Such a handsome appearance was completely ruined and gone.

The brilliant golden hair had changed to red and black like burning ashes, and the clear skin without a single blemish was now covered in mottled red and black veins.

The pretty lips were also stained black, and the eyes were described in the original as having only bright red pupils without any whites, making them painful to look at.

The eyes reddened.

“If I become a monster…”

Plop, plop, tears finally fell.

“You won’t love me anymore.”

I know this kind of non-threat won’t work, but I have to say something.

You can do anything else, but black magic is forbidden. It’s something that must never be done. Not even as a joke.

“Crying over one little joke? Is this worth crying about?”

Seeing me trembling with anxiety, Edan raised his large hand to my head. And he stroked my hair several times as if to soothe me.

“Alright. I promise.”

“Really?”

“Yes. No matter what happens, I won’t touch black magic.”

It was then.

As I nodded my head, the closed portal lit up with a blue light, illuminating the library.

“Your Grace!”

It was Ruben. His voice urgent and tense.

Even without seeing his face, I could tell something was seriously wrong.

Edan straightened his posture. He didn’t ask Ruben about the situation, who had brought other subordinates, but quickly scanned them.

“What’s going on?”

Though brief, Ruben’s wavering eyes met mine fleetingly.

Lowering his head, he continued his report in a trembling voice.

“The wall has been destroyed.”

As he said this, Ruben held out a sword to Edan with both hands.

It was a much longer and larger sword than Edan usually used. If stood upright, it would probably be taller than me.

Edan gripped the sword without hesitation.

“The situation?”

“Monsters are pouring out onto the plains. We’re holding them back, but it looks like they might break through.”

It seemed like he had a lot more to say, but Ruben was watching my expression.

As if worried I might be shocked.

I could feel him suppressing his emotions and choosing only the most important words to convey.

I quickly turned my head towards the window.

The sun was hanging over the ridge of the mountains. It was still not quite sunset.

This is not the time for monsters to come out.

Even if the wall has collapsed, monsters can’t reach the wall unless a gap is opened.

Yet they say monsters are pouring out.

“E-Edan.”

I grabbed Edan’s arm as he was putting on the cloak he had set aside.

Edan’s eyes, looking down at me, had turned coldly frigid.

“It’s okay. I’ll be back.”

Though I didn’t know the exact situation, I could understand the consequences this would bring.

Edan would try to stop the monsters somehow, and after that, he would suffer extreme pain.

I took out the small vial I had put in my pocket and pressed it into Edan’s hand.

“If it gets tough, drink this.”

Edan, holding the vial, nodded slightly.

“Alright.”

A sense of urgency was felt.

Gently pushing away my hand that was gripping his arm, Edan quickly turned around.

An indescribably heavy burden was felt on his shoulders.

You don’t know that I feel like throwing up. I can heal you as many times as needed.

So don’t hesitate and fight.

I was about to say that, but Edan disappeared through the portal in an instant.

12 hours after Edan left for the north, I spent the whole night wide awake without a wink of sleep.

Yet sleep didn’t come, and instead my mind became even clearer.

An indescribable anxiety came over me.

I know that Edan, using his ability, is a person so strong that no one can touch him.

But what is this uneasiness?

The vast northern plains vividly came to mind.

The vast land stretching between the unbreakable wall and the northern city, crossed by a river.

Without the portal, it would have taken days to reach from the wall to the city.

Even with such a wide land in between, at the speed of the monsters, the city would be in chaos in an instant.

Even during the festival, they had flown from the faintly visible distance to the city in an instant.

Even if they were monsters that couldn’t fly, their size alone made it difficult for knights to chase after their running speed.

Blocking the collapsed wall and dealing with it there would be the wisest and least damaging method.

‘Even so, that’s not an easy task.’

I don’t know how much of the wall has collapsed, but stopping the pouring monsters would result in enormous damage.

The scene of fighting monsters I had seen in the north replayed over and over in my mind.

The dry air and towering walls, knights swinging their swords frantically in blood-splattered areas fighting monsters.

Edan standing at the center of it all.

‘Why did the wall break?’

They had said the monster subjugation was nearly over, and Edan was relaxed enough to focus only on winter preparations.

No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for it to break.

Unless someone intentionally broke it.

“Haah.”

Not a single magic book caught my eye.

I closed the book and slowly walked out of the castle from the first floor.

The morning sun that had just begun to rise was shining through various spots between the castle garden and windows.

Though I hadn’t slept, my condition wasn’t bad. The power that had been taken by Ivy had almost returned.

I manifested my healing power and let it flow throughout the entire castle.

So Edan could be comfortable when he returned.

Taking slow steps one at a time, I poured healing power into every wall, door, and ceiling.

I sprinkled even more in the library where the portal was.

And finally, I opened the door to Edan’s bedroom.

I’m sorry for coming in without permission, but given the situation…

Edan’s bedroom felt cold every time I entered.

I lightly scanned the bland room with hardly anything that could be called possessions as I entered.

‘A lot here too.’

Since this is where Edan needs to rest when he returns.

I manifested as much healing power as in the library, letting it slowly seep into the walls and bed.

And just as I was about to turn back.

The drawer of the console beside the bed was slightly open.

“What’s this?”

At first I was just going to close it, but a red string was sticking out, so I opened the drawer and took out the object.

A thick, dark brown scroll was stored in a half-rolled state.

The red string was carelessly thrown on top of it.

“…”

I shouldn’t look.

Before I knew it, I had picked up the scroll.

And the moment I confirmed the contents, I froze.

“No way.”

It was a request for a political marriage between the Princess Ciela Hestia of the Eastern Empire and Edan.

No matter how many times I read it from the beginning, the person designated as the marriage partner of the princess was Prince Edan Dietrich II.

This is the marriage proposal Maxium had mentioned.

It was real. On the day Empress Henzela had summoned Edan, the day he had been beaten, he had received this.

My heart pounded. Unable to believe it, I blankly stared down at the scroll as it was.

Edan Dietrich.

Ciela Hestia.

I couldn’t take my eyes off those two names written side by side.

And belatedly confirming the last line of the letter, I was struck with shock.

My hand gripping the scroll tightened.

At the end of the scroll was Princess Ciela’s signature.

And.

“It can’t be…”

Edan’s signature was there too.

Thinking I might have seen wrong due to lack of sleep, I rubbed my eyes and looked again, closed my eyes tightly and opened them again, but it was clearly Edan’s signature.

Precisely scrawled in cursive writing, Edan Dietrich’s name.

“Did he… agree?”

My legs nearly gave out and I almost collapsed right there.

Truly, nothing in this world goes according to plan.

How is it that not even once does anything go my way?

If it’s going to be like this, you might as well let me escape from here.

Even when Maxium had mentioned the political marriage, I hadn’t paid much attention to it.

I don’t know why.

Just because Edan was so kind to me. Because he treated me so well.

Because he said he would protect me, I vaguely thought he would continue to be by my side.

Because I’m a necessary person to him.

Though I’m looking for a way to heal without going to the temple, I still thought I would somehow be by his side.

“Edan Dietrich…”

I traced Edan’s signature with my eyes, one by one.

No matter how many times I looked, it was Edan’s name.

Only then did I suddenly recall the time Ruben had tried to enter Edan’s room but turned back when he encountered me.

Could it be he had come to retrieve this?

That day, Ruben had worried that I might use my healing power on Edan.

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Is that why he said it was nothing and turned back?

Was he afraid that if I found out he had come to get this, I would be hurt and refuse to heal Edan?

Plop. I put down the scroll and pressed my stinging eyes firmly with my palm.

“Aren’t you stupid?”

Even if I see something like this, I have no choice but to heal Edan.

Because I like Edan.

Because I like him so much.

The bridge of my nose stung with sorrow.

I pressed my palm more firmly against my eyes, then neatly rolled up the scroll.

I wound the red string tightly around it in a ribbon and put it back in the console drawer.

Then I firmly pushed the drawer shut.

“I wish it would never open again like this.”

As I was blankly staring down at the drawer, muttering.

Bang!

Along with a blue flash, a tremendous sound came from the garden.

I flinched, then hurriedly approached the window to see the castle gate destroyed and a person in a black robe calmly entering through the gap.

Hillstain…? No, it’s not. Hillstain doesn’t come like that anymore.

And whoever it is, someone who enters like that can’t be a good person.

I quickly ran down to the first floor.

I was planning to hide in the secret space of the Archmage connected to the reception room.

Only Edan, Ruben, Maxium and I know about that space.

But the moment I stepped into the lobby after coming down to the first floor, the front door flung open, and I froze on the spot.

“Latieana Merigold.”

Calling my name, a large-bodied man slowly took off his black robe.

A handsome man with soft black hair.

The moment I met his sharply shining eyes, I lost consciousness right there.