The dragon that awakened at dawn, Amaneser, possessed remarkable wisdom and insight.

It foresaw the typhoon endlessly vomited by the sea and played a role in preventing it from engulfing Tiendabis.

Its breath was powerful enough to extinguish even a typhoon, its wings were vast like the curtain of a god, and its sharp eyes were always piercing the sky and sea to prepare for disaster.

The peace of Tiendabis was maintained under the protection of that great being.

So when it went mad, it could only become the most terrible disaster.

“Your Highness, are you conscious?”

At the sound of the deputy commander, the boy opened his eyes.

As always, they were vacant, hollow eyes.

The boy, covered in wounds, was Zion Laurel.

He had just fought Amaneser for the seventh time, as Count Laurel.

This time, he put Amaneser to sleep in twentyone days.

Two days longer than the previous battle.

Count Laurel had been unconscious for half a day, swept away by Amaneser’s breath.

In the meantime, Amaneser had pushed to the very front of Tardeus at the edge of the border, causing heavy casualties to the watchers.

To tie Amaneser to this threshold, they had risked their lives in battle.

The awakened Count drove Amaneser back to the border just in time to prevent annihilation, but not before countless casualties had occurred.

The deputy commander reported the damage with a heavy heart.

But the commanderinchief merely nodded dryly in acknowledgment.

So responding, Zion was fully aware of the situation surrounding him.

But he felt no particular emotion about it.

I was helpless, so my subordinates died,

I’m afraid of Amaneser,

Even the obvious thoughts like I might die soon, he couldn’t think.

Everything was blurred as if hidden in fog.

So everything felt natural.

Facing disaster every time, the body breaking and shattering, people dying overnight.

It was all natural without a question.

So Zion was okay.

Even if he fought and died like this, another Count would follow right away, and even if he was forgotten without leaving a trace of living in this world, he felt it wouldn’t matter.

Like the other Counts of Laurel.

And on the day of the sixteenth battle with Amaneser.

Zion’s faint world suddenly came to an end.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

By a man who came without warning.

“It’s important to you, too.”

The man awakened Zion with these words.

And then told the confused boy everything.

Zion only realized that he had been asleep after waking up with the man’s help.

And what overwhelmed the newly awakened Zion was not relief or sorrow, but the anger that had been trapped all along.

.

.

.

Six years since he secretly regained his sanity, Zion Laurel, who had bravely failed to repay the debt to the man who saved him, was pondering his future in a calm sense of defeat.

After stopping Evie Ariate’s punishment, he had come back down to Biss.

There was no more room for him to get involved with Evie in Tienda.

So he came home to Biss first, but the village seemed noisy, and an unexpected person came to find Zion.

“Hello, Teacher. Nice to see you again!”

The one who greeted him so cheerily was none other than the famous candidate for the Holy Lady, Evie Ariate.

Zion, reading a book in his room and hearing a knock, opened the door and immediately stiffened his face at her cheerful look.

“……What brings you here?”

“I came to see you, Count.”

“I neither invited you nor permitted the visit.”

“You’ve visited our house without invitation or permission too.”

Though Zion growled coldly at Evie, her thorn no longer worked on her.

Evie seemed to provoke Zion to the point of irritation.

“May I come in?”

She even said this, sneaking under Zion’s arm that was holding the door, and intruding into his room.

Zion looked at Evie, who had entered his room uninvited, in disbelief.

Perhaps now they had decided to stop this suspicious newlywed act, as Evie was dressed in the bright, festive attire one would only see in Tienda.

With a freshcolored dress and a matching ribbon in her hair, Evie still looked as pretty and adorable as a doll.

But Zion was no longer fooled by her appearance.

While pretending to be naive and observing Zion’s room, Evie’s eyes were still sparkling, searching for prey.

Meanwhile, Zion’s room, reflected in Evie’s eyes, was surprisingly neat.

She had thought it would be a mess like his nasty personality, but everything was well organized except for the books piled up next to his desk.

After looking around the room, Evie smiled and said,

“I’ll start with a thank you. Thanks to you, Count, I was able to avoid punishment.”

“Stop saying things you don’t mean.”

“You’re really consistent, Count. From the first time we met until now.”

In other words, she’s calling him stubbornheaded.

Zion frowned, feeling Evie slowly gaining ground.

“Don’t get confused. Just because you manipulated me once doesn’t mean you’re above me.”

As Evie seemed to know Zion’s secret of being a teacher, Zion also knew Evie’s secret of a curse.