Miryu’s gaze was filled with doubt. During her time imprisoned in the Royum prison, she had thought about potential visitors.

But this person wasn’t among them.

“Lord Orteca?”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

Lord Orteca raised his glasses and offered a friendly smile.

“Judging by your current state, it seems quite difficult.”

“Lord, I am innocent!”

Miryu cried out desperately, reaching out her arms towards Lord Orteca.

“I fell into Estelle’s trap. If you help me this time, I will definitely repay this favor.”

“Enough.”

Lord Orteca grabbed Miryu’s hand and gently bent it. Miryu stopped speaking in surprise. Lord Orteca continued to smile warmly.

“I did not come here to hear Miryu Juty’s unjust story.”

“Th-then why me…?”

“I came here under the Emperor’s command to ask you one thing. Depending on your answer, your fate may be determined, so please answer carefully.”

Lord Orteca’s eyes flashed green.

“Do you have any knowledge about fairies?”

The essence of dark magic is to disrupt order.

The reason why Johan tried his best not to use dark magic on Estelle was also here.

Estelle had been frail from the beginning when they first met. Furthermore, she had a constitution where magical power did not flow well.

Even if Johan succeeded in using dark magic to cure Estelle’s illness, there was a possibility that her delicate body might not withstand dark magic.

‘I can’t do that.’

So Johan felt the need to approach more delicately.

What was needed to succeed in dark magic was the target, the price, and the caster.

And the conditions to minimize the side effects of dark magic were quite stringent. This was because the price demanded in dark magic was better when it was related to the target.

But that didn’t matter. It was a problem that Johan could handle.

The crucial thing was the target. For Johan’s dark magic to succeed, the target had to pay the price willingly.

As reluctantly as possible.

Moreover, Johan had to make sure Estelle didn’t notice.

I was extremely nervous about whether there would be any strange events on the cruise ship.

‘Why isn’t anything happening?’

Johan said he had prepared something, so there had to be some kind of incident.

‘It’s time for something to happen now.’

Honestly, I didn’t expect something to explode right from the beginning. It would make the aftermath less interesting.

So, at first, I relaxed and enjoyed the view of the ship and the sea.

As expected of a tourist attraction, the beach was very beautiful, and the luxury cruise ship was very large and fancy. Not many people were on the passenger ship, thanks to Johan’s efforts.

‘Although there wasn’t much chance to run into anyone from the beginning.’

Now it was already evening.

The ship was circling around a nearby island and heading back to the mainland. I was having dinner with Johan alone in the cruise ship’s dining room.

“Is the food to your liking?”

“Yeah. It’s delicious.”
“Eat this too.”

Johan smiled broadly and placed a grilled abalone in front of me. Gratefully, I took a bite of the abalone and asked Johan.

“You haven’t finished preparing everything yet, have you?”

“What?”

“You said you prepared something for me. When is that coming out?”

“This is all I prepared. Wasn’t what we did so far fun?”

At that, Johan made a pitiful expression, pretending to be sad.

“I prepared the event too poorly. I made a mistake.”

“…No.”

Did I doubt too much?

“I really enjoyed spending time together on the passenger ship today. Even though there are people, as Johan said, there were almost no encounters, so there was nothing to worry about.”

When I was in Libertan, I thought I might never leave that place for the rest of my life.

At that time, my goal was simply to survive.

So, I couldn’t even dream of seeing the sea or traveling in a resort. Even if things went well, I didn’t expect something this good to happen.

Honestly, I was scared that this moment might still be a dream.

Beyond the window, the sea stained with the orange sunset was visible. Seagulls peacefully flew in the sky, faint music could be heard, and a husband who cherished me.

It was nice just to look at the sea, but it was even better because the person with me was Johan.

His noble-like facial features, the corners of his mouth that occasionally rose when joking, and his affectionate yet languid gaze.

“Shall we toast?”

Johan lifted a glass of wine. I also raised a glass with wine in it. Then, letting go of the formality, I subtly asked.

“You’re not planning to surprise me when I least expect it, are you?”

“What if my weak wife faints?”

“Yeah, I might really faint if you surprise me too much.”

I laughed lightly following Johan.

“So if you’re planning something, you have to tell me in advance. Otherwise, I might really faint.”

“Got it, cheers.”

The sound of the crystal-clear glass rang as they clinked.

After taking a sip of wine, a refreshing and sweet taste filled my mouth.

“This is delicious.”