Revals was overwhelmed by Jeremiah’s imposing aura, which he was seeing for the first time.

He had heard that Jeremiah was like the Grim Reaper when cutting down enemies and facing monsters, but he had never seen it in person.

Even while hearing it, he thought half of it must be exaggerated stories.

But facing an enraged Jeremiah directly, not even a speck of those thoughts remained.

Just confronting him felt like his breath was choked off and his vision would flash white.

Revals’ body trembled.

“Wait…! Just a moment.”

Revals barely opened his mouth and squeezed out a trembling voice.

“It’s… not… all true! It’s all a misunderstanding… It, it was a scheme by the Grand Duchess’s guard…”

At Revals’ words, Jeremiah’s face twisted horribly.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“…Pardon?”

“Whatever you did, whatever you’re plotting, I don’t care.”

Jeremiah’s eyes glowed fiercely.

“The fact that you tried to kill my wife is true.”

“That… that’s.”

“That alone is reason enough to kill you.”

Jeremiah drew his sword like the Grim Reaper.

And just as he was about to cut down Revals on the spot, Ron restrained him.

“Your Highness! We must reveal everything this man is plotting before disposing of him! If we kill him now, those things might harm the Grand Duchess later!”

“…”

At the mention of Karina, Jeremiah hesitated for a moment.

Certainly, with all that had happened to Karina until now, he couldn’t be completely assured it was nothing.

But he had not the slightest intention of keeping him alive and well.

Slash.

In the blink of an eye, Jeremiah cut off one of Revals’ arms.

Thud.

Revals’ severed arm fell to the ground.

Staring blankly at it, Revals soon let out a tearing scream as the pain rushed in.

“Aaaaaargh!!”

But that scream didn’t last long.

Emanating a chilling aura, Jeremiah grabbed Revals’ lower jaw.

He squeezed as if about to crush the jawbone, preventing Revals from making even a peep.

“It would be better to keep your mouth shut. If I rip out your tongue, it’ll be troublesome during interrogation.”

And this time, he pierced Revals’ thigh with his sword.

“Hnngh!”

Revals’ face turned bright red, contorting in a different way from before.

But Jeremiah, completely unconcerned, twisted the stabbed sword sideways.

“Ungh!!”

Revals writhed violently in pain.

Jeremiah slammed him down to the ground.

And in a voice that couldn’t be colder, he said,

“I’ll make you wish you were dead, make living seem horrific enough to beg me to kill you.”

Jeremiah’s eyes glinted with murderous intent.

That appearance was like the incarnation of a merciless demon without blood or tears.

“Lady Karina. Are you alright?”

Mikhail asked, holding Karina in his arms.

Coming to her senses and looking around, she could see the Ellier Orphanage in the distance.

“Did we escape safely?”

“Of course. Are you feeling dizzy at all?”

“I’m fine.”

Karina said as she slowly separated herself from Mikhail.

Mikhail wore a slightly disappointed expression as he let Karina go.

“I’m glad we escaped safely.”

Karina recalled the image of Revals jumping up with a demonic face just before she teleported away.

It didn’t seem like Revals would give up easily.

Karina had intentionally thrown out the words for Revals to come attack the Grand Duke’s mansion.

She would be going to the capital soon and not returning anyway.

She thought Jeremiah would take care of the aftermath.

‘He looked like he’d chase after me recklessly without thinking.’

Karina hoped Revals would really lead his private soldiers to attack the Grand Duke’s mansion.

‘Then we can use that as justification to throw him in prison.’

It seemed best to give Jeremiah advance notice of the situation, no matter how it turned out.

‘He’s like a social evil, so it’s right for Jeremiah to handle it originally. It’s for the North’s sake. It’s not like I’m just pushing off the aftermath of my actions.’

Karina rationalized it that way.

Honestly, she thought, what’s wrong with causing trouble and passing off the cleanup to others?

‘They’ll handle it themselves.’

Meanwhile, Mikhail, thinking Karina was worried about Revals chasing after them, took her hand and said,

“Even if that bastard chases us, don’t worry. I’ll protect you then too.”

Karina smiled silently.

Hearing Mikhail’s words made her feel reassured.

“But Lady Karina.”

“Yes?”

“Why were you staring at me so intently right before using the teleportation magic?”

Mikhail asked with a curious expression.

To that question, Karina answered lightly.

“Just because. Your eyes were sparkling so prettily.”

Mikhail’s eyes widened at Karina’s words.

“My eyes are pretty?”

“You didn’t know?”

Karina laughed playfully, asking if he really didn’t know that.

‘Well, it’s not just the eyes that are pretty. He’s so handsome, he must have heard he’s pretty a lot.’

Karina’s assumption was wrong.

Mikhail didn’t often hear that he was pretty.

More accurately, Mikhail didn’t like being called pretty, so those around him refrained from saying it.

But at this moment, Mikhail was overjoyed to hear Karina call him pretty.

He wanted to hear more.

“Really? Do I really look pretty?”

Mikhail reacted like someone hearing he was pretty for the first time.

Karina wore a puzzled expression.

Wondering if he really had never heard he was pretty before, she said it again.

“You don’t just look pretty, you really are pretty.”

Mikhail smiled gently, his eyes crinkling.

‘He really must have never heard he’s pretty before.’

Seeing how happy he was, she thought she should tell him he’s pretty more often.

But Karina was left speechless by Mikhail’s next action.

“To my eyes, Lady Karina is much prettier.”

Mikhail reached out with his long, straight fingers and traced the lines of Karina’s face.

Then he tucked Karina’s disheveled hair behind her ear, tidying it.

“You seem like the prettiest thing in the world.”

Mikhail murmured softly.

“Ah…”

Karina pulled back slightly with a flustered expression.

She wasn’t sure how to react.

An awkward silence fell.

Sensing the subtle atmosphere, Karina suddenly spoke up.

“Mikhail. I’m saying this just in case, but you didn’t misunderstand anything weird just now, right?”

“Weird misunderstanding?”

“I said you were pretty because you really are pretty. It’s not like I had any other intention.”

“…”

Mikhail’s eyebrows drooped as he wore a sorrowful expression.

“I know.”

His appearance was so pitiful that Karina felt guilty.

But it was worse to let him misunderstand and potentially have false hopes.

It was better to be clear about these things.

But Mikhail seemed to have different thoughts from Karina.

“Still, these feelings are mine. I’ll do as I please with them.”

“Huh?”

Karina was bewildered.

It was a completely unexpected response.

“I won’t force my feelings on you, so just don’t push me away and let me stay by your side. You can do that much, can’t you?”

“…”

Mikhail lowered his head and met Karina’s eyes.

Karina silently stared back at Mikhail.

Unrequited feelings eat away at a person.

They plunge you into a deep quagmire you can’t escape from alone, making you flounder.

And in the end, they make you destroy yourself.

She knew it all too well from her own experience.

Karina didn’t want Mikhail to end up like that.

After hesitating, Karina spoke with a resolute expression.

“Mikhail. I don’t want you to get hurt. So if… if you want to quit being my guard…”

“Lady Karina.”

Mikhail cut off Karina’s words with a hardened expression.

He let out a long sigh and spoke in a low but gentle voice.

“My feelings are my own. Whether I get hurt by them, find comfort in them, or am happy with them. That’s entirely for me to bear.”

Mikhail’s hardened expression softened as he smiled kindly and continued.

“So Lady Karina, you just need to be as you are now.”

Listening to his words, Karina felt herself becoming more depressed.

“Let me stay by your side. It’s my wish. You said you’d grant my wish, didn’t you?”

“…”

Her heart felt heavy.

‘But I can’t give you anything in return.’

Karina swallowed the words she couldn’t speak aloud.

“Will you grant it?”

“…”

She had promised to grant him any wish.

Karina reluctantly nodded her head weakly.

Even that seemed to please Mikhail as he smiled gently.

Her mouth tasted bitter with guilt and pity for Mikhail.

But there was nothing more Karina could do for him.

“Shall we head back now?”

Mikhail said, looking at the sky.

The red dawn had passed and it was already quite bright out.

They had snuck out of the Grand Duke’s mansion at night, so they needed to return quickly.

If Jeremiah found out, it would be troublesome.

“Yes. Let’s go back.”

And so Karina and Mikhail returned to the Grand Duke’s mansion.

[This is the timeline separator]

‘Sigh. I’m tired.’

After going through so much all night, the tension drained away.

As the tension released, it felt like all the strength left her body and fatigue crashed in all at once.

The one fortunate thing was that Jeremiah didn’t seem to have come to her room yet.

‘If he knew I wasn’t in my room, it wouldn’t be this quiet.’

Karina let out a short sigh of relief.

Mikhail, who had escorted her back to her room, briefly left to check if the children they had rescued had returned safely.

Leaving with the words to treat him the same as usual when he returned.

It felt like he sensed that she was uncomfortable being with him now and purposely left to give her space.

“Haa.”

Karina’s sigh deepened as she thought of Mikhail.

‘I shouldn’t think about it. Maybe it’s just passing interest. He’s been by my side constantly until now, so he could be having such misunderstandings.’

It’s not like Mikhail had confessed passionate feelings to her.

She might have jumped to conclusions on her own, comparing his likely mild interest to her past experiences and misunderstanding.

‘Right. When Mikhail returns, I’ll just act like usual.’

Karina shook her head, forcibly erasing her thoughts.

Karina changed her clothes and lay down on the bed.

It was to appear as if she had just woken up when Jeremiah came.

But even after a long time passed, Jeremiah didn’t come.

‘What’s going on? Why isn’t he coming? It’s already past the time he usually comes.’

Karina slightly furrowed her brow as she checked the time.

If she had known he wouldn’t come today, there was no need to rush back to the Grand Duke’s mansion, she thought with rising discontent.

And so, without realizing it, Karina drifted off to sleep.

[This is the timeline separator]

Mikhail, who had come out of the Grand Duke’s mansion again.

Mikhail recalled the situation he had seen just before teleporting from the mine.

‘It was definitely the Grand Duke. How was he there at that time?’

Mikhail had seen Jeremiah standing with a stiff expression behind the Grand Duke’s knights, beyond Revals’ figure.

And in his expression, he glimpsed an obsession towards Karina.

‘Karina didn’t seem to notice though.’

At the moment of teleporting, Karina was so focused on looking at his eyes that she didn’t seem to notice Jeremiah appearing there at all.

Mikhail thought it was fortunate that his eyes looked pretty to Karina.

‘I’m glad she was looking at me.’

A sense of fulfillment welled up in Mikhail’s chest.

Then recalling Karina’s words to him after teleporting, he became depressed again.

He had no intention of forcing his feelings on Karina, but.

‘Still, I wish she wouldn’t close off her heart so tightly.’

Mikhail planned to gently knock on Karina’s heart and try to open it little by little.

Very slowly.

So that he could melt into her naturally, without her noticing, allowing her to accept him.

Mikhail’s eyes glowed softly.