“Yuria, could you take me to Arne?”
When Yupheon, that madman, tapped her face with his dagger and grinned, Yuria, terrified, had to nod her head frantically.

The third floor of what appeared to be an ordinary old building was actually the worship hall of a cult.
“Do… do I really have to go in?”
Yuria, who had guided Yupheon to the entrance, awkwardly raised the corners of her lips and asked.

“What are you saying? If I go in alone, anyone would find it suspicious.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

Yuria really didn’t want to go up there where Arne might be, but she held back her tears and took Yupheon to the chapel.

Arne welcomed Yuria and Yupheon with joy, and Yupheon, who had been pretending to be enchanted by her, revealed his true colors and attacked Arne as soon as they were alone.

“Kyaaak!”

Yuria screamed and fled faster than anyone else as soon as the fight began.

She didn’t even have time to see who had the upper hand.

‘Whether one wins or the other, I just wish they’d both die!’

After running and running, she finally made it to the underworld office.

“Is this the amazing agency that escorted His Majesty the Emperor?”

“Gasp, that person is… Lady Yu-Yuria?”

“Why would the Saint come to a place like this…”

The organization members who recognized Yuria asked with wide eyes.

“I’m here to place a request too! Protect me from those threatening my safety, and take me to where I need to go!”

The organization members scratched their heads and showed troubled expressions at Yuria’s request.

“Ah, but last time, Big Sis handled the Emperor’s escort all by herself.”

“For someone like the Saint, shouldn’t we discuss it with Big Sis?”

Last time, they had received criticism for accepting the Emperor’s request without consulting their sister.

The surprisingly quick-learning underworld organization members explained to Yuria that she needed to wait for ‘Big Sis.’

“When will this Big Sis person arrive?”

“Well, Big Sis is always busy…”

They shrugged and told her to come back another time, but Yuria sat stiffly and waited.

“Oh! Big Sis is here!”

At someone’s announcement, she rushed downstairs.

A woman with long straight hair was talking with some rough-looking men at the entrance.

‘That woman is Big Sis!’

Yuria grabbed the woman and cried out.

“Please save me! Crazy men are trying to kill me!”

But when the woman turned to face her.

‘Gasp!’

Yuria’s eyes widened.

“Wow…”

An exclamation of admiration escaped her lips.

“So beautiful…”

***

Yuria complained to me for a long time.

That this wasn’t her real world, that she wanted to return to the world she used to live in, that her family and friends were all there…

“People in my country all had black hair and black eyes. Me too.”

Yuria chattered about her story.

‘How nice. I didn’t have a family in my previous life either.’

The setting that she was a dimensional traveler from South Korea was briefly mentioned in one sentence in the original work, but hearing directly from her about her old homeland made me think about my previous life as Kim Ga-eul.

“But when I came here, I ended up looking like that unlucky Arne god. I used to think this face was a blessing, but now I’m startled every time I look in the mirror. It’s really terrible!”

“No, those words shouldn’t come from a Saint’s mouth…”

“So the important thing is that I need to return to my real world! I even had a potential boyfriend there. Oh, a potential boyfriend is…”

Somehow, Yuria’s topic of conversation shifted from blasphemy to explaining what a potential boyfriend is.

‘I know what a potential boyfriend is. I had one, too.’

I nodded along as if hearing this for the first time while thinking to myself.

I didn’t have family, but I did have something like a potential boyfriend.

‘Ga-eul.’

The voice of the man who used to stroke my head gently formed faintly in my ears.

‘Ah. But it’s been so long that I can’t remember his face anymore.’

I tried hard to recall his face, furrowing my brow, but all I could remember was a blurry silhouette.

‘What a shame.’

But my sentimentality ended right there. I’ve lived as Jella Shunaibel for twenty years now, so that relationship was from more than 20 years ago.

If it was a relationship I could never return to, it was better to leave it as a faint memory.

“So I’m asking you. Please protect me until I can return to my original world.”

“Protect you? Who’s trying to harm you, Lady Yuria?”

“….”

At my question, Yuria became as silent as a mute who had eaten honey.

The excited chatter about her original home disappeared without a trace, and her expression darkened like someone suddenly dragged back to cold reality.

After struggling to answer, she finally spoke with a sigh.

“Who else? Niel Alpenhayer, Yupheon Arne, Cail Aleret. Those crazy men.”

“What?”

“Yes, it’s hard to believe. But it’s true!”

When I blinked in surprise, Yuria must have thought I didn’t believe her, because she suddenly stood up, planting both hands firmly on the table.

“Those men are insane! Every single one of them is crazy!”

She was so agitated that the veins in her neck were bulging.

“People are being deceived by their polished appearances. Poor things.”

“No, but…”

“They’re crazy men who would even pretend to love someone to get what they want.”

“Pretend to love?”

“Yes. This is just between us, Jella, but actually those crazy men never loved me. Quite the opposite. They tried to kill me!”

Yuria shuddered, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

At that moment, I recalled what they had said to me one by one.

‘I dislike that woman. I’ve been waiting to tell you this.’

‘I don’t like that woman. Really. I’ve never liked her.’

‘Yes, I hate her. Enough to want to kill her.’

They really never liked Yuria?

They even tried to kill Yuria?

Were those absurd claims true?

When I stared blankly with a disbelieving expression, Yuria suddenly pulled down her dress and showed me a wound on her shoulder.

“You see this? This was done by Niel Alpenhayer, that elegant madman who pretends to be a gentleman! Just yesterday!”

My eyes widened at the sight of the fresh wound.

‘Niel did this to a lady’s body?’

As I stared in bewilderment, she showed me an old, faint scar below her collarbone.

“And here. This is from 5 years ago when Yupheon Arne tried to extract my heart, saying he needed it!”

“Your h-heart? Why would he do such a thing?”

“Because he’s a lunatic, that’s why!”

Well, Yuphe being a lunatic is true. That’s true, but.

“W-why would he need your heart?”

“I don’t know. Must be his hobby. He was collecting hearts here and there.”

Yuphe has a hobby of collecting hearts?

That’s not a lunatic; that’s a deranged criminal!

“And Cail Aleret…!”

Yuria raised her voice in excitement, then suddenly shuddered with an eerie expression.

“He’s the most cra…”

But just then.

“Jella, you’re he…”

Cail, who had just returned home, was coming up to the second floor and tried to greet me when he spotted her.

Yuria’s words stopped abruptly.

In that strange silence, I felt Cail’s eyes flash.

“Kyaaak!”

“Stop!”

Without time to stop him, Cail lunged at Yuria.

I barely managed to block him and hid Yuria behind me.

I had never seen such explosive killing intent before.

Just now, Cail had truly almost killed Yuria.

It all happened in that brief moment, barely a second.

Yuria cowered behind me, terrified and unaware of what had just happened, while I confronted him, breathing heavily.

“What are you doing, Cail!”

“I told you. I’ve always wanted to kill that woman.”

Unlike me, gasping for breath, Cail answered in a calm and composed tone.

“Don’t do that. She’s my guest.”

“That woman is?”

His eyes glanced behind me with a cold, murderous intent.

It was the kind of look that could cause trouble at any moment if I didn’t speak more firmly.

“If you touch Yuria, I’ll throw you out of here.”

“…!”

Cail froze for a moment at those words.

“How could you… say so easily that you’d abandon me…”

He looked at me with resentful eyes, then asked in a low voice.

“Then is it alright if I kill her without touching her?”

…he asked!