The duke’s eyes glittered sharply.

Selina had gained the ability to command spirits.

This meant that if he could calm her down enough, he could use her immense power however he wanted.

‘She was foolish to begin with. With a little coaxing, she’ll come around.’

Bryson remembered how Selina had once shown cracks even at the slightest hint of attention or affection.

“Selina.”

He decided to persuade her—bring her over to his side.

“I know you’ve harbored resentment toward me. I won’t claim that I was a kind father to you.”

The duke abruptly changed his approach.

“But as you know, I’ve never been good to anyone. I simply didn’t know how.”

Selina narrowed her eyes and studied his expression carefully. She wondered if he was trying to lull her into a false sense of security before attacking.

“Still, I forgave you. Even though you had already betrayed me once. You know how difficult that was for me.”

Yet it did not seem like an ambush. Amid the long-winded, empty words, there appeared to be a trace of sincerity mixed in.

‘So now that he knows I can command spirits, he’s changing his strategy.’

Selina suppressed a bitter laugh.

He was her father, yet she could see straight through him.

How little did he think of her to believe that such a tactic would work?

“I see.”

After listening quietly, Selina nodded.

“It’s true—I’ve never seen Father forgive anyone.”

“Yes. That means I cherish you far more than others.”

“No.”

Selina shook her head firmly.

“It’s because I’m still useful to you.”

“My child, that’s not—”

The duke began to protest.

“I’m sorry, but I gave up expecting affection or goodwill from you a very long time ago. So stop this pathetic act.”

The moment the words left her lips, Selina lunged at the duke, her sword arcing through the air.

The faint, moonlit glow shifted in an instant — no longer gentle, but twisted into something blood-soaked and monstrous, as though it were about to slit the duke’s throat.

He flinched, narrowly managing to evade the blow.

Though he had escaped with his life, the humiliation burned far more deeply. Being threatened by someone he had always believed he could use and discard at will left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“So be it. If you’re truly determined to turn against me, then I’ll accept it.”

It would have been a shame to kill Selina now that she had become a spirit master.

However, a dog that bites its owner cannot be allowed to live.

If that dog happened to be human, there would be all the more reason to kill it.

“How dare you betray me?!”

Duke Bryson began to hack wildly at Selina with his sword.

Perhaps because he had never been on a battlefield before, his grip on the blade looked clumsy and uncertain.

Only now did his true nature reveal itself.

He was a pitiful man, incapable of standing on his own two feet and surviving without exploiting those around him.

The years Selina had spent yearning for his love now seemed contemptible, and all the time she had endured for his sake felt utterly meaningless and hollow.

“Your attacks are slow. I can’t imagine how you ever became a duke with skills like that.”

Selina deliberately provoked Bryson by hurling mockery intended to inflame his anger.

It was clear that someone as insignificant as Bryson had no chance against Selina, a woman who could command spirits.

And yet, there was no hint of panic on his face.

“Curious how I became a duke?”

His lips curled into a vile smile as he pulled something out of his clothes.

In that instant, a strange scent stabbed at her nose. Startled, Selina hurriedly covered her face with her sleeve, but it was already too late. The peculiar fragrance had already seeped in and slid deep into her lungs.

“Ugh….”

Selina, who had held the upper hand until now, suddenly dropped to her knees and collapsed.

Bryson looked down at her with unhurried composure and spoke.

“You didn’t seem to be taking the antidote I gave you lately, so I prepared this. I had a feeling you weren’t listening to me anymore.”

He took out a strange-smelling incense candle from his clothes.

The others nearby did not react strongly to it. However, its effect on Selina was overwhelming — strong enough to shake her entire body and leave her paralyzed from head to toe.

“Do you really think I’ve been letting poison accumulate in your body all this time for no reason? This is exactly what it was meant for.”

“B-but I definitely took the antidote…”

“You’ve been ingesting poison for more than a decade. It’s laughable to think a single dose of antidote would cleanse it all.”

He snorted derisively as he looked down at Selina, collapsed on the floor.

“I didn’t expect to kill you this way, but it seems your fate ends here.”

Bryson let out a low chuckle as he raised his sword high above his head.

In that instant, Selina’s whole life flashed before her eyes, from childhood to the present day.

From a very young age, her world had been unbearably small.

The place she was confined to was dark and cramped, utterly devoid of life.

Deprived of anyone’s attention, she clung desperately to the rare scraps of affection her father offered her. Yet no matter how hard she tried to earn his love, he never came.

As the days of solitude stretched on, Selina was forced to seek out something — anything — that would help her endure.

It was a single bookshelf tucked away in a corner of the monastery that sustained the young girl.

Among all those books, one remained etched most vividly in her memory: a fairy tale about a princess.

It told the story of a princess trapped in a tower and the knight who came to rescue her. The knight fought the dragon that had abducted the princess, but fell to his death in the struggle. Everyone believed he had died, yet the princess never stopped believing he was alive.

To help him find his way back, she scattered stars across the sky to mark her location. Guided by their light, the knight returned, slew the dragon, and rescued the princess.

‘I wish someone would come and save me too.’

As a child, Selina had always waited for a knight who would come for her.

And as time passed—

“I’ll come for you.”

She did indeed meet a knight.

But there was one thing she hadn’t realized.

Calix was a splendid knight, but Selina was no princess.

‘I can be the starlight that guides a knight’s path… but I can never be the princess.’

She had been born into a different fate from the very beginning.

‘So all I can do is light the path ahead for Calix.’

With that resolve hardened in her heart, she looked straight at the duke.

***

Until the massive army the duke had brought with him arrived, the tide of battle had steadily favored the Thalian forces. Then, abruptly, the situation shifted.

A huge number of soldiers surged forward and launched a relentless *ssault on the Thalian ranks. The Thalian soldiers were powerless against such a large number of attackers and were cut down one by one.

Calix was no exception.

He fought with everything he had and forced himself to endure, but the wounds he had already sustained had surpassed the limits of what his regenerative ability could heal immediately.

‘Just a little longer….’

Yet Calix was waiting for something.

It was time.

If Zenfri had successfully completed his mission, then the situation would soon be reversed.

Clenching his teeth, Calix held on, batting away the spears and arrows raining down on him as he waited for that moment.

Even as he struggled desperately, Selina’s image flickered through his mind.

He had clearly seen Duke Bryson heading towards her. The duke had looked utterly unprepared for the possibility of her betraying him.

A wave of unease surged through Calix at the thought of the duke harming her.

Nevertheless, there was something he clung to, however fragile it was.

Bryson was selfish and would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, but he was still Selina’s father.

‘He won’t kill her. He won’t.’

Unable to rush to Selina’s side, he became increasingly desperate.

As countless soldiers continued to advance on him, he lost all sense of what was happening to her.

Gritting his teeth, Calix endured the relentless attacks crashing down upon him.

How much time had passed?

KWAANG—!!!

At last, a thunderous roar echoed from the direction of the castle gates.

“Your Grace!”

The tremendous crash, as if the castle gates had been forced open, was exactly what Calix had been waiting for.

The gates shattered, allowing countless soldiers to pour in.

Their numbers were just as formidable as the huge army that the duke had brought with him.

Zenfri stood at the head of the army, upright despite leaning on a crutch.

‘He succeeded.’

Only then did Calix finally allow the corner of his lips to lift in relief.

Before coming here, Calix had entrusted Zenfri with a special task.

“It would be best if everything goes according to plan, but things can go wrong at any time. And as you know, if we fail this time, there won’t be a second chance. That’s why I’m asking this of you.”

In truth, it was less a request than a mission Zenfri had no choice but to accomplish.

“Secure reinforcements from the surrounding nations. The larger the force, the better. If the Empire intervenes midway, we’ll be outnumbered.”

“…The plan itself is sound. But let me ask you honestly—do you think the neighboring countries will help us? Thalia is already a nation in decline.”

“All the more reason they will.”

Calix spoke with absolute certainty.

“Ask them this: if the breakwater that has been holding back the Empire’s advance disappears, where do they think the Empire will strike next?”

Everything unfolded exactly as Calix had predicted.

When asked where the Empire would turn its blades once Thalia fell, the neighboring nations hesitated only briefly before sending reinforcements without further delay.

Zenfri therefore arrived slightly late, but he had kept his promise to Calix. Grinning broadly, he waved his hand vigorously in Calix’s direction.