Though Romei didn’t know, all five men she firmly believed were her friends, including Aron, had each harbored a crush on her at some point.

This was because Romei was beautiful and noble.

Her gently flowing blonde hair cascaded like it had been crafted from the brightest part of the sun, and her blue eyes set in fair white skin were so clear and transparent they looked like the surface of a lake.

Unlike her beautiful appearance, her expression was solemn with a hint of compassion, making her appear even more noble.

But the reason they fell for Romei was none other than her smile.

When Romei smiled, instead of the divine elegance that usually surrounded her, a childlike purity blossomed like a flower. Her genuine joy made one’s heart flutter just by watching.

This was why Aron threw silly jokes to make her laugh. He loved Romei’s smile. If possible, he wanted to make her laugh for a lifetime.

Nevertheless, none of them had ever confessed to Romei. It wasn’t simply because they feared rejection would end their friendship.

It was because Romei herself seemed completely uninterested in love, romance, or relationships with men.

Most holy knights were men, and among them were some with exceptional looks that any woman would admire.

But Romei never gave them a second glance. The most interesting things in the world to her seemed to be training, wielding a holy sword, and handling holy power.

So when she showed interest in romance novels, Aron couldn’t help but be shocked.

Unaware of Aron’s feelings, Romei said, “I was just heading back to my room. Want to walk together if you don’t have anything else to do? Your room is nearby too.”

“Sure. I came out looking for you anyway, so I don’t mind.”

Aron finally collected himself to answer and matched his pace with Romei’s. However, his mind was still elsewhere.

He looked at Romei walking beside him.

She had tied her long hair, which she had once considered cutting short because it interfered with training, into a single ponytail. Even that was the result of Aron and their friends repeatedly begging and persuading her not to cut it.

Aron half-listened to what she was saying while imagining Romei with her hair flowing freely, dressed in a fashionable dress like any noble lady.

“I heard from the Captain. He said you and the others need to go down to Picardin with me. Do the others know already?”

“Of course they know.”

“I briefly read the report from Katraju, and the situation seems serious. A body that doesn’t decompose despite having no heartbeat is a typical symptom of having one’s soul stolen by a devil.”

“That’s right.”

“When we go down to Picardin, I really want to help identify the devil by finding evidence. Then there won’t be any more disappearances, and people won’t lose their souls.”

“Romei.”

Aron, who had been quietly listening to her, called out to Romei. She stopped talking and looked up at him, her expression curious about why he suddenly called her name.

After some hesitation, Aron asked her:

“Have you ever imagined a life other than being a holy knight?”

“…Another life?”

“For example, like ordinary people who get married and build a family, or like in romance novels, meeting a handsome prince and having a passionate love.”

“Hmm…”

“Have you never thought about it?”

After a moment of contemplation, Romei nodded at Aron’s question. Her nod was desperately resolute.

“I don’t think I have.”

“You said the romance novel you borrowed from the maid was interesting. Wouldn’t that make you imagine such a life at least once?”

“Well. It was interesting, but I never thought about living such a life. I like how things are now, and I want to do what I can for people and then quietly close my eyes when my time comes.”

“…”

“Why are you suddenly asking this? Did you start wanting to get married?”

Romei asked Aron with a slight smile.

They had been together since they came of age. As she became an adult, so did he. Noble men often got engaged early and married when they became adults, so he was certainly at an age to think about marriage.

Seeing Romei completely unaware of the feelings behind his question, Aron avoided her gaze.

“It’s not like that.”

“Or are you thinking of quitting being a holy knight? That would be a shame. Unlike me, you have talent. If you hang in there a bit longer, you might even become the Captain of the holy knights.”

“I told you it’s not like that, geez.”

Romei’s assessment that he had talent made him happy, but it couldn’t stop the bitterness spreading deep in his heart.

Aron grumbled more to hide his emotions. He felt pathetic for momentarily harboring hope toward Romei.

While they were talking, they arrived in front of Romei’s room, and Aron said goodbye.

“Go on in. We’re heading down to Picardin next week, so you should pack soon.”

“Thanks for looking out for me, Aron. You must be tired too, so go rest.”

Romei responded with a smile that gently pulled at the corners of her mouth, then entered her room and locked the door.

Aron stood in front of her room for a long time before letting out a sigh too quiet for her to hear and returning to his own room.

* * *

“So you’re saying your daughter suddenly disappeared one day, and when you finally found her after a long time, she was in this state?”

Romei stood beside the bed and asked this to the woman who had been testifying about the circumstances of her daughter’s disappearance before breaking into tears.

This was a small village located in Picardin, an area where disappearances had recently been concentrated.

Six holy knights, including Romei, had split up to investigate around the village. Romei and Aron were mainly assigned to female victims. This was because Romei was a woman, and her trustworthy appearance made people open up easily.

The woman wiped her tears with a worn and tattered apron and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. At first, I thought she had been kidnapped. When I found my daughter in the forest, I vividly remember praying to God, thankful that she was alive.”

Romei silently waited for the woman to continue.

The woman continued while sniffling:

“But something was wrong with her. When we found her, she had no injuries and looked clean, so I thought she was just unconscious or asleep. I put her to bed and waited for her to wake up, but…”

“She didn’t wake up.”

Romei spoke with sympathy, finishing the sentence for the woman who couldn’t continue.

The woman nodded while crying, seemingly overwhelmed by emotion from Romei’s empathetic response that conveyed genuine concern.

“No matter how much a person sleeps, they can’t sleep for more than a week. Later, I checked if she was breathing by placing my hand under her nose, but I couldn’t feel any breath. Her heart wasn’t beating at all.”

“…”

“But something seemed strange about saying she was dead. Corpses are usually cold. They feel stiff when touched. But she, as you can see…”

The woman’s gaze, trailing off, turned toward her daughter lying on the bed. Romei’s gaze also followed where the woman was looking.

The daughter lay in her nightgown with an excessively peaceful face. Her hands were neatly folded on her chest, and her eyes were closed naturally.

No matter how closely examined, her complexion couldn’t be described as that of a corpse. Far from being pale like a corpse, she had a definite vitality. When carefully placing a hand on her folded hands, one could feel a faint warmth instead of cold.

It was an unnatural situation in many ways.

Aron, who had been listening to the woman’s words beside Romei, seemed to sense this too. With a complicated expression, he glanced at Romei before asking the woman:

“How long has she been in this state?”

“I’m not exactly sure, but it’s been well over a month. It felt like my daughter might wake up again as time passed, so I couldn’t even hold a funeral.”

“During that month, did she ever seem to regain consciousness or move her fingertips slightly?”

“Not at all.”

The woman finally put down the apron she had been clutching and shook her head. Her voice was soaked in grief. There was a sense of regret, wishing that had been the case.

While the two conversed, Romei concentrated on finding any traces the devil might have left on the daughter’s body.

The woman had said her daughter’s body was clean without a single wound, but devils didn’t leave marks that were obvious at a glance. A thorough examination might reveal something that could provide a clue.

Romei carefully channeled holy power to her fingertips and examined the girl, from head to toe, not wanting to miss even the smallest clue.

However, strangely, there were no traces left on the woman’s body.

‘Something’s odd. She’s definitely had her soul taken, but there’s no trace of magic being used. Is that even possible…?’

Romei’s expression grew more serious. To steal a human soul, one had to break the bond that tightly connected it to the body. The moment the soul left the body, devils would devour it to increase their power.

And to separate the soul from the body, using magic was common practice. This was because it allowed them to consume (in the devils’ terms) a “high-quality fresh soul.”

‘I wonder if I missed something.’

With this thought, Romei tried to find clues about the devil’s traces while conversing with the woman alongside Aron, but ultimately couldn’t find anything.