The curtain for the third day was rising. The massive arena crouched like a concentration of people’s desires all gathered in one place.

Marian, too, was drawn inside.

The smell of beer and butter-fried peanuts filled her nose.

The crowd’s cheers pierced her ears. All her senses opened wide. She spread a magic field across the enormous arena. She wouldn’t miss even a single variable. Rather, arriving here had calmed her mind.

“I will never fail.”

Marian traced the line of her nape with her fingertips. This was the prologue to a great journey.

**

That afternoon, at the delegation’s lodgings.

Jeremy perked up his ears like a wary cat.

‘Where has everyone gone?’

Strangely, the lodgings were excessively quiet. He couldn’t sense any presence. Jeremy put his ear to the door and then slumped down on the floor.

Like a still life in an empty room without a single piece of furniture.

He buried his face in his hands.

“…Helena.”

Jeremy murmured.

He was a knight who came from an orphanage with no one to look for. When Jeremy, who had nothing, finally became a princess’s guard knight, he thought his life had blossomed.

Until he fell in love with his lady.

“Haah.”

Jeremy grabbed his head and banged it against the wall. He had loved her with his entire soul, so he had no regrets or lingering attachments.

He didn’t even fear having to watch Helena’s wedding before dying, as it still didn’t feel real.

The only thing that worried him was Helena being left alone.

Helena was someone who got very lonely. He was concerned about her having to live alone in this distant land.

‘They say he already has a bastard child. They say he’s extremely promiscuous. What should I do, Jeremy? Do I have to live with such a man for the rest of my life? I hate it! I can’t do it!’

That face, crying her eyes out, was forever etched in his heart. If Benjamin was such trash as Helena said, her married life would never be happy.

“Is there no way?”

Jeremy banged his head again.

Perhaps it would have been better to die together when they were caught trying to escape. As Helena had wished.

But Helena was about to get married, and Jeremy was like a rat in solitary confinement. He gritted his teeth.

Bang, bang!

The sound of his head hitting the wall grew louder.

He felt like he was going mad. There was nothing he could do in this empty room. Jeremy had been helplessly reliving his memories with Helena for days. He clenched his teeth.

‘How dare you look at my daughter? Is she even worthy of you? How can a knight who lives off the country’s wages be so shameless?’

King Jains’s words were stuck in Jeremy’s heart like thorns. King Jains had treated him as less than a mere worm.

‘Do you think you were the only parasite clinging to Helena! What about those who tried to take advantage of her innocence! Just tell me what you want, Jeremy.’

A filthy parasite.

Looking back now, what was different? Compared to the poor Jeremy, Helena was wealthy. She had given him many things. An expensive sword forged with precious minerals, thin armor that was difficult to penetrate with a blade, and even her precious heart.

She had never left him wanting, either materially or emotionally.

In contrast, what had Jeremy done?

From his poor means, all he could offer were bouquets or handkerchiefs. He had often pushed away her precious heart and made Helena cry more than once or twice.

All of that remained as regret.

“If I had known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have made her cry like that.”

Jeremy burst into tears.

“A man shouldn’t cry. At the very least, you should have the rage to tear them to pieces.”

He raised his head. Strangely, he couldn’t sense even the slightest presence. His heart sank. He definitely hadn’t heard the door open.

Jeremy turned to look at the door.

It was still locked just as before.

“Wh-what is this! A-are you a ghost?”

Jeremy asked in a trembling voice.

“Why are there so many ghost-seekers these days.”

Abel approached Jeremy. Under the light, Jeremy shrank before the man’s threatening gaze. He must seem too insignificant to this man. It would feel like throwing an egg against a rock.

Even just making eye contact, the stark difference was palpable.

Jeremy took a step back.

“How, how did you get in?”

Abel curled his lips. Unlike the men he’d been meeting lately, Jeremy’s eyes were clean. For someone incapable of protecting his woman, he was tolerable. Abel let out a snicker.

“You should ask who sent me.”

“Um, who…”

“Your woman.”

Abel glanced around the room once and shrugged.

“Princess Helena wants you.”

Jeremy’s eyes widened. This was an unexpected situation. Helena would also be under strict surveillance. King Jains was a meticulous person.

“H-how do I get out of here? No, what should I do once I’m out? It won’t be easy to escape if King Jains and Federico chase after us together.”

Jeremy rambled incoherently. In his bewilderment, words tumbled out without order.

“So you’re saying you won’t go?”

“I…”

Jeremy bit his blanket firmly.

“I can’t let Helena live as a fugitive…”

Abel shook his head. In truth, it didn’t matter what Jeremy was thinking or what decision he would make. What mattered was that Princess Helena, who had made a deal with Marian, wanted Jeremy.

“I’ve listened to this much. I think I’ve been quite kind.”

Abel spoke in clipped sentences. He coldly raised his lips.

“Should I tell her I treated you well?”

“What?”

Abel snapped his fingers.

“Huk!”

Jeremy collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Abel tapped the fallen Jeremy. He easily hoisted Jeremy onto his shoulder.

Abel flung open the window and jumped down. He licked his lips.

Right now, trackers sent by Cesare were clinging outside. Having seen Abel enter the delegation’s mansion, they would report to Cesare.

‘It appears to be someone belonging to the Jains delegation,’ they would say.

Abel smoothly evaded the trackers. He exited through a different place than where he had entered. Even if they waited for Abel outside all day, they wouldn’t catch even a glimpse of him.

‘Stupid fools.’

Abel pushed Jeremy, whom he had been carrying on his shoulder, into the carriage. The coachman’s eyes met Abel’s.

“To Liebe Lucerta.”

“Yes.”

The coachman nodded and set the carriage in motion.

Abel cracked his neck from side to side. He moved leisurely through the sunlight. His golden hair fluttered in the sunlight.

“Whew.”

Finally, he smiled refreshingly.

**

Abel’s magic field was felt.

As promised with Marian, Abel sent a signal through his magic field. It was saying ‘Now!’

Marian glanced at Helena sitting next to Benjamin. He was looking around the banquet hall like a guardian of hell.

Marian clasped her trembling hands together.

“Helena. It seems all the delegation members are present today. Did everyone come without exception?”

Helena raised her head like a startled puppy. Marian could see her lips trembling. She glanced at Benjamin and nodded.

She had realized this was the signal.

That was the signal that Jeremy had been safely extracted.

“Yes, Marian. Since it’s the last day, I invited all the delegation members. I thought we could all enjoy together.”

“Well done, Helena. Thanks to you, the banquet has become more abundant.”

Benjamin interjected in the conversation.

“How fortunate to have those who can fill the empty seats. In fact, the Jains delegation is more precious than Duke Cesare.”

Cesare did not attend today’s banquet. Though uncertain what he might be doing right now, Benjamin seemed to feel insulted by that alone.

“Thank you for saying so, Benjamin. Um, I’ll go to the restroom for a bit.”

Helena whispered softly.

“Would you like to come along, Marian?”

“I’m fine, Helena.”

Her eyes wavered. This was also one of the signals they had agreed upon. Refusing Helena’s invitation to go to the restroom together. She stood up from her seat.

Click, click.

After confirming her retreating figure, Marian swallowed a sigh of relief.

Helena would leave the banquet hall and go to Abel. Marian extended her magic field to follow her. Though she sent her alone, she was not truly alone. Helena’s steps were getting faster. To guide her, who was unfamiliar with the geography of this place, Marian showed her the way through magic.

‘Are you the person who came to get me?’

Marian’s heart pounded at the sound of conversation coming from afar.

‘Yes, that’s right.’

It was Abel’s voice. And his magic field could be felt too. Marian bit her lip tightly. Her back, which had been stiff with tension, collapsed.

She was so focused that she didn’t notice Benjamin calling her.

“Marian! I’m calling you right now.”

“…Ah.”

Marian turned her head to stare at Benjamin. He twisted his face and distorted his lips as well. An ugly face barely holding back his desire to express irritation.

“Why are you calling me?”

“Have you contacted Duke Cesare?”

“No.”

“What makes you so special that you keep your nose up in the air? I got angry on your behalf, so you should have appeased Cesare’s anger!”