Ryuel had clearly said this iron sword was a divine treasure passed down from the first generation of Velius.

But…….

‘I’m certain.’

Like the lingering fragrance of wine remaining in an empty glass, the power of the Reilat could be felt from this iron sword.

Lesia was feeling confused when she heard it.

Knock knock.

Startled by the sudden knocking, Lesia whipped her head around. She put down the iron sword and carefully opened the door to find a familiar person standing there.

“Yudan…… sir……”

Yudan stood there with a stern expression, his face and body wrapped in bandages. The moment she saw his face, she reflexively thought of the Axis Mercenary Group.

Hamilton, Kei, the people who had been so kind to her…….

“……Your body, is it okay to move around like this……”

“Wait, time.”

“……”

“Some time, please.”

His characteristic languid voice was nowhere to be found. His rough, coarse, and sunken voice seemed to convey his suffering instead.

Lesia squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and nodded.

Lesia glanced back at Cesar once and followed Yudan out. The place they headed to was the back garden of the annex.

The entire way there, Lesia felt like she might suffocate. She was ashamed.

The Axis Mercenary Group was precious to Lesia too, but compared to Yudan, that preciousness was as small and pitiful as a star before the moon. And Kaian, who had annihilated the Axis Mercenary Group, had been caused by the Reilat clan.

The guilt made it hard to lift her head.

‘Besides……’

Lesia knew all too well how painful it was to lose someone precious, how anger could surge up. If you kept that anger bottled up, you’d eventually explode, so naturally you’d look for a target to vent that rage on.

For Lesia, that had been the Grand Duke’s house of Velius and Cesar.

So what about Yudan?

It went without saying.

Before him, Lesia was nothing but a sinner.

Lesia glanced at Yudan.

Bandages.

The white bandages wrapped around his left eye, neck, chest, and forearms. At a glance, he was seriously injured.

But was it okay for him to be walking around like this? Worry flooded in that his wounds might get worse.

‘It’s my fault.’

Before he came looking for her, she should have gone to find him…… no, them first.

‘……I was scared.’

She didn’t have the confidence to see the devastated state of the Axis Mercenary Group, or to bear their resentment. So even though she knew, she couldn’t bring herself to go find them.

‘I’m really a coward.’

Self-loathing washed over her.

Receiving resentment from people you cared about was harder than she’d thought. This made her think of Cesar.

Cesar had taken her resentment with his whole body but never ran away or avoided her. All the while, he continued to support and stay by her side countless times.

‘Cesar, I……’

She missed him so much.

Painfully, desperately, she missed him to death. Emotions surged up, but Lesia forced herself to suppress them.

At least not now.

Right now, she needed to focus on Yudan in front of her.

Lesia immediately bowed her waist.

“I’m sorry…… I’m sorry.”

“……”

She pressed down hard.

Lesia struggled to hold back the tears that were welling up. This wasn’t a place for tears to intrude.

She didn’t want to shake Yudan with something like tears.

Honestly, completely, wholeheartedly.

“Because of me, the Axis Mercenary Group members…… I’m really, really sorry……”

“……Stop.”

Suddenly Yudan grasped her wrist. Like he was clinging to it.

Startled, Lesia looked up with round eyes to see Yudan’s light brown eyes shaking. Soon his expression contorted.

Like he might cry.

At this expression of Yudan she’d never seen before, Lesia was momentarily stunned.

His dry lips parted.

“Being a mercenary…… is like that.”

“Yudan, sir……”

“Even if you get hurt on a mission, even if you lose your life, no one resents the client.”

“But……”

“We received a request from Grand Duke Cesar Velius to help eliminate Kaian. We received payment for it too. So dying is……”

He bit down hard.

Yudan bit his lower lip. Blood showed on his dry lips and eventually blood seeped out.

Drip drip.

And finally Lesia’s tears poured out too.

Though he was speaking more coldly than anyone, right now the person whose insides were rotting away more than anyone was Yudan.

“So you don’t need to feel guilt or anything……”

“Sob……”

Lesia could no longer say she was sorry. She could only swallow the sobs that were rising up.

Yudan just watched her like that.

* * *

Stopping in front of a second-floor room door, Lesia hesitated before opening her lips.

“Sir Askus is……”

Yudan turned his gaze to answer Lesia’s question.

“He hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”

“Ah, I see……”

“The doctor says he should regain consciousness soon, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“Yes……”

Even saying that, the worry pressing down was unavoidable. Yudan knew that fact better than anyone.

Knowing she had to go but unable to easily lift her feet. While Lesia hesitated, Yudan spoke after a moment of silence.

“……The Grand Duke.”

“Ah.”

Cesar’s condition hadn’t been made known to the outside. It was only known that his injuries were deep and he was resting.

But seeing Lesia’s face turn pale in an instant, Yudan intuited that Cesar’s condition wasn’t that simple. Probing into it would only hurt her more.

So instead of other words, Yudan turned his head.

“It’s nothing. You must be tired, so go rest.”

“……Yes, you too, Sir Yudan……”

“Yeah.”

Knowing that if she didn’t go, Yudan wouldn’t go in either, Lesia turned her heavy steps. Her retreating figure looked particularly precarious, and Yudan almost reflexively reached out his hand before stopping.

He knew that even if he held onto her now, it would only cause her pain.

Yudan just watched Lesia’s retreating figure for a long while from that spot.

* * *

Returning to Cesar’s room, Lesia sat by his bedside and buried her head deeply. Was it her imagination?

In that short time, Cesar’s condition seemed to have become more sickly. No, was “sickly” even the right word?

Cesar was already dead.

If she had to put it, the word would be “decaying”……

“……I don’t want that.”

Lesia shook her head desperately.

She couldn’t let Cesar go like this.

“……I have something I absolutely must tell you……”

After hearing this, you might be happy, angry, or sad. You can be happy, you can be angry, you can be sad.

So please…….

“Please……”

‘Wake up.’

‘Wake up and look at me.’

The sharp pain slicing through her heart made it hard to breathe.

That’s when it happened.

The treasure of Velius came into Lesia’s view. She stared blankly at the sword and when she came to her senses, she was holding it in her hand.

‘……I’m certain.’

The energy of the Reilat, clearly visible to her eyes, was flowing between Lesia’s fingers.

‘I don’t know why traces of the Reilat’s power remain in the treasure of Velius.’

What was certain was that Cesar had used this sword to trade his life for hers.

‘Then……’

Gulp.

Lesia swallowed and carefully drew the sword from its sheath. Unlike the yellow rusted exterior, the blade wasn’t even dulled.

Lesia’s face was reflected in the silver blade.

‘Cesar, whatever you did with this sword.’

‘I can’t let you go like this.’

Suddenly she let out a small laugh.

‘Did you feel like this too when you had my dead body in front of you?’

There was no hesitation.

‘We’ll definitely meet again.’

Lesia stabbed her own chest with that sword.

Thunk—

With a chilling sound of penetration, the energy of the Reilat rushed in along the blade. That power fused with Lesia, and soon her vision flickered.

* * *

Rustle.

A gentle breeze carrying the scent of flowers brushed past Lesia’s cheek. When she opened her eyes to the tickling sensation like a baby’s touch, Lesia was lying in a flower field full of white flowers.

“Huh?”

Where was this?

For a moment her mind went blank and she couldn’t grasp the situation. Her mind snapped to attention when she reached the memory of stabbing her own chest with the Velius divine sword.

‘Right, I definitely……’

Lesia unconsciously examined her chest.

There was no sword, not even a pierced mark.

‘……But I definitely felt it being stabbed.’

The cool sensation of cold metal cutting through skin and pushing in. The lingering echo of the Reilat’s power seeping through the torn gap.

Suddenly she got goosebumps.

“……”

She hadn’t done it with any plan or thought.

It had been half an impulsive action.

A reckless belief that the Reilat’s power remaining on the divine sword would guide her to Cesar.

“But this place is……”

However, the place Lesia had been guided to was a mysterious location filled only with pure white flowers. And after her vision widened a bit more, Lesia could finally tell where this was.

A castle rising tall beyond the flower field.

The appearance was too familiar.

‘Velius Grand Duke’s Castle?’

That’s when it happened.

A man passed by Lesia.

Black hair and red eyes.

“Cesar?”

At the familiar appearance, Lesia’s head whipped around.

But he wasn’t Cesar.