“That’s not what I meant!”

I shouted loudly as I jumped up from the bed. The blanket covering my body slid down smoothly.

At that moment, a cool sensation touched my chest.

“Ah…”

My chest was clearly visible through the dress torn in yesterday’s commotion. Flustered, I hurriedly tried to untangle my hand and grab the blanket.

But I couldn’t move my hand.

This time, Lucifer was firmly gripping my wrist.

“Here, clothes.”

He threw a plain-looking dress over my head. It appeared easy to move in, with no unnecessary decorations remaining.

A dull color mixing brown and gray. And thick fabric patched together from various pieces of cloth.

Anyone would recognize it as a slave’s clothing.

“Change your clothes and we’ll depart immediately.”

Lucifer took out a key from his pocket with somewhat rough hand movements. Then he unlocked the shackles.

A slight red mark remained on my wrist where the heavy shackles had pressed.

The sensation of my wrist moving freely felt good. But the pleasant movement stopped at the cool voice breaking the atmosphere.

“There are no women to assist you, so change by yourself.”

Lucifer’s voice was disapproving.

After unlocking the shackles on my other hand, he turned around and headed outside. When he lifted the tent flap, pale winter sunlight entered the tent.

Morning had arrived.

I had slept through everything. It was surprising that I had slept soundly until morning despite such a nightmare.

That was probably thanks to Carden appearing in my dream and protecting me from evil things.

“Phew… just a little more patience and I can meet him.”

Carden would surely still be there. He promised he would stay there until I returned.

Although I had been a coward who couldn’t keep my promises until now.

“Taking long?”

At that moment, Lucifer’s cool voice echoed from the tent entrance.

“J-just a moment.”

I looked at my temporarily freed wrists. For a very brief moment, I considered the possibility of escape. But no matter how much I thought about it, it was a foolish and reckless idea.

Quickly abandoning the thought of escape, I struggled to remove the heavy and elaborate dress I had worn as a sacrifice. Then I changed into the clothes Lucifer had brought.

“I’m ready.”

Lucifer was guarding me right in front of the tent. Was he worried I might try to escape again?

“For someone raised as a princess, you change clothes well by yourself without assistance.”

“That’s because I was always…”

Alone.

I couldn’t finish the sentence. Lucifer’s eyes were too cold and calmly settled.

Soon, shackles were placed on my hands again by Lucifer. The shackles clearly showed the relationship between Lucifer and me.

Master and slave.

“Commander, preparations are complete.”

“Then let’s depart immediately.”

After the remaining tents were packed up, I was once again in the position of being dragged onto Lucifer’s horse. When he carelessly grabbed my wrist to pull me, I unconsciously pulled my hand away.

When his skin touched mine, I remembered what happened on the bed yesterday.

He looked at me with frightening eyes.

“Um, just a moment.”

“What is it?”

“Well…”

My words came out hesitantly and unclear. But if things continued this way, it wouldn’t be much different from when I was in the duchy.

“Do we really have to ride the horse together?”

I asked in a somewhat bold voice. Lucifer’s eyes narrowed.

“Why? Do you prefer to be tied to a horse and dragged along like ordinary slaves?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Then should I put you in a carriage used for transporting criminals?”

His voice was full of anger. My initial courage instantly faded.

I still had more fear than courage. Like a fool… I lowered my head toward the shackles that reminded me of my position.

“If not that, do you mean you want to be held in another knight’s arms?”

“What?”

I raised my head at the somewhat unexpected words. Then I met gray eyes. In his ashen world, I was the only one with color.

My red hair reflected in his pupils fluttered in the wind. Simultaneously, his eyes twisted slightly.

I couldn’t understand the meaning in his gaze. Whether it was irritation, annoyance, or contempt.

“Hey, princess, you’re not planning to escape, are you?”

“…”

When I couldn’t answer, the corners of his mouth twisted upward.

“You are a slave that belongs to me. Whatever the reason, you must follow my instructions. Whether you feel shame from yesterday’s incident or discomfort.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I have no intention of entrusting what’s mine to others. Don’t forget who your master is.”

As I lowered my head again, his large hand wrapped around my waist. The only fortunate thing was that the clothes were thick.

I was placed on Lucifer’s horse. I sat up straight, pressing close to the horse’s head, trying to avoid contact with him as much as possible.

“Everyone, depart!”

As I straightened my posture, more tense than usual, I noticed scenery that hadn’t been visible until now.

Knights lined up neatly. The sight of them maintaining formation by controlling their individual horses at a consistent speed. This would have been impossible without considerable training.

The thought that occurred to me when seeing the movements of the Holy Empire’s knights:

‘This is why the duchy fell.’

Unlike the knights of the Holy Empire who moved together, the people of the duchy only moved for themselves.

While I was staring blankly at the knights, suddenly the horse in front stopped. In succession, with metallic sounds, swords gleamed as they were drawn simultaneously.

“Rebels!”

“Kill them all! They’re in league with the dark clan!”

“Hand over the princess!”

My face turned pale at the presence of rebels. The knights of the Holy Empire glanced at me while fighting the rebels.

To the knights, I would appear to be the focal point of the rebels and the leader of the enemy. And I would be the cause of the large and small battles that would occur on the way back to the empire.

Afraid of the resentment that would come my way, I unconsciously lowered my head.

“Commander!”

At that moment, I heard the sound of something cutting through the air. When I raised my head, arrows suddenly poured down. The arrows flew, targeting the legs of the white horse we were riding.

“Kyaak!”

The horse suddenly raised its front legs. I closed my eyes tightly in fear of falling. Then there were strong arms supporting me from behind.

“Whoa! Whoa!”

Lucifer pulled the reins tight and calmed the horse while backing away. As soon as the horse regained its proper posture, the warmth felt from behind disappeared.

He had already jumped to the ground and was deflecting arrows with his sword. Then he ran toward where the rebels were.

“How magnificent…”

I watched him fight with a somewhat dazed expression. The red cape of the man who had seemed only colorless fluttered, creating beautiful patterns. The sunlight coming through the gray sky sparkled just for him.

I could understand why he was returning with only about 100 knights, leaving most of his soldiers in the duchy.

The emperor’s chosen proxy for the holy war. He defeated most of the rebels, who far outnumbered his knights, almost single-handedly.

* * *

After that day, the rebel ambushes continued. But the disorganized rebels were all driven away by the knights of the Holy Empire. Even monsters appeared alternately.

After a month like that, the knights and I reached the old border between the empire and the duchy.

“We’ll rest in this village today.”

“Ah, the empire is really the best!”

“We don’t have to set up tents today. And we can eat warm, delicious food.”

Smiles full of anticipation bloomed on the faces of all the knights.

“Oh my, knights! You’ve come again.”

“Since there are fewer of you this time, emptying the chapel should be enough.”

The villagers also welcomed the returning army.

The reaction was clearly different from that in the duchy, making it feel real that we had left Belial.

“Everyone seems to be doing well.”

When Lucifer dismounted, leaving me on the horse, an old man who appeared to be the village chief bowed to him.

“Thanks to you clearing out the monsters and setting up proper protective fences before departing for the duchy, we’ve been living relatively safely.”

“Have there been any monster appearances since then?”

“Shortly after you left, goblin groups caused some trouble several times. But it’s been quiet for the past month.”

Lucifer narrowed his brow at the village chief’s words. That was understandable since we had encountered even more monsters on our way to this village.

“It seems the monsters that were being pushed to the border between the empire and the duchy have advanced into the duchy interior.”

“Why suddenly… Ah! Could it be that you achieved your goal?”

“That’s right.”

“Congratulations! You’ve finally avenged your grudge.”

The village chief was even more pleased. But Lucifer didn’t seem particularly happy and remained indifferent.

Come to think of it, he had been on edge for the past few days. It seemed to have started three days ago when we heard that an imperial administrator had entered the duchy and begun governing.

Was he in a position to lose credit? I carefully observed Lucifer.

“You’ve avenged our grudge as well.”

“That’s a topic I don’t want to bring up anymore.”

“Ah, I apologize. I just wanted to express gratitude on behalf of Solanie Village.”

“Wait! Is this Solanie Village?”

I urgently interrupted the conversation at the familiar name.

The village chief looked up at me briefly. After scanning my attire, he answered stiffly.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Is there an orphanage in this village?”

“Are you referring to Leifrin Orphanage?”

The village chief looked back at me with somewhat annoyed eyes, probably considering me just a slave. He seemed displeased that I had interrupted his conversation with the Holy Empire’s knight commander, who would be an important connection in the future.

There was no time to care about such looks.

After quickly observing the village’s appearance, which differed from my memories, I instinctively pleaded.

“Yes! The orphanage, I want to go to the orphanage.”

At that moment, my eyes met Lucifer’s. Then the emotions that had disappeared from his face returned.

Eyes that openly revealed emotion to me. It was undoubtedly contempt.

“I had forgotten. You said you were going to meet your first love?”

“You promised.”

I answered hesitantly in a timid voice. He smiled crookedly.

“Then go quickly. Though you won’t be able to meet that first love.”

Lucifer said with a voice full of certainty.