Cesare opened his eyes wide while Vanessa stared at him anxiously.

“Who the hell is that guy.”

He frowned.

The seat next to Marian had always belonged to him. Whether she came from the streets or was a monster’s offspring. As long as she was a princess and a mage, she should belong to him. He gritted his teeth.

Vanessa craned her neck to see where he was looking. Princess Marian? She pouted. What happened at the arena today was good for her. Cesare had been by her side at an official event!

But his gaze had been on Marian all day. He wouldn’t even look at Vanessa when he was by Marian’s side, but now that they’re apart, he’s suddenly longing for her?

Venom filled her heart.

‘Marian, Ellie, Marian, Ellie. Damn those women.’

She bit her lip hard. She couldn’t find Ellie. She was told to be a maid in the imperial palace, but no matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find the woman he was looking for.

‘Well. I’ll just kill all the maids named Ellie.’

In truth, she wanted to tear Marian apart and kill her. But she couldn’t do that to a princess, so what could she do? She had to eliminate the other woman instead. Vanessa ground her teeth.

She hated him looking at another woman.

While she harbored malicious thoughts, Cesare was watching Marian and the unidentified man. The necklace around Marian’s neck caught his eye. Once again, Ellie’s image overlapped with Marian’s. He rubbed his eyes.

Then, in that place again was Marian, with her black hair, blue eyes, and skinny body.

‘How strange. Am I going crazy?’

There’s definitely an ominous smell. Both from that man and from Marian.

Moreover, that man. He heard he was a penniless miner, but for someone like that, he blended into this place too easily.

Usually, commoners who come to such places are fearful and confused, but he was relaxed like he was born a king.

‘Is he really a miner?’

Cesare smiled coldly. No way. That guy definitely hides something. Those who emit such a dangerous scent should have their buds cut off before they cause problems. He smiled icily.

He should have someone follow that so-called One-Strike Knight.

**

Though he had been with Marian throughout the banquet, he couldn’t return with her. Abel, who had left the imperial palace, clicked his tongue lightly.

He returned to the vicinity of the imperial palace after going around once, when the palace had quietly fallen asleep.

Not just the palace, but the entire street was asleep.

The excitement from the gladiatorial tournament had completely subsided.

It wouldn’t be long before he had to stop hiding his identity. Abel climbed onto the wall of the imperial palace in a good mood. He walked leisurely along the wall. Under the moonlight, his deep golden hair swayed. He slowly turned his head.

He had been aware of the eerie footsteps following him. Abel looked down.

“You don’t need to hide like that.”

A dense magical field spread far and wide. He curved his lips upward. Abel pulled in the magical field. Those caught in it like fish were dragged along.

“Huh, gasp! What is this!”

“I-Insane! A ghost?! Let me go!”

The assassins, whose ankles were being dragged, rolled on the ground. He jumped down in front of them.

“I don’t need to ask who sent you.”

These were people who had been following him as soon as he showed himself at the official event today. It must be either Cesare or Benjamin. He raised his lips. A red haze rose around him.

Abel approached them.

“D-Don’t do this! Don’t come closer! You demon!!”

“If you knew I was a demon, you shouldn’t have followed me in the first place.”

He said coldly. Abel gestured with his chin. The two assassins who were lying face down on the ground were suspended in mid-air. The men who were struggling while being strangled foamed at the mouth.

“Kuhak, hak!”

“Still, I need to know who’s behind this.”

He nodded slightly.

“Who’s going to tell me? You? Or you?”

The assassins struggled whenever his gaze met theirs.

“Ah, to speak, I should open your mouths.”

“Uh, aaaack!”

The sound of flesh tearing echoed through the empty street. The assassins with torn mouths vomited blood profusely. He stared at it with cold eyes.

“Now, who sent you?”

It was a smooth voice without a trace of emotion.

“Y-You don’t intend to let us go alive.”

Abel stretched his lips.

“If you followed me in the first place, you should have been prepared for that. Did you really not think about that while following someone?”

“…W-We… Spare us! We’ll tell you everything!”

The assassin trembled and fell forward. Both men’s pronunciation was slurred because their lips were torn sideways. He ran his hand over his face.

“Duke Madrian, Duke Madrian sent us! He just told us to find out who you are and where you stay! That’s really all!”

“P-Please spare us…!”

Abel ran his tongue over his lips.

That dog, Cesare Madrian.

Always crossing the line. A red tinge appeared in his green eyes, which he had been disguising. The anger that he had been suppressing began to seep out. A haze rose over the magical field.

“Have you heard of Drake?”

Sins are inherited. All the sins committed by Madrian were inherited by his son. If they had been working for Madrian all along, they would know about past incidents.

The assassins looked at each other, turning pale.

“D-Drake…”

“I-I don’t know anything.”

He let out an empty laugh. So they do know.

It was like that day too. Countless innocent people died, crying out for help. But what about Madrian and the imperial family? They slaughtered and tore apart innocent people.

Abel vowed, at the moment when his father’s and mother’s heads fell before him, and when his newborn younger sibling’s heart was pierced.

That he would slaughter them all.

Tuk, tuk, tuk.

The magical field formed a round sphere and trapped the assassins inside. They screamed and struggled inside, but not a sound escaped the magical field.

He sighed.

“Now that you know I’m this kind of monster, how could I let you live?”

The assassins shook their heads frantically.

“I know what kind of men you are.”

His voice twisted strangely.

“You follow Madrian around and take care of his dirty work. You’re the main players who pushed Drake into ruin, aren’t you?”

The assassins dripped snot and tears. Those who sensed death shuddered. They had probably spent their lives killing others but had never been cornered like this.

Hatred seeped into Abel’s eyes.

He flicked his finger. Blood splattered inside the formless round sphere made of magical field. Abel stared at it expressionlessly.

He flicked his finger once more.

The sphere containing the corpses slowly seeped into the ground.

He stared at it with cold eyes.

No one would find them. No one would remember their deaths. Like that, they become earth and go to hell.

Abel continued walking as if nothing had happened. Marian would be waiting. She seems tough, but she’s a soft-hearted person.

He added a calm smile.

With a smooth face, he crossed into the princess’s palace.

“Marian. For dinner.”

Greeting her as if nothing had happened.

**

Meanwhile, at the Madrian ducal estate.

For the first time in a long while, Cesare was spending the night sober. He asked in a cold voice,

“They still haven’t returned?”

“No, Your Grace.”

His eyes sank. He had only ordered them to find out where the man was staying. He had told them to return before midnight.

Cesare tapped the desk, tuk, tuk.

Strange. Things kept disappearing one by one. The family seal, the head butler, and now even those he used like his limbs. He said coldly,

“I need to assign more people to watch him. Follow him as soon as the match ends tomorrow.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

**

Today is the day Helena leaves. Marian’s heart sank solemnly.

‘I can do this.’

She swallowed hard.

If she fails this time, it won’t be her life that crumbles, but Helena’s. It seems she isn’t quite ready to gamble with someone else’s life. Judging by how much she’s trembling.

After taking the medicine Rosette had prepared for her, Marian set out.

Despite having told Abel several times, tension dried her mouth.

‘I’m leaving with Helena today…’

‘Stop. That’s the fifth time already. Don’t you trust me?’

Within those playfully curved eyes was a man hardened by countless hardships. That’s right, this was Abel.

He was the kind of man who could survive even in barren land where not a single blade of grass could grow. Marian bit her lip firmly. Somehow, all the scars on her body seemed to ache.

The final preliminary round had begun. After today, there would be a week-long break before the main tournament started. During that week, Federico planned to receive foreign dignitaries flooding in from across the continent and renovate the arena.

‘Please, let nothing go wrong.’

Marian clasped her hands together.

God had never once answered her prayers. He had never taken her side. But just this once, please.

Her chin trembled. She prayed that today would end peacefully.