“Hometown?”

The word was almost nauseating to him.

The nation of ‘Noruden’ didn’t exist when Cryer, a man of a bygone age, was forcefully resurrected and made into a slave. Would he refer to this nation, breathed into life by those who enslaved him, as his hometown?

However, both had already agreed to this narrative.

“We may not know who the visitor from Noruden is, but let’s make at least one thing clear. After all, you’ll be present at the meeting too.”

“Perhaps. So, what exactly?”

“That I don’t know you, let alone the god of antiquity.”

At Olivia’s words, Cryer gave a light nod, then hesitated.

“Then how will you explain why you keep me by your side? Surely…”

Surely, Olivia shook her head vigorously, knowing what he left unsaid.

“Obviously, I won’t spout nonsense about love at first sight. And I won’t even discuss why I keep you close.”

“Can we just pass it off like that?”

“We can. I am the princess of the Empire, and unless the person from Noruden is the crown prince, there’s nobody who could outright ask me. Well, the crown prince could ask, but whether I answer is entirely up to me.”

As Olivia spoke, she looked more like the princess of the Empire than ever before.

But an agreement is an agreement, and she couldn’t help her instinctual revulsion.

Therefore, even as Olivia spoke, a prickling sensation formed in her mouth. Cryer, however, calmly accepted Olivia’s words.

“Indeed. It’s been a long time since I met someone from my hometown.”

With this, the ‘real’ relationship between Olivia and Cryer was concealed.

If Greta had been in this room herself, she might have sensed the subtle atmosphere between Olivia and Cryer.

However, only her puppet was present.

It had occasional hearing problems and blurry vision.

“However, since I do not recognize you, I’ll skip the greetings.”

With a simple statement, Cryer told Olivia that the man before them had no relation to the ‘god of antiquity’ or ‘magician’. Olivia’s thoughts were different, however.

“Is that so? What a pity.”

Olivia lightly tapped Cryer’s hand back and conveyed with her lips alone.

Look at his eyes.

It was an openended statement, but without questioning, Cryer immediately looked into the eyes of the man from Noruden.

The moment Cryer, for the first time since entering the reception room, met the man’s hazy, lifeless eyes, he grimaced.

The moment he felt a familiar gaze beyond the cloudy pupils.

A low rumble, close to a growl, seeped from between Cryer’s lips, which were tightly closed.

“Greta.”

And as if hearing his call, the man’s cloudy eyes filled with nauseating delight.

He recognized him.

As if it were fate.

No, it was fate. They could only be fated.

She who found him, resurrected him, and survived in a world to be purified, could only be her.

Of course, Olivia also heard Cryer’s low growl.

Until now, she didn’t know the magician’s daughter was Greta, but she figured it out immediately upon seeing Cryer.

And she also realized that Cryer was not looking at her, but beyond her.

“Cryer.”

Greta’s words flowed out of the man’s mouth.

At that moment, the man’s deadfishlike eyes were ironically shining brighter than ever before.

And Cryer knew too.

How Greta looked at him, whispered to him, and treated him.

He was a man without past memories, not a man without perception.

And Greta’s love meant nothing to him.

Rather, if he had despised and scorned her, if he had hated her for forcing him into the chains of slavery and pushing him down the bloody path.

Then at least Greta would have a shred of hope.

After all, there’s an old saying that love and hate are two sides of the same coin.

But in truth, Greta was nothing to Cryer.

He didn’t hate Greta as an individual, but the situation he found himself in.

And if he could be free, he wouldn’t care about the magician or Greta.

Of course, to escape from the damned ancient god, he would need to use the magician and Greta, as Olivia suggested.

‘If you know your enemy and yourself, you can win every battle.’

He instinctively remembered Olivia’s words.

And as Olivia wanted, it was better to see once than to hear a hundred times to dig out the information of the wizard.

The cunning wizard bastard wouldn’t move directly, but Greta definitely had a way to call him to the empire.

Cryer is a man, so he quickly calculated the angle at which Greta could see the best.

Without hesitation, he reached out to Olivia, and Olivia too took his hand without hesitation.

With a long smile around his eyes, Cryer deeply, very deeply, kissed Olivia’s hand.

While doing so, he hid his incredibly fierce and wild teeth.

“My princess.”

It was an abrupt action without any context, but Olivia matched Cryer’s hand and foot without a moment’s hesitation.

She smiled like a blooming rose and answered.

“My knight.”

The moment Cryer deeply pressed his lips on the back of Olivia’s hand.

The heart of the palace of the Kingdom of Norden.

Creak.

The sound of the sapphire ring cutting into the diamond echoed creepily.