‘At this age, I’m still cleaning up messes…’

Janet had already taken several deep breaths.

No matter how strong she was, it was incredibly burdensome to visit the holy knight who had tried to kill her multiple times.

A few years ago, she had almost been killed by him when he was just a novice who had just become an adult. Now that he had grown stronger, there was no need to mention it.

‘Roengreen wouldn’t really fall for that foolish girl, right?’

It was a great relief that she was known as the Crown Prince’s contractor.

Although he wouldn’t try to kill her outright like before, Janet was instinctively intimidated and couldn’t approach him easily, just hovering around.

“Did the Crown Prince send you?”

Janet involuntarily shivered at the cold voice from behind. She had no idea when he had approached, but a razor-sharp sword was already aimed at her neck.

Clenching her teeth, she slowly turned around.

Gined, who had completely shed his boyish look, was more masculine and handsome, but Janet had no time to admire his beauty.

“Help me!”

Desperate to leave the place as soon as possible, she got straight to the point.

“You know a girl named Lou Dronay, right?”

At the mention of Lou’s name, the holy knight’s eyes wavered slightly. The sword still aimed at her neck, but the murderous intent had noticeably diminished.

Hiding her surprise, Janet continued.

“You might not know, but I was ordered by my master to guard that girl.”

“Get to the point. What happened to her?”

“I can’t explain everything, but to put it simply, there was a conflict with another vampire. It was a territorial dispute. Somehow, he mistook her for my master and kidnapped her. If my master finds out about this, he’ll kill me. I had no one else to turn to but you.”

Janet bit her lip nervously.

“You dragged her into your territorial dispute?”

“Please. You seemed to be quite close with that girl, didn’t you? She seemed to think very highly of you.”

In truth, Janet did not expect Gined to fully believe her. The excuse was hastily made up, given that the plan itself was improvised.

‘Will he really fall for such a flimsy trap?’

Gined remained silent, lost in thought.

“If you don’t want to help, fine. She’s not really my master, and if she dies, I’ll find another way…”

“Lead the way.”

Gined sheathed his sword and spoke coldly.

“…Fine. Follow me.”

Trying to appear nonchalant, Janet turned around, but her eyes were wide with shock.

She covered her mouth to stifle a gasp.

‘Did he really fall for it?’

No, this wasn’t falling for it. Gined had decided to follow her, knowing everything.

It was a disaster.

That was all she could think about.

‘If they really get together, what will I tell the King of the Underworld?’

Janet squeezed her eyes shut.

She only now realized that she had been wrong from the start. In any case, being powerless was a sin.

She could only hope that when the King of the Underworld found out about all this, he wouldn’t blame her for everything.

***

Crunch, crunch.

All I did while waiting for Gined was nibble on snacks.

But I felt so uneasy that I couldn’t taste anything. The eerie scenery outside the window added to my discomfort.

I quickly turned my head before making eye contact with a chimera that had the body of a snake and the head of a human.

Under Michalis’s hypnosis, the chimeras were aimlessly circling the building, unable to see the town hall right in front of them.

‘Should I give up and change the plan now?’

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed unlikely that Gined would fall for such a flimsy plan.

Michalis, who was munching on snacks with me, asked nonchalantly.

“What will you do when Roengreen suddenly appears?”

“First, I’ll thank him.”

“You’re very polite. What’s next?”

“If it goes well, confirm the love…”

Confirm the love. What happens next?

Although I was always well-versed in theory, I never had the chance to use it in practice.

“What do you think you would do, Michalis?”

“Roengreen is more the type to put on airs rather than be straightforward. For someone like that, it’s better to be direct—”

Just as Michalis started to explain, a formidable noise suddenly erupted.

Startled by the sound, I dropped the cookie I was holding. Michalis swiftly caught the cookie and put it in his mouth, clapping his hands.

“Oh, they arrived sooner than expected. They must be eager to rescue you as soon as possible.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a second explosion was heard.

Following that, Janet shouted.

“Return my master’s ex-fiancée, you crazy old man!”

The last shout somehow sounded sincere rather than an act.

Amidst all this, there was a loud noise of something collapsing. It seemed Janet had demolished a few empty houses for a realistic performance.

‘Huh?’

As I stretched my neck to look out the window, I froze.

The person advancing, destroying everything in their path, was not Janet but Gined.

It was as if he intended to blow up the entire village.

“Despite his appearance, he’s quite a rough man. I like it. I’ll go out and put on a show, so in the meantime, Lou, prepare to welcome the knight.”

Michalis pulled out a wig and mask from a small bag he had brought along and put them on his head.

“How do I look? Unrecognizable, right?”

“It’s definitely hard to tell who you are.”

I was amazed at where he managed to find such rags.

Michalis, however, seemed very pleased with himself.

“Oh, Janet! You’ve walked right into your grave!”

He shouted in a theatrical tone and left the hall. His shoulders were already shaking with anticipation. Now, there was really no turning back.

I picked up the cookie and watched the brawl between one holy knight and two vampires through the window. At least I found some solace in being able to watch such a rare show for free.

Michalis, despite being a vampire lord, made a series of pathetic attacks.

Janet was no different. Her skills were all flashy but lacked substance. However, the curses they hurled at each other were genuine.

“I won’t let you get away with this, you old geezer!”

“You’re getting old too!”

As the fight between the two elders turned into a childish squabble, Gined ferociously pressed Michalis. Every swing of his sword split the darkness with holy power like lightning. Michalis seemed genuinely surprised.

‘Go, Gined!’

“You’re despicable, Janet. Involving a holy knight, have you thrown away your pride as a vampire?”

“Who are you to talk, taking hostages!”

Even in that situation, Gined maintained his focus. It made him seem even more impressive.

When I thought they had dragged things out enough, Michalis finally let out a desperate cry.

“Ah…! To think I would be defeated by a mere human! But don’t be complacent. I will surely return one day!”

After spouting a typical villainous line, Michalis turned into mist and disappeared. Before transforming, he winked at me. It seemed like a signal for me to come out soon.

I put down the cookie I was eating and slowly got up.

Standing in front of the mirror for a final check, I saw my too-neat appearance. For a more dramatic effect, I tousled my hair and unbuttoned a few buttons.

Still unsatisfied, I pinched the inside of my arm to make tears flow naturally. Now I looked like a genuinely frightened hostage.

However, it wasn’t my role to open the door and greet Gined. Chimeras were roaming around the building like guards.

I crouched in a corner, leaning against the wall with my face buried between my knees.

Soon, the chimeras let out terrible screams. Then the door burst open. Finally, Gined had come to rescue me.

I lifted my head with a frightened expression and saw a holy knight in silver armor, complete with a helmet.

But acknowledging him right away would ruin the entire act.

“Who… who are you?”

I pretended to be more scared and pressed myself against the wall.

“It’s me, lady.”

He approached in a single bound and knelt on one knee, slowly removing his helmet.

A handsome face immediately appeared. The silver hair stuck to his white cheeks was maddeningly seductive.

I muttered half-dazedly.

“No way, Sir Roengreen? How did you… What about the vampire…?”

“He fled. Are you alright?”

“Yes. And you?”

“I’m fine too.”

“Thank you for coming to rescue me. Every time…”

I was about to say how annoying it was as a habit but suddenly closed my mouth at the peculiar look in his eyes.