Before departing for the Marquis’s mansion, they had considered the worst-case scenario: the Marchioness might kill the Marquis to conceal the truth.

For this reason, the knights assigned to explore the mansion took turns monitoring Corelia while also keeping watch over servants heading toward the underground dungeon.

“Has Corelia made any suspicious movements?” Ferdin asked.

The knight who had been watching her until the last moment nodded in response. Without hesitation, Ferdin and the First Knight Order made their way to the underground prison.

The soldiers guarding it were no match for the knights and collapsed unconscious before they could even scream.

As previously agreed, the knight order split into three units and began to move. Ferdin proceeded with Isis and ten knights, planning to spread out and search the eastern section of the dungeon. 

While quickly examining the cells, Ferdin suddenly frowned.

‘Something feels strange,’ he thought. It wasn’t just the damp, gloomy atmosphere of the underground prison—he had sensed it since arriving at the Liserth mansion. 

‘The underground prison isn’t the only place we haven’t searched…’

Ferdin stopped walking. He could feel Isis looking at him with confusion from behind. Taking a small breath to steady himself, Ferdin placed one hand against his head.

“Your Highness, are you alright?” Isis approached with concern.

“Your body still… what Count Leon did to you…”

Isis’s voice seemed distant as a powerful headache began to overwhelm Ferdin. In that moment, he witnessed a vision: Corelia holding something in her hand while smiling with pleasure. 

He had briefly seen this scene before through his ability—a memory of Erin being dragged away by Corelia for “discipline.”

The tower of Liserth mansion.

“It’s not the underground prison.”

Ferdin ran as fast as he possibly could. Isis, with his weaker constitution, couldn’t keep up. One of the First Knight Order members who noticed Ferdin changing direction hurried after him and carried Isis on his back.

“Please bring the rest of the knights!”

Ferdin called out to the knight carrying Isis. Together with the remaining two knights who had followed him, he headed for the top of the tower.

The door was locked, of course. Ferdin slashed the doorknob with his sword and witnessed a scene similar to the one in his vision: Corelia, sword in hand, about to strike down the Marquis.

* * *

Several days earlier, Corelia had received a message from Ditrion through a crystal ball: “Erin Liserth is coming to the Imperial Palace to receive certification as a Sword Master from His Majesty the Emperor.”

She couldn’t forget the shock she felt upon first hearing those words. Erin, a Sword Master? How was that possible?

But she couldn’t remain stunned forever. Corelia immediately moved the Marquis from the underground prison to a new location. If someone came looking for him, they would certainly check the dungeon first.

In the worst-case scenario, she planned to kill the Marquis and cover everything up.

“Perhaps I should kill him right now,” she had been contemplating since Charlotte’s death eliminated the need for a puppet.

But what about her original plan to show the Marquis Erin’s demise? With his limbs bound by mana-controlling stones, he couldn’t do anything anyway.

While Corelia was still deliberating, Ferdin and the First Knight Order arrived at the mansion sooner than she had expected. After dining with Ferdin that evening, she made her decision: “I must kill Marquis Liserth.”

However, reaching the tower proved more difficult than anticipated because she knew the First Knight Order was constantly watching her. She also noticed that the servants were being monitored and couldn’t issue orders to them. 

Corelia turned her head toward the open door and saw Ferdin and two knights pointing their swords at her.

“I thought you went to the underground prison,” she said.

She had confirmed they were heading to the dungeon before coming to the tower to kill the Marquis. How did they know to come here? Corelia frowned. At this point, she had only one option left.

“Killing everyone wouldn’t be so bad.” She looked at Ferdin as she spoke, her eyes gleaming.

As soon as Corelia finished speaking, Ferdin moved. He hid Marquis Liserth behind his back and drew his sword. Corelia’s blade came flying toward him with incredible speed.

Clang!

The force was unbelievable, especially coming from such slender arms. Ferdin’s hands trembled from the impact.

“Her skills would rank among the top high-ranking knights,” he thought. He knew from Erin that Corelia was a knight, but he hadn’t realized she was this skilled.

The First Knight Order members who had followed Ferdin joined him in the confrontation.

“You’re no match for me,” Corelia said with a crooked smile. 

Though she hadn’t become a Sword Master, she possessed the skill to face three or four high-ranking knights simultaneously. It seemed laughable that they had come to rescue the Marquis with such a small force.

While the First Knight Order members engaged Corelia, Ferdin examined the Marquis’s condition. 

“Marquis Liserth?”

He carefully shook the man, but there was no response. Blood was flowing from the back of his head, suggesting he had been struck hard with something solid.

After checking the Marquis’s pulse, Ferdin sighed with relief.

“At least he’s not dead.”

Fortunately, he appeared to be unconscious, though the severe head wound required urgent treatment.

“Argh!”

A sudden scream made Ferdin turn his head. One knight had been stabbed in the shoulder by Corelia, who then kicked him away before slashing another knight’s leg. She had taken down two knights in an instant.

Ferdin tried to move the Marquis outside, but Corelia quickly approached and swung her sword at him. 

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Her blade rushed toward him—if he had dodged even slightly later, it would have pierced his abdomen. Ferdin placed the Marquis back on the floor and readjusted his grip on his sword.

“Your Highness Ferdin, you’re waiting for reinforcements, aren’t you?”

Corelia was right. He intended to protect Marquis Liserth while buying as much time as possible, and she had already figured out his plan. She began swinging her sword, targeting only the Marquis.

Clang! Clash!

The clear sound of swords colliding rang out.

“Why not just leave him behind?” she taunted.

“…”

“You’re not even close to him. He’s a noble from the neutral faction. Do you think helping him now will make him your ally?”

Ferdin replied with a hardened expression: “That’s not important.”

“Then why are you trying to save this man?”

He expected nothing from the Marquis. Ferdin had come here for one reason only: if Marquis Liserth died, Erin would be devastated.

“You talk too much,” he said.

Corelia let out a hollow laugh at his response. “You’re quite articulate even in this situation.”

Her sword struck fiercely. Ferdin desperately protected the Marquis. Although his training had brought him to the level of a high-ranking knight, fighting while protecting an unconscious person was no easy task.

“Where are the knights?” he wondered.

Though the battle had been brief, it felt like an eternity. Eventually, Ferdin failed to block one of Corelia’s strikes. His thigh was deeply cut, causing him to lose his balance and collapse to his knees.

“Should have done this from the start,” Corelia said as her sword immediately aimed for Marquis Liserth.

Ferdin gripped his sword handle tightly. In that moment, Erin appeared in his mind. “If I can’t get up now…”

She had told him she loved him, whispered that she wanted to be with him.

“I won’t be able to protect Marquis Liserth.”

Corelia would kill the Marquis and then try to kill him too.

“In the worst case, Erin will lose both her fiancé and her father.”

He didn’t want to make her cry. He wanted to make her happy.

Ferdin felt pain surging from his abdomen.

“What, what is this?!”

Corelia couldn’t hide her shock when Ferdin blocked her sword aimed at the Marquis. She tried to pull her weapon back, but Ferdin firmly grasped her blade with one hand while swinging his own sword with the other.

“You… will not… harm… Marquis Liserth.”

Corelia quickly released her sword and stepped back, allowing his blade to merely graze her left side. She clutched her partially cut arm with her other hand, her face contorted in pain.

“Your Highness Ferdin!”

“D*mn it! What the h*ll…”

The astonished voices of the First Knight Order who had just arrived at the tower top rang out. 

Corelia stared at Ferdin with cold eyes before gradually backing away. Through his blurring vision, Ferdin saw her open a window and leap from the tower.

“Your Highness! Prince Ferdin, you mustn’t lose consciousness!”

Though he heard Isis calling his name and wailing, Ferdin’s eyelids grew heavy, and he closed his eyes.