Near the border, at a frontier military camp.

Colonel Mollis was pacing nervously inside his tent.

“I heard this battle was incredibly fierce. Surely he must have died? Yes, this time he must truly be dead.”

Despite being a commander on the battlefield, the colonel wasn’t worried about losing the war.

Rather.

“Colonel!”

Colonel Mollis’s expression twisted at the sight of his subordinate rushing in.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Lieutenant Kallion Harrenclode is returning with news of victory. It’s his hundredth victory!”

“That devilish bastard. He’s returned alive once again without dying!”

Hurriedly leaving the tent, Colonel Mollis froze in place, chilled by the biting wind.

No, this was not just the wind.

As if storm clouds were gathering from afar, the air itself trembled under the pressure of the Black Knights advancing like ghosts on black horses.

Fluttering a blood-red victory flag, exuding a murderous aura that seemed to choke the breath from all who passed, the knights shrank to the sides, unable to look directly at them even though they were allies.

Leading this terrifying Black Knight Order was Lieutenant Kallion Luca Harrenclode.

The one called the God of War and Ghost of the Battlefield, who had led a hundred battles to a hundred victories.

Colonel Mollis watched him approach slowly with a nauseated expression.

His presence seemed to overwhelm the surroundings like a wave.

Finally face to face with Kallion, Colonel Mollis looked up at him and raised the corners of his mouth.

“Congratulations on your hundredth victory, Lieutenant. You’ve worked hard…”

But before Colonel Mollis could finish speaking, the head of an enemy soldier, blood not yet dry, fell in an arc before his feet.

“I’m tired of hearing insincere words. You were hoping for my death rather than victory anyway.”

Sharp eyes the color of blood coldly looked down at Colonel Mollis at the end of his cutting tone that seemed to scrape the air.

Kallion, with his snow-white skin and pitch-black hair, was strikingly handsome, but his aura was the complete opposite.

Even wearing a thick uniform, his tall and sturdy build made him appear much larger than others.

This made him look extremely threatening.

Looking up at Kallion with a pale face, Colonel Mollis felt slightly offended.

“No matter what, I am still your superior. You should dismount and show proper respect…”

Ching-!

But before he could finish speaking, this time a sword with a paper attached was thrust into the ground at the colonel’s feet.

“Wh-what is the meaning of this!”

“I overlooked your insubordination on the battlefield, as you’re merely a count, but that ends now.”

“What?”

Suddenly, Kallion’s tone changed.

“From now on, I will return to the imperial palace as Grand Duke Harrenclode.”

“Th-that’s absurd! How can you return as grand duke when you’re atoning for your sins as the son of a loser who put the empire in crisis…”

In an instant, killing intent flashed in Kallion’s eyes as he pulled on the reins. His horse neighed fiercely and reared up, about to strike Colonel Mollis.

Frozen in extreme fear, Colonel Mollis cried out with trembling lips.

“Wh-what are you doing, Lieutenant? You dare try to kill me? St-stay back. I said stay back! Spare me. Sp-spare me, Your Grace! Ack!”

Colonel Mollis collapsed with a scream, and Kallion swept past him menacingly.

Shaking with tremendous humiliation and shame, Colonel Mollis pulled out the paper that had been stuck to the sword.

“This can’t be. Is he really returning!”

It was unbelievable, but the dispatch ordered the return of Kallion, who had been exiled to the frontier for 5 years after being stripped of his grand duke title.

But it wasn’t just a simple return.

What was even more unbelievable than the return was!

“That vicious bastard is getting married?”

***

Kallion’s mood had sunk considerably after threatening Colonel Mollis.

The knights nearby were slowly distancing themselves from Kallion, feeling their lives threatened by his demeanor.

In the midst of this.

“Your Grace! Are you here?”

A voice that didn’t fit this murderous atmosphere suddenly burst out.

“Hehe, I knew you’d be here.”

A very fragile-looking man walked up to Kallion.

He looked even more so in his loose clothing on his skinny frame.

Moreover, with large glasses peeking out from between his shaggy green hair covering his face, he even looked like a passing country dog.

Though he appeared so unremarkable and even rustic-looking, he was actually Kallion’s highly capable advisor.

“What are you still doing here? We’ll be late for the Crown Prince’s engagement ceremony at this rate! You know you must attend the engagement ceremony, right? His Majesty the Emperor wrote it clearly in the dispatch. To find a lady to marry at this engagement ceremony.”

For a moment, Kallion glared at Kiyan.

But even in the face of that fierce gaze, Kiyan didn’t flinch and smiled innocently.

“Hehe, you’ll make me blush if you stare like that. You should save it for your lady.”

“Haa…”

This was the reason Emperor Kalua had summoned him to the Crown Prince Asiz’s mere engagement, not even his wedding.

‘An engagement ceremony at the holy land of Gaudium. A good opportunity to naturally enter the Red Forest that guards it. But.’

“Marriage, they’re crazy. What insane family would give their daughter to a ghost who only roams battlefields?”

“That ghost is the problem! Doesn’t His Majesty wish for you to stop wandering battlefields and live normally? Just look at how he’s returned your title of Grand Duke Harrenclode; he wants you to settle down now.”

Kiyan continued speaking in an exaggerated theatrical tone, as if he had been possessed by Emperor Kalua himself.

“Kallion, although your father Takel failed in his duty as a general and endangered the empire by losing an important war, as emperor and as family, I do not wish to see House Harrenclode fall like this. You have atoned for your sins to the best of your ability over the years. Now, as the sole heir to the grand duke’s house, I hope you will marry quickly, have children, and raise up House Harrenclode. Even now, I wish to comfort the soul of Takel, my brother.”

“What is this, exactly?”

Kallion coldly stared at Kiyan.

“It’s His Majesty the Emperor’s letter that should have arrived with the dispatch for Your Grace. I kept it because I was afraid you might tear it up without reading it all.”

“Why are you reciting such nonsense that I would have torn up?”

“Your Grace is heading to new enemy territory. So you must accurately grasp the enemy’s intentions.”

Kiyan’s attitude was very serious, unlike before, and Kallion’s mouth twisted strangely at those words.

“Comfort my brother’s soul? I heard the Emperor’s condition was not good. Is he pretending to be a benevolent ruler one last time while being hypocritical?”

Who was it because of that House Harrenclode fell?

Who was it because of that he had to become a ghost on the battlefield!

Kallion barely swallowed the hatred that had congealed deeper than the abyss and longer than eternity, and continued speaking.

“But another engagement ceremony? Hasn’t Crown Prince Asiz… already been engaged to the House of Cristalos?”

Kallion’s voice, which had been cold until now, somehow became a little unsteady.

“Your Grace, how long ago was that! It caused quite an uproar in high society. Because of this, the Crown Prince has been outside the imperial palace for 5 years. Well. You’re not interested in such scandals.”

“Scandal?”

“His fiancée has changed to Lady Serina, the second daughter.”

At the mention of the fiancée changing, Kallion urgently asked.

“Then what about Letia?”

“Pardon?”

Kiyan looked at Kallion with quite a surprised expression.

“How do you know the name of the Crown Prince’s former fiancée, Your Grace? Ah, you were close with the Crown Prince.”

Kallion closed his mouth with a somewhat complicated expression.

“Well, it’s unfortunate. Lady Letia, the first daughter, received education as the crown princess at the imperial palace for over 10 years, but in an instant, her fate was switched with her sister’s.”

***

Crash-!

“You brought this cheap thing for me to use?”

Though she called it cheap, the perfume Serina threw at Letia was worth hundreds of gold coins.

She had simply tossed hundreds of gold coins on the floor just to torment her.

‘My body seems to be worth more than I thought.’

Swallowing her self-deprecating resignation, Letia repeated the same words as always.

“I’m sorry.”

Serina didn’t stop sneering as she looked at Letia, who had her head bowed.

“My engagement ceremony with His Highness the Crown Prince is coming up soon. It will be held grandly at the holy land of Gaudium, no less. And you brought this measly thing?”

“…”

“Or could it be that you still think it’s your position and you’re jealous of me?”

Letia, who had been reacting indifferently to what had happened earlier, shook her head immediately, showing emotion for the first time.

“No. That’s all in the past, and I don’t even remember it anymore. You’re the crown princess now. If you don’t like this perfume, I’ll bring another.”

As Letia responded emotionally for the first time, Serina’s expression turned cold, and she suddenly pushed Letia’s back as she turned to leave.

Because of this, Letia fell and ended up kneeling on the broken pieces of the perfume bottle.

“Mmph!”

Above the barely suppressed cry, Serina’s mocking voice continued coldly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. My hand slipped as I tried to grab you. Well, even if it doesn’t suit me, this scent would suit you.”

Unlike Letia with her dull gray hair, Serina, with her mysterious blue hair that was the symbol of their family, elegantly brushed her hair back and smiled sweetly.

“You need to spray this much to get rid of the stench. I wonder if nothing can be done about that ashy hair of yours?”