When she opened the white envelope, a light golden letter paper appeared. She carefully took it out and unfolded it.

「My Dear Ariel Clark,

I am writing this in haste, in case you are preparing to enter the palace today. 

I hope you will rest well for a while.

If your body and mind are fully prepared, please contact me. 

I am always ready to come and fetch you any time.

Leopold Diaz.」

In the short time she read the letter, her eyes repeatedly widened and narrowed. Even after reading the entire letter, she gazed at it for a while, focusing on the term 「My Dear.」

If his attitude toward Ariel could be summarized in one word, it would be 「My Dear.」

A faint blush appeared on her pale face. 

It felt as if someone was tickling her heart with a chiffon scarf. 

She wished she could scratch her heart to relieve this emotion.

‘Ariel Clark, why are you getting so immersed in a single letter? No matter how hard you try to think of an escape, it’s not enough.’

She even tried splashing cold water on her face, but the heat just wouldn’t dissipate.

Ariel folded the letter paper and put it in the envelope before placing it in her robe pocket. 

She absentmindedly touched the surface of the envelope with her hand as she headed towards the kitchen.

Perhaps everyone was waiting for her to arrive.

“Did you sleep well, Ariel? You don’t look well.”

Rodney, the youngest son of the Clarks, approached her.

“Really? I’m a bit tired, but I’m fine.”

“Thankfully, you don’t have a fever. Since it’s getting colder, make sure to dress warmly even when you’re inside.”

After gently touching Ariel’s forehead, Rodney tightly wrapped her in her robe.

“What about older brother?”

“I didn’t know. It seems that older brother Evan will go straight to the palace from Norca. I think he couldn’t come home yesterday because he was dealing with the incident.”

“Everyone must have had a hard time because of me.”

“That’s right. Why did you go there alone?”

“I don’t know about the ways of the world. I underestimated it and got into big trouble. I was so scared, thinking I might die. I should have taken a sword with me.”

Ariel said as if she didn’t know what to do, her shoulders trembling. 

It took a long time for her to pretend to be an ignorant noblewoman. Even without a sword, she had enough ability to subdue them, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so under Liese’s watchful eyes.

If she had had a sword, the situation would have been resolved more quickly. But she couldn’t tell these things to the older brother who didn’t know her true identity.

Ariel sat down with a wry smile, and Rodney sat opposite her.

Just then, Walter entered the dining room.

“Well, at least you sent May away. Lucky you, kid!”

Walter lightly tapped Ariel’s forehead and then sat down next to Rodney.

Whether he hit her for real or not, Ariel winced as she rubbed the spot with her hand.

“Now you should be careful.”

“That’s right. You really need to pull yourself together now.”

Walter became concerned. It seemed that Ariel didn’t fully understand what it meant to become part of the imperial family.

Rodney’s expression stiffened as he understood the meaning of Walter’s words.

‘Last night, Ariel made a bombshell declaration. She said she would enter the palace immediately. She even asked for the wedding to be held a month from now.’

Looking at Ariel with a worried expression, Rodney spoke up.

“That aside, you mentioned to His Majesty that you would enter the palace today.”

“His Majesty sent a letter, saying that I don’t have to go immediately. He told me to do as I please.”

Rodney and Walter were relieved by Ariel’s response.

“But who is Noah Diaz? Judging by his title, he’s definitely a noble.”

“Duke Noah Diaz? How do you know him?”

Walter asked in a puzzled tone.

“He’s the one who saved me yesterday.”

“Wasn’t it His Majesty who saved you?”

Rodney also looked surprised, his eyes widening.

“Oh, His Majesty mentioned it before I entered the house yesterday. You didn’t know? But I didn’t think it was such a surprising thing.”

Ariel said as if it didn’t matter.

“It is surprising. A few years ago, he was granted territory in the Northern White as a relative of the emperor. He should have been staying there, so why was he in Norca?”

Walter said, stroking his chin.

Leopold’s cousin, the White territory…

Ariel tried to piece together the clues from Walter’s words, but she couldn’t recall who he was in the original story.

“I don’t know either. He jumped down from a tree. He was quite agile.”

“Well, he’s known for his swordsmanship, second only to His Majesty.”

Rodney interjected Walter’s words.

“Why would someone like that be sent to the northern border region?”

“After the death of the demon king Aristo, those waiting for his resurrection created demons through black magic. His Majesty sent him to exterminate those lunatics.”

She already knew about the original Ariel calling black magicians to the palace to eliminate Liese.

But the fact that the black magicians were minions of the demon king Aristo was new to her.

Ariel was perplexed by this unfamiliar story.

‘The trigger for Liese’s divine power was related to these black magicians.’

But there was no mention of the demon king Aristo in the original work. The appearance of Duke Noah, who does not appear in the original work, and even the background of the original story that she didn’t know.

Ariel clenched her jaw with a sharp look. His presence was suspicious. His appearance, too.

‘If he had such martial skills to be mentioned alongside Leopold’s name, there shouldn’t have been so many demons appearing in the Kolnman region.’

But since there was no immediate way to resolve this curiosity, she buried today’s stories in her mind.

***

“Captain, you look very tired.”

“I couldn’t sleep, that’s why.”

Evan, who had not slept a wink all night, finished the dawn training with the soldiers.

The crisp autumn morning air was quite chilly. Drinking in the chilly air did not do any favors for his condition.

Evan planned to lie down in the knights’ duty room until Liese arrived.

He rubbed his face with his hand, feeling irritable from fatigue.

Last night, he met with the lords of Norca to verify the identities of the troublemakers. He then took them into custody and sent them to the prison known as Forand’s Hell.

‘Ariel tried to settle into a life of seclusion, but it seems that only brought more worries.’

As he was lying on the bed, Evan thought of Ariel. His younger sister, twelve years his junior, was love personified to Evan.

Ariel had always been self-centered. Despite her young age, she always wanted to be the center of attention.

And she couldn’t stand not doing things her way.

It had been more than ten years since the incident when she fell from the carriage.

She had opened the door of the carriage as a way to express her dissatisfaction with their father, who wouldn’t let her buy dresses and jewelry as she pleased.

Of course, she had no intention of throwing herself out.

But when the carriage wheels rattled over a large boulder, Ariel was flung out of the carriage door due to the wind rolling over the poorly maintained road.

Her body was left battered and unconscious in a ditch.

Evan thought he had lost his beloved sister, but one day she suddenly opened her eyes. She had become a completely different person.

Her once sensitive and irritable temperament had softened and become warm. Her irritable voice had turned affectionate.

She showed proper respect to their parents and brothers and didn’t act on her own accord.

At first, Evan thought that Ariel had reflected on her previous life after almost losing her life in the accident.

But she had forgotten all the previous things she learned, such as etiquette and court dance, and even her detailed memories.

She should have been touring boutiques and bakeries after the accident, but she hardly ever went out after that.

Then suddenly, she declared that she would study in Kolnman and never visited home again after leaving.

At first, she even wrote letters once a month as promised, but over time, she hardly even did that.

Evan didn’t know what she was learning or how she was doing from the letters Ariel sent.

He found out about Ariel learning swordsmanship from a letter written by Ron.

So ten years had passed.

Ariel, who returned home upon her mother’s request, had become a different person.

‘She used to have quite a lively side before studying abroad.’

With this thought as his last, Evan’s consciousness faded away. He quickly drifted off to sleep.

But a soldier standing guard at the entrance rushed into the duty room and opened the door to Evan’s room.

Startled by the sound, Evan opened his eyes.

“Captain! Someone is looking for you. It’s Priest Liese Willington from the Holy See.”

“Oh, has it been that time already? Bring her to the reception room. I’ll be out shortly.”

The lovely face of the lady he met yesterday came to Evan’s mind.

Large pupils framed by lush eyelashes, fair and clear skin, and a beautifully shaped nose as if crafted by an artist. Regardless of her social status, an air of elegance and a noble atmosphere emanated from her.

Evan got up, feeling a tingling pain near his heart.