Frederick’s jaw tensed at the cold statement that sharply scratched his pride. His whole body trembled. He looked like he was about to cry.

Arasila looked down on that pathetic sight, folded her arms, and said cynically.

“You loved me? So what. Is that my fault? When did I ever tell you to do this?”

“……”

“You were never a man to me, so stop whining, you brat.”

Just because you like someone doesn’t justify all your actions. Frederick had already crossed the line a long time ago.

Arasila had no intention of feeling any sympathy for him now. How many people had died because of Frederick, how many had nearly died, and how difficult had Arasila and Demian’s lives become?

Arasila drove a stake into Frederick’s shredded heart.

“I will never like you. Ever.”

“……”

Frederick’s legs gave out and he fell to his knees. He too felt that this was the perfect end, leaving no room for doubt.

“Ha, haha, hahaha……”

He threw his head back and let out a despairing laugh as he tossed away his sword. Any further fighting was meaningless anyway.

The Owl Corps had fallen one after another to the Imperial Knights and the Red Hawk Knights, and there was no visible escape route either.

“It’s all over.”

Frederick muttered softly, then spoke with lifeless eyes.

“Kill me or spare me as you wish.”

“Arrest the former crown prince.”

Arasila requested a nearby allied knight. The knight grabbed Frederick’s arm. He responded by obediently standing up without resistance. Demian kicked away the sword Frederick had dropped.

Arasila indifferently averted her gaze from Frederick, who was being dragged away powerlessly and docilely, and looked at Demian. She was thinking of checking if he was injured anywhere.

“Demian, are you alright?”

“My lady, you’re asking the obvi-”

It was the moment Demian was responding with a faint smile. Frederick, who had been passing by Arasila’s side with an empty face, suddenly shoved the knight and lunged at her.

“……?!”

The knight, who had let his guard down due to Frederick’s compliant attitude, lost his grip on him. Arasila too couldn’t block the surprise attack as she had loosened her vigilance.

Thwack.

Frederick pulled out a dagger hidden inside his robe and plunged the cold blade straight in. Arasila froze at the unfamiliar sensation of the knife tip piercing her skin.

“My lady!”

Demian, turning pale, roughly grabbed Frederick’s nape and threw him down. Frederick tumbled to the ground pathetically.

Arasila, who had been hidden behind him, was revealed. A dagger was stuck in her abdomen, and her pure white mage tower uniform was being dyed red.

Clutching the stabbed area, she staggered and slowly collapsed.

“My lady……!”

Demian hurriedly stretched out his foot to support Arasila. His large hand holding her slender shoulder trembled violently. His mind went blank and he couldn’t think of anything.

Arasila gasped and tightly grasped Demian’s arm as she felt the pain spreading gradually from her abdomen, as if being burned by fire.

“Ah…… Demian.”

“My lady, don’t speak. Don’t… speak……”

Demian whispered as he embraced her and pressed on the wounded area to stop the bleeding. Seeing the blood flowing between his fingers made him feel dizzy.

“Haha! Hahaha!”

At that moment, Frederick, pinned to the ground by the knight, burst into laughter as he watched the scene.

It was a laugh full of exhilaration and joy, as if something was incredibly amusing. The knight, already feeling guilty for letting him slip away, shouted at him.

“You crazy bastard, shut your mouth!”

“If I can’t have you, no one can, Arasila! Let’s die together!”

Frederick grinned even as the knight mounted on top of him pressed down on the back of his neck.

If it had been a feeling that could be given up with just one word from Arasila, he wouldn’t have come this far in the first place. It had been a life where he had never failed to get anything he wanted, and if he couldn’t have something, no one else could have it either.

“I’ll possess you even if I have to die!”

Frederick didn’t stop laughing as he fully expressed his twisted possessiveness. His bizarre laughter mixed with a hoarse voice unpleasantly grated on people’s eardrums.

Demian slowly stood up after handing Arasila over to the doctor who had hurriedly rushed over for emergency treatment at Lucas’s call.

The knight who had been restraining Frederick flinched in surprise at Demian’s face and backed away hesitantly. A murderous intent that choked one’s breath was emanating from his body.

It was an overwhelming pressure that he had never felt before, even though he had been with Demian since the early days of the Red Hawk Knights’ establishment. His hands and feet tingled and his breath was caught in his throat.

Demian approached Frederick, passing by his subordinate, and grabbed him by the collar. Frederick, who had been laughing triumphantly just moments ago, closed his mouth in primal fear.

Although he had committed the act prepared to die, he didn’t have the confidence to endure the painful process.

“Va, Vandermir-”

Thud.

Before Frederick could finish speaking, he was slammed to the ground. Before he could adjust to the skull-rattling pain, the next attack followed.

Demian swung his fists mercilessly. Frederick was crushed underneath. He could barely even let out a small groan.

With his facial bones caved in, making his features hard to recognize, Frederick struggled to reach out his hand and pleaded.

“St, stop……”

“Shut up.”

Demian coldly rebuked and raised his hand again. No matter how much he beat Frederick, his pounding heart wouldn’t calm down.

What if I lose Arasila like I lost my mother?

Just when I finally broke free from the chain of hatred and could live my own life. He couldn’t contain his anger towards Frederick.

“Ha……”

Demian ran his hand through his hair after throwing away Frederick’s collar, who had lost consciousness and gone limp.

His golden eyes, which had lost all reason, caught sight of the sword that had been thrown away earlier.

Demian got up without hesitation and picked up the sword. The knights couldn’t bring themselves to intervene and stop him, not knowing what to do in the face of his unfocused gaze.

‘I’ll kill him.’

With that single thought, Demian approached Frederick with the sword. Just as he raised the sword high to end his life in one swift stroke-

“Demian……”

A small, faint call stopped Demian. He turned his head stiffly at that weak voice that the people around couldn’t hear.

Arasila was looking at Demian with her eyes barely open. She reached out her blood-stained hand and spoke in a voice that seemed about to crumble.

“It hurts, so hold my hand for a while.”

“……Yes.”

Thud.

Demian threw away the sword without hesitation and returned to Arasila’s side. The people watching tensely let out sighs of relief.

Arasila closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his large hand enveloping hers. Soon, the doctor who had wiped the cold sweat from her forehead said,

“The emergency treatment is finished. Now she needs to go inside for more proper treatment……”

“Let’s go right away.”

Demian didn’t hesitate to pick up Arasila himself and started walking. The doctor hurriedly followed behind.

Isaac took his place, leading the subordinates to take care of the aftermath.

“Bind the criminals tightly and escort them to prison! Especially the former crown prince – tie his hands and feet and even gag him!”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The situation was quickly resolved according to Lucas’s orders. With Frederick and Joseph neutralized, the Owl Corps was pathetically captured.

That’s how Frederick’s rebellion came to an end.

Shortly after the rebels were captured, the Empress was also arrested. The Emperor dealt a heavy blow to his wife and son who had crossed the line far too much.

Frederick and the rebels were all sentenced to death, while the Empress lost her noble status and was exiled to an island. The nobles who had sided with the former crown prince also had their property and titles confiscated and were either banished from the country or exiled.

Lucas officially ascended to the empty position of crown prince. The Emperor highly praised him for seizing the position from the existing incompetent crown prince, just as he himself had done in his younger days.

While all this was happening, Arasila lay with her eyes closed. Although her injury wasn’t life-threatening enough to be fatal, she had lost a lot of blood.

Demian didn’t take her to the Vandermir mansion. He returned her to the Hugo Marquis family, to her original family’s embrace.

And every day he visited the marquis’s house to check on her condition.

“Demian, you’re here.”

The marchioness greeted him with a gentle smile as he visited the house without fail today as well. Having met frequently lately, their speech had become more casual.

Demian bowed politely to her before going up the stairs to Arasila’s room.

She looked comfortable lying in the soft bed. He brought a chair next to the bed and sat down, brushing away the hair that had fallen over her white, round forehead.

Demian lowered his head as he stroked her soft cheek with his hand.

He had failed to protect Arasila twice before his very eyes. Because of that guilt, he just couldn’t take her home with him. It felt like he didn’t have the right to do so. That’s why he came to the Hugo marquis’s house.

‘But you, if you knew what I was thinking, you’d say it wasn’t my fault.’

He wanted to rely on Arasila’s kindness and pretend not to know, but then he couldn’t when he thought about how he had only been indebted to her until now.

Demian grasped her delicate hand. There were still words he hadn’t said to her. Why didn’t he say them right when he returned?

‘……Because I was afraid then.’

He couldn’t be honest because he couldn’t shake off the doubt that he might make Arasila’s future unhappy.

The courage he had built up overcoming countless crises in war vanished helplessly in front of the most beautiful and brilliant existence in his life.

Then when he finished his revenge, he thought there would be nothing to fear anymore, but he crumbled again helplessly in front of the person he loved.

Now, losing Arasila had become more terrifying than anything else in the world.

“……Arasila.”

Demian called her name softly. He called her just like when she had collapsed after being hit by the dark magic bomb.

“Arasila.”

Packing in his tender emotions tightly. Promising himself that he would never be late again.

It was when he called her again, resting his forehead on her hand that he was holding. Arasila’s fingers that were being held twitched.

Soon after, he felt a weak grip squeezing his hand. When he turned his head in surprise, he saw Arasila blinking her eyes slowly.

“……Why do you keep calling me.”

She retorted in a cracked voice. Her dried lips moved slowly.

“You woke me up from my sleep.”

“……This much is oversleeping, my lady.”

Demian whispered like a sigh. With the complex emotions surging through him, he pathetically felt like he might cry.

“Really?”

Arasila poked Demian’s cheekbone with her finger and smiled. Innocently.

“It doesn’t seem late to me.”

“……Alright, it’s not late.”

Demian said, touching his forehead as if declaring surrender. He had so much he wanted to say when she regained consciousness, but when he actually saw her brilliant blue eyes, only this tender question came out.

“Did you have a good dream?”

“Mmm.”

Arasila rolled her eyes to look at Demian. The face she had seen before collapsing was filled with frustration and despair, looking like it might cry.

Now, with joy and happiness seeping from his bloodshot eyes, she too answered with a bright smile.

“Yes, I think so.”

Just because Arasila opened her eyes didn’t mean she immediately ended her hospital stay. She had become temporarily immobile due to her abdominal injury.

To minimize the bedridden period as much as possible, she took the special recovery medicine made by Rudy. Although it tasted awful, the effect was very certain.

“Oh my, you caused your parents so much worry, but now you’re taking your medicine well. How admirable, how admirable.”

The Marchioness Hugo teased as she took the empty medicine bottle. It was only a few days ago that she had cried her eyes out seeing Arasila open her eyes, but now she was feeling rather annoyed.

Before marriage, Arasila would go out on missions and come back injured at the drop of a hat, and after marriage, her life would be in danger at the drop of a hat when she returned, so it was understandable.

Arasila, who let her mother’s words slide without any particular objection, suddenly asked curiously.

“Mom, but why am I here?”

“What? Oh, you mean why aren’t you at the house where you live with Demian?”

“Yes.”

“Demian said he brought you here because he’d be too busy to nurse you intensively.”

At her mother’s quite plausible answer, Arasila narrowed her eyes and rubbed her chin. Okay, let’s say I understand that much.

“Why am I still not going back?”

She had recovered to the point where she only needed Audrey’s care, not that of other family members. But Demian, while visiting every day, didn’t say anything about going home.

At her daughter’s mutter filled with deep suspicion, the marchioness casually replied.

“It’s probably because you’re still a patient.”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t think about unnecessary things and just focus on recovery. When you’re fully recovered, you’ll surely go back together. I’ll tell him to please take you back.”

Saying that one grown daughter was enough, the marchioness left. Arasila still couldn’t shake off the inexplicable uneasiness.

That afternoon, Demian came to visit. Unlike usual, he had his hair neatly combed back, revealing his handsome face, and was dressed smartly in a splendid formal uniform.

Faced with this sudden visual attack, Arasila averted her gaze for no reason. It was because she wasn’t in a particularly presentable state, having been lying down in the room.

“……?”

Demian, who looked curiously at Arasila as she seemed to be sitting slightly askew, brought a chair and sat down, saying,

“The execution of the traitors took place today.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know.”

Arasila responded indifferently. Their existence no longer held her interest.

Rather, what she was focusing on now was the smartly dressed up Demian.

“Is that why you’re so dressed up?”

“No. This is for something else.”

“What is it?”

Blue eyes shone with curiosity. Demian cleared his throat and slowly began to speak, his hands loosely interlocked.

“My succession ceremony for the duke’s title was held.”

After the former duke and duchess were officially sentenced to lose their titles and decades of imprisonment for murder charges, Demian also underwent a ceremony to be recognized as a duke by the emperor.

In other words, it meant he had legally inherited the duke’s title and became the head of the family.

“Really? Wow, congratulations!”

Arasila clapped her hands, beaming brightly. She couldn’t help but be happy that Demian had achieved what he had longed for so much.

“From now on, you’ll be called Duke Vandermir instead of Lord Vandermir.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Demian slowly rubbed the back of his neck. For some reason, he didn’t seem particularly overjoyed. Noticing this subtle demeanor, Arasila tilted her head.

Why is he like that, is it because he held the succession ceremony alone?

If it weren’t for her injury, Arasila would have proudly stood by his side as his wife, attending the ceremony where he became a duke.

Even Arasila herself was about to offer words of comfort due to the deep regret.

“Do you remember, my lady.”

Demian spoke in a tense voice. Clear and upright eyes looked directly at Arasila.

“That we agreed to end our contract marriage once I inherited the duke’s title.”