The World Without My Sister Who Everyone Loved - Chapter 84-to-101

Chapter 7: Closed Heart

Note: This chapter consists of episodes 84 to 101.

Loreina stepped down from healing the emperor.

It was publicly explained as ‘she was shocked to witness Marquis Parvis, whom she had treated, pass away not long after’.

‘A pretty plausible reason,’ Sienna thought.

[Sienna.]

“Yes?”

[That’s what you were saying, you were really… What were you thinking?]

“I didn’t really have any thoughts. As I said, it’s not such a good idea, but it’s such a vague method that might work.”

[You said that you lacked the courage to execute it.]

“Actually, I didn’t have the courage.”

When she thought of that time, her hands still trembled slightly.

Never once had she said that to Loreina and made that kind of expression.

Because she never thought she would be able to deal with her like that.

[Then how did you manage to blow her away so nicely?]

What did he mean by ‘nicely’? Sienna laughed a little, thinking it was an inappropriate expression.

“I just went at her. I’m angry. Someone died.”

[Nice… That word is cool. You are really my master…]

“You’re teasing me by saying I’m cool today, aren’t you?”

[I’m not teasing. I’m serious.]

A small, cute ball of fire clung to Sienna’s cheek.

[Every day, I am falling more in love with my owner.]

Seeing the colorful flaming fluttering from pale pink to deep cherry, it looked like he was really excited.

“Yes… that’s really nice.”

[Well, why aren’t you impressed?]

“I’m really enjoying it… Wow, Hesaros is the best…”

Sienna thought to herself as she let silly words flow out of her mouth.

‘I’m glad my sister left that way.’

In fact, Sienna was bluffing; she didn’t know how to prove Loreina’s lies.

It was impossible under the current circumstances to reveal what she had done to the already dead Marquis, or to claim that Loreina’s healing magic was fake.

First of all, others could not see the ‘gold in the heart’ that Sienna saw.

‘No proof.’

Besides, Loreina was the daughter of a prestigious count family.

The Count of Minangsi was originally a family where healing wizards were born.

Even now, although the marquis died soon after being healed by her, no one doubted Loreina at all.

[Still, there is one thing that is fortunate, isn’t it?]

“That Sister Loreina’s strength is less than what I thought?”

When Sienna opened up her territory at the funeral that day, it wasn’t just to show off to Loreina.

During the brief moment Loreina set foot on Sienna’s territory, Hesaros measured her stats.

Hesaros had the insight to gauge not only immediate achievements, but also the amount of achievements that could be attained over the course of a person’s lifetime.

As a result of that perception…

[People in the world would call it ordinary, but a great Named like me would call it poor.]

In the past, Loreina was revered as a genius.

But if she thought about it, it was only after she came to the underworld and stole Sienna’s innate magic power that Loreina took a credible test.

Until then, the count’s house had personally conducted the tests, so it wouldn’t have been difficult to influence the result.

It was after the destruction of Hesaros that she began to hear the calls of ‘genius’ in earnest.

‘Therefore…’

In fact, the original Loreina’s talents were like this.

She didn’t know why, her appetite was bitter and she was frustrated.

“At that time, my magic powers wouldn’t have been that great, but the probability that Sister Loreina’s talents blossomed late…”

[Impossible. And at the time of handing it over, it must have been the potential itself, not the magic. Of course, it would have been impossible to use it 100% just because she stole it.]
(QC/N: ‘Potential’ here meaning ‘innate magic talent’ so he’s saying that she stole the talent for magic, not necessarily the magic itself.)

“Whoa.”

Now, Loreina had raised her reputation in order to prove her qualifications to get a chance to heal the emperor.

It also meant that more people would come to seek treatment from Loreina compared to the past. But her lack of magic power would be a problem.

‘As well as the quality of the treatment.’

In the past, she could still take care of a patient once every three days, but now it would be difficult to do even that.

As things would be difficult if she were to cause another major accident.

‘For the time being.’

Sienna knew. There was no way for the Loreina she knew to give up at this point and simply back away.

With several thoughts in mind, Sienna pulled out a pouch of essential jewels from her drawer.

As necessary things continued to happen here and there, the pouch lost its weight and became much lighter.

Her heart ached, but she couldn’t help it.

Sienna spilled the jewels left in the pouch on the desk.

The jewels, which were basically transparent, rolled over the desk.

[Why the jewels? So suddenly?]

“Just because.”

The advice of Countess Gildinak came to Sienna’s mind as she quietly rolled the jewels.

“If possible, please make a self-defense amulet for the Grand Duke.”

Hesaros seemed to have noticed what Sienna was struggling with.

[If you’re going to worry about it like that, then just make something and give it to him. It isn’t difficult?]

That’s right. For Sienna, creating a self-defense amulet was no longer a task that could only be done by pouring every energy and devotion into it.

She had gathered enough magical power, and Hesaros was here too. Given the materials, she could make as many as she wanted.

So, it was a matter of the heart.

“I’m a coward.”

[No, you’re not? My master isn’t a coward? A coward can’t make threats like that confidently and coolly, right?]

She was not sure if it was okay to call blackmail cool… Sienna sighed.

In a sense, she hoped to understand her Named… She had given up a bit.

[Are you afraid of being rejected?]

Sienna just smiled quietly instead of answering.

She knew. Unlike before, Nacht’s family liked Sienna to some degree.

Even if Loreina came in as a second ward right now, she didn’t think the family of Grand Duke Nacht would suddenly change their attitude as easily as flipping the palm of their hand.

But she didn’t expect any more.

After all, if Loreina enters this castle, everyone would inevitably compare them.

[But, if she doesn’t take away your qualities, she’s in a bad state. Since they have you, my owner, why would he sponsor such a poor child?]

“The human world is more complex, Hesaros.”

When it came to sponsorship, it was not determined solely by one’s qualifications.

Besides, Loreina was the only healing wizard in this empire externally.

Even if her magic power was a little lacking, it could be covered by the rarity.

“It’s a huge advantage to be able to mix a healing wizard’s bloodline into the family tree.”

[Humans live very complicated lives.]

What if Loreina said she wanted to be Nacht’s child?

‘As long as there are no unusual circumstances, the grand duke would easily allow it.’

Even if the grand duke didn’t want to, he wouldn’t be able to just stand around.

The vassals would rise up like a swarm of bees, insisting that he should not miss such a brilliant opportunity.

So, if Loreina became Nacht’s child, from then on, people would continue to debate who would be best suited for the position of future grand duchess; which Sienna neither sought for nor wanted.

And very likely, each time, the conclusion would be ‘No ordinary orphan can defeat Loreina’s nobleness, beauty, and kindness’.

Loreina, who skillfully controlled people’s thinking and rumors, would be able to change any situation to her advantage.

It wouldn’t change right away.

But it would gradually change.

That was the reason Sienna did not put much effort into her relationship with the Nacht family.

She was afraid that her futile struggle would leave her with another scar.

“Anyway, from the beginning, I had no intention of competing with my sister in this place.”

All she had to do was go to the military academy and grow her abilities as the owner of Hesaros, living and earning recognition.

‘Do I have to struggle in this place?’

Anyway, there were no big regrets about the Nacht family.

Emotionally, she was becoming more and more dull. That was true.

But being dull was not forgiveness.

Especially since Loreina was aiming for this place, it was not a place where she could stay for long.

‘Unlike in the past, now Loreina has a weakness, so I have no choice but to use it.’

Perhaps we can coexist roughly in a composed but not peaceful state.

In that state, if she could steadily increase her strength at the military academy, even if Loreina became the grand duchess, it would be difficult for her to touch her…

‘I hope to eat and live well with Hesaros.’

That was the best future Sienna could dream of right now.

Hesaros asked Sienna at a glance.

[Isn’t it necessary to have money to eat well and live well?]

“What? That’s true…?”

[Then why don’t you practice making self-defense amullets with the leftover jewels?]

“Practice?”

[Yes. You might be able to make a living from it.]

“Ah…”

She had never thought of it that way, but she thought it would be fine.

[If they see you making a self-defense amulet again, I think the reaction will be interesting…]

“What?”

[Ugh, no. I didn’t say anything.]

* * *

The next day, a letter arrived for Sienna.

It was delivered by a handsome man in his early twenties who had his fine silver hair tied up.

“Hello, Lady Sienna.”

Of course, it was a face that Sienna knew well.

“Here is an invitation from His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Yes…”

Sienna received the invitation from him. There it was written in the emperor’s handwritten note:

I miss the baby and it’s urgent, so will you come to see my burden as soon as you read the letter? I’ve sent a carriage.

P.S. Well, I’d be happy if you could solve my troubles at the same time when you come.

For an emperor’s personal letter, his tone was very friendly, like a grandfather next door.

Anyway, it was what she expected.

…Except for the delivery person.

“…Why are you here?”

The grand duke also seemed to find it absurd.

“His Majesty has been living in the garden frequently lately, isn’t it?”

The man answered meekly with his blue eyes shining.

“Sometimes the servants get lost and cannot find His Majesty, so when I have time, I run letter errands.”

“…Does Euros have so much free time?”

Depending how you heard it, you could take it as an argument, but…

“I don’t have much to say.”

…The Duke of the Skies, Tesius Euros, seemed to be carefree and easygoing.

“Actually, I was curious about the owner of the new Named.”

“……”

“I wondered who she was…”

His tone of voice had a unique rhythmic feel, and it was as if she was listening to a whisper even though he was just saying it.

“…It was literally like ‘spring’ came to the underworld.”

Tesius looked at Sienna and smiled mischievously. The grand duke, who saw it, asked.

“Is this all you’re here for?”

In some way, it was a thorny tone.

“Yes that’s right.”

Tesius placed his hand on his chest and bowed politely to Sienna.

“Then I wish you good luck, Lady of Spring.”

Duke Euros left. As if his only purpose was to run an errand for that letter.

‘He was like that before, but now he is like a floating cloud.’

But it wasn’t Tesius Euros that mattered now.

It was because today was the day Sienna would finally go to purify the fraud in the emperor’s body.

* * *

The royal carriage was waiting patiently in front of the main gate.

Sienna, who was ready, stood in front of the carriage, and the driver opened the door.

At the same time…

“…I knew I was going to be like this.”

The driver had just opened the carriage door normally, but they were already standing in front of a familiar forest road, not in front of the carriage door.

The grand duke rubbed his forehead and sighed.

“His Majesty, uhh…”

Sienna asked without knowing.

“Does he usually connect the garden to any place like this…?”

“He’s kind of like that.”

The grand duke had an utterly weary voice.

“In the past, when I returned home after finishing my schedule, I opened the bedroom door and was called to the garden.”

“Ah…”

That was a little… No, it was not just a little, but she thought he would hate it a lot.

They followed the leaves that were beckoning softly, as if saying to come this way.

Sienna and the grand duke entered the garden.

In the middle of the still devastated garden, the emperor was waiting for them. He turned around, giving them a lopsided smile.

“Yes, you bastard. I heard everything.”

That was what he said instead of saying hello. The grand duke accepted it with no expression.

“I meant for you to hear it.”

“Are you sure, do you gossip about me in front of your child?”

“Is that right? I was just saying what happened. I didn’t know it would seem to be gossip.”

“This guy… you shouldn’t even be able to say such things.”

Slowly, Sienna seemed to understand.

To be next to these two, one had to have the ability to roughly ignore their shocking conversations.

“Baby, how are you?”

“Yes. Thank you for your concern, I’ve been well.”

As Sienna answered, the emperor patted the table where he had been sitting and snacking at. He seemed much more worn out than before.

“…His Majesty, have you been sick?”

“Oh, my. You have excellent observation skills.” The emperor chuckled. “But there is no need to worry.”

“I managed to endure thanks to the baby’s special ‘self-defense’.”

The look in the eyes of the grand duke staring at the smiling emperor was very bloody… It didn’t seem to be a misunderstanding on Sienna’s part that he strengthened his gaze at the word ‘self-defense’.

Sienna managed to say this.

“…I’m glad it was helpful…”

“How could it not have been helpful? My heart was satisfied every time I saw it, as it was ‘specially handmade’ for me by a kind-hearted child.”

Yes, it wasn’t a misunderstanding.

Seeing that the grand duke’s face had grown even worse, Sienna came to a conclusion.

‘The meeting is ruined.’

The only way left now was to purify as soon as possible and dissolve this cursed meeting.

“Your Majesty, from this moment on, I will purify the fraud in your body.”

Actually, the fastest and safest way to get rid of fraud was to completely burn it down with the fire of Hesaros.

However, it was still impossible to get rid of the large amount of fraud in the emperor at once at Sienna’s level of training.

So, after discussing with Hesaros, Sienna decided to transfer the fraud from the emperor’s body to Hesaros’s body.

It would take some time, but Hesaros would be able to solve it.

“When I open my territory, lay your hands here on Hesaros. The fraud will be taken care of by Hesaros.”

Sienna held the cigarette holder like a magic wand and pointed to the sparkling soul stone of Hesaros.

The emperor nodded his head seriously.

“Yes, I got it. Please tell him that I look forward to his kind cooperation.”

Sienna smiled faintly.

Because Hesaros mumbled, ‘I don’t hate polite people’.

“Well then, let’s begin.”

Whoosh.

At first, it’s light like the spring breeze.

A light and warm wind was created, and a group of milky way-like lights drew a trajectory under Sienna’s feet.

‘Oh.’

It hadn’t been long since it first appeared, but her territory was quite solid.

The people watching her were the emperor and the grand duke.

The two were not only of high status, but also excellent wizards.

Sienna could have been nervous, but she only calmly developed the territory. With familiar movements.

The eyes of the emperor, who watched it, turned wide.

‘She’s born with talent, but she’s trained repeatedly. That’s why she’s not nervous.’

“Your Majesty.”

At that moment, Sienna opened her eyes.

“It’s now.”

As if wielding a scepter, Sienna held out the body of Hesaros.

Although the emperor was old, he still covered it with strong hands.

At the same time, the evil energy that uncomfortably claimed existence in his body…

Through his arms and hands as if it was attracted by a magnet… It began to move on to Hesaros.

‘Hmm!’

As the more fraud went, the wind, which was a breeze at first, grew stronger and stronger.

‘Is it a reverse reaction?’

A moment when the emperor, who has been through all sorts of hardships, cannot help but be nervous.

But Sienna was not shaken at all.

She had not forgotten what Hesaros had warned earlier.

[I can’t do anything about it if your concentration is disturbed and if the territory is shaken. Be careful as fraud may explode immediately.]

Recalling the warning, Sienna distributed her mana to keep the territory calm.

It was like consciously inhaling and exhaling at a very constant beat.

It was a difficult situation where once concentration was broken, everything could be disrupted like falling dominoes.

But Sienna showed a frightening level of concentration.

Even the emperor, who was rather embarrassed by the sight of the girl barely blinking her eyes, regained his composure.

Was it thanks to that?

Soon, slowly, very slowly, the strong wind began to subside.

At the same time, the wind began to turn into fire.

A fire that burned nothing, except evil.

Wae-ae-ek!

The flames swept through the emperor’s garden, following the rotating wind.

At the same time…

‘Finished!’

The fraud was completely eliminated. Every drop was passed onto Hesaros.

The next moment, something very surprising happened.

The withered and drooping vines gained energy from the roots and rose.

The weeds that had grown viciously as if sucking up nutrients from the dry land to the limit were swept away by flames and disappeared.

At the same time, buds began to form as if bursting from all directions, flowers blossomed, and clear water began gushing out from the dry fountain.

It was tangible evidence that the emperor’s imaginary world was recovering.

The ruins became a garden again.

But it wasn’t what it used to be.

In the past, the emperor’s garden was geometrically and symmetrically trimmed, but now everything was in harmony as if a festival was in full swing.

It was probably Sienna’s influence.

“Whoa…”

In the center of the newly born garden, Sienna, covered in petals like a small goddess of spring, sighed a little.

At the same time, a little smoke rose from the pipe, as if burping.

[I’m full.]

‘I think so.’

It really was a huge amount of fraud.

Perhaps, if Hesaros had been even a little bit slower at absorbing the fraud, she might not have been able to keep her concentration until the end.

[Sienna, I think I need to get some sleep now. To end this fraud.]

‘Thank you for your effort.’

[Before I go to bed, let me tell you one thing.]

‘…?’

[In this fraud… It smells like it’s outside of this world.]
(T/N: ‘세외’ means non-taxation, which totally doesn’t fit in here. After digging, I found that it can also mean ‘foreign’ or ‘out of this world’. I might be wrong… so I’m saying it here first haha.)

Outside?

Was it the outside world where the magical beasts live?

So that’s…

‘Maybe, Hesaros, Sister Loreina just said… Are you saying she has something to do with the outside world?’

[…]

‘Hesaros?’

…No answer came back.

“Baby.”

The emperor called Sienna, who was bewildered by the unexpected words.

“Are you okay?”

With worried eyes, Sienna nodded her head immediately.

“Oh, yes… Your Majesty. I’m fine. What about you?”

“Thanks to you, I’m safe.”

The emperor smiled and looked around. The wind blew gently.

A rain of flowers poured down.

‘Ah.’

It was then that Sienna realized that the landscape of the garden had changed completely.

A spring world full of blooming flowers.

It was a spring garden where infinite possibilities were born.

“…What kind of imaginary world will the baby grow up to have? It’s something to look forward to.”

Soon, something very surprising happened.

The old emperor, who was about to turn eighty, bowed politely while looking at Sienna.

“Your Majesty……!”

“I owe you my life, I owe you everything.”

The emperor straightened his back again and said, looking at Sienna.

“I should give you half of the country, but I have never owned this country. I only belong to this country, so I can’t. I promise to treat you like a benefactor as long as this Feyenoord imperial family exists.”

It changed.

Sienna almost forgot about it because she suddenly heard so many words, but she actually saved the emperor just a moment ago.

Once again, the future had been changed.

She saved the emperor instead of Loreina.

…No, it would not be wrong to say that she saved the emperor from Loreina’s scheme.

“I’m…”

The words ‘I’m glad I was able to save you,’ could not be continued.

“Sienna!”

“Baby!”

The grand duke quickly caught Sienna’s body, which was falling, and embraced it.

“…She fainted.”

“Hey, it’s like that because of you.”

The grand duke looked down at the child who had saved the emperor and collapsed in his arms.

Perhaps because of the baby fat on the cheek, her thick lips slightly parted when her face loosened.

Seeing her sleeping face like this, he was reminded she was a child.

“You know, you shouldn’t take my benefactor and scold her.”

“I don’t do that.”

“Then why is the child so intimidated between you guys when you don’t scold her?”

“That…”

The grand duke kept his mouth shut.

‘Tsk.’

The emperor clicked his tongue. He felt it was pathetic.

“I mean, don’t be scary, and treat her well. Didn’t I always advise you that you need to work hard because you’re so terrifying?”

It was the comforting voice of an ignorant noble.

“…That’s not what I want to hear from Your Majesty. I’ll just leave.”

* * *

After purifying the emperor, the owner was the first to wake up between the Named and the owner who fell asleep next to each other.

Sienna was told that she fainted from exhaustion, but she herself felt it was just waking up from a long deep sleep without dreams.

However, despite having slept for a long time, her body and eyelids were still heavy.

“You’ve slept all day. Aren’t you hungry?”

Rather than feeling hungry, she seemed to feel she didn’t sleep enough. But after hearing about rice, she seemed to start to feel hungry.

The maids smiled at the sight of the little girl who opened her sleepy eyes.

“Anyway, His Majesty the Grand Duke said that today the whole family will have breakfast together!”

He said there was no need to wake the girl, and that she could come down whenever she woke up, and so the maids washed and dressed Sienna.

“Ahhh…”

Yawning, Sienna thought.

‘I think it’s because Hesaros fell asleep.’

Even if he pretended not to, Hesaros was helping Sienna in many ways.

[Just like muscle pain follows when you exercise and build muscle. When the amount of mana you use increases, a load is applied to the core. Think of yourself as lucky! I’m helping you not to overdo it as much as possible.]

When she first heard this story, she just thought she was grateful, but when she went through the burdens completely without Hesaros, it wasn’t normal.

It didn’t hurt anywhere, but…

‘Sleepy…’

Sienna was truly experiencing the ‘law’ that when the more magic activities were done, such as purification or training, the more sleep was required to recover.

* * *

When the news broke that Sienna was getting up and preparing to come down, the men of Grand Duke Nacht were just getting ready to eat.

A situation where they could just stick their fork into the food on the plate.

But no one picked up their tableware when they heard Sienna was coming down.

In the silence, Michael rolled his eyes and asked.

“…We’ll wait and eat together?”

“Well.”

“But she’ll be very uncomfortable to know that we’ve been waiting like this.”

The grand duke’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Will she?”

“……”

Ashiel, too, stared at his younger brother.

Michael replied with a natural tone.

“Yes. She really hates to cause trouble. Because she’s kind.”

Michael murmured, saying she could be a little less kind.

At that casual tone, Ashiel thought.

‘…They got to know each other, and they got to know each other well.’

It’s good for young children to get close.
(T/N: lmao he’s speaking like an old man when he’s really just a little older than them.)

In particular, Michael had to grow up almost alone as he and his father were often away.

The butler and Madam Dulcia, who was the brother’s nanny, were good people, but they were not immediate relatives.

Moreover, unlike him, who has memories of his deceased mother, Michael barely remembered his mother.

But if Michael was a lonely child, Sienna was a child who had a hard time growing up..

Of course, he should be glad that such children met each other and became friends despite their different circumstances…

“……”

Ashiel lowered his eyes to hide the shaking.

Long eyelashes covered the gloom that was about to leak out of his white, cold shell.

The grand duke nodded his head as if in place of his quiet older son.

“Well, if the three of us stopped eating and waited, it would be burdensome.”

The attendants thought that the Grand Duke would of course say, ‘So let’s eat first.’

But…

“Quietly clean up the food. And set it up again when the child arrives.”

Ah… Was there such a way?

Everyone who stood around was stunned as if they had been hit in the back of the head.

However, only the family members who bear the Nacht surname simply nodded their heads in unison, saying that it was natural.

“…It would be nice to do that.”

Discipline, norm, manners. Ashiel, who usually acted with common sense.

“As expected of my father.”

Michael also raised his thumb with an expressionless face.

“Bring the newspaper.”

He even asked for the newspaper to be delivered, perhaps wanting to pretend that he was not simply waiting.

In the eyes of the subordinates, everyone seemed a little crazy.

“Oh, wait. Give me that first.”

Michael took the newspaper brought by the attendant first and went through it.

“Oh, there it is.”

The boy took out a leaflet and handed the newspaper over to his father.

“What is that?”

“It’s the Fairy Festival from tomorrow. I heard about it at the Young Prep meeting, but this time, they built a huge glass greenhouse in the Central Square and will be holding an exhibition. They’re calling it the Crystal Palace?”

Michael smiled, waving the leaflet around.

“I’m going to ask Sienna to go out to play. She really likes going out.”

“……”

“……”

After a brief silence, the grand duke asked.

“…That child… you mean?”

He thought she had no hobbies other than studying…

Besides, Sienna was so reluctant to go out with the grand duke and Ashiel, so he never dreamed that she would go out for fun.

When did she get used to it, when did she not dislike it?

He was just nervous because he didn’t know when she would be afraid.

Only Michael crossed the line.

“Yes. We’ve been out together before. Maybe she’ll like it if I ask her to go out again?”

“……”

“……”

The eyes of the grand duke and Ashiel narrowed. They both thought similarly at the same time.

‘By the way, since Michael was young…’

‘In general, regardless of age, women tend to adore him.’

They didn’t know that that charm would also work for Sienna.

It was dark under the lamp.
(T/N: it’s a proverb describing how people are often too consumed by what is happening far away than concerned about what is right in front of them.)

While his father and older brother were struggling, Michael was the most relaxed and had built the highest intimacy among the three by taking advantage of the fact that he was in a similar age group.

Michael was well aware of that fact, so he smiled.

‘At least, from the three of us, Sienna hates me the least!’

It wasn’t even that he was a ‘friend’, just hate him less.

From Sienna’s point of view, there was nothing particularly appealing, all three of them were the same.

Among them, the one she got used to seeing often was Michael.

It was a situation where the guy who had two coins was pretending to be rich in front of the guys who had one…

‘…Surprisingly, I envy you.’

‘…….’

Even though he knew this clearly, the grand duke was envious of Michael’s ‘two coins’, and Ashiel became less talkative.

If the emperor had seen them, he would have ridiculed all three of them for being pathetic, but the three were absolutely sincere.

“…That leaflet, give it to me.”

Intoxicated by the feeling of being the victor, Michael meekly handed the leaflet to the grand duke.

Ashiel asked suddenly.

“If it’s Central Square, isn’t the department store that Father invested in ready to open?”

“Um. Well, it’s going to open tomorrow for the Fairy Festival.”

Two years ago, Grand Duke Nacht made a massive investment in the project of demolishing the shopping malls next to the central square of the island and building a large-scale building equivalent to a five-story mansion on the site.

The purpose of the huge building was ‘a luxurious store selling all kinds of ready-made products’, in other words, a department store.

Other nobles kicked their tongues, saying, “It is clear that Grand Duke Nacht has finally been tainted with fraud while at the forefront.”

They also said things like, “No, how can a store that sells items that are pre-priced be luxurious?” and  “Well, the Grand Duke has a lot of money, so sometimes he might want to spend it in a different way.”

Tomorrow was the day to finally decide whether the grand duke was crazy or had an eye.

“Oh, oh.” Michael spoke up. “Will Father be there when it opens tomorrow?”

“He was meant to. There is a disturbing movement on the eastern border.”

There was no way the beasts would declare a closure just because it was Mayfair season.

Rather, it was a situation where nobles flocked to one place, which created weak links in the defense of the border.

Of course, it was the army of the three major guardians who were mainly recruited in times of danger.

“There is a magic circle on the eastern border, so I won’t return home late, but it seems difficult to make it to the opening party. Ashiel, the situation is like this, so you’ll have to attend the opening ceremony in my place tomorrow.”

“All right.”

Seeing his brother answering flawlessly, Michael grinned.

“You’re working hard, Brother. I’ll go watch the festival with Sienna when I have time.”

What. At that moment, Michael felt that Ashiel’s eyes that were looking at him were very unfamiliar.

They weren’t on particularly good terms, but it wasn’t bad, but that gaze that penetrated the boy in this fleeting moment…

But there was no interval to dispel the doubts.

“The lady has arrived.”

Hearing that Sienna was here, the unfamiliar feeling disappeared far away.

“Hey! Are you awake now?”

“How come…”

Sienna’s eyelids were slightly puffier than usual. It looked like she had slept for a long time.

‘Cute.’

Without realizing that laughter was leaking out, Michael hit the seat next to him.

“Sit quickly.”

“Yes. If you’ve been waiting for a long time…”

Everyone answered Sienna’s cautious question at the same time.

“No.”

“Not like that.”

“We are all here now. I was just saying something.”

In fact, if he had just gone ahead and ate, the servants would have been cleaning out the dishes he ate by now. United in thoughts, this became a secret that the three men would take to their graves.

In line with the wishes of the owners, the servants served the food again as if it was the first time, as politely as possible.

Sienna rubbed her eyes, said a prayer before eating, and then took a sip of tomato juice.

While Michael broke the bread and Ashiel moved a slice of lemon with a reluctant gesture, the grand duke gracefully cut a thin ham and said, “Come to think of it…”

“…they say the Fairy Festival starts tomorrow.”

“Yes?” Sienna asked blankly.

Michael’s eyes widened.

‘Maybe, Father… No!’

But by the time he realized it, it was already too late.

“There is an exhibition going on in Central Square, and a department store is about to open next to it.”

The grand duke delivered the leaflet handed to him from Michael to Sienna.

“If you have free time tomorrow, you can go with Michael, too.”

Michael trembled with a sense of betrayal as the event proposal he had prepared with excitement was stolen away from him.

But the grand duke skillfully pretended not to notice his youngest son’s protesting gaze.

And Sienna…

“…Thank you.”

The greeting was dull, but the hand that was fiddling with the tip of the pink leaflet showed undeniable anticipation.

‘I… ugh… It was a score…’

Even Ashiel, who would have prevented this from happening, lowered his eyes this time and ignored the injustice done to Michael.

Those were the words of someone who boasted too much.

* * *

A street where flowers bloom gently.

Street vendors lined up around the boulevard.

Since it was a relatively safe area from war, the expression of the crowds on the streets was only pleasant.

As she was watching the scene, she suddenly thought of this.

‘…Would Hesaros have been happy to see such a sight?’

The Named, who left a shocking statement that ‘the stench of the outside world in the emperor’s body stinks’, was still silent.

So without a partner to discuss, Sienna was alone to think about the important issue of ‘Sister Loreina might have something to do with the outside world’.

So far, for Sienna, Loreina had been a natural disaster in a sense.

It was in that context that she thought, ‘I can’t prevent Loreina from becoming another ward.’

The only way to avoid an earthquake was to get out of the earthquake-prone area.

‘The most important thing.’

Having enough to protect herself as she struggled to uncover Loreina’s lies…

Nacht was not important.

‘But if Sister Loreina was involved with the outside…’

At that moment, several faces passed through her mind.

“My lady! Today’s homework is all perfect. If there is a score above the perfect score, I’d like to give it to you!”

The happy face of Seth, who carefully selected content that would be really helpful for Sienna, and gave as much homework as she wanted.

“This Deborah knew from the start that she was amazing! I have confidence in my eyes.”

Madam Deborah, who raised her nose as she said something that Sienna couldn’t tell if she was expressing her pride or complimenting her.

“I’ve become very attached to you, perhaps because you’re a very commendable person who makes me laugh.”

A butler who keeps wearing stylish boots that didn’t suit him just because Sienna laughed.

Other than that, there were maids who decorated her every day, complimenting her on how beautiful she was.

Assistant Devon who did not intimidate Sienna.

The Countess of Gildinak who asserted that becoming a vassal of Nacht was only a way to serve Sienna.

Even the gardener who didn’t criticize her for ruining the garden, instead saying, “I’ve never seen such a wonderful decanto tree” and “Thank you…”

‘…Oh my God?’

There were too many people who she got attached to in detail one by one.

She wondered when she opened her heart like this, and she was embarrassed to think about it.

Could she just let Loreina come in like this?

…No, could she leave her alone?

It was then.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah.”

“Isn’t that a lot of people?”

Apparently, Michael had a knack for intervening appropriately whenever Sienna had a lot of thoughts.

Up until now, she thought it was purely a coincidence, but…

“Hey, take this first.”

Sienna received an oil-stained packaging wrapped in newspaper from Michael.

“I looked around a bit, but I didn’t know what you would like, so I bought them all….. the combination seems a bit mixed up.”

Banana skewers topped with whipped cream and chocolate were scattered about crispy-looking diamond-shaped snacks deep-fried in oil.

Next to it…

‘…Eyeball shaped… candy?’

It looked strangely slippery and soft, so she poked it without thinking much…

The slippery feel was really like an eyeball. As Sienna trembled without realizing it, Michael chuckled.

“It’s jelly. It looks good, right? I bought it because it was funny.”

Then, the boy ripped open a packet of greasy grilled meat that smelled of butter and threw it into her mouth.

“What the hell is that?”

“This?”

Next to them, Ashiel spun the grilled meat that was on a large skewer. The wiggly part, presumably the legs that were under the torso, swayed.

“It’s called squid. I heard that Duke Ferrato discovered a new fishing route in the North Sea. It tastes good. Would you like to try it?”

When it came to seafood, Sienna, who lived only knowing the types of fish, oysters and clams, found it a bit eccentric to accept.

‘It’s fresh and shockingly creepy.’

Sienna shook her head nervously, and Michael laughed at that as well.

After putting down the stick of the squid he had eaten in a few bites, Michael stretched out, wiping his hands with the handkerchief that the servant gave him.

“Ugh, I wish I don’t have to study and can play like this every day.”

“I hate that.”

“Yes. You must. Why not?”

Sienna couldn’t stop her curiosity and looked down at the eye jelly.

Michael said ‘Oh,’ and his eyes lit up. And slowly, he started to provoke her.

“If you want to eat, try it. They’re selling it for money. They won’t make anything that people can’t eat?”

Sienna thought it made sense.

‘Yes, they sell food.’

Sienna mustered up the courage and threw the jelly into her mouth.

She felt a little bit resistant while chewing on the lump that was really slippery like an eyeball.

“Does it taste weird?”

It didn’t, though…

“I feel strange…”

The taste was just sweet, but the texture was…

It was a surprisingly disgusting texture that makes her think they did their best in implementing the idea of eyeballs.

“I see. You look really weird right now.”

The intention to make fun of her was clear. Sienna sighed a little and shrugged.

Michael muttered, “It didn’t work.” He also threw a piece of jelly into his mouth.

“Ugh. This is really weird.”

“The Little Prince’s expression turned really strange.”

“You know how to take revenge. Have you grown up a lot?”

“Again, I am one year older than you.”

“Shall we buy this as a gift for the butler when we go home later?”

When faced with an unfavorable topic, Michael’s face, which immediately turned around, was glanced at by Sienna without his realization.

It wasn’t enough to say that she got attached to him.

But before she knew it, she felt it wasn’t bad to have a senseless conversation like this.

She suddenly had a thought.

…If Loreina ever took her place.

Would Michael spend time with Loreina like this?

Surprisingly, this conclusion was reached.

‘…I don’t think so.’

Of course, in the past, Michael acknowledged Loreina, and he did not argue with her like he did with Sienna.

But that was all.

They didn’t even insist on going out to play together in private time, nor did they ask us to do homework together.

They just acknowledge each other in a respectful manner.

‘…That’s why the way he treated Sister seemed to be relatively soft.’

Then for her.

For her now… Why?

Sienna looked at Michael blankly.

Michael raised his hand over his eyes to create a shade, and looked towards the south of the central square.

“Oh, the lines seem to be getting shorter now, right?”

“……I know.”

She couldn’t believe she was lost in thought in the comparison of Michael’s attitude toward Loreina and herself.

It felt a little dangerous to even think like this.

Sienna shook her head and pretended to be interested in the newly opened Grand Duke of Nacht’s department store in the direction Michael was pointing.

There was a line around the entrance of the five-story building as well as entirely around the surrounding  buildings.

“Hey… I didn’t know it would be like that. Won’t my older brother be crushed? Then I have to be the successor, but I don’t want to.”

“Don’t worry, the Grand Prince will be fine.” The servant assured him.

“But well, I don’t know what other people do.”

“Since the entry restrictions are strictly enforced, the inside might be better than you think.”

In any case, Michael clicked his tongue saying that his father would wipe out all the money in the system.

“Your Highness, finally, it’s worth seeing the faces of those who said we’re crazy. Let’s go inside before it’s too late.”

We also toured the Crystal Palace installed in the center of Central Square, and bought a snack from the street vendor Michael requested.

The sun was slowly setting. Inside the department store, the opening party was already in full swing.

Sienna rubbed her eyes discreetly.

‘I’m a little tired.’

However, if she went back to the mansion, she would go into the room. And without Hesaros, she would think about Loreina.

‘Do I worry about not getting an answer?’

She thought it would be better for her to just be dragged away by Michael and then fall asleep without knowing what’s going on in the world later tonight.

And while following Michael…

“Hurry up! They sell love potions over there! Limited daily sale!”

“Get out of my way, get out of my way!”

“Hey, get out of my way!”

It was a mayhem. A group of people rushed by.

In the eyes of the rushing crowd, it seemed that Sienna was barely visible.

Sienna thought that she would be stepped on if she stayed still, so she fled to the back almost instinctively.

But from the back, more people were flooding in for other reasons.

On the other side, the parade was starting.

‘Oh, my God.’

Her vision was spinning. Sienna moved little by little, avoiding the situation of being crushed to death by using her magic little by little.

Hit here, and there.

She finally arrived at a somewhat secluded place and came to her senses…

“…Oh.”

Naturally, she got lost.

* * *

The opening party was in full swing on the top floor of the grand duke’s department store.

The ribbon cutting was over, and the greeting was over. The dance tunes had also been performed a couple of times, so now people were gathering in threes or fives and starting to talk with their acquaintances in low voices.

Right then…

“Brother! Brother Ashiel!”

A certain boy came into the hall while making loud noises without being stopped.

People’s attention was drawn to the sudden commotion.

“Aren’t you the second son of Grand Duke Nacht?”

“You must have been enjoying the festival. But why did you run in like that to find your brother…?”

“Michael.”

Ashiel, who was unprecedentedly embarrassed, grabbed Michael’s shoulder.

“What’s going on?”

“Brother.”

His brother caught his breath. His face was already dead white.

“Sienna is gone.”

Ashiel’s breath stopped for a moment.

From the moment he saw Michael alone, he had a gut feeling of what had happened.

But the shock of confirming that it actually happened was another thing.

“What do I do? It’s the first time she’s been here too. There’s a huge crowd outside right now, so I sent them all to find her…”

“Michael!”

In a firm tone, he called out the name of his brother, who was speaking gibberish.

“Calm down. Did you send someone to the mansion?”

Michael nodded his head. Ashiel judged that his younger brother had done everything he could.

“You stay here. Father has an office here, so go there.”

“But Brother, me too…”

“If you disappear as well, the personnel will be dispersed.”

“…”

“You know what I mean, right?”

He did. Michael was a child too. He was well aware of that himself.

So, as soon as he realized he had lost Sienna, he had someone else find Sienna and he came to Ashiel.

For the moment he mixed into the crowd, if he made a mistake, Michael would also become a lost child.

And finding one child was easier than finding two.

Unlike himself, who was a child, his older brother, who already had an adult-like physique and cool judgment, was more suitable.

“Okay, Brother.”

Even knowing that, he was still upset.

“I’ll be quiet here. So…”

“Okay. I’ll go find her.”

In fact, he was surprised and concerned, just like his younger brother, but Ashiel did not express it and answered firmly.

“Don’t think of anything else.”

Ashiel called someone to take Michael to his office.

No one could advise him with words like, “Grand Prince, the opening party is not over yet.”

Ashiel nervously pulled his tie while walking, slightly releasing it, and took the sword that the servant gave him and put it around his waist. At the same time, he quickly poured out instructions.

“Gather people and look for the child. We use the maximum manpower we can mobilize at this point. Half of the people are looking from the outskirts and moving inwards, and the other half is in the downtown area. If they meet, tell them to cooperate. If someone finds the child first, hang a blue flag on top of the department store.”

It was the most visible location around the plaza where the festival was held.

“Okay, Grand Prince. Would you like to direct it yourself?”

“No.”

Ashiel went outside without looking back.

“I’m going to look for her too.”

* * *

Of course, Sienna wasn’t too embarrassed to say she got lost.

She came to a fairly distant place due to certain reasons, and she couldn’t even see the department store building…

Fortunately, today was a festival day, and there were very few places that were not crowded with people.

Sienna was careful so as to not make another mistake.

‘Just in case.’

Instead, she watched people carefully.

She soon found a group of people going to the square, and was able to figure out which direction to go.

So the eleven-year-old started walking alone, but no one offered to help.

It was never because the people in the area were ruthless.

‘I can also be elegant while walking alone.’

…It was all because Sienna wasn’t like a lost child at all.

Although walking alone attracted attention, people paid attention to the child’s nice clothes and easygoing attitude.

‘Since the girl is neither crying nor bewildered, then she’s not lost.’

‘Her escorts may be hiding around and following.’

‘I shouldn’t bother them and make them angry.’

In such a misunderstanding, Sienna was able to smoothly approach the square.

But as she walked, her legs started to hurt.

It was not pleasant to walk alone with a tired body amidst the sounds of pleasant laughter.

To make matters worse, she was slowly about to fall asleep.

‘I can’t…’

She seemed to be exhausted because she used magic and controlled it delicately in the crowd earlier.

Sienna sat down on a roadside bench.

Presumably, as soon as Michael realized she was gone, he would have gone to the department store right in front of him and informed Ashiel.

‘By now, someone must be looking for me.’

She was much closer to the square now than from the random place where she was initially pushed to, so she thought it would be okay to wait here for a moment.

Sienna thought blankly, looking at the darkening sky and the lights that were starting to come on one by one.

It was spring, petals flew in the day, but when the evening came, she thought that it was subtly cold.

If she had known it would be like this…

‘Back then, I should have begged Sir Seth and asked him to increase my studies.’

It would have been great if she had received a lot of homework, studied harder, and learned at least one spell that she could use at times like this.

Regret was too late no matter how early she realised it.

‘When I return, I must study harder than I am doing now.’

Sienna knew that if she had perhaps made this decision, Michael would be terrified and say ‘Crazy, crazy!’

Madam Deborah would admire her for a long time, say that she was unique, and then move on to self-praise, saying things like ‘I am a meticulous assistant to this kind of girl’.

If she wanted to study more, Seth would refuse, saying, ‘Children should grow up with a variety of activities’, but still, he would not reject her request and she would make more progress.

Ahh… Sienna smiled bitterly, still sitting down on the bench.

‘I became so used to it.’

It was proof that she was thinking of returning back as if it was natural.

‘I can’t do this.’

Sienna thought for a moment.

…Rather, should she run away like this?

Just like being swept away by the crowds of a festival, after disappearing like that, how about living quietly in a place that no one knew and could find?

If she could throw away all her worries and leave…

It was then.

‘Ah.’

In the crowd, Sienna met familiar red eyes.

His always neat attire was disorganized as if it was ripped apart.

With his collar wet with sweat, he looked around frantically… It was Ashiel.
(T/N: lmao, we all saw that coming, didn’t we?)

“Sienna!”

The boy hurriedly tried to approach the bench where Sienna was sitting.

However, there was a limit to the speed at which he could get through the crowd.

Thanks to this, Sienna was able to unintentionally look closely.

How radically Ashiel threw away his usual neatness and coldness.

“…You were here.”

She could feel he was relieved from his words that were a little short of breath.

“You came quickly.”

“I thought you would be around this area.”

Usually children wander and go farther away.

However, the Sienna Ashiel knew was not a senseless child.

He didn’t know if she was going to run away all together…

So he thought it would be around here if she meant to be discovered.

Ashiel was unable to speak for a moment as he swallowed the various emotions that were boiling over him with a tinge of relief.

“I’m sorry. Without realizing it, I…”

“Sigh…”

He sighed and buried his face in the palm of his hand.

“Sienna, this… this is nothing to apologize for.”

Soon, Ashiel lifted his hand away from his face. It was because he thought he should look at Sienna’s condition again.

The child looking up at him was unharmed, without even a single part of her clothes dirty.

But…

“…The shoelaces are untied.”

“Yes?”

Sienna was like, ‘What?’. Without a second thought, Ashiel knelt down on the dirt floor.

“!”

Not only that, Ashiel placed Sienna’s feet on his lap and carefully tightened the laces of her boots.

His hand was trembling so finely that only Ashiel himself could recognize it.

There was only one thought in his mind right now.

‘Thank God.’

As soon as he heard that Sienna was lost, Ashiel strangely thought that she might run away.

If one lost a child, using common sense, one should naturally think of the child crying in panic, but he didn’t.

Sienna might take this incident as an opportunity to leave them, the Nacht’s.

He only thought that she might leave them, who she hated so badly, that she might go away and lead a free life.

He was afraid.

He wondered if it would feel like this to wander in the abyss.

But Ashiel moved desperately. Regardless, he had to find her, whether she ran away or got lost.

‘I don’t dare to hold onto her.’

How could he stop her?

With what heart, and with what shame would he do that?

If she ran away… He just thought he couldn’t let her leave alone like that.

He was going to put something in her hand.

Even if he would remember her last expression forever… He should see it at least once.

‘…But she didn’t run away.’

His worst imagination never came true.

Ashiel bowed his head. It was as if he had buried his face in Sienna’s lap.

Though in reality, even a single bit of his clothes hadn’t touched it.

“Thanks…”

Thank you for not leaving.

“…Sincerely.”

The moment Sienna saw Asiel thanking her with his knees bent, a question she had never thought of hit her head.

‘…Come to think of it, what happened to everyone after I died?’

Loreina’s healing powers were false.

Did everyone really not know about that?

Was Sister Loreina happy after she won the position of grand duchess that she wanted so much?

Did she succeed in deceiving them until the very end and continue to eat and live well?

For the first time in her life, she was curious about it, but she soon thought of this.

‘It’s a meaningless thought since I’ve gone back in time.’

Things that existed only in Sienna’s memory became a future that would never come.

A meaningless story that had no effect on anyone other than her.

Having returned to the past, it would be the most ephemeral and meaningless task in the world to picture the circumstances after her death.

At this time, Sienna had no doubts about it.

* * *

Fortunately, the opening of the store itself was so successful that the opening party ended without any problems even though Ashiel went off in the middle.

The heat of the festival continued until late at night, but Ashiel returned home early with the exhausted children.

Michael, who was engulfed in guilt that he had lost Sienna after taking her out, and also fear that he might never find her again.

Sienna, who was swept away by the crowd and even walked for a long time.

Ashiel, who was mentally tortured, emotionally going up and down a cliff over a hundred times over and over again.

Each had a different reason, but they were equally tired.

Unfortunately, the events of the day did not end there.

“Your Highness the Grand Prince.”

“…What is it?”

The old butler, who always had a smile on his face, had a rare serious expression.

Following the guidance of the old butler, they gathered in the drawing room.

“It’s urgent from the Eastern Front. His Majesty the Grand Duke is wounded.”

“…My father?”

As if Michael couldn’t believe it, he said, “Ha…” and sat down in despair.

Sienna was also surprised by the unexpected news.

“What’s going on?”

Ashiel asked briefly.

Surprisingly, from the moment the story of ’emergency’ fell, the sign of exhaustion on Ashiel’s face that had been strangely hidden from before, disappeared at once.

“Fortunately, it ended smoothly, and now we will proceed with the purification work after incineration. However, the injury of the Grand Duke…”

“Stop.”

Ashiel interrupted the butler.

He was conscious of Michael and Sienna.

“There is a portal at Base 2 of the Eastern Front.”

“Yes. He said that he will get permission to use the portal immediately and that to be transported there. So, I sent the carriage straight away. He should be coming home by now. Considering the time he was contacted earlier, the arrival time is….”

“About five minutes. What about preparations?”

“He can get treatment right away.”

The moment Ashiel, who nodded, was about to order Michael and Sienna to be taken to their rooms.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside.

The butler groaned.

“Hey, it looks like the Grand Duke has arrived!”

When the grand duke entered the house, his condition was worse than expected.

Even considering that his original skin color wasn’t really dark, his face was too pale, and he was exuding a bloody smell.

In addition, the grand duke barely took off the outer layer of his armor, and he had not wiped away the body fluids of the enemy, including the ones on his face.

No matter how badly injured he was, he was still the grand duke.

On the way here, there was no one who could help him change clothes or wipe the dirt while giving emergency treatment

“Your Majesty!”

“Come this way!”

“He can’t go upstairs! Get the treatment supplies here!”

It wasn’t because there wasn’t enough manpower.

It was because they had no time to care about anything else besides taking care of his injuries and preventing the grand duke from dying on the road.

“Bring the sofa out from the drawing room!”

“Prepare hot water and clean cotton cloths!”

“A potion? Damn it, bring it quickly!”

It was a mess.

Immediately, the doctor came running, and all the personnel in the mansion rushed around and started carrying the necessary items.

In just five minutes, the front door became a field ward for just one person.

The doctor who came in haste checked the extent of the wound.

‘The location…’

It was a wound that ran from his flank, under his ribs, across his abdomen.

The doctor tilted his head.

‘Looking from the outside, it’s not like this wound would end up this far.’

His condition was too serious compared to the severity of the wound.

‘There’s no way it won’t heal like this.’

In addition, it was a problem that blood was constantly dripping and wetting the floor.

Probably, if the bleeding was not stopped as it is, there would be no need to even check the ribs.

‘It’s all up to fate anyway!’

With a violent touch, the doctor used a clean cloth to block the wound and shouted.

“Hemostasis potion! Bring the hemostasis potion first!!”

“It’s here. But…”

The doctor poured a potion in which the waiting wizard had poured magic into.

Fortunately, it worked to some extent. Several drugs that were subsequently injected began to work little by little.

“I’m glad…!”

“I haven’t heard of the hemostatic potion before, but I’m glad…!”

As he started to show recovery, people became more diligent.

The scene of a desperate struggle where medical treatment was performed in real time was a scene where even the son could not intervene.

Even if it was Grand Prince Ashiel, he was still only allowed to watch.

Devon, who had accompanied the grand duke, came to Ashiel and bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

He did not have many injuries, but he was in a similar mess as he was almost completely covered with the remains of a beast.

“What happened?”

“We were attacked by a group of magical beasts believed to be Unique right after the subjugation.”

“…Wait, Unique beasts attacked in a group?”

“Yes, it was as if they were waiting for the Grand Duke. No, it was as if the subjugation itself was induced by them.”

Even if that was the case, Devon knelt down, saying there was no excuse.

“I will repay with my life for the crime of failing to protect His Majesty the Grand Duke, but please let me confirm his safety before leaving.”

“…No matter how poor the situation in the East is, it is not impossible to be injured at the military base.”

But the fact that they had urgently obtained permission to use the portal and had been transported like this…

From Ashiel’s point of view, their intention was not for treatment.

Devon answered, biting his lips, crushing them.

“…If he ever dies… at least, it shouldn’t be on a battlefield.”

‘I guess so.’ Ashiel thought blankly.

When a wizard died in a place that was infested with demonic beasts and murky with fraud…

Although rare, there were cases where the corpse itself turned into a beast.

It was also a problem that the corpse was cursed, but if the corpse of a powerful wizard like the grand duke became a beast, it would require a lot of sacrifices to subdue it.

It would be a disaster in itself, but the fact that the head of the 3rd generation guardian family and their master becomes the target of subjugation…

‘Never. It cannot and should never be.’

Devon had brought the grand duke here all the way here with the thought that it was unacceptable.

Desperately.

Sienna was watching the scene from a step away.

Currently, she was in a shock that was slightly different from other people.

Because…

‘This has never happened before.’

Back at this time, Sienna was being abused by her tutor on the 3rd floor of the castle.

She didn’t know what happened to the system.
(T/N: in case you forgot since its last appearance was many episodes ago, in this novel, ‘system’ is like ‘country’.)

But if the grand duke had been seriously injured like this, there was no way she couldn’t have known it.

She might not know at the time. But such a big thing was always going to be talked about.

At the very least, Sienna should have heard of the Grand Duke’s serious injuries.

But she didn’t remember it at all.

So she could be sure.

‘It’s never happened before.’

She suddenly had a thought.

Could it be that this was also Loreina’s intention?

In the face of flowing blood and near death, Sienna was approaching the truth faster than ever before.

A conversation between Devon and Ashiel a while ago was a great hint.

‘Unique attacking in a group?’

According to what she studied with Seth, Unique were individuals with high pride.

Unlike the Uncommons and Rares, this individual, using intelligence and magic close to humans’, took great pride in the fact that they were not unreasonable beings.

Therefore, they were individuals who mainly acted alone or preferred to lead a class lower than itself.

It was very rare for Uniques to cooperate.

‘Perhaps…’

Assuming that an unknown helping force, presumed to be of the outside world, was attached to Loreina.

…What if they wanted Loreina to enter the underworld?

‘It would be the fastest to do so by giving Loreina a chance to heal the grand duke.’

The moment she thought so.

“Ugh…”

“Your Majesty! Are you conscious?”

“!”

Ashiel and Michael hurried toward their father.

If possible, Ashiel wanted to send Michael back back, but now he couldn’t.

It was a situation where their father might die.

Sienna quietly followed behind them.

“Father.”

“…Ashiel.”

With a pale white face, the grand duke barely answered.

The grand duke not only regained consciousness with his superhuman mental capability, but he also recognized his son. Everyone forgot the situation and stuck out their tongues all at once.

“Your Highness, and Your Majesty the Archduke.”

The doctor opened his mouth with a determined expression.

“I used various methods to stop the deterioration of Your Majesty, but…”

The grand duke looked down at the wound.

A type 1 wizard’s time-binding spell was on it.

‘It means that if time hadn’t stopped, I could have died.’

“To put it bluntly, the general level of treatment to the wounds of the Grand Duke is not working at all. For us… this is the only way to buy time.”

“…”

“So I mean, why don’t you call a healing wizard?”

He was referring to Loreina.

“I don’t know how the healing wizard’s skills are, but it’s the only thing we can try for now, so I’m suggesting this because I think it’s good.”

‘Is he talking about Loreina Minangsi…’

The grand duke looked around, trying not to breathe too harshly. And his eyes met Sienna, who was looking at him from behind his sons.

The moment he saw Sienna’s expression, a word passed through the archduke’s head.

‘…No.’

He shouldn’t call Loreina or Minangsi now.

He came to that conclusion instinctively, and the reason came to mind a beat later.

The couple of Count Minangsi would see it as a golden opportunity if Loreina healed the grand duke.

It was not difficult to imagine even the scene of them requesting that he take Loreina as a ward, saying that she was his lifesaver.

It would make Sienna uneasy.

What would happen to a child who was always ready to give up or share it if a better child than her wanted the position as ward…?

Wasn’t it very obvious?

The grand duke did not want Sienna to think like that.

…Never.

It might not be appropriate as a reason to reject the only hope in the face of death.

However, an instinctive sense of rejection beyond what was thought in his head was setting the direction of the action.

No Loreina or Minangsi.

She couldn’t.

“Don’t call the healing wizard…”

“Yes? But, Grand Duke, you can’t do this! I don’t know why, but the wound isn’t healing at all right now. The only way is to call a healing wizard…”

At that moment, Sienna caught the black energy rising from the grand duke’s wounds. Without realizing it, she took a step forward.

“Now, wait a minute. His Majesty’s wounds are infected with fraud.”

“Yes?!”

“Please allow me to examine the wounds!”

“But now, it’s better to call a healing wizard…”

“No.”

It was the grand duke.

“Let the child… come this way.”

“Your Majesty!”

But in the end, the stubbornness of the grand duke prevailed. Sienna was escorted to the medical staff’s seat right in front of the grand duke, which even his sons could not reach.

“Are you okay to see the wound…?”

Sienna nodded her head resolutely.

It didn’t matter whether she saw blood or broken flesh.

‘Hesaros is away.’

To be exact, he was asleep.

‘So I have to solve this problem myself.’

Sienna first looked at the grand duke’s wounds and the fraud that had stained them.

‘It’s not just fraud.’

It was complex and sophisticated. Like magic.

Sienna put her hand next to the grand duke’s wound. The grand duke did not stop the small hand from reaching.

The other people were restrained by Ashiel.

So Sienna was able to develop her territory without any hindrance.

She desperately recalled Hesaros’ explanation that she had heard in her head.

[Listen, Sienna. It is already a spell in itself for a Terraformer to open a territory. You already have the power to order.]

“Ah…!”

When Sienna opened up her territory, the judicial law incantation hidden in the grand duke’s wounds was revealed.
(T/N: reminder that judicial law is the magic of beasts.)

A black energy rose as if it had a will, but Sienna was not repulsed.

[You must not let up your spell. If you’re not distracted, you’ve won half the battle.]

Indeed, as he said, the black energy was wriggling menacingly, but could not cross Sienna’s border.

In the suffocating silence, Sienna slowly narrowed her boundaries.

It was her first time doing this. It wasn’t easy.

Above all, Sienna was directly exposed to the attack of fraud because it was implemented in a powerful form of spell and trapped in her world.

Her whole body felt like it was being stabbed with needles.

‘This is what it’s like to respond to fraud without Hesaros…’

But Sienna did not give up.

Sienna looked at the fraud with tenacious eyes, and figured out the constant rhythm of the spell’s movement.

Cold sweat was forming on the back of her neck, but she slowly tightened the fraud as if strangling its neck…

‘Now!’

Taking advantage of the slightly fading of the spell, she poured out the magic of purification at once.

A strong light exploded.

–Kieek!!

The magic that could be called the wrath of the beast shrieked and faded away.

‘Huh?’

However, the moment the fraud disappeared, Sienna revealed things that were not visible because of the dark energy.

Life force was flowing out from the wounds of the grand duke.

“Is it all over?”

“No, I just removed the spell.”

From Sienna’s eyes, this spell must have been a spell that allowed life force to flow out of the grand duke’s wounds.

“The spell has been removed, but the damage remains. This is…”

Could she do anything about it?

In the end, did she need to call Loreina to heal him?

However, Loreina’s treatment essentially consumes life.

Even if his wound heals, his lifespan will be shortened.

At that moment, an idea popped into Sienna’s mind.

‘If it’s not a normal wound, it’s fraud damage, wouldn’t it be possible to burn it with purifying fire?’

Once the fraud had been eliminated, the rest could be solved with potions, but…

Sienna tried to ignite the fire of purification.

“H-Hey, wait…!”

It looked like someone was trying to stop her, but Sienna didn’t hesitate.

A rushing flame covered the grand duke’s wounds as if flowing from Sienna’s hand.

On the surface, it looked like it was just covered, but Sienna fine-tuned the flames and burrowed into the damaged area.

And started filling it up.

“…!”

People all stopped breathing and watched.

After a while…

The fire was quietly extinguished.

“Ugh…”

Everyone held their breath.

“The wound is gone…”

…It was the first appearance of a healing fire that would go down in history.

* * *

At that time, Loreina was wandering around the underworld’s castle in her carriage.

It was to not miss the opportunity to heal Grand Duke Nacht today, as instructed by the respected ‘He’.

From afar came the joyful noises of the street filled with the heat of the festival.

Loreina, too, pretended to be someone who came out to enjoy the Fairy Festival without thinking, and was dressed in a pink dress that seemed to be scattered with a lot of spring flowers.

A beautiful girl like a fairy at the Fairy Festival.

But the inside was not as peaceful as the outside.

‘Why… No response?’

Loreina was nervous.

Today was an opportunity for the genius created by ‘him’.
(T/N: She is the genius created by him. Not that it’s an opportunity created by the genius him.)

Inflicting a life-threatening injury on Grand Duke Nacht, allowing Loreina to heal the wound.

Loreina tried to calm herself down.

‘His schemes are excellent.’

“If a beautiful girl who saved the Grand Duke’s life asks with a shy and trembling voice, ‘I hope you will accept me as Nacht’s child,’ who can refuse?”

Yes, there was no way he could refuse.

Loreina tried to be certain.

However, it was also true that the longer the waiting time, the more difficult it was to keep calm.

‘…Maybe it’s a failure?’

There was only one thing Loreina worried about when she first heard of this plan.

Was it really possible to bring Grand Duke Nacht’s life to the brink?

Grand Duke Nacht was the head of the 3rd Guardian Family, the owner of the Named, and a death god who swept the battlefields.

‘He should have succeeded…’

At this moment, there was not even a fingernail-sized guilt in Loreina’s head about manipulating demonic beasts and attacking a man who protected this empire.

She didn’t even wonder how ‘He’ was able to control such powerful beasts, in these circumstances.

Could ‘He’ help her achieve her dream of entering the Nacht family, or not?

Was this plan successful?

It was the only thing that mattered to Loreina.

An imperial nobleman makes a ‘blue ribbon oath’ to enjoy privileges only if he fulfilled his duty to protect the empire and its people.

From the moment she decided to borrow the power of the magical beast, Loreina had violated this sacred oath.

But it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter to her that the fall of Grand Duke Nacht could seriously damage the empire’s defences against extraterrestrial offensives.

It was only important that her own dream, a dream that was completely based on desires, came true.

Loreina was the only daughter of the Count of Minangsi, who occupied the granary of the East.

When she was young, she really thought she was a princess.

‘It was an illusion.’

It was when she participated in the preparation event hosted by the Grand Duke Nacht that she realised the reality.

There, ‘Loreina Minangsi’ was a pretty decent young girl from a pretty decent family.

It was just that.

‘This… Not really…’

The disgrace of that day when she had to look at Ashiel Nacht, the boy everyone looked up to, while buried in the crowd…

It was still as clear as if it was engraved into the bone.

It hurt.

“How was today, my daughter?”

As soon as she returned home like that, the Countess of Minangsi said to her daughter, who had completely ruined her food and drink with an unknown cause.

“I know. That must have been humiliating. But what can I do? It’s not worth it now.”

“…”

The countess smiled at her daughter, who was staring at her with reddened eyes as if she was about to kill her.

“Is it because you’re still young? My daughter. Why can’t you think? If you stood next to the Grand Prince as a companion, everything would be yours.”

It was.

Just stand next to the boy.

Admiration, cheer, and envy can all be yours.

From that moment on, Loreina Minangsi’s purpose became clear.

In the midst of that, she was fortunate enough to meet ‘him’.

‘He’ was hoping that Loreina would go into Nacht and exert influence within the family instead of him.

Of course, Loreina promised to. With his help, she nodded happily, saying that if she becomes a child of Nacht and later becomes the grand duchess, she would do her best to cooperate with everything he wants.

So, this plan had to be successful.

‘That ugly bitch… Even if it’s to pay back some of the humiliation I suffered!’

The fact that the position she so longed for had been given to a commoner orphan first made Loreina angry.

Of course, as long as she became a true Nacht child, she was not going to leave her alone.

‘I still haven’t changed my mind. No!’

That stupid, foolish orphan even insulted her…

‘I’m not going to let you live. I’m going to rip all your limbs apart. I’m going to pluck off all of your nails and feed them to the dogs.’

In order to do that, the work he had planned this time must be successful.

Why was there no news yet?

The grand duke was dying, so of course they had to think of her, a healing wizard that was nearby.

She heard that he had already hinted at some people to make sure she would be suggested.

Maybe something went wrong?

‘No, no… Let’s wait. The plan is perfect.’

When people urgently sought for her to save the grand duke, Loreina was going to run into them as if it was a coincidence.

She would go to the mansion with a light and beautiful appearance as if she had come to enjoy a festival, and would heal the grand duke.

Sienna, the orphan, was a Terraformer, so she could purify him, but she had no healing power.

‘Even if that bitch was able to intercept the emperor’s problem and solve it, this time, it’s impossible.’

Didn’t he make special efforts to create a crisis that a Terraformer could not intervene and solve?

Today’s crisis was truly a stage made just for Loreina.

Maybe Sienna was whispering bad things about her to the grand duke, but she wasn’t too concerned about that.

No suspicion of murder was overlaid on her immediately, and no bad rumors circulated.

Of course, it was clear that the grand duke would not believe the orphan’s slander.

Everything would have been solved today by simply appealing to the fullest that she was more precious than the orphan and that she had the ability to save the grand duke.

That was how it should be…

‘…Why… is it so quiet?’

There was no response for too long.

She didn’t know how many times she had wandered around this area already. If she does something wrong, she may seem suspicious.

‘This isn’t it…’

Why weren’t they coming out quickly to look for her?

‘Stupid, the solution is me…’

She couldn’t. She couldn’t wait like this any longer.

“Go to the Grand Duke’s residence.”

“Yes? But, lady.”

“Hurry!”

Cold sweat ran down her back.

In fact, Loreina did not tell him honestly about the conflict she had with Sienna at the funeral of Marquis Parvis.

Treating Marquis Parvis was an act of deviance by the countess and Loreina.

How could she confess that she got caught while doing such a thing?

It was humiliating, but the case was resolved by secretly avoiding his eyes and delivering her intention to give up treating the emperor, and covering it up by simply saying that the emperor chose the orphan.

He agreed and gave her a second chance, so she couldn’t fail this time too.

Since it’s like this now, there was only one way to do this.

‘I can’t wait unconditionally.’

She had no choice but to face it head-on.

She had no choice but to cure the grand duke somehow and turn whatever the orphan bitch whispered into a lie!

There was no other way.

Loreina grabbed some of the insignificant things she had bought on the street.

She was planning to lie, saying it was a gift to clear up a misunderstanding she had with Sienna at the funeral of Marquis Parvis.

‘I just have to show up in front of the mansion.’

No matter how rude it was, they would not just send the healing wizard back who was just around the corner.

But the doorkeeper’s reaction was unexpectedly cold.

“It is difficult to visit today. Please come back another day.”

“Why?”

Loreina said, trying to keep her composure.

“I’m Loreina Minangsi from the Count of Minangsi. Would it be possible for the head of the family to refuse in person…? It’s kind of unexpected to be turned away at the front door like this.”

“Even if you say that…”

She felt like she was going to have convulsions on her cheeks because she was maintaining a smiling face. Loreina vowed that the moment she entered Nacht, before dealing with Sienna, she would settle this cheeky gatekeeper.

“It’s not too late yet… I’ve brought a present for Lady Sienna, so can I see her face just once?”

“Since you’re saying it so earnestly, I will deliver the news of your visit…”

Eventually, the gatekeeper went inside with a reluctant face.

‘Done!’

Loreina called for joy in her heart.

Now, after a while, someone would come out from the inside and escort her urgently.

They would bring Loreina before the dying Grand Duke Nacht, and everyone would beg for his life.

She should not forget to show a humble appearance – that she was not confident, but would try her best to serve the grand duke, who was the pillar of this country.

She also thought that after healing the grand duke, she should collapse like she had lost all her energy.

A benefactor who saved the grand duke with all her might.

‘Once I get that position…!’

The careless orphan could be reduced to a miserable situation right away.

Loreina did not doubt that.

But…

“I’m sorry, Young Lady of Count Minangsi. We are not accepting visitors today at Nacht.”

“I beg your pardon?”

The dream was shattered.

“No way…”

“Lady Sienna politely declined the young lady’s visit, too. If you receive an invitation in the future, please visit again.”

It was a polite remark, but it was a warm greeting to ‘not enter this house without being invited’.

‘How could this… Could this be?’

Loreina looked at Nacht’s mansion with a bewildered expression.

Something… An irreversible change occurred there.

‘I can’t… It shouldn’t be like this… I, I…’

No matter how much she tried to deny it, it was of no use.

Now, she could not even set foot in the Nacht mansion without Sienna’s simple permission.

The plan failed.

It was self-evident and harsh reality.

* * *

‘Is it in a dream?’

Sienna was held in someone’s warm arms.

The soft fabric had a neat smell unique to dry fibers and a slight smell of disinfectant.

At first she thought she was just covered with a duvet that had been washed and dried well.

However, the sound of the heart beating consistently, and the feeling of someone’s body temperature transmitted through the squishy, ​​soft layer of fabric was telling her;

That she was now in someone’s arms.

To be held in someone’s arms. It was something she could never have even imagined before.

However, it was also true that there were many changes after going back in time.

Who could it be?

‘Hesaros…?’

One of the sweetest names popped into her mind, in which only a tiny fraction of it was awake.

‘Hesaros…’

Sienna groaned and buried her face in their arms. As if she wanted to be pampered.

Her lips moved a little and she spoke.

“He… saros…”

“…”

Sienna’s lips moved very little, slowly uttering words that could not be understood unless one listened carefully.

I healed the Grand Duke.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve succeeded in using healing magic… 

“…Yes.”

In response to the usual non-fussy reaction, Sienna asked this question without much thought.

I… Did I do well?

At that question, she could feel the hand that was slowly touching her back to stiffen up a bit.

“…To an excessively good degree, excessively good.”

It was as if a lot of energy was put into Sienna’s body because of emotional fluctuations, but she couldn’t load that power in her body.

Someone’s voice was heard intermittently.

“The damage caused by fraud is so serious… They said that if it weren’t for you, something difficult to rectify would have happened.”

Even in a troubled mind, Sienna smiled a little involuntarily, thinking that it was quite difficult to hear Hesaros praise her.

But was it because of the phrase ‘it is difficult to rectify’?

The appearance of the front door on the first floor of the mansion, which had almost become a field hospital, and the blood that soaked the floor helplessly even after treatment, suddenly came to mind.

The Grand Duke… Will he be okay?

This question came up unconsciously.

“…Thanks to you.”

A voice whose emotions were difficult to read answered.

It was an answer that seemed to flow out of a clogged gap.

“Thanks to you, he’s safe.”

“What a relief…”

She was glad the grand duke didn’t die.

She was glad that the healing was successful.

Sienna was relieved and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The grand duke’s wounds were sealed by judicial law, such that he could not recover by normal treatment.

“It would be a confession of my incompetence as a doctor… but if it wasn’t for Lady Sienna, an irreversible thing would have happened.”

“No, it’s difficult to say because it involves the life of the Grand Duke, but it’s not unreasonable that she didn’t notice it, since it was such a clever technique that almost no traces of the seal were left behind.”

“Okay.”

The grand duke also silently acknowledged it.

“If it wasn’t for this child, maybe my life would have been difficult to even use.”

“…Yes, so I understand that…”

“?”

“Why is Father holding her?”

“Oh, that’s my prescription.”

Seth raised his hand with an innocent face.

“All this time, I wondered if the lady was unconsciously purifying, and when I checked it today, it was indeed the case.”

“Purification?”

“Yes. Actually, after the lady appeared as a Terraformer, I personally started doing some research…”

Seth said that he had made great progress in his research by having recently obtained permission from the Grand Duke and perusing some related books at the library.

According to the ancient literature, he explained, a Terraformer born with powerful purifying power like Sienna was called a ‘child of purification’ in the ancient era of prosperity.

“It was said that even if a child of purification did nothing, they would instinctively purify their surroundings.”

“Then Sienna, she…”

“The grand duke’s wounds were damage caused by judicial law and fraud. Devon, you said that no action was taken then, and as soon as you got to the mansion, you started using healing potions, didn’t you?”

“Yes, that’s for sure.”

“The law lost its power within the realm of the young lady.”

Sienna’s face in the arms of the grand duke, who was reclining in the armchair, looked peaceful, but somehow paler than usual.

Seth explained with a confused expression.

“Even now, she’s probably trying to purify instinctively. The problem is that after she’s spent a lot of energy healing His Majesty…”

Fortunately, the grand duke, who had just been purified by Sienna and had nothing left to be purified, was holding Sienna and spreading a blocking barrier.

In other words, it meant that about one meter of the radius of the air was currently in a cradle-like state that protected Sienna from overdoing it.

Was it thanks to that?

Sienna, not knowing who she was in the arms of, was asleep, with an expression that looked more relaxed than ever before.

A peaceful face that didn’t even dream.

Everyone who watched it felt a strange feeling that could not be described.

In the meantime, thinking that this little child might not have been able to rest comfortably because she was cleaning up the surroundings without them knowing…

…It hurt as if a part of their heart was being ripped apart.

“I didn’t know at all, that she was purifying…”

“Perhaps all of us have been able to live comfortably without knowing it thanks to Lady Sienna.”

Come to think of it, even though around the time to periodically call a Terraformer to purify, the areas in the castle were much cleaner than usual.

“I guess it wasn’t just because of the purification that first appeared when she awakened as the owner of Hesaros.”

It was a castle that suffered all kinds of difficulties in purifying it even if a Terraformer was called in, who did his part.

How could this child endure this rotting castle alone?

“Wait a minute.”

Michael intervened suddenly in a bewildered voice.

“I have one question… Then, maybe… That’s why she’s been drowsy all the time?”

“…I’m sure there’s a link.”

He remembered how he had once criticized her for not knowing when to eat and sleep. He felt like hitting in the back of the head of his past self.

‘…Damn it.’

“Why didn’t she tell us ahead of time? Did she not know that she was cleaning it up?”

“I don’t think so. She might not know if she’s just a child of purification, because she had Hesaros.”

“Then… you mean she didn’t say it even though she knew?”

Why?

“If she’s doing such a great thing, shouldn’t she of course let us know?”

“Michael.”

“Brother, I don’t understand… Why, what the hell is that? Of course, she should have told us so that we’ll be thankful… No way.”

“Stop it, Michael.”

Even though Ashiel stopped him, Michael continued.

“…She didn’t even want us to thank her?”

A heavy silence fell.

While no one was able to speak, Seth managed to find a way to turn the topic around.

“By the way, the law that hindered the recovery of His Majesty the Grand Duke.”

“Well.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

The grand duke was a powerful wizard.

One of his titles, ‘The Adversary of Loraxar’, was a title commemorating his achievements that ended the life of the Epic Loraxar.

Even the powerful Epic, dubbed the ‘Apocalypse of Man’, lost its life at the hands of the grand duke.
(T/N: reminder, ‘Epic’ is the highest beast class. Loraxar is probably a name given to that particular nasty beast, kinda like how we give some natural disasters names.)

Planting a spell that hindered healing in such a wizard’s body?

“…You said that the Unique attacked in cooperation?”

“Seth, no way.”

“It’s not speculation. There have been few cases where Unique’s have been found to work together. I think this is a matter of full consideration.”

“…The possibility that it was under the direction of an Epic, rather than the Unique’s cooperative?”

At Ashiel’s words, everyone in the room immediately held their breath.

The grand duke sighed and ordered.

“…For now, for the time being, let it be unknown that this child has manifested healing powers.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Grand Duke. I will crack down on them.”

If something went wrong, the buds could be broken by the hands of certain people before they even bloomed.

When they thought of that, everyone in this place, especially the Nachts, got cold.

“…Father.”

“Okay.”

The red eyes of the three Nachts were burning with anger towards an unknown opponent.

It was strange.

Sienna, who was still in the grand duke’s arms, was safe without any damage to even a strand of her hair…

They felt as if one day, at some point… They lost this precious child.

It seemed something irreversible happened because of their carelessness… Such a creepy sensation seemed to swallow the spine coldly.

Never, never should that happen.

Never again.

“…From now on, let’s focus all our efforts on the safety of this child.”

“…Yes, Grand Duke. I will keep that in mind.”

Then, someone knocked on the door.

It was the butler.

“Your Majesty, this is a message from the imperial family.”

“From the imperial family?”

The grand duke looked at Ashiel. Ashiel received the letter and broke the seal.

“…On the last day of the Fairy Festival, a banquet will be held to announce the end of His Majesty the Emperor’s rest. And…”

“And?”

“On the spot… he said he is going to confer a title on that child.”

* * *

The emperor’s intentions were simple.

“I heard that people keep ignoring my baby as a commoner orphan.”

As if reflecting the emperor’s wrath, the garden tree trembled.

The garden seemed to have been restored to its former appearance a long time ago.

The mountain and topiary arch were trimmed to the exact shape, as well as the small flower cluster – they were numbered to form an exact symmetrical structure.

As always, it was a fresh landscape that was arranged in such a way that it was like a tidy chessboard just before the start of a mental fight.

Just in time, the grand duke had just stabilized Sienna’s condition and had taken the child to her room.

Then, while trying to lie down to get a good night’s sleep, he was ‘attacked’.

‘…It didn’t have to be the same as before, being called here after going back to my bedroom.’

Whether or not his nephew was recalling bad memories, the emperor was busy with anger.

“That child is the owner of the Named! To be despised in front of me, isn’t it nonsense?”

“What can we do that their heads rot from peace?”

“Is this peaceful? This!”

“Some humans have the ability to mistakenly believe that as long as their food bowl is safe, it will be peaceful. You know?”

“I know! So these rotten minds of theirs just…!”

At last, like a lion’s roar, the emperor burst a bitter desire out that any educated man with common-sense would never say.

“…Anyway, as long as I have these two blue eyes open, I won’t stand around to see such things!”

The grand duke had something to say here.

“Before Your Majesty goes forth, I am here.”

“Oh, hey.”

The emperor’s eyes gleamed.

“So that’s why the Marquis of Parvis is in such trouble these days?”

The grand duke did not answer, but the emperor got enough answers.

“Well, it is a good thing that you are taking responsibility for the baby as you are… but I am the Emperor?”

The emperor grinned.

Even his loyal nephew, who had never coveted the position of emperor, had a cheeky smile that he recalled the word ‘treason’ for a moment.

“So that’s why you said you would confer a title?”

It was difficult to say that Sienna saved the life of the emperor.

As the plan was to secretly search as much as possible for the hideous enemy who harmed the life of the emperor.

For reference, in the time period that no one remembered, Loreina had to go through the trouble of secretly spreading rumors in order to be known as the savior openly.

The imperial family only reluctantly acknowledged it as the truth, fearing that denying the rumor would cause embarrassment to the benefactor.

The announcement was not negotiated in advance at all.

Anyway, fortunately, the emperor’s benefactor now was Sienna, not Loreina.

“Yeah. If being a commoner is the problem, shouldn’t it be okay to give her a title?”

Just getting the title would be enough to give people enlightenment.

Sienna earned the title just by owning the Named, and that there would be infinite room for advancement to a higher position in the future.

‘But not only that, the child’s limitations…’

The grand duke thought for a moment.

At present, under his direction, Sienna’s healing abilities, as well as the fact that the grand duke was wounded, were completely unrevealed.

“But you, are my eyes blurred these days? Originally, your complexion is hazy like a ghost, but…”

…Even to the emperor.

The emperor was naturally a person he could trust, but the grand duke recalled the fraud that was contained in the emperor’s body.

“…As I said before, if you call me out like this while I am about to rest, not even a saint will have a good complexion.”

“Cough, cough.”

It was rough, but the emperor was a sharp man. It was dangerous if this topic continued.

“…By the way, Your Majesty. How far has the investigation proceeded into the fraud that invaded Your Majesty’s body?”

“As I said before, I think something must have gone wrong somewhere in the confrontation barrier.”

The system was engraved with a defensive force centered in the Imperial Palace that could be operated in case of emergency.

The defense that only a Terraformer could activate was called the ‘Confrontation Barrier’.

It was also the duty of the imperial emperors to keep the confrontation barrier ready for use at any time.

In order to use the confrontation barrier immediately in case of an emergency, the emperor had to stay in sync with the barrier at all times.

In other words, when the world of confrontation was harmed, the emperor was also harmed.

“Isn’t that the most likely thing at the moment?”

He guessed so. It would be reasonable to think that way.

The grand duke thought that it was only a troublesome idea coming from a paranoid human like him – suspecting that there was some powerful and crazy man within walking distance of the emperor who planted fraud.

“Anyway, Arandier is investigating, so whatever comes out will come out.”
(TL/N: Arandier is a woman/crown princess, not a man/crown prince. So the pronouns in the later few sentences reflect that. A more detailed explanation will be in the next chapter.)

“Well.”

The grand duke nodded his head. The emperor scratched his chin and added,

“I don’t know if I can say this about my own bloodline… but she has a bit of a fighting dog-like side, so once she bites, she never misses.”

“…I’m only saying this when she’s not here, but I agree with you.”

For a moment, the two nodded side by side.

“Ahem. Anyway, that’s how it is, so you have to dress up the baby as plausible as possible on the day.”

“I’ll take care of it even if you don’t tell me.”

“Oh, I’m worried because I’m getting old!”

The grand duke also agreed a hundred times with the emperor’s words, ‘I want it to be huge enough to convert the economic value of it, it’ll wrap around her and lower their tails at once.’

“Don’t worry, you’re part of my bloodline, so you’ll do well on your own… Right, should I give a special word to Madam Rebecca?”

“Who is that?”

“Who is she? The owner of a dressing room. Anyway, during the early part of the year, there was a big fight over the clothes that the madam had made. Because I was busy, I turned the madam’s dressing room into an exclusive one for the imperial family?”

“When did you ever do that…?”

“What do you mean, it’s all this while.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Son, think about it. What if my baby shows up wearing clothes that only the royal family can wear, tailored in the royal dressing room?”

This was the story of how Sienna entered the legendary dressing room, which could not normally be reached without the downfall of the imperial family.

* * *

The emperor, who was in a hurry, immediately made an appointment with Rebecca’s dressing room.

However, due to the recoil of awakening the healing fire, Sienna’s appointment had to be postponed because she had been asleep for over ten days.

Perhaps it was because of Madam Deborah’s sorrow and hard work, she was barely able to open her eyes the next morning.

“…Hesaros?”

As soon as she woke up, she tried calling her Named, but there was no answer yet.

‘You didn’t come back.’

Sienna was a little sullen.

‘I wanted to talk quickly about the healing fire…’

Fortunately, there was no time to be gloomy for a long time.

“My lady! You’re awake!”

“Madam Deborah?”

“Are you feeling okay? I heard that you’re just exhausted, and that you’ll be fine when you wake up!”

Hurry up and tell her it’s okay!

Sienna nodded carefully because she couldn’t overcome the silent pressure, and there was nothing wrong with her body except that she was actually a little drowsy.

“Of course! I thought our wonderful lady would be fine. I knew it!”

Sienna shivered slightly, still not fully awake.

Madam Deborah was not a bad person by any means, just that she had a little more energy than others.

However, there was a part that did not match Sienna.

For example,

‘According to my experience, if the madam is so excited and her eyes are shining…’

It was never a good sign. At least, nothing that was exciting for Sienna.

“Let’s have a meal right away! Then in the afternoon, we need to check your physical condition and prepare to go out.”

“Go out… huh?”

“Yes! His Majesty the Emperor has opened up the imperial family’s special dressing room. Only for the lady!”

The feeling was right. The ominous foreboding hit today as well.

“I don’t think my body has recovered yet.”

“My lady!”

“Ah, I’m sleepy…”

“The orphanage children won’t be fooled by such a sloppy performance!”

…What did that mean?

“You will have to practice for another hundred years to deceive this Deborah’s eyes! Stop that and get up now!”

* * *

Nothing could dampen Madam Deborah’s ambition to make Sienna wear clothes that were only permitted to the royal family.

Besides that point, the mansion felt very normal. To the point where she felt uncomfortable.

Sienna murmured to herself as she looked down at the floor of the entrance hall where the traces of the grand duke’s blood had been cleared from the stairs on the second floor on the first night of the festival.

“…Was it a dream?”

“I’m sorry, but no.”

A familiar low-pitched voice.

The silhouette standing with his back against the light was definitely Ashiel’s.

“Your Highness the Grand Prince.”

Ashiel lowered his eyes toward the front door and said,

“…The Grand Duke has issued a gag order.”

“If it’s a gag order…”

“From my father about your new abilities.”

As expected.

She thought this was the true nature of the sense of incongruity that she had been feeling silently for a while.

It wasn’t as usual. Everyone was just trying to look normal.

‘Anyway, I’m in favor of hiding the healing power for the time being.’

“Sienna.”

“…Yes?”

Sienna raised her gaze that was looking down towards the front door and looked at Ashiel again. However, Ashiel’s gaze seemed to be strangely deflected from Sienna.

Was it because of the backlight?

“…As the Grand Prince, I thank you for saving my father. On behalf of all the families of the underworld, I thank you.”

Ashiel put his hand on his left chest, where his heart should be, and politely bowed.

“I know you don’t like my greetings…but I can’t help but say these words.”

“I’m sorry for taking your time,” said Ashiel as he straightened his back.

So Sienna didn’t realize it until the end.

That Ashiel’s eyes were dyed darker than usual.

* * *

After which, Ashiel said that he would go back to the military academy.

On the way to the dressing room after having lunch, Michael was with her as if it was natural.

Michael got into the carriage and gave a simple reason.

“Father told me not to let you go alone.”

In fact, even without such instructions, Michael wouldn’t let Sienna out alone.

‘It’s exceptionally quiet for him, but today…’

It was unfamiliar for her to see the boy staring out the window without fussing or bothering her, so her eyes caught his.

“Do you want me to give you a personal reason?”

Michael asked indifferently, still looking out the window.

“Yes?”

“I don’t know if you have eyes, and I don’t think you’ll know even if you’re ignored by the owner of the dressing room.”

“If I was ignored, I wouldn’t have known…”

“Would you like to bet?”

Well… As Sienna knew, the way of flattering people in society was uselessly elaborate and complicated.

‘I’m not confident enough to even bet.’

Sienna shrugged her shoulders and spared her words, and Michael snorted with a smirk.

“You’re the kind of kid who, if you’ve been ignored and somehow noticed it, will say, ‘I guess it’s just that’ and forget it.”

“It’s not wrong, but… I’m doing it because I’m really okay.”

It was Sienna who fit the mold when it came to actions that provoke negative emotions and taunt her opponents.

“Yes. You’ll be fine.”

It had only been a few months since we met in this life, but Michael’s eyes that were looking at Sienna deepened.

“…But not me or my family.”

Sienna didn’t answer. It was because she didn’t know what to say.

The carriage ran in silence.

Rebecca’s dressing room was not far from the newly opened department store.

The doorbell rang in front of the quiet store door, in a state of closure.

“…Hmm.”

The deputy butler coughed and rang the doorbell again.

There seems to be no response this time too, but with the sound of someone coming down the stairs from afar…

“…Y-You came from the residence of Grand Duke Nacht!”

With a slight creaking sound, the door opened. It was Madam Rebecca, dressed in disheveled clothes.

“Oh, what brings you here? As far as I know, you didn’t make an appointment.…!”

“While I called to delay the appointment I had made in advance, I was told that we could visit you around this afternoon, but…”

“Oh my God! T-There must have been some confusion!”

Madam Rebecca was in a state of shock to the extent that anyone could tell.

“Hmm. Do you have any other appointments scheduled today?”

Of course, that couldn’t be the case. Currently, Rebecca’s dressing room’s one-year schedule has been purchased by the imperial family.

Both parties knew that, and she couldn’t refuse the guests who came from the emperor.

“Oh, no. Come in. I’ll take you upstairs.”

Even though it was her own dressing room, Madam Rebecca strangely looked around as she guided them upstairs.

“Come on, Lady Sienna. Come this way. I received a message in advance about your measurement, eyes, and hair color. I roughly picked out the clothes that will fit you.”

Madam Rebecca was frantically rummaging through the design book, trying to speak calmly.

It was then.

“…How are you here?”

Swaaa– the curtain pulled.

Right in front of Sienna, Madam Rebecca screamed.

“Lady Loreina! I definitely said that you shouldn’t come out.…!”

Whether Madam Rebecca was startled or not, Loreina just stared at Sienna with her beautiful pale green eyes.

Sienna was equally perplexed.

‘Why is that person here?’

“…That’s what I want to ask you.”

“I agree. Aren’t you the Young Lady from the Count of Minangsi? Why is the Count’s daughter in His Majesty’s dressing room?”

At Michael’s question, Madam Rebecca was terrified and shouted,

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Your Highness! The kind-hearted Lady Loreina just came to visit me!”

Ah. With those words, Sienna roughly grasped the situation.

‘It’s obvious.’

Presumably, Madam Rebecca had a chronic illness that she couldn’t talk about, and Loreina used it as bait for clothes.

Madam Rebecca’s schedule, all the clothes she made in this year belonged to the imperial family, so no one else could wear her clothes.

But just because she had made a dress in secret, how could one tell if it’s really Madam Rebecca’s, or if it was a beautiful dress someone made in exquisite imitation of her?

“Really? Is that true?”

Michael, too, was able to guess that, but asked without showing it.

Loreina bit her lips.

‘How did she get here…!’

It was an imperial banquet held in a long time.

Usually, banquets were restricted to those under the age of 14.

However, since this banquet was a banquet where Sienna would be awarded a title, selected children in prep were also able to attend.

Of course, Sienna, the party involved, didn’t know she would receive a title because His Majesty said ‘I will give my baby a surprise gift’. So, Loreina was also ignorant.

Loreina just wanted to stand out more than anyone else at a banquet that even prep members could attend after a long time.

She didn’t even dream that the plan went wrong from the very beginning.

‘I can’t believe His Majesty the Emperor opened up the imperial dressing room to that girl…’

As the owner of Named, it was natural to receive preferential treatment in many ways, but even that natural thing seemed precious in Loreina’s eyes.

“Young lady, I asked if what Madam Rebecca said was true. You wouldn’t answer?”

Her belly was twisted.

But in the current situation, there was no way.

“Yes… the madam is right. I am originally friends with Rebecca… I just came to comfort her for a while after hearing the news that she was ill.”

“You came to comfort her for a moment and hid in the changing room.”

Those words were from Sienna.

“That…”

Loreina smiled and faced Sienna.

It was a fleeting moment, but a lot happened.

Michael, who knew nothing, was just riled up at Sienna’s sympathy.

“Yes, you said it well. It’s not something I don’t understand, so why the hell were you hiding?”

“I was afraid that I might be misunderstood like this…”

“What do you mean, misunderstanding? You explained the situation thoroughly with your tongue. You didn’t know that?”

Originally, Michael had no feelings towards Loreina. They weren’t close enough.

‘But at the funeral of Marquis Parvis, she’s the kid who treated Sienna like a clown.’

It seemed that Sienna graciously showed Loreina her territory as well.

‘I’m jealous of that.’

Sienna’s territory was something she didn’t easily show to those in the grand duchy. How dare you, young lady of a count family?

Michael did not hide such ridicule and kindly pointed to the entrance.

“What are you doing, young lady? If you’re done with your visit, why don’t you go out? The madam is going to be a little busy from now on.”

Loreina clenched her teeth.

A place that she could barely enter from the rear, the likes of Sienna had been granted permission to enter the place.

As a member of the grand duchy, Michael, who was treated as an indirect line of the imperial family, was protecting Sienna like that.

She was about to get upset, but she couldn’t.

“…Yes, then I will leave. Your Highness, the Second Prince and Lady Sienna.”

Sienna calmly received Loreina’s animosity-filled gaze and handed it over.

“Yes, I’m sorry for disturbing your visit. Lady Minangsi.”

“…It’s okay.”

After Loreina left, Michael smiled as he looked at Madam Rebecca.

“Well, then, the madam knows what to do, right? Can I believe you have that much sense?”

Madam Rebecca nodded frantically.

“I- I- I will do my best.”

“Only that much?”

“I will mobilize effort as never before in my life! Lady Sienna’s outfit will be a masterpiece of my lifetime, never seen before in the history of the empire!”

“Yes, that’s the right answer.”

Michael blew a whistle.

Very cheeky.

* * *

Rebecca’s statement that she would do her best was not a lie.

She called all her assistants and had them turn over the fabric storage in the dressing room and spread out expensive lace, subsidiary materials, and even jewelry.

And she tried to get inspiration by putting these and other things against Sienna’s eyes and comparing it with the color of her hair.

What a desperate struggle!

At the same time, Sienna unexpectedly…

‘…It’s very annoying, isn’t it?’

From one side Michael said things like, ‘Hey, that’s fine’ and ‘It’s not good, so put it away’. He was giving such cheeky statements.

“Don’t you get tired of it…?”

“No? I really like to match my clothes. But, as expected, clothes are more fun for girls. Oh, the color of the subsidiary material is too yellow. The pink one is better for her.”

“Yes, yes!”

“…I guess I’m a little tired.”

“Yes, you look very tired. Shall I ask someone to buy some sweets?”

“I want to go home.”

“The macarons at the confectionery store in our department store next door are so delicious.”

Sienna laughed. Haha. Mechanically.

“No, I’ll just go home.”

“My lady…!”

As Sienna became ruthless, the expressions on the faces of Madam Rebecca and her assistants, who had to squeeze out the masterpiece of their lifetime this time, became desperate.

“Please, please, please cooperate a little more…!”

“Hey, I’ll go get some macarons! Please wait a minute!”

“Sigh…”

Michael, who knew Sienna was not cold-blooded enough to shake off those who were begging like that, just giggled and laughed.

“Hey. This is fun. Great.”

“Of course, I’m sure you think so.”

‘Michael Nacht, I will destroy you.’

Sienna made a promise not to be kept like that today.

But in the end, Sienna was only able to make her way home in the evening.

Like a limp salted vegetable, she was barely loaded into the carriage, and there she thought.

‘But today’s outing was not without harvest.’

She was convinced by the meeting today.

Loreina was a much more ordinary person than she thought.

For the first time, Sienna calmly listed Loreina’s strengths.

‘Lineage, beauty, and greed.’

That was it. If she had to add one more, how about the ability to execute?

‘…Surely there is someone behind the drawing of the whole board. That’s for sure.’

But until now, Sienna thought that even if Loreina had an ally, it was just a struggle for power within the empire.

To be precise, she thought it would be a fight between people.

At Loreina’s current level, it would be impossible to come into contact with and collude with the outside forces itself.

‘I’m guessing that person’s behind the outside forces.’

No matter how crazy people could get for power, she didn’t know there were humans who could think of colluding with forces from the outside world…

Sienna bit her lips.

Perhaps ‘he’ was trying to control Nacht through Loreina.

Up until now, Sienna thought Loreina only had to touch her.

She gave some warnings, so she thought she wouldn’t try to heal others hastily.

She thought she did as much as she could.

She was just trying to bury her ominous premonition.

‘Because I wanted things to end there.’

But the opponent touched the emperor from the very beginning.

She didn’t know how great he was, but was it really easy to get close to the emperor?

Besides, would it have been easy to put the grand duke in danger?

No matter how much outside money was drawn in, it would require a well-thought-out plan. ‘He’ must have suffered some kind of loss while implementing it.

It was unlikely that Loreina’s mastermind would ever ignore Sienna, who had neutralized it twice.

‘I guess they’re already paying close attention to me…’

Until now, Sienna had no intention of stopping Loreina from coming to the Underworld.

It was because she had an intuition that if she interfered with Loreina up to that point, it would be a life-or-death decision.

Rather than risking everything and focusing on destroying Loreina, she wanted to go the right way.

But what if Loreina had connections to the outside?

‘Sister. No.’

The tired Sienna gave strength to her jaw.

She didn’t even want to call her sister anymore.

‘There’s no way she couldn’t have known the source of the helper’s power with that well-spinning head of hers.’

Knowingly, she joined hands for her own benefit.

Sienna thought as she watched the people passing by outside the carriage window, leading their ordinary lives.

‘…Her desire was more important than the lives of those who live and breathe like that.’

She burst out laughing. No matter how much she thought about it, she could only say that it turned around.

Suppressing her soaring anger with coolness, Sienna asked herself a question.

‘…Now can I stand by and watch Loreina becoming Nacht’s child?’

And the very moment when she was about to answer her own question.

“What do you think?”

“…What?”

Michael, who suddenly interrupted her thoughts, shrugged his shoulders with an awkward  expression.

“…Sorry, I was a bit too much today, right??”

‘Ah.’

It seems that Michael misunderstood that Sienna was angry because she had to spend a lot of time in the dressing room.

For the boy, it was understandable. As soon as they got into the carriage, Sienna went into a strangely militant and cold silence.

Of course, that was because Sienna was thinking about Loreina, but as a boy, there was no way he could guess that.

To him now, Loreina was nothing more than a small pebble that he didn’t even need to think about.

After he got rid of the stumbling block, he forgot that he even put it away…

It’s just such a trivial thing.

Michael couldn’t even imagine that Sienna was struggling with such a trivial matter.

He just thought it was because she spent too much time in the dressing room.

Michael pretended to scratch his head and apologized clumsily.

“Look. I’ll work on it a bit from now on. But isn’t it something you need? It’s not like you’re not going to have a social life at all.”

He said other stuff like it would be a little easier if she got a head start with clothes, and he kept gauging Sienna’s reaction as he made excuses.

Sienna looked at such a Michael with unfamiliarity.

She never thought it would be possible for that boy to bend down to someone this much.

She even got quite used to this figure that she couldn’t even think of before.

Subsequently, the faces of two other similar people came to mind as a result of association.

The grand duke and Ashiel.

They, too, had long since ceased to be the people Sienna knew in the past.

And at that moment, Sienna realized belatedly.

‘I’m late.’

Even if she couldn’t give them her heart, I didn’t want to see them being thrown away by Loreina or be smashed with dirt.

Otherwise, there was no way she would have tried so desperately to save the grand duke.

Even if they weren’t precious, she couldn’t push them away anymore.

‘I have to admit…’

She couldn’t.

 * * *

Time passed, and soon, it was the day of the banquet.

That morning, Michael was wandering through strange memories.

Someone was whispering certain words to him in a soft, innocent tone…

“You’ve got an amulet. Are you going to use it?”

“…I see. If you use it, she will be happy. Actually, I think she gave Ashiel the same thing as a gift. I haven’t seen Ashiel use it. She must have been hurt.”

“What? Why is she hurt…?”

“Um, well…”

Her voice seemed to come with a soft smile and she spoke in a subtle tone.

Soft words permeated like poison.

“…This is a secret. I think she has feelings for Ashiel.”

…It dyed his heart black.

“…What?”

“Don’t be too surprised. She won’t dare to think too much. She just wants to be helpful in this way rather than dream in vain. Please have pity on her.”

The voice sounded like a melody that controlled his mind.

But what was strange was that Michael was so angry that his eyes went black at the soft melody-like voice.

How dare you dream ‘vain dreams’?

You don’t even know the subject?

The self in the dark angry dream was about to attack someone as it was.

‘No…!’

For some reason, he felt strongly that he couldn’t leave it like that.

That anger, that contempt and hate, must not be allowed to pour out.

‘Do not do that!’

The boy’s cries burst through his throat.

But he didn’t look back.

Nothing could be changed.

Really, nothing.

“……Ugh.”

He woke up like he was being pushed.

“Oh, no.”

No, he just opened his eyes, it wasn’t really waking up.

Michael kicked the bed and got up from his lying position.

Fortunately, it was early in the morning, but I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t.

Bang!

Michael knocked on the door with a pale face, to the extent that even a drowning person would not be in such a hurry.

There was only one thought in his mind.

The only thought was that he had to move before himself, who was angry in the dream.

“Who…”

The moment Sienna finally opened the door and appeared…

“I’m sorry, I- I’m sorry, I…”

“…!”

Michael collapsed as if clinging to Sienna.

“I, everything, everything…”

Seeing Michael, who couldn’t even utter a word with a pale face, Sienna clapped her hands, making a sound.

At the same time, flames rose between Sienna’s two hands.

“!”

Alas, before he could do anything, the flames engulfed Michael. But it wasn’t hot.

It just felt like a warm breeze was sweeping through his eyes once.

…It was just that,but the mind, which had been dazed by compulsion, gradually cleared up.

“Are you okay?”

“…Uh… huh?”

Michael blinked, bewildered.

“Wait, why am I… here…”

At that moment.

“…Cough.”

Before Michael could even grasp the situation, Sienna, standing in front of the door in her pajamas, coughed a little.

“Wait, are you sick?”

At that sound, Michael completely returned to reality.

“No, wait. Come to think of it, you seem a little warm… and your face is red too!”

‘She’s really sick!’

Shocked by the fact that Sienna was ill, Michael forgot all about visiting Sienna and crying in his dream.

It was a possible level of forgetfulness because it was an extension of a dream like sleepwalking.

Anyway, the boy raised his voice and shouted.

“Deborah! Madam Deborah! Call the maid! And the doctor!”

After a while, Deborah appeared hurriedly, overtaking Michael and looking at Sienna.

“My lady?”

Seeing Sienna flushed and breathing heavily, Madam Deborah knew exactly what was wrong.

“Oh my gosh.”

Deborah’s face quickly turned serious.

“She has a fever.”

“That’s right!”

“Yes, I think so too…”

‘…Maybe it’s because I’ve been overdoing it lately?’

Seeing Sienna muttering that it was cool, with her face pressed down by cold hands, Madam Deborah cried out urgently.

“Call the doctor! Hurry!”

“He’s already coming.”

With everyone’s support, the doctor jumped out and examined Sienna. However, there were no other symptoms other than mild fever.

“From my point of view, this seems to be magic-overexertion fever, isn’t it?”

The fever-reducing drug was also of no use, so this was the diagnosis the watching Seth made.

“What is that?”

“In short, after excessive use of magic, side effects such as fever or dizziness appear.”

“What? Side effects?”

“Oh, it’s no big surprise. Even at school, there’s one student every year, that is, the kids who study the most go through this!”

“So that means she’s got a problem because she’s been studying too hard…?”

Next to Michael, who stuttered with a tired expression on his face, Madam Deborah touched her forehead.

“Oh, my lady! So, I… Please! Stop studying, reviewing, and doing homework.”

“Haha, stop/hold on. How can you scold her for studying hard!”

The euphoria of becoming a teacher of a model student suffering from magic-overexertion fever was reflected in Seth’s expression and tone, which only fueled Madam Deborah’s anger.

“Noisy!”

A roar broke out.

“This man, far from coming to his senses! Is now the time to like it so much?”

“Hey, when did I say I like it?”

“Your ears got stuck in your mouth, ugh, is this man real?!”

Madam Deborah lost her temper and was about to slap Seth on the back.

“Ummm…”

Sienna, surprised by the loud noise, made a sound, and the ‘dispute yet not a dispute’ between the two, was ended.

“What do I do about this? My lady, today, you must attend the banquet…”

“Sienna.”

The grand duke who came all the way here in silence when he heard that the child was sick only said one thing.

“You don’t have to go.”

“Ugh.”

Sienna immediately noticed the unusual reaction from those around her.

‘I have to go.’

It seemed that there was something prepared for her at this banquet.

‘Somehow these days, Madam Deborah seems to laugh strangely at random times…’

His Majesty’s compensation did not seem to stop at the level of allowing the use of the royal family’s exclusive dressing room.

If so…

“I just have a little fever, so it’s okay.”

To others, he was the emperor, but to Sienna, he was a person who was much more like a kind grandfather.

‘Besides, what if His Majesty the Emperor is repaying me, but I don’t attend because I have a slight fever…’

She could imagine Hesaros, who would wake up later, running his mouth for a long time.… Rather, it would be accurate to say that the sound of swearing was good before her ears. Something like;

‘How can you not even dare to give the other party a chance to make up for their wrongs?! It’s cute though!’

…Recently, he thinks that no matter what he cursed, it was not cursing if he just added the word ‘cute’… He seemed to have a very unique way of thinking.

Anyway, when she said she would go, the people who looked nervous when they thought she wouldn’t go all looked at her with strange expressions.

Sienna knew it too.

‘They’re worried.’

“I’m really fine, I’ll just quickly go back and rest.”

“…Yes, if that’s what you mean.”

Sienna’s will was clear, so neither the grand duke nor Michael could stop her any further.

Of course, if it was just a normal social event, they would have told her to rest, but today was going to be an important day for Sienna, so they had no choice but to do it.

* * *

For Sienna’s first imperial banquet, Madam Rebecca made a pomegranate red dress.

Initially, when she brought this dress, Michael had an extremely pleased expression.

“You’re good with light colors, but dark red suits you well too!”

“But it’s not a color that girls like to wear, is it?”

“However!”

Rebecca preached the meaning of her artistic soul as if she was vomiting blood.

“Didn’t the Grand Duke and Little Prince prepare black formal suits? Think about it! Wouldn’t it be harmonious, as if the lady symbolizes the crest of the Nacht of the Underworld?”

Michael nodded his head.

“…When I heard that, I thought it sounded reasonable, so I let it pass, but when she put it on, I thought it was truly convincing.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

The deputy butler went along his beat.

Putting a dark red dress on a child with pale cheeks; he was upset that she was sick, but it looked good on her.

The milk-colored lace of the underskirt fluttered layer after layer underneath the child’s unique, gathered skirt. She was wearing a black ribbon headband to match the cute black shoes…

“My lady must be the cutest in the empire today.”

“Yes.”

The butler smiled kindly and nodded his head.

“In addition, I don’t know about anything else, but the ladies of other houses won’t be able to put on a folding screen as big as my lady’s.”

“Ah… the butler…”

It was a radical remark made with a smile on his face, as if he was a close friend.

But as of today, everyone had no choice but to agree.

“It’s really like that.”

Each had different reasons, but the grand duke, Ashiel, and Michael all preferred black clothes.

The only rule from the imperial family, that men’s formal shirts should be white, was accommodated by these ravens.

The prevailing view was that Nacht of the Underworld dressed up like grim reapers, but today, thanks to that, it was expected that they would be able to become a handsome folding screen trio that highlights Sienna.

“…Isn’t it a bit scary to just call them a folding screen?”

“Shhh. Let’s not tell the truth too much.”

“Yes. As it stands, they’re just scary without a lady.”

“This is a major development.”

“…You know we can hear you, right?”

When Michael pointed out, his closest aides smiled and waved their hands pretentiously, saying, “It’s not true.” It was ridiculous.

‘Since when did the Nacht of the Underworld have such a family-like atmosphere?’

It certainly wasn’t like this before, but when Sienna was at the center, conversations that broke down the boundaries like this had become possible for a while.

‘What… Not bad.’

There was nothing special, but Michael guessed that the grand duke was thinking the same because of the absence of a word.

* * *

Ashiel left the military academy and met up with them in front of the Imperial Palace.

Of the three men, his tie was red because he wore the school uniform.

Michael picked a big fight.

“…Brother, it looks like you match with her.”

“Such words…”

Ashiel stopped breathing for a moment.

“……Don’t say that.”

“Why are you so serious?”

“If I tell you not to do it, don’t do it.”

Michael didn’t understand it, but he shut his mouth because his brother’s expression was really serious.

The servant who received the invitation at the entrance shouted.

“Grand Duke Nacht and his party have arrived!”

Since the banquet had progressed to some extent, everyone’s eyes were focused on the entrance.

“Oh my gosh…”

“That child over there became the owner of the Named Hesaros…?”

“You said she was brought from an orphanage, didn’t you?”

“The Grand Duke’s eyes are great, but he’s also very lucky. She’s the owner of the Named and a Terraformer…”

“If I had found an orphan like that, I would have raised her as an illegitimate child rather than a ward.”

People were murmuring, but little by little, they naturally made a path.

At the end of the path, the emperor was coming down with large strides and mighty steps.

“The baby is here!”

“Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Sienna, who was conscious of the eyes of others, made an example.

“How have you been?”

“Heh heh, yes. Thanks to my baby. It’s all good. Is my baby okay?”

“I am also very grateful to Your Majesty for your concern.”

It was more like a conversation between a friendly grandfather and grandchild than the emperor and an orphan ward.

A wave spread once through the hall, which was already buzzing.

“How can you even speak so beautifully. But your face is a bit red? Is it hot?”

“No, it’s fine, Your Majesty. It really is…!”

Sienna had to urgently stop the emperor who tried to adjust the temperature of the room within 30 seconds of meeting her.

It was completely comical.

Awkward laughter spread through the crowd.

“…Look at His Majesty’s eyes.”

“I think he’s asking, ‘Have you all seen it?’”

“She’s a dear child, so if you act recklessly, that means you have to be prepared, obviously…”

It wasn’t incomprehensible.

“His Majesty has always emphasized the importance of Terraformers.”

“Actually, it’s the empire’s great happiness that a mighty Terraformer appears.”

The emperor planned this banquet and put effort into organizing the guests. In the hall, there were a number of warlord nobles who had no choice but to be favorable to Sienna.

“Those who have never gone to the battlefield and never held a sword may not know, but we are well aware.”

“Oh, victory and defeat cannot be determined without a Terraformer. Everyone would be crazy or become a beast and run around the world in a terrible way.”

“Hmmmm.”

As intended, the atmosphere was generally favorable to Sienna. The emperor cleared his throat.

In an instant, the hall became as quiet as a dead mouse.

“It gives me a lot of reassurance to see the birth of a Terraformer like Nacht’s child in the last years of my life. Master of the Underworld, you are solving my troubles once again.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“That’s true. Aren’t you just lucky?”

Laughter burst out at the emperor’s witty joke.

“What I truly praise is this child you have discovered.”

The emperor waited a little for the laughter to subside.

“Hey, you are the empire’s great happiness. Although you don’t know your background as you lost your parents in an unknown event, I thought about it. Somewhere, our blood may be connected in an unexpected way.”

“…!”

People were buzzing for a moment.

“His Majesty’s words now…”

The opponent was the emperor. No matter how brave the child was, how precious a Terraformer was, and a Named owner even more precious, he was not one to spit out words as he pleased.

Everything he was saying now had a clear purpose.

The implications were very clear.

“Don’t take issue with the child’s origin…”

“I could interpret it further, but my god. I’m kind of afraid of that.”

The seasoned emperor, with his glasses on, contemplated the wave he had evoked, and gradually adjusted the tempo.

“Well, maybe it’s an old man’s hopeful thoughts.”

“Your Majesty.”

Grand Duke Nacht dissuaded him, telling him to do it in moderation.

‘I got it, you punk.’

The emperor rebuked with his eyes. But in an instant, he refined his expression like an emperor and shouted in a loud voice.

“Owner of the Named Hesaros, who possesses the untamed flame of purification! I will ask you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Sienna swallowed her saliva involuntarily as she answered.

Seeing her tensed face, the emperor suddenly smiled, deepening the wrinkles on his face.

“Baby, would you like to become this grandfather’s knight?”

Sienna was very surprised at the friendly tone of voice that came at a very tense time.

The face of the emperor, who was still smiling brightly at the sight of the child’s widened big eyes, almost collapsed.

“Baby, actually. I am a very good emperor, but there are no people around.”

“Yes…”

“Doesn’t the baby know what kind of bad things I had been through not too long ago?”

The emperor poked his wrinkled eyes with his finger, pretending to wipe away tears. Of course, there was no water in it at all.

“Fortunately. If the baby hadn’t saved me, what catastrophe would have been brought to the heart of this empire that I’ve been protecting with my hands…”

“Your Majesty.”

Wasn’t this story a secret?

When Sienna panicked and grabbed the hem of the emperor’s robe, the grand duke, who looked at the emperor’s heinous one-man play with an expression as if he was chewing worms, answered instead.

“I put a barrier right after he asked you to become a knight.”

“Ah.”

He was so stealthy in his workmanship. The people must be thinking that they couldn’t hear what they were talking about, not imagining that magic had unfolded.

“I’ll stop now. Anyway, baby.”

The barrier was lifted, but the emperor’s play was not over.

“I’ve dedicated my life to this empire, but I look around and there is no one there. There are a lot of people who are ahead of me, but at least the baby won’t die before me, right?”

“If I meet the average life expectancy, I would live thirty years longer than Your Majesty… but–”

The emperor quickly moved his feet under the magnificent hem of his clothes and trampled on his annoying nephew’s feet.

“…So, if the baby becomes my knight, it seems that I can be a little bit relieved.”

Sienna simply nodded her head.

“Okay. I’ll do it, being your knight.”

“…What?”

With the unexpected cool permission, the emperor, who pretended to be crying, turned his eyes.

“I heard that the baby doesn’t like to stand out.”

“I don’t like it. But I’m already the owner of the Named.”

It meant that, in the first place, living without being seen by others wouldn’t work out.

“The baby doesn’t like receiving anything…”

“Yes?”

What did that mean? Sienna tilted her head.

Even now, she was still wrapped around from head to toe with what she received.

Depending on who the giver was, it might be a little uncomfortable, but she didn’t hate the act of receiving.

Sienna shook her head, and the emperor confirmed again.

“It might feel like a burden for a title like this…”

“…It’s not really like that?”

As long as she was the owner of the Named, it was a title she would receive someday.

In addition, it was roughly expected that he would not just ignore her circumstances – she had saved the emperor from the imperial family of Feyenoord, where favor and spite were common.
(T/N: 은원 the Korean dictionary said something like ‘favor and spite’, which comes hand in hand with nobles + their thinking.)

“…Is that so?”

The emperor looked at his nephew with eyes that said he was in need of an explanation, then noticed that his nephew and his children looked somber and complicated.

‘Aww, that.’

Fortunately, the quick-witted emperor had a rough idea of ​​the situation without digging deeper into their wounds.

‘Certainly, the baby did not open her heart to those children.’

The trio in dark clothes looked gloomy, but he had no intention of giving in to them.

The emperor pretended not to know and raised his voice.

“Okay. The baby is so mature, there is no reason for me to mumble. Bring me the sword of oath!”

For now, it was important to appoint Sienna as a knight of the emperor.

He would not allow these nobles to take Sienna lightly.

‘There are many people who say that the Emperor is showing favoritism, and it is true that I am showing favoritism, but what can they do about it?’

It was already difficult to reconcile with the old nobles who did not like Sienna.

‘So, I should give her titles, gold, and favors so that no one can ignore her!’

Sienna did not know it yet, but in fact, the knight nominated by the emperor himself and appointed by the emperor himself was considered to have a special honor different from that of ordinary knights.

‘Although it does not belong to the 5th place in terms of organization.’

Since she was the closest and most trusted person of the emperor, she was considered to be of a class of her own, and it was a special position that even the nobles above her could not treat lightly.

Contrary to the nagging of his nephew, Sienna did not show any reluctance to receive the title, but…

“Oh, be quick!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Still, he wanted to finish the procedure as soon as possible and drive the nail out!

When the emperor hurried his servants and received the oath sword, he informed Sienna that she had to kneel while receiving the sword.

When the little girl got down on her knees, she looked even smaller.

The sword symbolizing the emperor’s honor rested loosely on Sienna’s small shoulder.

People started to gossip.

“Look at those people standing there.”

“His Majesty has called them ahead of time to draw a picture of the Named’s owner being awarded the title.”

“Oh my God, I wondered why His Majesty allowed even small children to attend.”

The Countess of Gildinak, standing on one side, raised her glass high and added the following words.

“In His Majesty’s heart, it seems that the protagonist of this place today is the owner of the Named.”

Everyone nodded in unison.

“I think so. Honey, as soon as we get home, I’m going to prepare a present to send to the underworld.”

“Well, of course we have to.”

While people set their own course of action…

“Owner of the Purifying Flame, as a knight appointed by the Feyenoord family, do you swear to protect the borders of the Empire and the lives of its people?”

“I swear.”

“The Empire grants and recognizes honor for your devotion. This promise will remain even when this sword is shattered and our bodies languish.”

The emperor smiled and lifted the sword.

“And as an added bonus, I will grant you the right to use the name ‘Hesaros’ as your last name.”

The emperor himself reached out and raised Sienna. And shouted,

“Come on, everyone welcome my new knight, Dame Sienna Hesaros!”

People started to applaud all at once. As instructed in advance, the band began to play upbeat music.

The emperor asked with a mischievous smile.

“You should dance your first dance as a full-fledged knight. Who will you choose? Today, no one will be able to refuse your request.”

“Well…”

The only people Sienna knew at this place were the emperor, the grand duke, Ashiel, and Michael.

As she glanced around on the way earlier, she felt like she saw Count Guildinak and his wife…

‘I can’t make a choice that’s too random.’

As for the dance partner, she should choose one of the sponsor’s family members.

Sienna’s eyes lingered on Michael for a moment.

It was because if the grand duke, Ashiel, and Michael were placed on the same line, it would be more comfortable to deal with Michael.

‘…But in this kind of ‘official event’, it’s a bit odd to skip the Grand Duke himself and even his heir and choose the second son.’

Then it couldn’t be done.

Sienna grabbed the hem of her dress and turned to one person.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes?”

When referring to the ‘first dance’, the emperor’s intention was, of course, for her to choose one of the members of the grand duke family. The grand duke was his nephew, after all.

‘It’s going to be quite difficult if he takes it badly and gets angry with me later.’

Grand Duke Nacht had a longer tail than it looked.

“Yes, baby. Who did you choose to dance with? Will you tell this grandfather?”

“I just told you, ‘Your Majesty’.”

Sienna smiled as she vaguely mimicked the emperor.

“I wish His Majesty the Emperor would do my first dance with me.”

“You mean, me…?”

The emperor’s eyes widened at the unexpected words…

“…Haha, yes! Good! Baby, you have eyes!”

The emperor laughed out loud.

A commotion spread among the people.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen His Majesty like that.”

“He’s a picky person, so it’s hard to guess what he’s feeling…”

Regardless, the emperor who defeated his nephew was excited.

‘I can handle it even if he holds grudges! I am the emperor, will he kill me?’

Although his back burned, the emperor smiled, went ‘wah-haha!’ and held out his hand in consideration.

“Come on, Dame Sienna, take my hand.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The girl and the emperor marched towards the center holding hands like friendly relatives.

Sienna whispered hastily.

“Your Majesty, I don’t know how to dance.”

She had learned it in a hurry, but she wasn’t very good at it.

But the emperor only giggled.

“Don’t worry. I can handle everything.”

The emperor skillfully led Sienna, who staggered like a doll on a string, using the same skills that shook the social world in his youth.

Perhaps, if she had chosen a partner of the same age or who was not as close to her, Sienna’s lack of culture could have been revealed, and she could be criticized.

However, Sienna’s clumsiness served as a good thing against the excited emperor.

“I didn’t know I was going to make such an analogy to His Majesty, but isn’t this like a loving grandfather practicing dance with his granddaughter?”

“I do. The baby is smart.”

The Countess of Gildinak intervened once more

“Oh my? She’s no longer just a child, it’s Dame Sienna.”

A roar of laughter poured out. After a laugh, someone asked:

“By the way, that dress that Dame Sienna wore, I am not sure, but isn’t it from Rebecca’s dressing room?”

Now, in this empire, no one would dare to touch that child in the emperor’s protection.

…With a sane mind, that is.

‘Nonsense…’

From the corner of the hall, Loreina trembled and stared at the unbelievable sight.

‘That girl… Not me, that bitch…’

Holding the emperor’s hand and dancing at the commemorative banquet.

She was also conferred a title with the sword of the oath directly from the emperor.

Being Nacht’s child, and wearing Rebecca’s clothes!

‘Everything… It should have been mine.’

That girl stole it.

A dirty orphan who didn’t even deserve it, had stolen what she deserved…!

The delicate lace fan that was in Loreina’s hands was suddenly crushed.

“Lady Loreina, why are you like this?”

When she came to her senses, the people around her were looking at her strangely.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Without knowing…”

While making excuses, Loreina walked away.

The whispers of people followed behind Loreina’s back.

“Lady Loreina also got quite a bit of attention at first.”

“I see. It seems that rumors are still spreading among the common people that she is a saint, but…”

“How is she these days?”

“Well. I don’t know if she’s a saint, but they say she can fix corns well. But it’s not easy to make an appointment.”
(T/N: 티눈; Corns and calluses are areas of thick, hardened, accumulated dead skin cells that are caused by repeated rubbing, friction, or pressure.)

Loreina felt humiliated.

She stood up straight, pretending not to hear, but she could not overcome the rising anger and sadness, and the pale skin around her eyes was already heated red.

‘You say I’m good at fixing corns?’

‘Are saying that I’m being treated like a lame therapist who can only fix the corns of these empty-headed ladies?’

It was unbearably miserable, but that was the reality.

‘If I had a little more magic power…!’

In order to use the ‘healing magic’ he taught her, it had to be supported by mana.

But Loreina’s qualities were too ordinary.

It was as the ladies said.

Currently, Loreina only gives treatment once a week – providing short-term relief from chronic pain or for treating minor skin and eye problems like corns, warts and adult acne.

She had a reputation that was inflated with her natural skills, but that reputation was an illusion.

If it turned out that she didn’t have the skills to back it up, it would burst like a bubble.

Even at this moment, the bubble was disappearing.

‘That’s why even stupid people who can only dress themselves up like that and be satisfied with what they have are ignoring me.’

What if this lie was completely exposed…?

Loreina bit her lips until it bled.

Just then, the dance was over.

The emperor was walking away from the center of the venue with his face brightened with a smile, along with Sienna, who was also flushed in the same way.

The place where an honorable and glorious protagonist shone brightly.

That place should have been Loreina’s.

‘…I can’t forgive you.’

She only wanted revenge in some way on that filthy orphan girl who stole everything she was supposed to have.

It was then.

A strange sight appeared in Loreina’s view, who had mastered the art of dealing with life.

‘…What?’

After the dance, Sienna and the emperor were greeted by the grand duke and the little prince.

Loreina’s eyes instinctively looked for a person.

‘The Grand Prince…?’

Grand Prince Ashiel was a little far from the party, as if something was up.

He watched his younger brother talk loudly to Sienna…

Then he left the place quietly, sliding as if he was a shadow.

Loreina, who was fluent in matters of the human mind, especially the dark mind, her eyes sparkled significantly.

* * *

Ashiel was walking towards the terrace.

Today was the day Sienna should be celebrated.

It should remain a happy and good day for that child.

It would have been better for him not to be there.

‘…Probably so.’

Because Sienna hates him.

Just acknowledging that fact seemed to tighten his heart.

What distressed Ashiel even more was that it suddenly dawned on him that no one else but him was hated.

It was the same when the emperor asked her to choose a partner for her first dance a while ago. Sienna’s gaze rested on Michael.

Perhaps Sienna would have chosen Michael if his father, or at least himself, hadn’t been there.

Besides, what about his father? Sienna did her best to treat his father.

Few people would desperately try to heal someone they hate.

It wasn’t just the two of them. Everyone in the Underworld was like that.

If Ashiel was away from the academy for several days due to unavoidable circumstances, or was called to the field and returned… The distance between Sienna and the others was noticeably diminished.

As he couldn’t see it for a few days, the difference was very clear.

‘No, maybe it’s just because I’m hated the most.’

It was not something to be concerned about.

She was just a child sponsored by the house.

He tried to pull himself together, but it was only for a moment.

Ashiel thought. If he had shown his face frequently from a distance like Michael or the grand duke, would he have become a ‘familiar person’ to Sienna?

‘No.’

He… He didn’t think it could do that much.

Ashiel bit his lips.

He thought he was thankful that she did not run away.

Sharing the same table, eating together, and answering questions asked.

Not giving up their hearts, but letting each other share their side.

He thought that he should be grateful that they acknowledged each other in the same circle of life…

He couldn’t be so modest anymore.

When everyone except him got close to Sienna, or at least, she became used to them…

‘…I’m angry.’

He was. Ashiel silently admitted. He was angry.

It felt like something deep and violent that could not be simply described as ‘I’m angry’ was boiling in his heart.

He could not admit it.

He didn’t want to admit it.

‘At least let us all be hated together.’

If so, he thought he could bear it.

He hoped no one got permission from Sienna.

He hoped that everyone would not be able to approach the child with such an atonement.

He hoped that child would never forgive anyone.

If she wouldn’t forgive him.

…It was a terribly selfish and disgusting idea.

‘…Why?’

In a corner of his heart, dark emotions formed into a black shape and asked him.

‘Why do you have to suffer alone? Why is that a selfish idea?’

Ashiel refused to listen.

But when the voice asked…

‘What the hell did you do that was so wrong to her?’

…He couldn’t remember anything.

A faint black energy rose like a haze over Ashiel’s eyes as he stood on the terrace and stared at the almost invisible garden at night.

‘It can’t be said that it’s wrong for you to appear in front of that child, right?’

…It couldn’t.

‘It’s not your fault. Even if you sinned, everyone would have committed the same sin. But why do other people approach the child without knowing the subject? Why does the child tolerate such people?’

…While he was refused.

“…Grand Prince?”

Suddenly, Ashiel’s shoulders shook as if he had been stabbed by a sword.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was an occupant.”

“…The Young Lady of Count Minangsi.”

Blonde hair and green eyes. Seeing a person he knew, Ashiel returned to reality in an instant.

‘…Why me.’

Was it because he was thinking too deeply?

Shaking his dizzy head, Ashiel tried to get out of this place. He had no intention of sharing the same terrace with Loreina.

‘I’d rather just go home.’

He didn’t know it well, but he felt a little strange and in bad condition.

“Then…”

The moment Ashiel coldly glanced at Loreina.

“…Your Highness doesn’t like that orphan girl, do you?”

…Those were words that could not be ignored.

Ashiel’s red eyes slowly turned to Loreina.

“…What does that mean?”

“You don’t have to hide it. I’ve noticed.”

Loreina smiled proudly, her eyes shining. After all, she had seen it.

The appearance of Ashiel, who was silently separated from Sienna as she received the congratulations.

In addition, when Sienna returned, he even turned his back and avoided the area where she was.

The girl who witnessed the series of events was convinced.

‘He has contempt, obviously.’

Wasn’t the Nacht of the Underworld a noble among the nobility, who had contributed to the founding of the country and married the imperial family several times throughout the generations?

Ashiel was a man who was born from such a bloodline and would inherit all of it.

‘In the eyes of such a person, there is no way he could stand to see an orphan from the lowest class and whose origins and history are unclear.’

Loreina’s convictions stemmed from desperation.

Originally, she might not have come to such a hasty conclusion.

No matter how convinced she felt, she would have thought of Ashiel and tried to approach him a little more carefully.

But now, Loreina was not in a position to be discreet.

Discretion? Give it to the dogs.

‘Now it’s much more important to ruin the girl.’

Loreina remembered Sienna’s breathless smile as she danced a dance that didn’t even look like a dance.

The emperor was smiling as if he was genuinely happy to match the rhythm to that stupid dance.

While she felt resentful and that it was not just, and her heart ached.

She was suffering like this, so that girl shouldn’t be happy without knowing anything.

At the very least, it would make sense to make her suffer similarly with an unhappy, dirty mood.

Ashiel just stared at Loreina.

With insensitive eyes where heightened emotions or gloom cannot be seen at all.

Finally he opened his mouth and said,

“…I wish you could tell me exactly what you noticed.”

‘He didn’t deny it.’

‘I was right!’

That alone made Loreina feel triumphant as if she had the whole world.

“You have contempt for that orphan girl.”

“……”

“I know…”

Loreina lowered her voice sweetly and narrowed the distance between them, taking one step further into Ashiel’s space.

“This empire was built from the ground up on a pact to protect human land and human life.”

It was the first pact the Feyenoord imperial family, Euros of the Heavens, Ferrato of the Oceans and Nacht of the Underworld made.

“It takes strength to protect something, so new blood is constantly flowing into the upper layers of the empire. I know it can’t be helped, but…”

“Just because you can’t help it doesn’t mean you can’t even despise it, right?”

One more step.

It was hasty, but in fact, Loreina had one thing to believe in.

‘The second magic he taught me.’

He said that it would be better not to use it hastily until she was sufficiently proficient, but…

There are times when risk was necessary.

Actually, what Loreina was using wasn’t technically magic.

She was using magic that mixed judicial law and magic.

Although Loreina lacked magic power, she was able to produce unlimited fraud, the driving force of judicial law.

It was because her heart was already overflowing with malice.

It meant that she could use magic because she was human, and that she could also use judicial law thanks to her evil nature. It was Loreina’s own talent.

The advantage was that the law could be used undetected.

After waiting for a while, Ashiel slowly frowned as if the effect seemed to be working.

‘Done.’

Loreina called in delight.

With the technique Loreina was currently using, it produced a mind control law that manipulates the mind of the other person.

Something like brainwashing, but it wasn’t to the extent that Loreina could control all his thoughts and actions.

Now, Loreina had to be satisfied with the current level that she could turn his thoughts in the direction she wanted.

‘But it’s easier if the direction is negative.’

Loreina’s purpose in attempting mind control on him was clear.

Ashiel shared her negative thoughts about Sienna, and she could foster a bond through empathy.

Seeing Ashiel silent, it was clear that Loreina’s control was working.

Because when mind control law started to work, people usually went numb.

‘It’s exciting…’

It felt like she was rolling that handsome man in her hands.

A wide smile formed on Loreina’s lips. This time she took two more steps towards Ashiel.

“Of course, I don’t think that people who build military power are always bad. But Lady Sienna… Oh, I’m embarrassed to say this. When I said that I also want to become Nacht’s child, from then on, she started to hate me…”

Loreina lied that Sienna had embarrassed her at the funeral of the Marquis of Parvis.

‘Because there’s a good chance that girl spoke badly of me.’

In this case, rather than a tattered explanation, she should make a completely contradictory claim.

‘Hopefully, he might even offer to let me enter Nacht and help suppress that cheeky orphan.’

Loreina formed her words more succinctly.

“As a member of the Count of Minangsi that governs the eastern provinces, I have never been without the favor of the master of the underworld. So, I can’t just look at Sienna’s irreverent behavior…”

“…Stop.”

Ashiel’s sudden exasperated sigh cut Loreina’s words apart.

It was an expression full of one’s own will and feelings that a person caught in the mind control law could never do.

“Now, how…”

“I told you to stop. It’s disgusting and I can’t listen to you anymore.”

‘It’s disgusting, he says…?’

‘This can’t be…!’

Loreina’s eyes shook mercilessly.

Rather than Ashiel’s rough language, she was more shocked that the mind control didn’t work.

‘Until now, I have rarely failed in the practice phase…!’

Reinforcing an existing negative emotion was very easy.

It failed on a basic level.

There were two possibilities.

Either Loreina’s skills were low.

Or…

‘Nonsense… You mean that the Prince didn’t despise the girl in the first place?’

Then why the hell did he leave Sienna with such dark emotions?

Loreina was able to detect it weakly because she had learned judicial law.

She didn’t just see a series of situations.

She clearly saw the fraud that rose in Ashiel’s eyes every time he looked at Sienna.

‘If he had dark feelings while looking at that bitch, wouldn’t it be nothing else but hate?’

But the prediction was completely wrong.

She didn’t know why, but the results were telling. She was wrong.

‘Where did it go wrong…?’

In the face of an unbelievable fact, Loreina fell into a state of semi-panic.

Ashiel opened his mouth with a cold sigh.

“Let me correct two facts. First, the pledge of protection is not a topic to be said lightly by the likes of you.”

“Your Highness the Grand Prince!”

Loreina’s face twisted horribly, having regained her senses slightly in response to the insult.

“How dare you, what is that…!”

“Shut up.”

However, Ashiel lightly subdued Loreina like that.

Loreina felt the magic around her swirling and tightening around her.

Like… It was as if magic was responding to the wrath of the grand prince and was trying to attack Loreina.

As if standing in front of a natural disaster like a wild and raging wave, Loreina could not say a word.

Coldly wrapped in bizarre and overwhelming anger, Ashiel declared.

“Second. Call her Dame Sienna, not Lady Sienna.”

“That, that…”

No matter what she tried to say in response, the only thing that came out was a choking sound.

“The child has proven her worth by her own strength. Unlike people like you who are lucky enough to take only what they received from their mother’s womb.”

“I- I- I don’t know what Lady Sienna said about me, but that, it’s not all true…”

Ashiel snorted.

“You seem to be making a serious mistake. That child has never even mentioned the name of the Young Lady of Count Minangsi. Not even once.”

“It- It- can’t be…!”

“Perhaps she judged that insults like yours were not even worth talking about.”

Or maybe, she didn’t even think she had to tell him and Nacht about the insult she suffered!

‘Because…’

They were nothing to Sienna.

Because he was just a stranger who couldn’t be anything.

‘I hate her? That’s what it looks like?’

For Ashiel who only stepped down to avoid offending Sienna, it was absurd and utter nonsense.

The anger that had been suppressed until now welled up.

“Hey…”

Loreina’s expression turned pale when she met the red eyes staring straight ahead.

Magic, assimilated by Ashiel’s emotions, ran like crazy waves and pressed Loreina’s neck as if choking her.

She did. Contrary to Loreina’s thoughts, her mind control did not fail.

It succeeded in an unexpected direction, only triggering Ashiel’s anger towards her even more intensely.

“…I beg you, would you please turn it off. In front of me, right now.”

“Grand Prince…”

Ashiel let out an annoyed groan that she had never heard before, and buried his face roughly in his hand.

Red veins bulged from his hand, and they were wriggling.

The moment she saw that hand, Loreina belatedly realized.

Her magic did not fail.

Fraud, which had grown exponentially, was wriggling inside Ashiel as if it was about to explode.

It seemed that Loreina’s magic had triggered the fraud that had been already lurking inside Ashiel.
(T/N: Cross-reference to somewhere in Chapter 6, Hesaros noticed a very slight fraud in one of the Nacht men, but didn’t say anything or think it was severe enough.)

In fact, the reason Loreina’s unfinished magic took effect in the first place was because Ashiel was already infected with fraud.

In any case, she could have died here if she did something wrong.

“……!”

She was embarrassed, sad, and angry.

However, all Loreina could do in the face of the life crisis caused by a major mistake was to run away.

While Loreina quickly fled, Ashiel controlled himself for a while with his face buried in his hands.

How could she do that?

How could Loreina or Minangsi put the child’s name in their mouth so easily and so vulgarly?

What the hell were all the other idiots in the underworld, including him… Where and what were they doing before they witnessed such a nonsensical thing right in front of their eyes?

Like a red hot steel in a furnace, the anger that rose to the top of his head could not be easily shaken.

In the first place, Ashiel was a person who had never shown violence outside of the battlefield.

Even when something happened or a small thing was killed, there was no such sharp anger.

Was this what anger was?

Was this what the will to kill was?

Watching his fingertips tremble, it felt like he was somehow isolated from reality.

It was then that Ashiel realized that his condition was not the same as usual.

He had a terrible feeling, as if something huge and dark was eating him from the inside out.

It was not from this very moment, but from a long time ago, it’s been eating up little by little…

It seemed that his normal parts had already been considerably paralyzed.

For example, a sense of self-awareness that one’s condition was not normal…

‘…No way.’

It was then.

“…Your Highness the Grand Prince?”

The only voice he could never mishear no matter when and where he heard it.

It was Sienna’s voice.

Unbelievably, Sienna was watching him from the entrance to the terrace.

At that moment, something that had barely been connected inside Ashiel suddenly broke off.

At the same time… His fingertips stopped trembling.

“…Sienna.”

It was definitely the worst timing.

* * *

It was no coincidence that Sienna went to Ashiel.

As Hesaros fell asleep to deal with the grand duke’s fraud, Sienna realized how much she had depended on Hesaros.

‘Hesaros suffered a lot because he met a frustrating master.’

It was a peculiar thought, but if Hesaros had heard it, he would have been begging Sienna to rub his non-existent shoulders, saying, ‘Do you only know that now?’

In any case, from then on, Sienna began to try to do many of the things that Hesaros had helped her with.

She did not forget to train her sense of fraud and judicial law, as well as the sense of magic.

The anomaly that occurred on the terrace was detected by her trained senses.

‘If it’s that terrace…’

It was the direction in which Ashiel had disappeared a while ago.

…She didn’t have a good feeling.

After the grand duke’s incident and meeting Loreina in the dressing room, Sienna was determined to at least not to let Nacht be trampled upon by Loreina.

Since then, Sienna has been secretly roaming the grand duke’s residence and defending it.

‘When I think about it, it’s suspicious that the name Loreina came out as soon as the Grand Duke was wounded.’

Sienna roamed around the mansion like a cat marking its territory.

What she actually did was no different to what cats do.

Because Sienna planted purification power in every corner of the mansion so that she could purify to a certain extent without having to use any special power or open her territory.

She was sorry, but as for now, it wasn’t easy to give the Nachts an amulet.

Or should she say this instead. Sienna was so focused on setting the purification barrier that she thought it would be a little too much for her body.

So that fraud could not invade from outside.

Even if it was contaminated by fraud, it could be purified to some extent when it entered the mansion.

As a result of exerting such purifying power every day, she almost collapsed with a magic-overexertion fever on an important day, but the result was quite successful… The late Sienna was self-deprecating.

However, the plan had one blind spot.

‘The Grand Prince…’

He was the only one outside of Sienna’s purifying power.

‘No way…’

This couldn’t be. A person like Ashiel would also have a basic self-defense tool.

There was little room for problems because he was not in extreme situations such as battles and injuries like the grand duke.

‘…It’s true that I’ve been trying so hard not to care about the Grand Prince while trying to calm my heart like that.’

Sienna admitted. She felt guilty.

So, knowing that Ashiel was there, she headed towards the terrace.

To make sure he was okay.

However, on the way there, Sienna ran into an unexpected person.

It was Loreina.

As soon as Loreina left the terrace, she had almost completely hid her agitation.

It was to avoid being related to Ashiel if anything happened.

“Lady Minangsi.”

“…Lady Sienna. I’m sorry, but I’m busy. I’ll take my leave…”

But even with near-perfect acting, she couldn’t fool Sienna.

“What’s going on?”

Loreina paused for a moment. But soon, she only wore a beautiful smile like a picture.

“…What do you mean by that?”

Sienna was convinced by the way she spoke in such a neat way.

What happened to Ashiel?

“Lady Sienna!”

Sienna decided she didn’t have time to waste, and when she tried to walk past Loreina, Loreina shrieked.

Surprisingly, Loreina seemed to hate being ignored in the midst of this.

‘It’s still true. That person.’

Now, she wasn’t even going to say a word of ridicule.

Sienna answered without looking back.

“It’s not Lady Sienna, it’s Dame Sienna Hesaros. Could you please pay attention to the title when you’re calling people?”

Sienna glanced over her shoulder, looking back at Loreina, and coldly hit the nail.

“…You have to speak like a nobleman. I’m sure.”

“You…!”

“Then, bye.”

She seemed to have given her a shot, but rather than feeling refreshed, she felt that she had gotten rid of a strong, stubborn thing.

Any interruption must have been removed earlier, and so Sienna headed to the terrace where Ashiel was without hesitation.

And there, she witnessed.

“…Your Highness the Grand Prince?”

Ashiel, who was barely suppressing the fraud just before it goes rampant.

‘It’s serious…’

Sienna’s eyes could clearly see it.

A dark energy that could even overflow the air in this space was swirling around Ashiel.

The current Sienna, who was still inexperienced and without Hesaros, felt a powerful wave that could not be suppressed.

‘Then…’

The emperor came to Sienna’s mind.

The emperor clearly said that he was the most powerful Terraformer in this empire.

‘His Majesty can solve the problem!’

Fortunately, Ashiel appeared to be maintaining his reason.

Still, the hour was rushed. She couldn’t delay it.

Since it was before the explosion, other people would not be able to detect it, so Sienna had no choice but to report it.

“Your Highness, please wait here for a moment. I will come back soon…”

That moment.

Ashiel moved.

Elegant, but never slow, he…

“……”

“…Your Highness.”

He caught Sienna.

Only then did Sienna realize that things were going a little more wrong than expected, but…

“…Sienna.”

It was late.

“You always run away. I’m left behind and I think…”

Ashiel’s hand slid down her arm.

Sienna shivered, goosebumps forming. Then he grabbed Sienna’s wrist.

“…What did I do wrong?”

His expression looking down at Sienna was as insensitive as usual, but…

‘It’s different.’

His eyes were dyed with a dark red light.

Sienna gulped amidst tension.

The Ashiel in front of her… It wasn’t the usual Ashiel.

Funny enough, Sienna realized this only when he narrowed the distance and was being arbitrary.

How politely Ashiel usually kept his distance.

How he treated Sienna with extreme caution and prudence.

“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t remember. Maybe it was lost along with my heart…”

“Your Highness.”

It was unknown yet meaningful words, but now was not the time to interpret it.

“You may not believe it, but Your Highness is now infected with fraud. It’s a very dangerous situation, so I’ll go and bring the Emperor…”

“Why?”

Why?

Of course, she was doing it to save him.

Furthermore, there might be secondary harvests such as ‘I protected the honor of Nacht…’

“If this continues, the life of the Prince may be in danger.”

“Isn’t that a good thing for you?”

Ashiel’s tone was not at all different from usual, except that his tone was slightly loosened.

‘But…’

His eyes were completely different from usual.

“Don’t you despise me?”

She couldn’t really explain what it was, but it was.

“I don’t know why.”

Sienna thought that even if he hadn’t been dyed black in an easy-to-see way, she would have noticed that Ashiel was tainted and half-crazy.

“I… do not despise the Grand Prince.”

“Then you hate me.”

“No, I-“

“If it wasn’t that, then you just hate me.”

“……”

Wrong. It was impossible to have a normal conversation with someone infected with fraud.

“…My reluctance to the prince does not change the situation where you need treatment.”

“It doesn’t make sense to save someone you hate.”

“I don’t hate you. I’m just reluctant. Even if I’m reluctant towards certain people, I may not want to see them die in front of my eyes.”

“No.”

She still didn’t know what was exactly in those eyes.

In those eyes that she could only tell was a little crazy…

Ashiel said quietly.

“If you’re going to hate me, let me die.”

It might be just a pity to her, but to him it would be an illusion for the rest of his life.

Therefore…

“Don’t be kind to me outside your line.”

Like a teacup being stirred by a child for fun, Ashiel’s crazy thoughts were running wild without knowing the extent.

He thought. If one could call this a thought.

Still, Ashiel didn’t know why Sienna hated him. When he was sane, he remembered the guilt without knowing why, but not now.

Perhaps if Sienna saved him now, Ashiel would live the rest of his life, comforted by the fact that Sienna didn’t hate him enough to let him die.

‘Looking at the line drawn by that child and others freely crossing the line from the outside…’

To live with the fact that she didn’t hate him enough to let him die.

Ashiel, who went crazy, thought.

‘That would be so pitiful and miserable for me.’

Therefore… Ashiel said in a hoarse voice.

“If you want to heal me, let me cross your line.”

Fraud began to spread from Ashiel and began to put pressure on Sienna.

“Bring me into your strong walls…”

“Ah, Your Highness…”

“…Take me away.”

She was out of breath.

It felt like Ashiel’s fraud was affectionately choking her neck.

‘I can’t, no more…’

No more time.

Sienna tried not to get caught up in the madness, but to keep her senses.

She looked directly at Ashiel’s dark red eyes with her green eyes.

“Wake up…”

Sienna’s body lit up and sparks rose.

“…Get ready!”

The flames of purification that had exhausted all her strength swept over Ashiel as if exploding.

[…Well done, my owner!]

A voice she missed called out from the flames.

“Hesaros! How…”

The roaring Hesaros seemed unwilling to respond to Sienna’s words.

[This limb is intact, so this stinky madman dares to speak crazy stuff to whose owner?! I was really caught up in an order I didn’t like!]
(T/N: Hesaros calling himself Sienna’s extra limb hahahaha.)

Hesaros, who was burning fiercely, began to burn down on Ashiel as well as the fraud that weighed down the air.

Ashiel, engulfed in flames, staggered and fell from Sienna.

After a while…

[The end! Done!]

The fire was extinguished in an instant.

Ashiel sighed and sat down with one knee folded.

“Are you okay?”

“…”

Ashiel did not answer.

Everything seemed to be confusing, so he just looked at Sienna, blinking.

[Annoying bastard, he’s pretending not to remember everything?]

Unlike Hesaros, whose viewpoint had been twisted for a long time, Ashiel seemed to be unable to accept the shock of what had just happened, rather than pretending not to remember.

“Sienna…”

And it was the same with Sienna.

“I’ll call someone. Just for today…”

The moment Sienna was about to leave, saying it would be better to go home.

Tuk, rolling.

Something like a small stone rolled down from Ashiel’s arms.

‘…What?’

It wasn’t a stone to be exact, it was transparent, but it was a gem in which light had died out and became like a lump of stone.

Surprisingly, it was an object that was not unfamiliar to Sienna.

“…Essential jewel?”

To be precise, it was an empty shell that Sienna had failed to create a self-defense amulet with.

Sienna couldn’t even remember when this worthless failing was gone.

‘But why is this in the arms of His Majesty the Grand Prince…’

Ashiel’s unfocused red eyes were also staring at the shell rolling on the floor.

An empty shell that used to be an essential jewel.

Traces of Sienna’s failure to create a purification stone self-defense amulet.

Sienna, self-defense…

In Ashiel’s mind, which had already been stirred into a mess once, in an instant, various scenes began to mix at once.

Like cards scattered in a mess by someone who didn’t want to play…

Ashiel’s eyes trembled.

A scene flashed like a beam of light. His own voice, which sounded so cold and sarcastic, was saying…

“I know you’re trying. Sienna. Your efforts aren’t worth it.”

Before that…

“…I see. I’m sorry to bother you. Your Highness the Grand Prince.”

Sienna was there.

Sienna was a little more mature than she is now.

To be sure, this was neither a dream nor an illusion.

It was just an old memory.

‘Long, memory.’

Hell, which he had not remembered for a very long time, was rising.

“Ah…”

“…Your Highness the Grand Prince?”

Ashiel was terrified and did not even recognize Sienna’s call.

A monster with its mouth wide open appeared from the bottom of a life that was generally normal or believed to be so.

“…No.”

The monster swallowed him.

---

Y’know, we’re a chatty bunch, we’re just resisting the urge to insert commentary every other page. 

Ame: Hasn’t this chapter been exciting from the start to finish? Loreina’s audacity knows no bounds, ugh. Next chapter is what everyone is waiting for! Or at least, a bit of it…

ZZZZ: I love grandpa emperor, he cracks me up so much. I have to resist putting in cheer comments for him everytime he gets up to something hahaha. Loreina’s a loony, I don’t know why we even bother with her. And can I just say? I very much wish the ML was Michael! I am totally Team Michael for the ML here!!!

Tassie: Hope you enjoyed this long chapter!! (cuz it was fricken hell for us) I want the emperor to be my grandfather pls ;-; gimmie gold and jewels pls. Sienna finally opening up to the Nacht’s has me SOBBING! Loreina can go die in a ditch somewhere for all I care, I was begging Ashiel to push her off of the terrace lmao. And Ashiel!!! Omg does he remember??? We’ll all find out next chapter lmaooo Look forward to the fruits of our suffering!!