Leopold sat at his office desk, his head in his hands.

If the hunting festival is to be held next week, manpower must be deployed to the border area, and facilities such as rest areas must also be installed.

Although Leopold doesn’t have to do all this work himself, since the hunting festival is held in an area where beasts appear, he must pay close attention.

But he simply cannot concentrate.

―Leo, Duke Noah is coming today to teach me swordsmanship.

Ariel, anticipating that he would dislike meeting Noah, cautiously began speaking, using a nickname she usually doesn’t.

‘Damn it.’

A forgotten memory flashed by.

It was of the damned Noah Diaz holding Ariel in his arms.

Leopold abruptly stood up and paced the office with his arms crossed.

Knock knock.

“Your Majesty.”

“Come in.”

As Chamberlain Richard entered the room, Leopold turned his head towards him.

“What’s happening?”

“They are in the middle of a duel.”

Anxiety was written all over the face of his lord.

Who would have thought Emperor Leopold Diaz, who had always kept women at a distance, would change this much.

Richard thought to himself that it was indeed surprising to see such a day.

“If you are uncomfortable, perhaps you should see for yourself?”

Although Leopold hadn’t thought of that himself,

He didn’t want to give her the impression that he was blinded by jealousy and interfering in every little thing.

“Her spirit is impressive. She’s not someone who has wielded a sword for just a day or two.”

After Richard finished speaking, he bowed his head.

‘I was truly curious.’

If Richard speaks so highly of her, her skills must be extraordinary.

Leopold suddenly remembered the practice sword hanging in her room.

“Is that so?”

His eyes narrowed.

He now had an excuse to go there.

To check if she has enough skill to participate in the hunting festival, under the pretext of just dropping by.

Leopold nodded and spoke.

“I’ll go see Ariel for a moment, call Evan and Walter. We have things to discuss about the hunting festival.”

Then he hurried towards the door.

Click, thud!

Leopold Diaz disappeared outside the office. Only Richard was left alone in the office.

‘It’s fortunate that you have someone to care for, Your Majesty.’

Richard smiled with relief.

***

By the time Leopold arrived, Ariel and Noah were walking out of the garden, deep in conversation.

‘Should they be this close?’

Seeing how friendly the two appeared, Leopold felt a sense of crisis.

“El.”

He called out Ariel’s nickname, wanting him to hear it.

With a low and clear voice, Ariel looked around.

‘I have no mana. Just as I expected, daily life is inconvenient.’

If she had mana, she would have sensed his presence even before he called out to her.

Even though she should be getting used to life without mana, it was still bitter every time she realized it.

“I see the glory of Atlan.”

Duke Noah Diaz suddenly turned around and bowed in respect.

He followed her gaze, and saw Leopold standing there.

“What brings you here? I heard you were busy.”

“I came to see if you indeed have the skills to participate in the hunting festival.”

Leopold gently wrapped his arm around Ariel’s shoulder.

Looking at this, Noah’s golden eyes flickered.

‘I haven’t even touched her yet.’

Watching Leopold Diaz freely touching and embracing her stirred something boiling inside Noah.

He’s unfamiliar with such feelings, so Noah didn’t even realize he was feeling jealous.

“Coming all the way to the palace to help the empress with her swordsmanship practice. Duke Noah, thank you.”

“It’s nothing, Your Majesty. With my modest skills, there’s nothing more I could teach her. She is more than qualified to participate in the hunting festival.”

However, as Noah spoke, Leopold’s brows furrowed like a crumpled piece of paper.

He noticed Ariel’s sword hanging on Noah’s shoulder.

“Give it to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“El’s sword.”

Noah Diaz unbuckled the sword belt and handed it over to Leopold.

“Take care.”

Leopold tried to move forward with Ariel’s shoulder under his arm, but Ariel didn’t move.

Although Noah Diaz had come here on his own accord, Ariel had accepted his offer because she needed his help.

To find out how she ended up here and how to regain her mana.

“Duke. Thank you for making time today. See you at the hunting festival.”

“It was my honor, Your Majesty.”

Ariel nodded towards Noah.

“Well then.”

Ariel then shifted her gaze from him and looked up at Leopold, who was looking down at her.

“Let’s go, Your Majesty.”

Ariel walked ahead, grabbed Leopold’s hand resting on her shoulder, and pulled on his arm.

At that touch, the jealousy flickering in Leopold’s red eyes lightly trembled.

“Yes. Take it.”

Strength flowed into the hand holding the sword hilt, and soon, Leopold began to walk, led by Ariel’s hand.

“Is everything going well?”

This hunting festival was an event for Ariel’s splendid performance, so it was planned to encourage the madams and young ladies to participate.

A hunting ground for them had to be prepared. A place where they could hunt small and cute monsters and enjoy hunting together.

But that task was…

“Not easy.”

It wasn’t that easy.

To protect the place where the women could enjoy hunting, a large number of imperial mages had to be deployed to cast protective barriers.

And in case of any unforeseen situations, the imperial knights had to be stationed to block the approach of demonic beasts.

Ariel stopped at Leopold’s answer.

When she turned around, Leopold’s expression was not very bright.

“It seems I’ve made an unreasonable request to Your Majesty.”

The grip of Ariel’s hand, which had been holding Leopold’s hand tightly, loosened.

“That’s not it. The current situation is just not very good.”

Leopold lightly grasped Ariel’s hand, which was trying to slip away like a handful of sand.

“Since the disappearance of demonic beast hunters in Kolnman, dark mages have started to run rampant. Because of that, the number of demonic beasts has also increased exponentially.”

Leopold hurriedly continued.

“So, there are just more things to worry about, it was never an unreasonable request.”

He gladly accepted Ariel’s request.

Without fully understanding what needed to be prepared for the hunting festival.

Above all, the safety of the participants was the most important thing.

“If it’s too much trouble, please let me know. I’m okay with it.”

Leopold, with his other hand that was not holding Ariel’s hand, stroked her cheek.

—Then, how about a hunting festival instead of a banquet?

He could still see Ariel’s face, which had brightened up while bringing up the hunting festival, in front of him.

‘She says she’s okay with it, but now she’s making such a disappointed face.’

Leopold’s hand ruffled through Ariel’s long golden hair and grasped her slender nape.

“I’m fine, really.”

Leopold pulled Ariel’s head towards him, and his face slowly came down as well.

His soft and gentle lips swallowed hers.

***

Inside a dark cave.

When water dripped from the ceiling. Two dark mages in black robes appeared.

“The Atlan Empire is holding a hunting festival.”

“A hunting festival? What kind of hunting festival?”

A sinister voice mixed with a metallic sound echoed through the cave.

“A demonic beast hunting festival. Duke Noah Diaz is also participating.”

“Ha!”

The manifestation of Demon King Aristo, Duke Noah Diaz’s pathetic figure, elicited his scornful laughter.

Ariel Clark is not a foolish woman blinded by jealousy to the point of selling her soul, is she?

To save her, Demon King Aristo turned back time and poured all his abilities into her. Eventually, he broke the law of causality and was reborn as a human instead of a demon king.

‘I was eagerly awaiting your revival, gathering your black wings that scattered across the world.’

Yet he is still lost in a game of love, unable to come to his senses.

The event of Ariel Clark marrying Leopold Diaz was already known to the dark mages.

Seeing Noah Diaz pining over a woman who is already married made him feel pitifully pathetic.

“Tsk!”

Diaton, the leader of the dark mages, clicked his tongue roughly.

How could he trust such a cruel demon king?

Especially when he has lost all his powers.

Anger flared on his pale face.

“What should we do, boss?”

“We need to make an example. They dare hold a demonic beast hunting festival? Ha!”

With Ariel Clark’s mana already taken away, Diaton had nothing to fear.

If necessary, he could also take away Leopold Diaz’s mana.

‘Ah… I’ve thought of something even better.’

Diaton stretched his lips into a long grin and chuckled, then approached the person standing next to him and whispered something in his ear.

“Kahahaha! That sounds fun, boss. I will carry out the order.”

Something very interesting was about to happen.

In the darkness, Diaton’s eyes twinkled.