at her with worried eyes.

Vivian gestured with a smile as if to say she was fine and to continue.

Veronica then cautiously continued speaking.

To summarize what she said, now that the family of Leonie, whom Siegfried had recently been devoting his time to, was dead, there was no telling what he might do next.

“So, did you have any new visions?”

Vivian shook her head at the princess’ question.

The only future she knew was about the original story.

Now that so many things had changed, the information from the original story was useless.

The meeting continued.

Everyone diligently shared the information they had investigated and tried to predict Siegfried’s next move.

After two hours passed like that, the meeting ended.

Vivian, who had sent Ren home first, asked Dietrich to stay for a moment because she had something personal to say to him.

Before long, only the two of them were left in the meeting room.

The one to break the quiet atmosphere and speak first was Vivian.

“…Thank you for earlier.”

“Hm? I don’t think I did anything deserving of thanks.”

Dietrich responded glibly, and Vivian laughed slightly with a deflating sound.

“When my family was mentioned, you were concerned about me.”

“Is that something to thank me for? It’s only natural. More importantly… are you okay?”

At Dietrich’s sudden question, Vivian unconsciously nodded her head but soon faltered.

‘Am I really okay…?’

Actually, Vivian had trouble figuring out her own feelings these past few days.

The people who died this time were legally her parents, but they were the ones who had abused her for a long time.

Should she be happy about the deaths of such people? Or should she be sad?

She was confused because she didn’t know what the right answer was. On top of that, her mood had been down the whole time.

‘I wonder if others find me frustrating like this…’

She was curious about what emotions other people would feel in this situation, but Vivian deliberately avoided bringing up this incident as a topic of conversation.

She didn’t even talk about it with Ren.

She didn’t want to be caught agonizing over a similar issue again after already discussing Leonie.

She didn’t want to be seen as a foolish person.

Vivian tried to casually change the subject this time as well.

“Thank you for your concern. But I’m okay, so you don’t need to worry.”

“How can I not worry… when Lady Vivian has such a sad expression.”

“Me? I’m lifting the corners of my mouth like this.”

Vivian poked the corners of her mouth that she had lifted upwards with her index finger.

“Yes, but your eyes aren’t smiling. You don’t have to force a smile in front of me. I want you to feel at ease.”

The moment she heard those words, the smile she had maintained throughout the conversation crumbled.

Vivian bowed her head deeply, wanting to hide her broken expression.