Chapter 2 (Part 7)

Leah sighed softly with regret and lingering feelings. Behind her, was a man with the same radiant golden hair and features as Rune approached.

“Leah, did your conversation go well?”

“Serre.”

It was Serran Astina, the first Duke of Astina.

“There’s so much I couldn’t tell her. There are more restrictions than I thought.”

“It can’t be helped.”

Leah fell into Serran’s arms and poured her heart out.

“I feel bad for burdening that child so much.”

“…That wasn’t something you could control.”

“I know, but I feel like I was the only one happy among the children of the gods…”

Understanding her feelings of guilt, Serran simply held her close, gently comforting her by patting her back. After a while in his embrace, Leah finally pulled away and asked.

“By the way, where’s Vannon?”

“Vannon? He’s probably wandering around somewhere near the Carlisle estate.”

“Tell him to come at once. He’s dead, that Vannon Carlisle.”

Serran hurriedly grabbed Leah, who suddenly tensed up and was ready to run out. At this rate, Vannon’s neck was going to break.

“Le-Leah. Let’s calm down first. I don’t know what happened, but let’s talk it out. Okay?”

“What’s the point of me wishing to the gods for all three of you to be able to see the empire for the rest of your lives when you can’t even keep one of your descendants in check! How dare he touch my dear little Ria!”

“Alas, but that was another situation that Vannon couldn’t stop…….”

“Serran Astina, if you don’t want to use individual rooms, it’s better to keep quiet.”

“Understood.”

Serran, eager to save his old friend’s life in any way he could, clamped his mouth shut at her next words. For him, not using individual rooms with Leah was more important than anything else.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

Meanwhile, not long after Leah had disappeared in a flash of red, Rune came back in with a bowl of soup and some medicine. Not surprisingly, he was greeted by a deafening silence.

The faint but unmistakable sound of her breathing, which should have been there, was absent as if she had never existed. Rune’s eyes flickered with anxiety as he stood by the door, his hand gripping the silver tray tightly.

“……Ria?”

He called out to her, trying to deny the situation, but as expected, there was no response.

With a loud clang, the silver tray rolled onto the floor. The medicine tumbled out clumsily onto the spilled soup. Rune rushed to the bed, gripping the rumpled blankets tightly as he cursed under his breath.

“Damn it.”

His mind felt colder than ever. He crumpled the blankets within his clenched fists and stormed out of the room, just in time to see Eden and Kahin approaching the room and realize that something was wrong when they saw Rune’s icy expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s gone.”

“What?”

“Ria’s missing.”

The expressions on Eden and Kahin’s faces hardened instantly. Ria wouldn’t have left on her own, especially considering she had fallen asleep due to a severe cold. The only conclusion was that something terrible had happened.

“Kahin, summon the knights immediately. And…”

“Just a moment.”

However, before Rune could continue giving orders, Eden, who keenly noticed a red light seeping through the gap under the door, approached quickly. Halting Rune’s command, he moved closer to inspect. There stood Ria, holding a small vial and a red orb in her hands.

Ah. Feeling his pounding heart calming down with relief at Ria’s seemingly unharmed appearance, Rune immediately embraced her. Despite not knowing what had happened, seeing her seemingly fine state brought nothing but relief.

Following Rune into the room, Kahin and Eden also sighed with relief after confirming Ria’s safety. The chilling sensation that had numbed their entire bodies dissipated, and their fingertips returned to their normal temperature.

“Where have you been? Are you hurt?”

As Eden released her from embrace, Rune, who had been examining Ria’s body all over, asked.

“Oh, I met Leah.”

However, his actions froze at her subsequent response, and so did Eden and Kahin.

The only people Ria would address affectionately were themselves. There was still some distance between her and the servants. But meeting someone? That didn’t make any sense.

Rune instinctively suppressed the urge to speak aloud and quickly flipped his affectionate facade, asking, 

“Ria, who is she?”

“She said she was the first Duchess of Astina.”

“The first Duchess of Astina?”

“Yes. There was a light coming from the red orb, and it transported me somewhere, and she was waiting for me there. She said she wanted to talk to me.”

Eden and Kahin’s gazes naturally turned to Rune. The first Duchess of Astina, who had left behind a curious collection of objects, Rune was the only one here who seemed to know her well.

Why would the Duchess want to have a conversation with Ria, and for what reason? 

Rune was equally puzzled.

No way. Surely she wouldn’t have tried to send her back to the original world now, would she?

The worst possible reason crossed his mind for a moment, but he quickly dismissed it. It was the first Duchess Astina herself had stated that Ria couldn’t return once she came here, so that couldn’t be the reason. After racking his brains, Rune asked again, this time in a soothing voice.

“What did you talk about with the Duchess?”

“We talked about the founding Emperor of the Empire, the two dukes that time, and Leah herself. How she came to be here, and things like that, and about our relationship…….”

Ria answered without hesitation as if she were used to it. It was only when she got to the part about their relationship that she stopped. Her gaze swept over the three of them in turn.

A relationship determined by the gods. But that’s not the case for Kahin. It’s too deep to consider Kahin’s feelings false. Rune and Eden may have more than Kahin, but certainly not less.

So should I continue to trust them?

A hesitant question curled around her ankle. Leah had told her to trust them, but she’d already started to, and now that she had nothing, it didn’t give her any more courage. Somehow, it seemed like her self-esteem had diminished since coming here.

‘But if you’re still deeply anxious and can’t trust them, ask for an oath of obedience.’

Suddenly, Leah’s words flashed through her mind.

“…An oath of obedience.”

“Huh?”

“She told me about the Oath of Obedience.”

She thought that if she could directly confirm their hearts with her eyes, this hesitation might be resolved. It was a kind of self-protection. Since being stained with wounds, she had developed a habit of constantly checking and rechecking.

Ria stared intently at Rune and Eden. Their stiffened forms soon turned their heads, covering their mouths with their hands. For the first time since entering the room, their gaze, which had never avoided her, diverged.

Is it just a fated relationship after all?

Ria felt like their actions were as if they were avoiding having to make an oath of obedience to her. She should have felt relieved to find out before she believed them more, but somehow her heart became complicated and melancholic. In fact, she only realized at that moment that she was actually hoping they would take an oath.

“…Is it okay?”

At that moment, a trembling voice was heard. Stopping the fidgeting hands, Ria turned her head in the direction of the voice, where Rune was still turning his head. But unlike before, his ears were now crimson.

A question mark filled her mind. 

Why did he turn red? 

The only reason she could guess was embarrassment. But that thought disappeared when Rune’s following words came.

“Oath of obedience, may I?”

It was as if someone had punched him in the head. It was something Ria hadn’t expected. She didn’t expect him to say that with his face flushed red, not just in his ears, but also in the nape of his neck…….

Ria was so stunned that she paused for a moment. Without giving her time to think, or even a chance to speak, Rune approached the bed and dropped to one knee in front of her. The sensation of his warm palm on the sole of her foot caused Ria’s toes to curl.

“I, Rune Astina, swear eternal obedience to you.”

Just like with Kahin, a faint red light spread over Ria’s sole before disappearing. Next to the previously engraved petal, a new one was carved.

Rune looked satisfactorily at the mark of the oath he had just made, even going so far as to caress it with his thumb. However, he soon noticed another mark right beside it and frowned.

“Ria, who swore to you?”