Turiel tilted her head.

“But, Your Highness. Are you trying to get help from me without anything in return? I am not someone who works without compensation.”

“Is there a compensation you desire?”

Turiel smiled tepidly.

She was a person who worked for Lenisha.

And the person in front of her, Casius, had come to seek advice for Lenisha.

Answering such an insignificant question was not a difficult task.

There was only one compensation Turiel wanted.

“Don’t change that heart.”

“What does that mean…?”

“Don’t forget the sincerity with which you’ve come this far in one step for Lenisha. Hold on to the feelings you have for Lenisha for the rest of your life.”

Casius’s expression became strange.

“The compensation you’re asking for is ridiculously small for a merchant.”

“Eternity is not as easy as you think. It’s more difficult and demanding than you think. What I want is the greatest compensation.”

“No. That’s not what I mean.”

Casius brushed his hair back.

His muscles, which had been loosely relaxed as he crossed his arms, moved slowly.

He felt enormous even with a slight movement due to his large build.

Turiel stared at Casius with narrowed eyes.

It was natural to feel threatened in front of ordinary knights.

It was an instinctual feeling arising from the difference in physique, not from what the knight did.

Casius seemed to move slowly except when walking.

He was a gentle person, who had that gentleness embodied within him.

A person who knew how to consider others before himself.

“What I meant to say was that I, too, desire that eternity. I wish for eternity with Lenisha. That’s the compensation I desire, not the one you desire. So your compensation is indeed ridiculously insignificant.”

That was Casius’s true intention.

Casius couldn’t precisely define his emotions.

He simply felt affectionate towards Lenisha and wanted to protect her.

He wished for her to smile, and that she had no more pain in her life.

And that Casius would be by her side.

He harbored such a wish.

Casius didn’t even know when this wish had started.

He simply remembered recognizing it at first sight.

That his connection with Lenisha wouldn’t end like this.

Turiel nodded to Casius’s words.

“Then my compensation is indeed insignificant. But, everything I wish for is for Lenisha’s sake, so it’s fine.”

A weak jealousy arose.

Turiel had always thought her feelings for Lenisha were the deepest.

But now, a person had appeared to surpass Turiel.

Turiel swallowed the discontent that sprang up within her.

“Now tell me what to do. How should I proceed?”

Casius asked again seriously.

“I’m actually clumsy because I’ve never met the opposite sex.”

“You mean you’ve never called a woman?”

Casius frowned.

“I’ve heard it’s common, but it has nothing to do with me.”

Casius’s blunt response coldly stared at the playful Turiel.

Oddly, being with Turiel, he felt carried away.

Turiel was dangerous in a different way from Lenisha.

“I see.”

You’ve almost lived like a monk, Turiel stuck out her tongue.

“Tell me the method.”

No longer wanting to engage in lengthy conversation with Turiel, Casius urged her sharply.

“Dine with Lenisha. Engage in much conversation and do everything together. Hold hands and walk in the garden, see beautiful things, do good things together.”

“That is…”

Casius’s shoulders drooped.

“The heart must be satisfied first, then the body will follow. Shake Lenisha like a storm.”

“Shake her?”

“Shake her to the point she crumbles at once. Finish everything before Lenisha can catch her breath. Capture Lenisha’s heart.”

“…But Lenisha might not want that?”

“Just because she doesn’t want it, won’t you do it?”

Turiel held a smooth smile.
“Empress Lenisha may no longer need Duke Valige.”

Casius furrowed his brows. Not needed?

“Please support Lenisha. I mean, be her support. If she wavers, just support her. Hold her up and lead her from the front.”

Turial was worried about the lonely Lenisha.

It was the same in the royal palace.

Lenisha was someone who had never complained, even under Lexus’s persecution.

She either didn’t know how to ask for help or was trying to solve everything herself.

This time, he was hoping it would not be so.

Casius was lost in thought for a moment.

“It means to become family.”

“That’s right. That will solve everything, Your Grace.”

Casius nodded, his face showing understanding.

“Be a couple first. That’s what needs to be done first.”

Casius understood perfectly what that meant.

From his adolescence to the present, he had grown up following Duke and Duchess Lotera on the battlefield.

Casius remembered everything about them.

And he wasn’t the only one.

There were more than a few young knights who had been raised by the Duke and Duchess of Lotera.

Casius knew how they had loved and supported each other.

“It was a good story. Thank you.”

(This is a time separator.)

Lenisha raised an eyebrow.

Casius was strange.

Was he excited about the departure?

Or was he scared, thinking about going to Hiloshain?

Casius had people he was responsible for.