Zion was sitting next to the stem of the wisteria tree, the most honored seat at the wisteria festival.

He was dressed in light outdoor clothing suitable for flower viewing.

However, it was clear that what he had prepared for the festival were only his clothes; his attitude, expression, and manners suitable for the festival were all obviously left somewhere else.

First of all, he was sitting with his legs crossed and a very cold face. And behind him were the deputy commander of the guard and the watchers, who assisted him in uniform.

With this appearance, the nobles were slightly confused whether this was a place for flower viewing or a cruel reality of Tarde’s hall.

This alone had already ruined half the festive atmosphere, but Zion did not stop there.

He, who had taken the high seat alone, had no interest in the flowers.

Instead, there was something here that attracted his attention more than the flowers, and as if to prove that fact, his gaze was always caught by a girl in a jade dress.

Tienda’s precious Saintess candidate, Evie Ariate.

Evie, who had been at the center of controversy, had finally returned to social life.

Evie, who appeared after a long time, seemed more adorable and innocent, as if aware of the attention focused on her.

Appearing with her friend Arko Youngsik as her escort, Evie was wearing a light outdoor dress.

The jadecolored dress that Evie wore had minimized decoration, only the skirt was plump.

So compared to the ladies densely decorated with embroidery and lace, it looked quite plain, but the moment she stood among the gorgeous wisteria flowers, that simplicity formed a perfect harmony with the background.

The scattered flowers and intricate embroidery fatigued the viewers, but Evie’s flowing skirt comforted tired eyes. Moreover, that fresh jade color became the most outstanding color as soon as it touched the wisteria’s pale violet.

With this alone, she seemed to monopolize the spotlight, attracting attention, and Evie was revealing her white neck by twisting her hair up, showing a handful of ankles and a pair of shoes just below the skirt that came down to the middle of her calf.

Therefore, the nobles felt some uneasiness while looking at Evie’s appearance, which seemed innocent but was not.

Ah, does that naive bluebird know? The lion sitting under the shade of the flowers is still greedily targeting her.

Today, too, Evie was modest enough to satisfy the nobles, so the nobles enjoyed the subtle atmosphere between Evie and the Count, who was watching her, more than the wisteria.

And Zion was honestly in a foul mood.

Being the spectacle, treated as a man smitten, and being used by Evie Ariate.

So Zion looked at Evie a little more sharply.

But Evie knew that and never looked back.

Even though people around were sneaking glances and watching.

It was a very frustrating feeling, but nothing could be done.

A promise was a promise.

(This is the time separator.)

Three days before Evie and Zion appeared side by side at the wisteria festival.

Evie and Zion, who had agreed to help each other once, were sharing more concrete plans in that peaceful twostory house.

“Arena?”

“Yeah, the Night Tribe is trapped in that arena. That’s why there’s a big curse in this village.”

As Zion narrowed his brow and muttered, Yubia quickly replied.
Evie was taken aback by Yubia’s informal speech, but Zion didn’t care at all. Instead, he glared at the poor Evie.

“What makes you so confident……”

So, this was what he had been talking about, to protect it or not.

When Zion realized he had been teased in a row, Evie smiled brightly. Of course, this made Zion feel a pang of annoyance once again.

In fact, Zion was only annoyed by the investigator who called him a spectacle, not his actual evacuation order itself.

He was feeling the curse coming to this village on the full moon night getting stronger. Moreover, several had almost died during the last full moon.

So Zion was rather in favor of the migration, and he planned to pay off his debt by supporting the migration funds moderately and then wash his hands of the village.

But if there is a separate cause for this incident, it’s a different story.

“It won’t be cheap to trap the Night’s tribe.”

“You mean the cost of salt.”

When Evie interrupted Zion’s mutterings, Zion silently nodded.

A large amount of salt is needed to trap three of the Night’s tribe. And in Bis, the purification salt is more expensive than the same weight of gold.

“It means you make that much money through the arena?”

“The Lord wouldn’t not know that.”

Zion recalled the report he found on the investigator’s desk last night, muttering softly.

Curious about what was written, he briefly skimmed it while using the investigator as a footrest.

Sure enough, the report was filled with gibberish, and so Zion momentarily wondered if this guy was a lazy one or one with hidden intentions.

But it seemed to be both. A lazy guy who is full of secrets but doesn’t hide them well.

Whether it was Tienda or Bis, Zion clicked his tongue thinking that everything was going well.

“So DS and Yubia decided to investigate the arena.”

Pointing to her butler and rabbit, Evie spoke to the Count whose expression was not very good.

In that arena, there are the Night’s tribe that affects Zion’s village, and one of them cursed Evie.

This alone was enough reason for the two to join hands, so Zion nodded without disagreement.

“And I’m going to Tienda to find the one who cursed me.”

“You’ll have a hard time finding him in that state.”

Zion spoke indifferently as if he were talking about someone else.

This time, Evie was piqued, and so she deliberately smiled brightly at Zion.

“It’s okay, the Count will go with me.”

Zion’s expression inevitably hardened.

Knowing that the Count would object, Evie asked with wideopen eyes.

“You promised, right? We’ll take turns doing what’s needed.”

“We agreed to take turns, not to do it first.”

“You’re going to argue about the order unfairly?”

“I’m going to argue about the order fairly.”

Even after forming an alliance, Zion was still not kind.

So Evie glared at this stubborn man, swallowed her anger, and smiled.

“Count, I already removed the Bayon flag this morning, just as you wanted. So now it seems fair to do what I want……”

At Evie’s words, Zion looked at her with a face that seemed to regret.

He had completely forgotten about the morning incident until Evie mentioned it, and then belatedly remembered.

With this logic, Zion seemed ready to agree immediately, but Evie, knowing that this Count was annoyingly petty, deliberately spoke in a sad voice.

“You’re not a despicable person who won’t keep his word and only looks for a way out, are you?”

The attack was effective.

The Count’s pride was greatly reduced, and a crack appeared in his skyhigh selfesteem, putting him in a situation where he had to do anything to restore his honor.

He’s really a guy who doesn’t know anything else…….

Evie clicked her tongue inwardly, thinking he was really an annoying Count.

The saving grace was that she was gradually learning how to move Zion.