“D-damn it all!”

In truth, Roham held no particular grudge against Erin Liserth.

He was merely bound to Ditrion by the accursed suppressant that controlled his life. Roham never wanted to live this way.

Blood rushed to his head as his consciousness grew hazy. Simultaneously, he felt his instincts becoming more ferocious.

He would soon become a monster—a monster that would slaughter the academy students. Roham clutched his chest as his heart raced madly. His eyes turned bloodshot.

Even with his fading consciousness, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from Erin standing before him.

‘This crazy woman! Why isn’t she running away?’

Erin simply stared at him.

“Run… away! Do you really want to die?”

Roham had committed many evil deeds under Ditrion’s orders. Was this his punishment finally catching up to him?

“What… have you done to yourself?”

He had truly reached his limit.

Roham didn’t want to descend into hell like this.

Of course, he couldn’t deny that he was wicked enough to deserve hell. But at the very least, he wanted to die with human dignity.

Perhaps this was his last shred of pride as a knight—something he had failed to preserve until now.

So despite knowing it was impossible, he begged the small woman before him.

“Please… kill me.”

After that, his consciousness certainly slipped away. It definitely had. And yet… not long after, Roham opened his eyes.

‘How did I regain my senses?’

He couldn’t understand how he had awakened. He had certainly been consumed by dark magic due to lack of suppressant. At that moment, feeling pain in his abdomen, Roham understood what had happened.

His mana core, which maintained his mana, had been shattered, bringing his mind back.

‘Who could have possibly…?’

Only a Sword Master could subdue someone who was beginning to transform into a monster due to dark magic consumption.

Even dozens of high-ranking knights would have to risk their lives in such a situation.

Turning his gaze, Roham let out a hollow laugh when he saw the face of the person before him. It was Erin Liserth who had stopped him.

“Foolish Ditrion! Stupid Emperor… how… pathetic!”

He mocked the Emperor and Ditrion who had reduced him to this state. Even with death approaching, he couldn’t help but laugh.

The Emperor always gossiped about nobles to his puppets.

Since he could simply kill them the moment they betrayed him, he spoke quite freely.

Thanks to that, Roham knew about House Liserth.

“Do you know, Lord Roham? Nobles are incomparably stupid. Especially those who wield swords! When you combine nobility and knighthood, I’ll tell you an amusing anecdote about just how stupid they become.”

These words were deeply insulting to Roham, a knight. But he couldn’t offer any rebuttal and simply bowed his head before the Emperor.

And with his own ears, he heard clearly.

“People believe that Karon Liserth is the one chosen by the sword in this generation. But the truth is different. Erin Liserth is the chosen one.”

“…”

“And I suppressed that stupid girl’s talent! Even the sprout of a Sword Master is nothing special.”

No, you’re wrong, Emperor!

Ditrion almost shouted out loud without realizing. Erin Liserth’s brilliant talent had blossomed despite the Emperor’s interference. The Emperor wouldn’t even dream of it.

Unaware that his own life was being strangled, he would still be committing more foolish acts.

“Are you… really… a Sword Master?”

“Yes.”

Erin readily admitted that she was a Sword Master in response to Roham’s question. There was no need to hide it from someone about to die.

Roham smiled with genuine joy. As a knight, he felt reverence for Erin Liserth.

“Remarkable… truly remarkable, Erin Liserth. How… how at such a young age…”

“…”

“No… there’s no time for such talk now.”

He raised his hand, which was crumbling.

This was what happened when one lost their mana core after being completely consumed by dark magic. His physical body was collapsing.

Soon, he would turn into a handful of dust. Roham crawled to Erin’s feet.

He had something to tell her before he died.

* * *

Ditrion was in a very poor mood. Roham had disappeared without following his orders. But what irritated him even more was the sight of Erin and Ferdin from a few days ago.

Erin had simply ignored him and walked past, while Ferdin gazed at her tenderly.

Like they were truly in love.

An inexplicable anger consumed Ditrion. He addressed the knight standing before him.

“Find out where Roham is. He most likely went berserk, so look for traces of that.”

He could feel the knights trembling at his anger. But such things were unimportant to Ditrion.

“How is Erin unharmed? Even if Roham didn’t go berserk, only another high-ranking knight or a Sword Master could subdue a high-ranking knight.”

The knights before Ditrion dared not answer his words. They feared the rebuke that would come if they answered incorrectly.

“Yes, a Sword Master… could there possibly be one in this academy?”

But soon he shook his head.

There couldn’t be a Sword Master in the academy. Even if there was one, it certainly wouldn’t be a student.

‘Most academy students are in their early twenties.’

The only others were the instructors, but their identities were certain. He could confidently say he knew the swordsmanship level of all the instructors.

So where had Roham gone, and how was Erin unharmed? Ditrion frowned. He kept remembering Erin’s gaze that had been fixed only on Ferdin, and it irritated him.

‘Why does Erin Liserth bother me so much?’

Just then, a servant burst through the door and exclaimed urgently.

“Y-Your Highness!”

The knights around turned their attention to the servant who had broken the solemn atmosphere.

Even Ditrion looked at the servant with disbelief. But soon his expression brightened when he saw the woman who entered behind the servant.

He called out to her, “Marchioness! I thought you would arrive a bit later.”

“His Majesty wanted to learn about the situation here sooner, so I hurried a bit.”

There were still more than ten days until the banquet. Considering that ordinary nobles typically arrived just in time for parties, this was unusual. Ditrion found this unusual occurrence quite welcome.

With Corelia, they might discover why Erin had changed.

Besides, wasn’t she the person Erin feared most? With the Marchioness here, everything would be properly resolved.

Corelia elegantly removed her hat. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders. Simultaneously, the atmosphere surrounding her changed. Ditrion’s knights stepped back one by one, sensing her presence.

Corelia was pleased by the fact that there was no need to hide her power here.

“So, Your Highness, have you found out how the Second Prince returned unharmed?”

“That Sword Master appeared again, they say. The one who appeared during the monster subjugation.”

At Ditrion’s words, Corelia’s movements halted.

He continued, “Also, are you sure you thoroughly broke Erin Liserth? She has changed.”

At his words, even Charlotte, who was standing behind Corelia, showed a slight crack in her expression.

* * *

After the Swordsmanship Department class ended, Erin went to see Princess Asili to heal the wound on her side.

Originally, Princess Asili had asked her to come immediately after the subjugation ended, but Erin had refused.

She knew that using holy power caused mild fatigue to the Princess, whose health was already poor.

But with Princess Asili’s continued requests, Erin finally had no choice but to visit her.

For the Princess who had become a Saint, the Emperor had built a small shrine within Atenz Academy.

It was to show that the Lexia Empire had not been abandoned by the gods. Because of this, the Princess’s shrine was very lavish, befitting the Emperor’s taste.

“Lady Erin, you’ve come.”

The Princess greeted Erin with a bright face. Clinging to the Princess’s legs was the child Erin and Ferdin had rescued from the werewolves.

And beside them, Ferdin was looking at her with a surprised expression.

“Lady Erin?”

He quickly approached her. She could easily guess that Ferdin had also come here to receive healing from the Princess.

His complexion looked much better, suggesting his internal injuries had healed considerably.