As if it was natural for him to remove it, Seiden, with a skilled and relaxed expression, gently brushed Bellota’s face. Though the eyelash quickly fell away at Seiden’s touch, for some reason his finger remained on her cheek afterwards.

“……”

Bellota noticed Seiden’s gaze sliding down to linger on her lips. When she realized this fact, Bellota’s heart plummeted with a weight incomparable to before.

It was truly strange. Tonight, it was clear the curse would not manifest. From when she climbed the tower, no, from the moment she woke in the morning, Bellota had already been certain of this fact. Yet why did her breathing keep getting faster and her stomach twist uncontrollably? What rippled at Bellota’s throat was a deeper danger than the nights when her whole body was consumed by the curse.

Though only his finger touched her cheek, Bellota had a momentary illusion of being held by Seiden in this tower. She felt pinned down, unable to move, held captive by his gaze resting on her lips.

The sensation of Seiden’s lips pressing against hers, his hot tongue parting her trembling lips to delve inside, replayed with dizzying clarity. What had she and Seiden done on this bed where they sat side by side? The embarrassing sounds she had made in his embrace brushed past Bellota’s ears like auditory hallucinations. Finally, his languid breath felt dizzyingly close.

Dong, dong, dong—

The bells announcing midnight rang from outside the window. Startled back to her senses, Bellota jumped up from her seat and swallowed her trembling breath.

“……”

The air that had been enchanting them both shattered in an instant. Seiden too withdrew his hand that had been left hanging in the air when Bellota stood up. The sensation that had remained on Seiden’s fingertips scattered regretfully.

“It’s midnight.”

When Bellota announced in an awkward but composed voice, Seiden too rose from the bed.

“So it is.”

The curse reaches its peak at midnight. Which meant the curse would not manifest tonight. Just as Yevar had said.

“We should leave.”

When Bellota said that, Seiden obediently nodded. The fierce and deep desire that had been reflected in his eyes moments ago had vanished without a trace. Though Bellota felt like she might collapse with all tension draining from her body, she calmly turned towards the door.

Just as she was about to open the door and leave the tower, Bellota suddenly stopped and turned around. Seiden, who had been about to follow her, also stopped and looked at Bellota who was looking up at him.

After hesitating for a moment, Bellota soon opened her dry lips as if having made up her mind.

“Be careful.”

Her voice was so faint it made his skin tingle.

“Come back to my side, without anything happening.”

At her words, Seiden’s eyes stopped. Though her ears were red, Bellota stared intently at Seiden, seemingly determined to hear his answer.

Soon, an unbearably warm and sweet warmth spread over Seiden’s heart. Such a farewell… Bellota didn’t know. That her sweet farewell made him not want to leave her side to the point of pain. However, it also made him determined to return safely to her side no matter what, so Seiden simply nodded.

“I will.”

Only then did Bellota’s gaze slowly fall from Seiden, reassured. Seiden was a man who kept whatever he promised. So, he would return safely.

Bellota turned again and slowly left the tower. This time she didn’t look back. Seiden watched her lovely retreating figure for a moment before following her.

The two descended the tower with a brief interval between them, and only after watching the carriage carrying Bellota return the way it had come did Seiden turn his horse’s head. It was time to depart on the journey to return without incident, as he had promised her.

* * *

Having safely passed this full moon, there was plenty of time until the next one. Seiden steadily proceeded with the monster subjugation in the western region at a leisurely pace.

The western region had difficult terrain, and since the place where the Holy Knight Order had set up camp to conduct the subjugation was separated from inhabited areas, they had to spend well over ten days cut off from the world. On the seventh day after departing for subjugation, Seiden finally found a bevel.

Though Seiden worried that Lady Margaret might have taken a turn for the worse in the meantime, he couldn’t abandon the subjugation and return to the empire for such a reason, so he had to complete the schedule as planned.

However, when Seiden finally returned to the capital after completing the subjugation, he had to face news that was as shocking as, or perhaps even more shocking than, news about Lady Margaret.

It was Felton who urgently sought out Seiden as he was heading to his office upon arriving at the temple, which somehow seemed to have an ominous atmosphere flowing through it.

“Commander……”

Seiden stopped in place and looked at Felton, whose face had turned pale white.

The Holy Knight Order had returned to the temple late at night. Yet Felton had come looking for him as soon as he returned. The situation regarding Lady Margaret’s curse had not been shared with Felton. So Felton’s pale face must have been due to something unrelated to Lady Margaret. Something was clearly not right, causing the back of Seiden’s neck to grow chillingly cold.

“What’s the matter?”

However, instead of answering, Felton only desperately asked back.

“Did you come after hearing the news?”

Felton’s voice asking this was breaking tragically.

……News? Seiden’s jaw tightened anxiously. Something, an ominous premonition, swept past him as if cutting through his back.

“What news are you talking about?”

When Seiden asked back like that, Felton realized that Seiden indeed knew nothing of this news. Ha, Felton let out an astounded and pitiful exclamation and bit his lips. Having to deliver this news with his own mouth was endlessly confusing.

“Duke Lylester……”

When Geril’s name that he had completely forgotten suddenly came from Felton’s lips, Seiden’s eyes hardened coldly.

Felton spoke in a despairing voice, as if giving up everything.

“He brought the rockdragon’s heart.”

When the broken voice settled to the floor, the red eyes that had been ominously tightened remained frozen.

* * *

Felton recalled that terrible day. Despite the bright weather, it had been a day with bad omens since morning a few days ago.

Contrary to his ominous feeling, the temple’s peace that had remained undisturbed until late afternoon was broken by Geril’s sudden appearance. Geril had burst into the temple while evening mass was in full swing. Naturally, all the believers’ attention focused on Geril.

Felton too, who had been conducting mass there, directly witnessed Geril’s appearance as he flung open the doors of the large mass hall. Felton could easily recognize that Geril was the cause of the ominous premonition he had felt since morning.

“Duke Lylester?”

Cardinal Rubert, who had been conducting mass, was also greatly flustered, so the mass was immediately halted. The Cardinal walked towards Geril to examine his condition.

“Are you alright, Duke?”

Geril’s state, having suddenly burst into the mass hall and standing there blankly, was clearly different from usual. It was not unreasonable for the Cardinal to ask such a question. Geril was wearing the golden armor he had worn when heading to Selento. The armor that had remained pristine without a single drop of blood even while passing through numerous monster fields was now covered in caked dark red blood.

That wasn’t all. Geril’s appearance, which was always neat and excessively tidy, was now dirtier and more disheveled than any state they had ever seen him in. His golden hair was also caked with bloodstains, and blood crusts had settled on various parts of his face. He looked as if he had just returned from an intense battle.

“Where has he been?”

“Did he fight with someone?”

The quiet mass hall soon began stirring with curiosity and wonder. This was understandable as it was the first time Geril had appeared in an official setting since the hunting festival.

They soon noticed that Geril was looking around searching for someone. And they knew who he was searching for. Geril’s eyes, which had been searching only for Bellota as if others’ gazes didn’t matter, finally found her.

“Saintess.”

When Geril slowly called out to Bellota, the gazes of the believers who had been watching him all turned to her at once. Bellota was looking at Geril with a bewildered expression. Nevertheless, he let out what seemed to be an overwhelmed sigh, then walked steadily towards her.

Felton, sensing danger from Geril’s somewhat unsound appearance, quickly blocked Bellota’s front. He intended to stop Geril if necessary. However, before even reaching Bellota, Geril dropped to one knee and simply pulled something out from his chest.

“What is that?”

“What did he take out? Damn, I can’t see!”

“Move aside please. What did the Duke bring? What is he offering!”

What lay in Geril’s grasp was a bundle of handkerchiefs as dirty as his appearance. Something seemed to be wrapped inside those handkerchiefs.