Inside the imperial palace, in the grand banquet hall with luxurious patterned tapestries hanging on transparent glass windows, those who attended yesterday’s hunting competition were gathered in one place.

On the raised platform, Ileon, seated on a golden chair, announced the winner of the hunting competition.

“The winner is Count Nathan, who hunted two intermediate-level magical beasts and five low-level magical beasts. Count, please come forward.”

Count Nathan stepped forward with a satisfied expression.

Ileon handed Count Nathan a box filled with jewels.

“We promised to grant a wish to the winner. Count, is there anything you desire?”

“Your Majesty! It is already a great honor for our family to receive Your Majesty’s grace. How could I dare to wish for anything more?”

Ileon smiled with satisfaction at Count Nathan’s words.

“That’s a good attitude. However, how could we not give anything to the winner? I shall grant you an island along with one hundred slaves and one hundred servants.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Dietrich noticed that Ileon was wary of him and had chosen someone else as the winner, specifically one of the long-standing imperial courtiers close to Ileon, but he didn’t add any comment.

In fact, Dietrich’s act of eliminating Ileon’s subordinates and then killing all the high-level magical beasts was intended as a warning to Ileon.

As Dietrich had anticipated, Ileon, being cautious of him, announced someone else as the winner.

“Dietrich.”

At the clear voice reminiscent of dew on a leaf, Dietrich’s expression softened.

Celiya was leaning against Dietrich’s chest, looking up at him.

Dietrich lowered his head and wrapped his arm around Celiya’s shoulder.

The two exchanged glances and smiled softly at each other.

“……”

Ileon’s expression hardened as he watched this scene from the raised platform.

“Your Majesty.”

Though he heard his advisor calling him, Ileon’s gaze remained fixed on one spot.

‘Princess Anastasia, and Dietrich.’

The two were no longer pretending to be lovers.

With his deep insight, Ileon could quickly discern this.

Their hearts had truly connected. Otherwise, they couldn’t have smiled so brightly.

In place of the deep darkness that had lifted, a new emotion called happiness had sprouted.

Ileon felt his mouth becoming parched.

“Your Majesty.”

As the advisor called Ileon once again, Ileon’s gaze slowly turned towards him.

“Right, I must finish the congratulatory speech.”

Ileon muttered lowly as he stood up and spoke.

“You all worked hard participating in the hunting competition. Today, we plan to hold a banquet until night, so please eat and enjoy to your heart’s content.”

As Ileon finished his speech, people applauded and cheered enthusiastically.

Just before leaving the banquet hall, Ileon’s eyes swept over Celiya one last time.

Celiya, who used to look at him with a face twisted with hatred and resentment, now smiled as brightly as a flower when looking at Dietrich.

Her fresh green eyes folded gently within her beautiful eye line.

Her red lips curved into a smile, and the woman smiling broadly was dazzlingly beautiful.

Even though she had lost everything because of him, she could still smile so brightly.

Ileon couldn’t understand what to call this strange feeling he felt when looking at that woman.

Did he wish for that woman to be completely broken?

Or…

At that moment, Dietrich raised one hand and shielded Celiya’s head, preventing Ileon from seeing her.

Dietrich’s cold gaze turned towards Ileon.

Just from the gaze alone, a murderous intent that felt like it could tear one’s skin to shreds was palpable.

“Duke Calypso, you seem quite displeased. Do you have something to say?”

Ileon deliberately addressed Dietrich as if nothing was wrong.

Dietrich, his face already returned to a dry expression, showed proper respect.

“Your Majesty, how could I dare to do such a thing?”

“……”

“I am the Captain of the Imperial Knights and Your Majesty’s faithful servant.”

Though it sounded plausible on the surface, it was a complete lie.

Ileon’s eyes narrowed.

“I thought you were displeased about not being the winner.”

“The one who announces the winner is Your Majesty, who embraces all people. How could someone lowly like me dare to influence Your Majesty’s decision?”

Dietrich’s words hit the mark.

Ileon realized that he had lost his previous composure.

He had become hasty and impatient.

‘Why?’

Ileon was simultaneously feeling confusion and elation at the appearance of the person from the prophecy, alive and well.

‘…This is not good.’

Ileon decided to change his plan of observing the two for a while longer.

“I hope you’ll put in a bit more effort in the next hunting competition. Then perhaps you might become the winner.”

Ileon said, his eyes crinkling as he regained his composure.

“Well then, I hope you have a good time.”

Ileon decided to act quickly before it was too late.

He turned and swiftly left the banquet hall.

“Why isn’t Duke Calypso the winner?”

“Perhaps he wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t hunt much.”

“Is that so……”

Some of those who attended the hunting competition questioned why Dietrich wasn’t the winner, but they had no way of knowing the true details of the incident.

Dietrich didn’t feel the need to explain anything to them.

“Let’s skip the banquet and just leave. I prefer being at your mansion.”

Dietrich nodded at Celiya’s words.

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

As the two were leaving the banquet hall, someone blocked their path.

Platinum hair, snake-like golden eyes, corpse-pale skin, and a playful mouth.

The man, dressed in a glamorous outfit with a silver veil dress and a golden belt around his waist, wore a black earring on one ear.

“…Arthur Cervantes, what’s the matter?”

Dietrich stepped forward as if to protect Celiya.

Arthur’s gaze fell on Celiya’s hand, which was linked with Dietrich’s.

“Dietrich Calypso, was it?”

Arthur muttered, not taking his eyes off Celiya’s snow-white hand.

“You’re not a Sword Master. You’re even higher than that, aren’t you?”

“……”

Dietrich stared at Arthur with indifferent eyes.

“I should have killed you earlier, before you grew too big. To prevent you from coveting what’s mine.”

Arthur revealed his bloodshot eyes as he cracked his neck vertebrae loudly.

“You engraved a damned artifact on the dagger? Put a protection spell to keep my avatar away? A human who can engrave artifacts without being a magician? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Arthur shouted with a face that looked like he wanted to kill Dietrich right then and there.

From Arthur’s words, Celiya could understand why he hadn’t been able to harm her all this time.

Dietrich teaching her dagger techniques was to naturally hand over the dagger to her.

Celiya tightened her grip on Dietrich’s hand. She smiled brightly and said,

“Thank you, Dietrich.”

Dietrich turned and pulled Celiya into his embrace.

As her silver hair wrapped around Dietrich’s hand, Celiya’s head was buried in his chest.

Seeing this, Arthur’s teeth could be heard grinding.

“I’ll specially add you to my collection too. Just by plucking out those blood-red eyeballs of yours.”

Arthur laughed ominously.

“Go ahead, if you can.”

At Dietrich’s calm words, the smile disappeared from Arthur’s face.

“When that time comes, it won’t be me who dies, but you.”

“……”

Arthur glared at Dietrich as if he wanted to kill him, then suddenly his eyes widened.

Arthur quickly snatched something that had fallen to the floor and laughed, his shoulders shaking.

“My Anastasia. Let’s meet again soon.”

With those words, Arthur disappeared with snake-like movements.

In a large sealed room without a single point of light.

Arthur had installed a separate sealed room in his quarters in the imperial palace.

Unlike his flamboyant nature full of extravagant collections, there were no taxidermy specimens here.

This dark space was specially prepared by Arthur, solely for Celiya.

Arthur reached out to light the candle hanging on the wall.

Whoosh—

A flame ignited in his hand.

Arthur lit the candle.

As the candle flickered, the shape of a silver cage appeared in the center of the dark sealed room.

The man-sized cage was empty inside.

Arthur, having extinguished the flame, took out a small taxidermy frame from his bosom.

Inside the small frame, about the size of a human palm, was a single strand of silver hair.

It was the silver hair he had picked up from the floor earlier.

Arthur took out a vial filled with a red liquid.

“Ha.”

The identity of the potion was an aphrodisiac.

“For your beautiful self, I, huh? I took care of all the evil things targeting you.”

Arthur spoke to the hair in the taxidermy frame as if it were Celiya herself.

“You, you, not knowing that and only looking at that bastard!”

Arthur’s voice grew increasingly agitated.

The veins on his pale neck became prominent.

“Anastasiaaaaaa!”

Arthur screamed, clutching his own face.

With dilated pupils and a trembling body, Arthur stroked the taxidermy frame containing Celiya’s silver hair and murmured.

“I, I really didn’t want to use this method.”

Arthur grinned with an unfocused expression.

“It’s all your fault.”