I wore a hollow expression. A six-month fiancée of the Grand Duke was clearly a fraying rope. And there was still plenty of talk within the grand ducal castle about my position.

One camp believed David cherished me and I would become Grand Duchess. Another believed that since he was still bringing other women in, I would soon be discarded.

I shook my head, tired of it all.

“Anyway, I never taught you the most important skill in professional life, which is knowing whose side to be on, yet you’ve got sharp instincts.”

At my words, Michael gave a peculiar smile. His eyes curved upward sharply and the muscles in his cheeks quivered faintly. It was an unfamiliar expression, but I still thought he was a sweet kid.

Then Michael leaned in and whispered quietly, just to me.

“Oh, Teacher. I looked outside a moment ago, and one of the Military Division officials was wandering around out there at this hour. What do you think that’s about?”

“Hmm? Military Division? Their office is on the opposite side from here. Did they get lost?”

The thought of rescuing a poor lost soul made me get up from my seat. I remembered my own days of wandering around the grand ducal castle, hopelessly turned around.

Achilles followed naturally. He had been looking very out of sorts for the past few days. Something was clearly bothering him.

Unable to hold back any longer, I asked him outright.

“What’s going on with you lately? Something wrong?”

Achilles looked at me with deep eyes that seemed to see straight through me. His voice was unusually sharp.

“What exactly do you intend to do?”

“About what.”

“Are you not concerned about your health?”

“What do you mean by that……”

I stopped walking for a moment. There was only one issue that would make him worry about me this much.

David taking my energy.

Come to think of it, the night David and I kissed, Achilles was……

He heard everything!

The voices, the rustling of the bed, the sounds I made. He must have heard all of it.

I swallowed in embarrassment. My earlobes slowly turned red.

That night, David and I had been nearly out of our minds as we explored each other.

The sounds I had made. How shameful.

Knowing Achilles had heard all of it, I couldn’t lift my face from the heat of it. Even with my shameless streak, this wasn’t something I could brush off.

My eyelids twitched and I exhaled. My body twisted on its own.

After a long internal debate, I opened my mouth.

“Listen. Sir Achilles. I’m far stronger than you think. My body is in remarkably good health.”

Compared to Moz, the female lead, how much sturdier and healthier I was could be measured by the symptoms that appeared when energy was taken. If I, someone who took good care of my health, thought I was fine, it probably wasn’t a serious problem.

“I’m alright. Really alright.”

I wasn’t sure if I was saying it to Achilles or to David. I hated the thought of David feeling guilty, and I found it uncomfortable that Achilles was going out of his way to worry about me.

Michael watched the exchange between me and Achilles with interest. He didn’t try to join in, but he didn’t slip away either.

I pressed a hand to my forehead, thinking what a disgrace this was in front of a student.

“Miss. Please don’t place too much faith in your own constitution. One day you could…… take a serious blow all at once.”

Achilles had clearly seen something in the women David had drained over the years, and his expression was grave.

I let his words wash over me. I simply didn’t want to entertain the idea of my health declining.

Just then, Michael pointed to the left and called out.

“There! There they are!”

I startled and looked up. Just as he said, one of the new administrative officials was wandering around, clearly lost.

I grinned and walked toward them.

“Hey! Hold on a moment!”

Achilles raked a hand through his hair with a complicated expression, and I ran alongside Michael.

The new Military Division official either had poor hearing or simply didn’t turn around at my call.

Why aren’t they turning?

While I was puzzling over it, Michael, pressed close beside me, spoke.

“Goodbye. Sister.”

Hmm? What did he say?

Something metallic glinted near my side. The light was blinding for a moment, but I saw it clearly. What Michael held was a dagger with a serpent pattern.

I looked at Michael, who was lunging at me, with disbelieving eyes. It was a fraction of a second.

“Aaah!”

A sharp cry escaped me as the dagger was about to plunge into my chest. A chilling sensation seized my entire body.

Ah! It hurts! It…… hurts?

I had squeezed my eyes shut expecting the blade, but something was wrong. There was no pain in my chest. Instead, warmth. Someone was holding me.

What?

I slowly opened my eyes. A white training uniform filled my vision, and the badge of the Kresi Knight Order was visible. Achilles had saved me from the attack.

“Sir Achilles!”

I called out to him loudly. Achilles held me and refused to let go.

“Stay still.”

His voice wavered slightly.

What, what is this?

I was already in shock from Michael’s sudden attack and barely holding myself together. That warm, open-faced boy who had followed me so eagerly, why would he……

My eyes trembled. And in the midst of it all, Michael let out a beast-like roar.

“Aaaargh! D*mn it! I could have done it!”

Achilles held my waist firmly with one hand and spoke to Michael.

“Who sent you.”

“Do you think I’m crazy enough to tell you that? Why don’t you go treat your wound? I got you pretty deep.”

A wound?

I startled and turned my head. Only then did I see the bright red blood flowing from Achilles’s abdomen.

I went completely still. Someone had been hurt because of me. Not just hurt. Stabbed with a blade. And the wound had already opened wide enough to see inside. The claim of a deep cut was true.

“Sir, Sir Achilles……”

My jaw and teeth chattered. The exposed flesh was horrifying. Achilles only gripped me tighter at my call.

I barely managed to turn my head and looked at Michael with wet eyes. He and the Military Division official, who appeared to be his accomplice, were watching Achilles warily.

The bright-eyed new officials they had seemed to be now looked like demons.

How could you do this to me……

Trembling with betrayal, I felt Achilles lift me up in one motion. It was startling that he still had such strength despite being wounded.

Spurt!

Blood gushed more forcefully from Achilles’s abdomen. I let out a shriek.

“Please don’t!”

I cried out urgently, but Achilles wielded the soul sword with practiced skill.

The two assassins stepped back in alarm at the sight of him moving.

“Wh, what is that lunatic. But if there are two of us, maybe we can still manage something!”

At the Military Division official’s somewhat hopeful words, Michael ground his teeth with a dark expression.

“No. I’ve been watching him closely. That man is no ordinary opponent.”

“Then what do we do? Do you know how much this job is worth! We have to finish it!”

“We need to survive first!”

“Hey!”

“No matter how experienced I am at this kind of work, I’ve never seen anything like that monster.”

Michael stared at Achilles, who swung the soul sword as though the wound in his abdomen meant nothing, with fearful eyes.

The two exchanged crude words and then ran in the opposite direction. Achilles swiftly threw the short blade he carried at one of the assassins.

Thud!

The Military Division official struck by the blade collapsed on the spot. It was an extraordinarily precise hit.

“D*mn it!”

Realizing his companion couldn’t run, Michael abandoned him and fled.

I barely managed to support the staggering Achilles. My mind was numb, desperate to erase everything I had just witnessed.

Achilles gravely wounded. Blood pouring out. Michael fleeing. The Military Division official struck down by the blade.

This must be a dream too. Someone please tell me it’s a nightmare……

“Miss! Snap out of it!”

Achilles shouted when he saw my eyes losing focus. I nodded, trembling, but the world was spinning.

“Wait just a moment.”

Achilles spoke to me and moved toward the assassin dragging himself along the ground. Blood dripped onto the street with every step Achilles took.

Seeing the terrible trail of blood, I shook my head quickly. I couldn’t just stand there uselessly in a situation like this.

“Wait!”

I urgently tore a strip from the hem of my skirt.

Riiip!

Then I ran to Achilles and stopped him.

“Catching that bastard is less important than this.”

“I’m fine.”

For someone saying they were fine, his lips were completely white. I looked at him with apologetic eyes and tied the cloth directly around his abdomen. I had to stop the bleeding quickly. He had already lost far too much blood.