She put aside Aaron’s locked heart for a moment and brought up a practical issue.

Of course, if the opportunity arose, she wouldn’t miss it.

“I heard war is coming soon. It will take a long time to annihilate Mrangel, won’t it?”

“I was about to mention that. We need to prepare to depart as soon as the funeral ends.”

“That quickly?”

“His Majesty must be very anxious. The Mrangel tribe’s behavior patterns are inconsistent, making it difficult to understand their intentions…”

Lucilia fixed her gaze on the Baron lying peacefully on the bed.

“Don’t show your abilities here. I’m not curious about them either.”

He had said that if she used her powers, they would exterminate the family, claiming she harbored sinister energy.

The Baron desired the continuation of his family more than anyone.

Safely and for a long time.

Though she remembered the Baron’s request, she could no longer sit helplessly.

‘Baron, I’m truly sorry. We don’t know how far the Pope has extended his influence. If he has recruited Mrangel, things will get worse.’

The Marquis’s family to which Saint Lucilia belonged and the Baron’s family to which the hero Aaron belonged. The Pope had been at odds with these two families.

Beyond that, he seemed to have turned his back on the King as well, since the King had formed friendly relations with the two families.

Lucilia tensed her eyes as if infusing her will into the motionless Baron. Then she took on a determined expression.

“I want to go with you.”

Aaron questioned Lucilia, who was suddenly saying strange things.

“Where do you want to go with me?”

“I want to join the military campaign.”

“Ha! On what grounds?”

As soon as she made the dangerous statement, his demeanor turned hostile.

“You said it’s difficult to understand their intentions.”

“What does that have to do with you?”

“…I still have my holy power. It hasn’t disappeared.”

“What?”

“I’m saying I can still read people’s minds.”

Aaron burst into a mocking laugh.

Lucilia, when drunk, had already looked into his true feelings.

After pretending not to know all this time, now what? She wanted to follow him to the battlefield?

She got stabbed by some beggar kid while staying in the capital, and now she wants to follow him to war?

Aaron barely prevented curses from escaping his lips.

Though he couldn’t hide his expression, which was disorganized and smeared with anger.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Don’t just oppose me outright. Listen to what I have to say.”

“I swear on my father’s corpse, absolutely not.”

* * *

Aaron glared resentfully at Lucilia as she brushed down her hair before going to bed.

‘D*mn it. What kind of oath was that!’

He must have been momentarily enchanted by her beautiful appearance.

When she pleaded with tearful eyes, how could he possibly refuse?

“Just let me look at the leader’s eyes. Since the Mrangel tribe are barbarians, I’ll watch safely from a distance. I can just stay right next to you, My Lord. Please?”

So he asked.
On what grounds would she follow him there? How would she explain it to His Majesty the King?

What would she even say to Rombon?

And then she shocked him with an outlandish response.

“I heard that commanders of high rank sometimes bring their mistresses to satisfy their l*st. It helps them focus more on battle and increases their fighting spirit…”

Who on earth told her such things? And to the innocent saint, no less.

Just thinking about it made his blood boil again, causing his clothes to flutter.

What irritated him more was that he had been momentarily tempted by her words.

He felt dizzy with self-contempt at his bestial thoughts.

The real problem was that he eventually admitted her method wasn’t bad.

To bring Lucilia along not through strategic reasoning but with such a simplistic excuse.

This was all because he couldn’t dismiss Lucilia’s arguments lightly.

“I read the true feelings of the boy who attacked me in the capital and Saint Birgita.”

She said the beggar boy had only repeated “I’ll kill you.”

She noticed it was someone’s plot since he didn’t seem to have any particular grudge, so she willingly offered her body and got wounded.

And at the banquet, Birgita had mentioned the beggar boy in her mind.

Birgita, knowing Lucilia had no holy power, revealed her true thoughts without filtering them.

And that wasn’t all.

She said Birgita had taunted her, saying it was fine if she still had holy power, but if she used it, she would be immediately condemned as a heretic practicing black magic and executed, so go ahead and try if she dared.

Even to Aaron, everything fit together perfectly.

The Pope’s scheme was transparent.

His goal must be to break the alliance formed between the King, the Marquis, and Aaron.
And he was using Lucilia as a means to that end.

Because she was a witch who brought misfortune and calamity.

Since Caldman was a country that permitted divine intervention, it was perfect for condemnation.

Meanwhile, Lucilia’s unintentional seduction was driving him crazy.

“For that, I suppose we’d need to consummate our marriage? If you’re taking your wife to the battlefield… it should be a situation where embracing her every night still doesn’t quench your thirst.”

‘I never thought she’d be like this…’

Even thinking about it again, she was a bold woman.

She even added the outrageous advice that he should keep her by his side to prove his desperation.

Lucilia turned around with the brush in her hand.

“You should sleep early if you want to attend the funeral mass tomorrow.”

“Haaah…”

When Aaron suddenly pulled at his collar as if tearing it open, Lucilia looked at the fireplace.

“I didn’t light a fire today. Are you hot?”

“No.”

After suppressing his raging l*st while secretly watching Lucilia’s back, Aaron got into bed.

Lucilia had declared with her own mouth that they should consummate their marriage.

Did she even know what that meant?

He felt unnecessarily angry.

In truth, he could plant his seed in her whenever he wanted.

After all, it was normal marital life that everyone engaged in.

But one discomfort, lodged in his heart like a pebble, suppressed his desire.

His father hadn’t been buried yet.

It wasn’t right to l*st after a woman’s body when they should be solemnly conducting the funeral.

Moreover, his father hadn’t welcomed Lucilia. He worried about her presence, believing she would harm the family.

Aaron wasn’t undisciplined enough to force something that went against his conscience. Though suppressing his instincts was t*rture, it wasn’t something anyone else could bear for him.

It was his filial duty to honor his father’s wishes, at least for a while.

Even if his outward appearance and inner feelings differed.

Just as he was trying to forget and fall asleep, Lucilia fearlessly made contact.

“It would be terrible if your body weakened before the campaign… If you’re sick, I’ll call a physician.”

Lucilia covered his forehead with her small hand.

Though the area of contact wasn’t large, it felt like she was setting fire to his forehead.

Aaron turned his head away from her and drew a line in an indifferent tone.

“We will not consummate our marriage.”

“I-I wasn’t suggesting we do it right now.”

“It won’t happen in a few days either.”

“But… you said I could go with you. To make people believe.”

“We don’t necessarily have to mix bodies.”

He pulled Lucilia with strong force and made her lie beside him.

Regardless of her startled rabbit-like eyes, he picked up the sword placed nearby and cut his forearm without a moment’s hesitation.

“Gasp! What are you doing!”

“We need to leave evidence. It would be better to use animal blood, but there are too many watching eyes, so this will have to do.”

What does he mean by “have to do”?

Lucilia looked at him reproachfully for making her heart sink with such absurd actions.

She understood his intention to leave evidence of their wedding night, but his method was too extreme. She kept gasping in shock at how he carried it out without hesitation.

It was right to exercise restraint during the mourning period.

Though she understood, she felt disappointed that he disliked embracing her so much that he would go to these lengths.

In contrast to her confusion between these two conflicting emotions, Aaron’s attitude was straightforward.

“There will be more than enough evidence, so don’t worry. This primitive method will surely work. Now go to sleep.”

Aaron carelessly smeared the dripping blood on the blanket and her nightgown. Then, as if it didn’t hurt at all, he tore the edge of the blanket without blinking and wrapped it around his forearm.

Leaving her dumbfounded, he seemed to close his eyes peacefully…

But he showed her the full extent of his plan.

Waking up early in the morning, he lifted Lucilia and placed her on the sofa while contemplating something.

Then he went so far as to stomp on the perfectly fine bed, destroying it.