Ever since Erin revealed her power, the Princess had begun preparing for the future. She knew her father would take Erin to the Imperial Palace, and even what choices Ferdin would make. The letter she sent to Lilia contained a request to come to the Duke’s mansion.

“Lady Erin, were you recognized as a Sword Master by His Majesty?” she asked.

“Yes. Fortunately, no one raised any objections.”

The Princess smiled with genuine relief at Erin’s response. Then she turned to look at Karon and Lilia beside her, who were watching her with puzzled expressions, clearly wondering why they had been summoned.

“Lady Lilia, you can use spatial transfer magic, can’t you?” the Princess asked.

Lilia nodded, somewhat surprised.

‘I’ve only recently become capable of using spatial transfer magic,’ she thought. How did the Princess know about this?

“Now that Lady Erin has been recognized as a Sword Master, you won’t need anyone else’s permission to use spatial transfer magic.”

Erin nodded at the Princess’s words. In fact, she had already planned to return to Marquis Liserth’s mansion through spatial transfer magic before the Princess mentioned it. 

However, using such magic required not only a Sword Master’s permission but also the cooperation of the Magic Tower. There were only a few mages at the Magic Tower capable of using high-level magic like spatial transfer.

For this reason, she had already contacted the Magic Tower with Duke Asili’s help, though she’d been told it would take about another day for a mage to arrive.

The Princess smiled kindly at Erin. “Lady Erin, there’s no need to wait for a mage from the Magic Tower. We have Lady Lilia here.”

“Where should I use the spatial transfer magic?” Lilia asked, looking confused.

“To Marquis Liserth’s mansion, please.”

The Princess grasped Erin’s hand firmly as she spoke. Erin could feel the hardness of her hand, calloused from training. How many lives had these hands saved? And how much suffering had she endured to develop them?

“Lady Erin, travel safely. Until we meet again.”

In that moment, Erin thought the Princess’s face looked familiar, resembling the woman she had seen in her dream about Titi.

* * *

After Erin, Karon, and Lilia left the office, the Princess stood quietly before the firmly closed door.

“Can the future be changed, Goddess?” she asked, knowing there would be no answer. 

Until now, the Princess had moved according to the Goddess’s design, following the only path that would allow both Ferdin and Marquis Liserth to survive. Of course, she knew Ferdin would be seriously injured in the process, but Erin had the previous Saint’s necklace.

Sacred objects increase holy power, so if she went to the Marquis’s mansion, Isis would be able to save Ferdin—provided they weren’t too late.

If they were delayed even slightly, his life couldn’t be guaranteed. That’s why she couldn’t answer Isis’s questions.

However, Ferdin was the type who would gladly accept such pain for Erin’s sake. He would likely hold on until they arrived.

The Princess collapsed onto the office sofa, staggering slightly. Just then, Duke Asili knocked and immediately opened the door.

“Have you finished your business?” he asked.

The Princess looked at her father. The Duke was like an enormous fortress of a man, someone who seemed as though he would never crumble. But in the future the Goddess had shown her, she had seen her father grieving after her death.

Duke Asili, revered by all knights, had mourned his daughter’s death like any ordinary person, completely broken. Seeing him like that had filled the Princess with immense guilt.

But now, ‘I don’t have much time left,’ she thought.

She knew what would happen next and the fate that awaited her. Yet she couldn’t stop—or rather, she chose not to stop.

Duke Asili frowned at his silent daughter.

“You’re acting strange today. You suddenly show up announcing you’re taking leave from the academy, and now you’re looking at me with that odd expression.”

“…”

“Lady Lilia used spatial transfer magic to leave for the Marquis’s mansion. I should inform the Magic Tower that the matter has been resolved. Did you know beforehand that she could use spatial transfer magic?”

The Duke sat across from his daughter, who answered with a smile.

“Yes, that’s why I called Lady Lilia here. You recently helped Ferdin use spatial transfer magic, didn’t you?”

“…”

“I heard it takes quite a long time to get permission from the Magic Tower and meet with a mage. But we don’t have time to wait right now.”

The Duke understood only half of what she was saying, but he knew his daughter wouldn’t explain further even if he pressed her. Something about the Princess today seemed off.

“You said you would graduate from the academy no matter what, so why are you suddenly taking a leave of absence?” he asked.

The Duke and his wife had never wanted the Princess to attend the academy, but she had insisted she would definitely graduate. 

‘I thought your health had improved significantly,’ he thought, but the Princess before him looked so pale she seemed about to collapse.

“Father, you know I wanted to become a knight when I was younger, right?”

Duke Asili nodded with a bitter expression. As a child, the lively Princess would often tell her father that someday she would become a Sword Master just like him.

“Yes, when you were little, you used to say you’d become a knight who would surpass me someday.”

“Do you know why I wanted to become a knight?”

Duke Asili looked at his daughter’s face as she continued in a calm voice.

“Because I thought you were amazing. Fearless and strong… always reliable. In my eyes, you seemed like someone who didn’t know the meaning of fear.”

“…”

“That’s why I wanted to become a knight like you.”

Duke Asili cleared his throat softly. Though he already knew this, hearing it directly from his daughter made him feel somewhat embarrassed. 

The Princess smiled faintly as she watched her father blush slightly, but her next words made him freeze.

“I’ve started receiving divine prophecies recently.”

“Prophecies?”

“The Emperor…”

“No, don’t say it.”

Duke Asili’s face hardened to a frightening degree. He understood well what it meant to speak of prophecies through the previous Saint.

“Please listen to me,” the Princess said firmly.

“…”

“If I don’t speak this prophecy, many people will die. Father, my life is already…”

“I told you not to speak!”

“My life doesn’t have much time left.”

There wasn’t a trace of fear on the Princess’s face as she spoke these words. The Duke felt a chill in his heart. His daughter had said he didn’t know fear, but that wasn’t true. He had always been afraid of something happening to her.

“I’ve already made too many prophecies. This will be my last one.”

An intense aura began to emanate from Duke Asili’s body, so powerful that even the knights guarding outside his office shuddered in surprise. But the Princess didn’t stop speaking.

“The Emperor sought to become a god. He began dabbling in forbidden black magic.”

“…”

“He’s already become something that can no longer be called human. He plans to sacrifice countless humans and create monsters. He will sl*ughter the weak and powerless.”

“Daughter…”

The Duke’s eyes trembled unstably.

The Princess paused briefly upon hearing him, but soon continued with renewed determination. “He tried to kill me.”

Duke Asili’s face contorted. “He… tried to kill you?”

“During the monster subjugation… it was the Emperor who controlled the monsters.”

The Princess’s fingertips were trembling. The price of revealing the truth she had seen in her prophecies weighed heavily upon her. Prophecy was a powerful weapon, a key that could change the future.

But knowing what would happen didn’t mean one could freely change the predetermined future. Only Erin might be free from such laws and consequences.

“You knew I would make this choice, didn’t you?” the Princess silently complained to the Goddess. 

Her Goddess was cruel. She must have known the Princess would reveal her prophecies and the fate that would follow.

Noticing something wrong with the Princess, the Duke quickly moved toward her. He firmly grasped her shoulders and asked with concern, “Are you alright?”

The Princess clutched his collar and shook her head. “I don’t have much time left, Father.”

“…”

“I’m sorry. But I couldn’t stop.”

“No, this can’t be happening…”

The Emperor would not stop. To stop him, her father would need to take action. This wasn’t something Erin could do alone. The future that would soon unfold flickered before her eyes.

“Please support Ferdin,” she whispered, her voice growing so faint it seemed about to break.

She felt her eyelids growing heavy and instinctively knew that if she closed her eyes now, she would never open them again.

“Lady Erin will succeed,” she believed. Just as she had done before, Erin would be able to change the future. She would transform the future where countless people would die.

This was her limit now. The Princess slowly closed her eyes.