Cail Aleret.

The man she personally brought from the slave market, bestowed with the new surname Aleret, and kept by her side under the title of personal guard.

Niel still remembers the shock he felt when he first saw that man.

With the eyes of an untamed beast, baring his teeth at everyone except her, that man stood at the complete opposite end of the noble fellows she despised.

More precisely, he was a man with a personality completely opposite to Niel Alpenhayer, who was considered the finest masterpiece from the continent’s foremost noble family.

Unlike himself who smiled gently at everyone, that man was docile only before her.

Unlike himself who couldn’t show even a fragment of his true feelings before her, that man always acted according to his heart.

Perhaps that was why she favored that man and kept him by her side.

It didn’t matter.

He thought it didn’t matter.

Whoever she favored, whoever she kept close and cherished.

In the end, the one who would become her husband and leave his name beside hers would be Niel Alpenhayer, himself.

That well-mannered man she picked up from the slave market would at best remain as her favored concubine, forgotten by history without leaving even a single character of his name.

Yes.

So it shouldn’t have mattered.

But…

How aristocratic and arrogant a thought that was.

To be completely honest, it did matter. He had merely been turning a blind eye.

Even if his name wouldn’t remain in history, he wanted to gain even a small corner of her heart while alive.

If even that was too luxurious, he dared to hope to be her joy and pleasure, if only for a brief time.

That was his true heart.

After all, he too was a man thirsting for her favor.

Niel had always envied that man.

However, being an Alpenhayer nobleman to his very bones, he never showed these feelings outwardly.

He couldn’t.

He was a man raised to become the emperor’s husband.

Niel had to collect himself every moment to not forget his duty.

And even now.

Niel slowly released the tension in his hand.

“I see.”

He replied curtly before elegantly savoring a sip of tea.

Then his lips curved into a languid smile, the corners of his mouth drawn loosely upward.

Seeing how quickly he regained his composure, Cail’s eyes hardened.

“….”

Cail strode over and sat on the sofa opposite Niel.

Then he stared at Niel while carelessly crossing his arms.

“Why are you staring like that? You’ll bore holes through me.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad.”

Cail replied in a monotone voice.

“I’d prefer if you were not just pierced but turned to dust.”

Unlike his calm voice, a sharp energy swirled in Cail’s gaze as he looked at Niel.

‘At this rate, we’ll be the ones getting pierced.’

‘I’d rather turn to dust. So I won’t catch either of their eyes.’

‘Sister Jella, please come back quickly. Sob‘

Between the tense standoff between these two men, the pitiful organization members could only tremble while waiting for Jella.

***

Yuria was on her way to find the security company, tightly gripping the newspaper with the advertisement.

‘A security company that handles the emperor’s protection.’

If they were capable enough to guard him, one of the strongest men in the continent, they must be an incredibly skilled company.

At this moment, a group of knights surrounded her with clanking metal sounds.

“Lady Yuria.”

“What is this about?”

Yuria asked while looking at them with eyes full of wariness.

“We apologize, but a warrant has been issued for your arrest.”

“A-arrest warrant?”

“There must surely be a misunderstanding, but for now, we must escort you to the imperial palace. Please come with us.”

Though the knights’ attitude was quite courteous, Yuria had absolutely no intention of returning to the imperial palace where the emperor who tried to kill her resided.

“N-no! Get away!”

Yuria shouted while pushing away the hands reaching for her.

‘There are too many.’

There were too many of them for her to use the power of enchantment she received from the god.

The condition for activating enchantment was making eye contact with the target, but it was impossible to make eye contact with so many people.

“Lady Yuria, we have no intention of harming you.”

“We will ensure your safety, so please don’t worry…”

Just as the knights, though troubled by Yuria’s fierce resistance, reached out their hands again while trying to persuade her to come with them.

With a fluttering presence, a man in a white robe stepped in front of Yuria.

“How rude.”

The alluring man with bright golden hair and purple eyes sharply rebuked the knights.

“Lady Yuria is a holy apostle of god who sacrificed herself fighting against the villain Jella Shunaibel. How dare you try to lay your filthy hands on her sacred body.”

“W-we have imperial orders…”

“Withdraw immediately.”

As the man’s voice echoed through the street, the knights’ eyes grew clouded.

“We-we’re sorry.”

The knights hastily left the street.

“You’ve gotten caught up in troublesome matters, Saint.”

The man smiled faintly while gripping Yuria’s shoulder.

“Ugh, L-Lord Arne…”

Of all places, the man had grabbed her injured shoulder. Yuria let out a pained groan.

“Where were you heading?”

The man looked down at Yuria with cold eyes.

“I-I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Yuria quickly crumpled the newspaper in her hand and threw it to the ground.

“I got lost trying to return. It’s been so long since I’ve been to Yetrisha Street.”

Yuria awkwardly smiled as she made her excuse.

“Did you meet the emperor?”

“I-I failed. The enchantment doesn’t work on that man.”

“How incompetent.”

The man frowned as he coldly criticized.

“Let’s return for now. Because of you, I’ve wasted unnecessary power…”

The man suddenly stopped speaking.

Blood trickled between his teeth.

“Damn it.”

The burning pain spread through where his heart had been torn out 5 years ago, when he was betrayed by his most faithful servant.

The man’s name was Arne, who had lost his divinity and been banished to earth after experiencing death.

The man who was once called this world’s main god now had to suffer damage just from using this much power.

Even though ‘enchantment’ was his innate power that he had possessed even before becoming this world’s master.

Arne ground his teeth in frustration and muttered in an eerie voice.

“…I’ll need more sacrifices for a while.”

***

After peeling off Yupheon who was obsessively clingy to young Lord Amets to a creepy degree and returning home with Felitz, the organization members joyfully ran out to the entrance to welcome me.

“Sister! Why are you so late!”

“We’ve been waiting, Sister!”

“Huhuung, we missed you, Sister!”

“What’s this, why are you all like this?”

I still couldn’t get used to seeing these rough-looking guys clinging to my feet and sobbing.

“Sob. Please go up to the second floor right away.”

“Guests are waiting for you, Sister.”

“Guests?”

As I was being pushed up the stairs by the organization members, a massive chest with a shirt that looked about to burst blocked my view.

Anyone would see it as my type of body… no, that’s not what’s important right now.

“Are you back, Jella?”

A low voice filled with resentment fell on my head.

“Cail?”

Not believing it even after hearing his voice, I blinked and looked up.

‘I definitely tied him down to the bed with magic so he couldn’t leave?’

Since he was slightly above me, I had to crane my neck quite a bit to see his face.

“That was cruel. Did you enjoy your outing while leaving only me tied up like that?”

Unlike his resentful voice, a faint smile lingered on Cail’s face as he looked down at me.

“How did this happen?”

When I asked with wide eyes, he smiled at me and extended his hand as if to escort me.

“Because it was time for you to return.”

“….”

No. That wasn’t what I was asking about.

But I couldn’t very well ask him how he had broken through my magic and come down.

That would be like admitting with my own mouth that I was Jella Shunaibel.

But the organization members definitely said ‘guests’ in plural.

“Who else is here?”

I unconsciously took his offered hand as I climbed the remaining stairs to the second floor.

And there I found a man sitting elegantly with his legs crossed on the sofa.

“I’ve been waiting, Miss Jella.”