After a while, Father exclaimed.

“I knew it! No wonder your behavior has been different lately.”

“I’m sor–”

“It must be that Crown Prince’s fault. My daughter did nothing wrong!”

“Yes. How much has the Crown Prince neglected you all this time? We’ve already considered breaking off this engagement several times.”

Mother chimed in.

“Mother, Father…”

Father placed his hand firmly on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry and just trust us. I’ll talk to His Majesty and delay the marriage until you’re ready. Even if this engagement ends in the worst way, don’t worry. Our family is already the most prestigious in the Empire.”

Though he said that, I knew it wouldn’t be easy for my parents to break this marriage.

But just knowing that they supported me made me feel much more secure.

It felt like a soothing rain on my heart, which had been devastated by a series of unbelievable events.

I shook off my dark expression and smiled brightly, like a child who believes her parents are omnipotent.

“Thank you, truly.”

***

But a conflict between the imperial family and our family over the marriage did not occur.

A more urgent matter had arisen.

Only then did I understand why the Crown Prince had been so shocked yesterday.

Father, who had entered the palace early in the morning, returned home late at night.

Father and Mother stayed up late into the night discussing something in their room.

‘Is it because of my broken engagement?’

Worried, I secretly eavesdropped on their conversation.

What I heard was completely unexpected.

“Monsters? But Arcadia has been a safe zone without monsters for nearly a thousand years! What happened?”

Mother’s voice could be heard.

“I don’t know. Anyway, because of that, I couldn’t even bring up the marriage issue.”

“This is really concerning. So what happens now? Mount Acheron is only half a day’s distance from the capital…”

“With the Crown Prince involved, it shouldn’t become immediately dangerous. But even he will struggle for a while. The capital’s standing army isn’t trained to deal with monsters.”

From their conversation, it seemed that a horde of monsters had appeared near Mount Acheron.

‘Mount Acheron?’

I shuddered.

I had a bad feeling about this.

***

In the east of the Empire stood the Acheron Mountains, the tallest and most rugged in the continent.

The area around the Acheron Mountains had remained an unexplored land for a very long time, untouched by humans.

It wasn’t just because of the high altitude and rugged terrain.

Since the beginning of the world, that place had been the domain of Enril, the Storm Dragon.

Then, a thousand years ago, three heroes appeared and succeeded in sealing Enril in a nameless wasteland connected to the Acheron Mountains’ ley lines.

The mighty ruler of Acheron fell into an indefinite slumber in a small mountain no different from a hill. The monsters living there also yielded their territory to humans.

People hailed one of the heroes as the Emperor, and the barren land was named Arcadia, becoming the capital of the Empire.

They called that small mountain where Enril was sealed ‘Mount Acheron’ as a mockery of the dragon.

And now, a thousand years later, monsters suddenly appeared in Mount Acheron.

It was an event that never happened in the original story.

Enril’s absence, the empty Mount Acheron, and the sudden appearance of monsters.

It was a highly suspicious combination.

‘Could it be that the monsters appeared because Enril is gone? No, it can’t be…’

But the circumstantial evidence was too strong to ignore, even for someone as not-so-smart as me.

Obviously, Enril hated humans. Why would he not only block the demons’ invasion but also willingly make a necklace to give me?

Perhaps Enril had foreseen this happening.

After all, with both the female and male leads gone, it would be stranger if things went smoothly.

“f*cking crazy…”

I cursed without realizing it.

Hearing that, my parents’ conversation abruptly stopped.

“Who’s there!”

Feeling awkward, I opened the door and peeked in.

“It’s me, Father.”

My parents looked at me in disbelief.

“What are you doing there?”

“Well, I couldn’t sleep, so I was taking a walk…”

“And you happened to overhear our conversation?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“You were walking on the third-floor hallway?”

“Haha…”

My voice sounded very awkward, even to my ears.

My parents sighed deeply.

“Well, you’re an adult now, so you have the right to know. How much did you hear?”

“I heard up to the part where monsters appeared in Mount Acheron, and His Highness the Crown Prince is personally handling it.”

“So you heard everything from the beginning.”

“…So, how do you plan to deal with the monsters?”

I asked as I stepped inside.

Though it wasn’t my fault that the monsters appeared, I couldn’t help but be concerned since I was the only one who knew about Enril’s absence.

“There’s no need to worry too much. The Aspis Knights will arrive in the capital within a few days. They are experts in dealing with monsters, so they’ll handle it quickly.”

“But the Aspis Knights are supposed to guard the borders. There’s no guarantee that the monsters will only appear this once, so we can’t call them every time.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Why not request support from the Holy See? They’re much closer, and the Sephiroth Holy Knights travel around dealing with monsters, so they have more diverse methods of handling them.”

“But there’s no guarantee that the monsters will appear again. It wouldn’t look good for the Kebrenia Empire to rely on the Pope’s help just for some monsters.”

“I’m not saying we should always rely on them, just learn their methods. The capital might be in danger.”

“Hmm. You do have a point. I’ll suggest it when I enter the palace tomorrow. I can’t say if His Majesty will accept it, though.”

Even as he said that, I could tell Father wasn’t entirely pleased with my suggestion.

Though my parents were devout believers, asking the Holy See for help was another matter.

The Kebrenia imperial family and the Holy See had been in a subtle rivalry for a long time.

Father wasn’t exactly a loyal servant to the Emperor, but as a representative of the Empire’s nobility, he didn’t want the imperial family’s authority to be undermined.

I tried not to be too disappointed.

‘They don’t know that Enril is gone, so it’s understandable.’

But it was obvious that my parents wouldn’t believe me if I told them that Enril had fled to another world for love.

They knew very well that I had no interest in dragons or monsters.

Just hearing the name ‘Enril’ made me shudder.

If he was going to disappear, he should have at least made a grand appearance and informed the world, instead of dumping everything on someone as powerless as me.

My heart, burdened with tasks I was incapable of handling, was already burnt to ashes.

***

Monsters continued to appear several more times. And each time, a different species appeared, making it harder to respond.

The Crown Prince, being the male lead, had the skills to handle any monster proficiently, but others did not.

Even if the soldiers were trained immediately, it would take a long time to deploy them in actual combat. With the Crown Prince constantly tied up at Mount Acheron, the Emperor eventually requested support from the Holy See.

Within three days, the Sephiroth Holy Knight Order arrived in the capital.

Upon hearing this, I followed Father into the palace.

It wasn’t to satisfy any personal desires. The only person who could reveal that the dragon had disappeared was Gined.

— At least from what I’ve seen, you are not greedy, lazy, or reckless.

Based on what he said, it seemed he trusted me, at least a little. And since he received so much silver, he wouldn’t just ignore me.

‘That wasn’t my purpose, but…’

If I could use Gined’s experience with monsters and other races to inform the Emperor of the dragon’s absence, he would realize the seriousness of the situation.

Finally, Gined and the entire Sephiroth Holy Knight Order entered the palace.

Even amidst the unrest caused by the repeated appearances of monsters, people murmured as they saw Gined.

Unlike last time, when he wore plain priest robes, he now donned a white armor adorned with silver embroidery, exuding an aura of unapproachable sanctity.

Even the Emperor and Empress couldn’t hide their surprise. But true to his imperial stature, the Emperor quickly regained his solemn demeanor.

“May the blessings of light be upon you. Welcome. You must have had a hard journey.”

“It is my first greeting. I am Gined Roengreen of the Sephiroth Holy Knight Order.”

Gined only bowed before the Emperor and Empress, without kneeling. Priests could only kneel before God.

After his greeting, Gined handed the Emperor a silk-wrapped letter.

“This is a personal letter from His Holiness the Pope to Your Majesty.”

While the Emperor reluctantly accepted the Pope’s letter, Gined’s eyes turned towards me.

It looked like his expression softened even a little, but it was probably my imagination.

‘Will he really help me?’

I felt overwhelmed by Gined’s imposing beauty.