Dietrich always acted together with Celiya.

Whether eating meals, strolling in the garden outside, or staying in the mansion, he was never apart from Celiya.

The rumor that Dietrich was Celiya’s lover spread openly.

There was also the masked ball incident recently.

It was to the extent that there was no one in the imperial palace, let alone in Abelon, who did not know about their relationship.

Because Dietrich was terribly protective of Celiya, complaints toward Dietrich were erupting, centered around men who had been eyeing Celiya.

Candles flickered like dancing in front of the men sitting around the wooden table.

“This truly cannot be. The Angel of Brillionne must not have a lover under any circumstances. Does it not tarnish her purity?”

“That is right. We have given her so much money, we cannot just sit by and watch as someone else snatches her away.”

The men sitting at the wooden table ranged widely in age, from young men to old men.

The common point was that they were all extremely wealthy men.

They were also those who had seen Celiya at least once when the public courtship was held at the Brillionne mansion.

They used to fight and quarrel every day about taking Celiya as their wife, but the Imperial Knight Commander who appeared out of nowhere snatched her away.

Their temporary alliance with Dietrich as a common enemy was very tight-knit.

“To be honest, it was all thanks to us that she was released from prison when she was imprisoned on charges of assassinating the emperor.”

“That is right.”

“However, Duke Calypso is the Imperial Knight Commander. Moreover, he has the thick trust of the knights and possesses military power.”

The men racked their brains hard.

They all wanted Celiya.

Green eyes as fresh as verdure, clear features set in a small face, silver hair sparkling like stars.

She was a woman any man would naturally desire.

“Hmm… Could the Angel of Brillionne perhaps be a witch as the rumors say? Isn’t it strange? Duke Calypso, who was said to never get close to women, has the Angel of Brillionne as his lover.”

At the young man’s words, an old man with wrinkles around his eyes snorted.

“To believe such nonsense rumors created by women jealous of ultimate beauty.”

“…But isn’t it strange? I heard even His Majesty the Emperor asked her to dance first. He had never asked anyone to dance first before.”

Bang!

The old man slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly.

The young man hurriedly tried to stop the old man.

“No, what I mean is, let’s use this in reverse. If we really make the Angel of Brillionne into a witch, even Duke Calypso won’t be able to do anything, right?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

The old man glared as he sat back down.

“Just as we made the Angel of Brillionne into a saint to clear her of the charges of assassinating the emperor and get her out of prison, this time let’s make her into a witch and tear the two of them apart.”

“…”

“We have more than enough money, so can’t we manipulate public opinion through the mouths of foolish people? Even Duke Calypso won’t be able to keep a ‘witch’ as his lover if he thinks about his reputation.”

Celiya gazed at the thoughtful Dietrich with quiet eyes.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Hmm.”

Dietrich looked into Celiya’s eyes and asked.

“Celiya, what do you want to do first when everything is settled?”

“After Abelon is destroyed?”

Dietrich nodded.

Celiya pondered deeply.

After this Abelon is destroyed, Celiya had never once thought about what would become of herself.

She had only vaguely imagined death.

“I’ve never thought about it before.”

“…Why not?”

Why.

Celiya repeated the word Dietrich had uttered as if mulling it over.

‘Because I’m terminally ill? Or because I think Abelon’s destruction is the end point of my life?’

Many answers came to mind.

But when she actually looked at Dietrich’s face, strangely her mouth wouldn’t open.

Would Dietrich remain by her side like this even after destroying Abelon?

‘No, before that, will I even be alive?’

Her body was so damaged that even doctors could do nothing.

Even if Dietrich had healing abilities, he probably couldn’t fully restore the rotten organs inside her body.

Dietrich had explained to Celiya that he had healing abilities, but Celiya didn’t know exactly what their extent was.

There was something she was even more curious about than her damaged body.

“Will you remain by my side even after Abelon is destroyed?”

Dietrich answered Celiya’s question immediately.

“If that’s what you want.”

Celiya didn’t like Dietrich’s answer.

It was as if she was the one clinging on, wasn’t it?

“Dietrich, I want to know your opinion.”

Dietrich blinked slowly and answered.

“I…”

Trailing off, Dietrich smiled brightly at Celiya with crinkled eyes.

Unlike Ileon who put on fake smiles, sincerity could be felt in Dietrich’s smile.

“I want to be by your side. For good, if you’ll allow it.”

It was truly a tender voice.

“May I touch your face for a moment?”

At Dietrich’s question, Celiya nodded slightly.

With permission granted, Dietrich gently caressed Celiya’s face.

His large hand that traced her contours touched Celiya’s cheeks, round forehead, and lips in turn.

Celiya admired Dietrich’s expression as he caressed her face.

The red eyes beneath his black eyelashes were lovely.

A warm and gentle touch without a trace of dirty desire.

It was a touch clearly different from the men she had seen until now.

The touch that had been handling her very preciously and carefully, as if touching glazed pottery, slowly, very slowly, fell away.

Celiya felt her heart grow empty when Dietrich’s hand left.

The alliance formed to use each other no longer mattered now.

A contractual relationship.

She had clearly thought it was nothing more and nothing less, but now Celiya felt she couldn’t do without Dietrich.

Being with Dietrich had gone beyond familiarity to become something so natural.

Perhaps because they shared the same wounds and pain, Dietrich now felt like a part of herself.

Celiya leaned her body against Dietrich’s chest and traced his neck with her hand.

There was still a scar on Dietrich’s neck from when Celiya had cut him with a dagger before.

The scar had faded to the point where it was barely noticeable unless looking closely, but Celiya didn’t like that it was still there.

“Why don’t you heal your scar? You healed me even for just a bit of scraped skin.”

Instead of answering, Dietrich took Celiya’s hand that was tracing his neck and interlocked their fingers.

His hand joints, calloused from holding a sword for a long time, entwined with Celiya’s.

“Because it’s a trace of you trusting me.”

Celiya recalled the past.

The day Dietrich told her to stab him with all her might with a dagger, she couldn’t bring herself to slit his throat and dropped the dagger on the floor.

The man before her was saying that the scar she had made then was a trace of her trusting him.

Celiya felt her heart ache.

“Even without such a scar, I trust you completely now.”

At Celiya’s words, Dietrich called her name in a low voice.

“Celiya.”

As Celiya raised her head, Dietrich was looking down at her with a gentle expression.

“I feel the same.”

A gentle breeze brushed through Arthur’s platinum hair.

Arthur, who had been leaning against a marble pillar, took out an aphrodisiac from his bosom.

When he shook the potion, the red liquid reminiscent of bright red blood swirled.

Arthur had been waiting for the opportunity to use the aphrodisiac, but he couldn’t carry out his plan because Dietrich was always sticking close to Celiya.

“Disgusting bastard.”

Arthur glared at Dietrich’s mansion with a sickened face.

If Dietrich had been an ordinary knight instead of a Sword Master, Celiya would have already fallen into his hands long ago.

But he was stronger than expected.

Even when he sent his avatar to fight, he was clearly overwhelmed by Dietrich.

Although an avatar can only exert 50% of the actual Arthur’s power, being overwhelmed by Dietrich itself left a huge scratch on Arthur’s high pride.

So Arthur had slipped out of the imperial palace and investigated Dietrich and Celiya.

The pitch-black darkness residing within.

After thoroughly investigating the origin of that darkness, he learned that they were survivors of a kingdom that had been destroyed and disappeared ten years ago by Ileon.

It was then that he also learned that Celiya was a princess, which gave Arthur an immense sense of exhilaration.

To think that Celiya, who possessed extreme beauty, was actually a princess!

“Perfect…”

Arthur swallowed hard, feeling as if he was getting thirsty.

Thinking he could no longer bear to see Celiya in that mansion, Arthur took a big step forward.

At that moment, he saw a woman with curly pink hair passing in front of him.

It was Reina, Ileon’s younger sister.

Arthur’s eyes lowered as he saw Reina fiddling with something in her bosom while looking at the mansion.

Arthur approached Reina from behind and snatched the object in an instant.

“What!”

Reina glared at Arthur with wide eyes, having suddenly had her possession stolen.

Arthur checked the object he had snatched.

It was a needle coated with a powerful sleeping drug.

“Princess. Didn’t you hear about me from your elder brother?”