Just as Miela and the knights were frozen, looking at the empty room, Luth, who had followed a step behind, intervened.

“See? What did I tell you? I said she wasn’t here.”

“Where did you hide the lady?”

At the knight’s tone, as if interrogating a criminal, Luth retorted with a cold laugh.

“Watch your words. What do you mean by ‘hide’? His Excellency must have told your lord directly yesterday. That she would be going to Libren soon.”

“Isn’t it customary to greet the lord before leaving?”

“The lady was not feeling well, so she left for Libren first. His Excellency is still here, do we need to report every little thing to you?”

“Is there any reason you need to hide the Duchess?”

As Luth was about to say something, unable to bear it any longer, a familiar voice was heard from behind him.

“Why are you looking for my wife?”

The knights, who were about to urgently question Herdin who had just appeared, hesitated when they saw his condition.

“Your Excellency, you’re badly injured—”

Miela, who was about to approach him after noticing his roughly bitten hand and various small and large scratches, also froze, overwhelmed by his presence.

His appearance, approaching with blood splatters on his face, was chilling. Moreover, the aggressive mana swirling around him was threatening just by its existence.

The knights of Nerha watched Herdin nervously, swallowed hard, and then asked him.

“We received a report that the Duchess might be connected to the recent undead attack and the discovery of the black magic array. For the sake of maintaining friendly relations with Nerha, please cooperate.”

“Well… I wonder if I should maintain friendly relations with those who come with suspicions without even knowing what they’ve heard or where.”

Herdin asked, tilting his head sideways to look at the knights. Though it was a question in form, his chilling eyes filled with killing intent were not eyes seeking an answer.

He drove the final nail into the knights who couldn’t answer or refute his non-question.

“That friendly relationship, it just ended.”

Herdin ordered Luth beside him.

“Luth. Take all the servants and leave.”

Luth, who had been tense in the icy atmosphere, turned to follow his lord’s order.

Seeing this, the knights moved to stop Luth.

“You’re running away—!”

But before the knights could grab Luth as he was leaving the room, a spell flew and attacked at their feet.

The knights looked in the direction the spell had come from and met eyes with Herdin, who was precariously suppressing his mana.

“One step.”

His calm eyes, devoid of any emotion, were looking directly at them.

The next target.

Realizing that the previous attack hadn’t missed but had been deliberately aimed to miss, cold sweat ran down the knights’ backs.

“If you move one more step from here, I’ll consider you enemies.”

The pressure emanating from him weighed heavily on the atmosphere in the room.

The opponent was the empire’s only magic swordsman and a man hailed as a war hero. He was an opponent that everyone in this room would have to be prepared to die against, even if they all rushed him together.

The knights reached for their sword hilts with trembling hands.

It was the prelude to war.

* * *

Blair sighed as she watched the scenery passing by outside the window. The carriage she was in was currently on its way to Libren.

This morning, as soon as Blair opened her eyes, Herdin had her prepare to leave.

‘That woman saw your black magic array, so we don’t know what kind of false accusations she might make using that. So leave first.’

‘Aren’t you coming with me?’

‘I have things to wrap up.’

Sensing something ominous in his answer that avoided details, Blair persistently asked.

‘What things?’

Herdin, who was about to evade the answer, seemed to recall something in her eyes that were quietly looking at him, and finally confessed.

‘…I found the mastermind behind your death.’

‘Is that… true? Who is it?’

‘The Pope.’

Blair’s eyes wavered, considerably shocked by the identity of the mastermind she had never, not even a little, suspected.

Far from suspicion, it was someone she had believed to be her benefactor for half her life.

‘The reason he targeted you was because of a grudge against Delmark.’

‘….’

‘I intend to end that ill-fated connection here.’

As he said this while putting on his gloves, his eyes were as cold as a calm winter lake.

However, at the same time, they looked precarious, as if they might break at any moment. At least to her eyes.

Blair’s heart sank as she looked at him.

She resented him. And she still hated him.

But that didn’t mean she wanted him to get hurt or be in danger.

It was a feeling she had as one human to another, setting aside her affection for him or her sense of responsibility as the mother of his child.

As if reading her concern, Herdin stroked her hair and spoke.

‘I’ll take care of it quickly and follow you, so go ahead.’

‘…Herdin.’

‘Asiel.’

Blair hesitated at the child’s name that flowed from his lips for the first time in this life.

He looked at her belly and said.

‘We have to protect that child.’

As if he knew why she had chosen him again in this life.

Herdin alternately looked at Blair, who was looking at him with worried eyes, and her belly, then carefully placed his hand on her belly.

Blair, who had been staring blankly at his large hand covering her belly, placed her hand over his and urged.

‘Come back without getting hurt.’

‘….’

‘I haven’t forgiven you yet.’

So, don’t think about seeking forgiveness in such a cowardly way.

Reading Blair’s implied meaning, Herdin nodded readily.

‘Yes.’

With that answer, his hand moved away. That was the last Blair saw of him.

She knows that leaving first as he said is the best choice for the child, and for him.

But apart from rational judgment, she felt self-loathing at her situation where such a thing was the best she could do, even in an uneasy situation.

Just as Blair was fidgeting nervously, the carriage suddenly stopped.

‘Have we already arrived at the border?’

It was too early compared to the expected time to have reached the border yet.

Wondering about this, Blair opened the window and looked outside, when the knights shouted in urgent voices.

“My lady, please stay inside, it’s dangerous!”

Behind them, magical beasts that had appeared from somewhere were attacking the knights.

At this, Blair’s heart began to beat rapidly with anxiety. Blair instinctively wrapped her arms around her belly and wondered.

‘Why have magical beasts appeared here?’

Basically, magical beasts don’t often appear near human settlements. Except when there’s really no food in the forest.

Especially now, isn’t it autumn when food is most abundant?

Moreover, it wasn’t the individual action of one beast, but the appearance of various types of magical beasts here was strange.

Blair watched the situation with suspicion.

The knights of Delmark, skilled in subjugating magical beasts as befitting the knights of the North, quickly identified the beasts’ weaknesses and swiftly dispatched them.

‘But at this rate…’

There are too many magical beasts.

Although the knights have the upper hand now, soon their stamina will drop, and they will be pushed back, and there will be casualties.

‘Is there no way to resolve this?’

As Blair was pondering, looking at the knights and the magical beasts, she suddenly noticed something strange about the beasts’ movements.

They were heading in one direction as if their destination was Nerha. They attacked the knights who were in their way, but their gaze never left the direction of Nerha.

Noticing this, Blair shouted to the coachman and the knights.

“Turn the carriage towards that forest. And you all follow!”

At first, the knights hesitated, bewildered by Blair’s order, but as she urged the coachman to turn the carriage, they naturally followed.

Then the magical beasts passed by Blair’s group without attacking, continuing towards Nerha.

Only then did the knights realize that the beasts’ target was not them, but Nerha. They had been too preoccupied with the thought of protecting Blair to notice.

The knights approached Blair with sighs of relief.

“Thanks to you, we survived, my lady. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine thanks to you all. However…”

The relief of being safe now was short-lived, as Blair’s face quickly darkened again.

Herdin is in Nerha, where the magical beasts have flocked.

Something ominous must be happening there.

‘What on earth is…’

It was then, as Blair was lost in worry.

“My lady!”

Simultaneously with the knights’ urgent voices, the carriage roof was pierced, and sharp stingers entered. It was a scorpion-shaped magical beast.

As the beast swung its tail, the impact tilted the carriage to one side. Blair hugged her belly protectively in the swaying carriage.

‘My baby…!’

Just as the knights were about to rush to attack, a holy magic spell flew in from somewhere and attacked the beast.

Holy magic has a healing effect on humans, but it worked as an attack on black magicians or magical beasts who have powers contrary to it.

“Kyaak!”

The beast, its eyes attacked by the holy magic, released its grip on the carriage it had been piercing with its tail stinger. In that gap, a black shadow quickly approached and attacked the beast’s head.

More precisely, the core embedded in the beast’s head.

“Kieek!”

As the sword pierced into the core, the beast, which had been writhing in pain with agonizing screams, soon went limp and quiet.

While everyone was perplexed by the sudden appearance of the helper, only Blair recognized his identity and widened her eyes.

“…Mikhail?”

Mikhail, who had wiped off the beast’s bodily fluids splattered on his face, was approaching.