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Chapter 08
About a year ago.
It was during the time when they were deeply in love.
“Prina, try some of this too.”
Every time they went on a date, Hugo remembered to bring the snacks she liked.
“Prina, it’s cold outside.”
On chilly days, he would take off his coat and drape it over her shoulders.
“Hold my hand, Prina.”
Whenever they were in crowded places, he would reach out to her first so she wouldn’t trip.
He was truly kind and considerate.
But in truth… whenever Prina met Hugo, she would often feel an inexplicable chill.
Why?
Because Hugo had too many secrets?
Of course, Prina had secrets too.
She intended to take the truth of being the illegitimate daughter of a great noble family to her grave.
No matter how close someone was to her.
‘Even so, Hugo hides way too much! I only hid my background!’
Wasn’t it excessive that even after dating for over half a year, she still didn’t know where he lived?
Whatever the reason, there were moments when a man with such gentle eyes suddenly felt terrifying.
So she began seeing him less often.
[Prina, is something wrong?]
[I miss you, Prina.]
Prina didn’t know how to reply.
She needed time to sort out her thoughts.
Soon after, winter arrived.
Yes, winter.
The season overflowing with delicious winter snacks.
‘Hehe, this is so good.’
That day, she was happily walking down the street while eating warm winter treats.
She blew on the hot food in her mouth, white breath scattering into the cold air.
She had been savoring her rare moment of happiness when—
“…Kgh.”
A groan echoed from somewhere.
‘W-what was that?’
At first, she thought she had imagined it.
She tried to keep walking past.
“Sa-save… me… khk…”
Though faint and barely more than a dying gasp, the sound pierced her ears clearly.
A narrow alley with not a single ray of sunlight reaching inside.
It was so dark she couldn’t tell what was happening with the naked eye.
‘T-the guards!’
Alarm bells rang in her head.
She couldn’t go in herself, so she needed to alert the city guards.
‘But those guards seriously never do their jobs…’
The thought crossed her mind, but there was no other option.
That was when it happened.
Tatatatatatatatatak!
Like a wild dog lunging forward, rapid and rhythmic sounds tore through the street.
Even without seeing it, her instincts screamed a warning.
Something was charging toward her at terrifying speed.
Prina froze in terror.
But instinct shoved her into motion.
‘If I stay still, I’ll die!’
As though fleeing for her life, she threw herself into hiding without even checking where she had gone.
The only thing her fingertips touched was a flat, cold mass of metal.
The brutal winter chill made her fingers ache, but she had no room to think.
She didn’t know who had come running out.
She didn’t know what condition the groaning person inside the alley was in.
She truly knew nothing at all.
Prina held her breath for a long time.
Then—
“Prina.”
A familiar low voice called her name.
Prina raised her head.
As she slowly looked up, sleek black hair spilled beneath the cold winter light.
The red eyes looking back at her were as endlessly gentle as ever.
But why, of all times, had he appeared here?
“Why are you hiding under the carriage?”
“……”
“You must be cold. Come out.”
Hugo looked perfectly neat and composed.
Completely out of place in this gloomy alleyway, as though he had just stepped out from under dazzling sunlight moments ago.
“I came because I missed you, so why are you hiding here?”
“……”
“Were you eating snacks here? Oh dear, you dropped them.”
“……”
Prina stared blankly at the snacks scattered on the ground.
“I saw a shop on the way here that I think you’d like. Let’s go. I’ll buy you more.”
Hugo was unbelievably kind.
He gently helped the frozen Prina to her feet and even brushed the dirt from her knees with his own hands—despite being someone so obsessed with cleanliness that he hated touching dirty things.
“Why are your hands shaking? You must be really cold, Prina.”
His worried voice lingered beside her ears, but Prina’s gaze remained fixed on the ground.
Between the polished heels of his shoes, she could still see the thick, sticky red liquid she had been staring at from beneath the carriage.
Even in the freezing winter cold, the sensation of cold sweat running down her spine was disturbingly vivid.
The wind brushed against her cheek. The unconscious workers still lay sprawled throughout the Black Forest.
The same chill she had felt back then crawled over her body once again.
She didn’t know how she had forgotten about that incident.
As though the shock itself had erased her memory for a while.
‘Maybe back then too, Hugo…’
Had he really killed someone?
Just like today?
If so, then after killing someone, Hugo had casually walked over to Prina…
And acted as though nothing had happened while buying her freshly baked bread.
That day, Prina had practically stuffed the bread into her mouth obsessively.
Because she felt like she wouldn’t be able to endure it otherwise.
She desperately tried to drown out the screams begging for help and the suspicion toward Hugo that kept rising inside her.
But had Hugo truly not noticed how she felt?
Seeing her force food down to the point of pain, he laughed and said her cheeks looked puffed up like a squirrel’s.
He had called her adorable for quite a while.
‘Psycho.’
The more she thought about it, the more horrifying it became.
…How could someone act so calm after killing a person?
Maybe it really was best to separate from Hugo forever like this.
She no longer even felt like returning the ring.
“H-hurk!”
The collapsed workers suddenly regained consciousness.
“Ugh, where are we…?”
“Ah! I thought I was going to suffocate and die all of a sudden…!”
The workers, waking up in the middle of the forest together, looked utterly confused.
They didn’t even seem to realize they had been corrupted by demonic energy.
‘Honestly, that’s probably for the best. It’ll be troublesome if they find out I purified them.’
She had been debating whether to lie and say she gave them medicinal herbs with detoxifying effects, but it seemed unnecessary.
“…Are you all awake now?”
Only then did the workers notice Prina.
“M-miss, did you save us?”
“I merely gave you some water…”
“Oh, really? Miss, thank you so much! Thank you!”
The revived workers repeatedly thanked Prina.
Fortunately, they all seemed fine after being purified by her power.
Prina quietly tried to stand up.
Spin—
‘Ugh. I used too much divine power.’
She had clearly overexerted herself with her pitifully small amount of power.
Dizziness crawled up the back of her neck.
It seemed best to head back and rest quickly.
“See you again next time, Miss Renia.”
Suddenly, Hugo’s parting words resurfaced in her mind.
‘There’s absolutely no way we’ll meet again.’
She firmly decided she would never set foot near the Black Forest again.
“I know the way out. Follow me.”
A dark campsite.
The moon shone brightly in the sky.
“Your Grace, you’ve returned?”
The knights bowed all at once when they spotted Declan leisurely approaching the camp.
They were waiting for the upcoming victory ceremony.
“There was an assassin following me.”
After entering the tent, Declan casually spoke to the aide trailing behind him.
“My deepest apologies. I should have dealt with him before he got close to Your Grace…”
“It was fine. I handled it myself, so don’t worry.”
Since things had already turned out this way, he lured the assassin into the Black Forest.
He intended to leisurely interrogate the mastermind in a deserted place.
But it hadn’t been completely deserted after all.
When he entered the forest, he sensed several presences nearby.
However, judging from their weakening breaths, they seemed already corrupted by demonic energy and close to death.
So he ignored them and continued the interrogation.
Then that woman appeared.
The woman with the disheveled pink hair, her red lips parting in shock.
For some reason, at that moment, Declan hadn’t wanted to show her something ugly.
So he cleanly killed the assassin for her.
‘Why did I bother doing that?’
It had been his own form of consideration for the woman, yet unfortunately she didn’t seem to realize it at all.
Instead, she merely trembled in fear and avoided his gaze.
‘Renia, was it?’
It was a strangely peculiar connection.
Meeting her twice in moments when he was about to kill someone.
Ah, perhaps once didn’t count since she hadn’t discovered him then?
‘Renia.’
Declan repeated her name over and over in his mind.
Whenever he met her, he felt as though he was forgetting something important.
Yet the memory, buried somewhere deep inside him, refused to surface.
Even though he was not someone who forgot things.
“…I will quickly investigate the mastermind.”
“There’s no need. I already figured it out.”
Declan placed an old pocket watch on the table.
It was the item Count Seiton had given the assassin as collateral for the assassination request.
The count’s engraved insignia proving his identity remained clearly visible.
“It seems Count Seiton grew anxious after losing contact with his spies.”
“He must’ve been trying to kill me before the victory ceremony. Otherwise, afterward, he’d be branded a traitor.”
Count Seiton, who planted the spies, was a collateral member of the Caesar family.
He had long disliked the fact that Declan had seized real power.
So while Declan was away at war, the man plotted behind the scenes.
He embezzled war funds sent by the Imperial Family to House Caesar and forged the records to make it appear as though the money had secretly supported the temple.
His intention was for His Majesty the Emperor to eventually discover it, causing Declan to lose imperial trust.
“Count Seiton is not yet old enough to lose his judgment. Yet to make such foolish decisions…”
It had been a cunning move, but now that it was exposed, House Seiton would have to face the consequences.
He should prepare his neck well and ready himself to stand on the execution platform as a traitor.
“It would be best to finish things after the victory ceremony.”
“I obey your command.”
Declan gestured with his chin for the aide to leave.
Just as the aide was about to step outside the tent—
“Ah, wait. How many high-ranking holy purification users are currently staying at the camp?”
“About ten, Your Grace.”
“And among them, how many possess high-purity purification power?”
“…As Your Grace knows, those with high purity are rare. There are only three in the camp at present.”
After countless battlefields, it had become common to see lands rotting from demonic energy and people corrupted by it.
The greater one’s divine power, the more demonic energy they could purify at once.
But there was one exception.
Simply possessing a large quantity of divine power was not enough to purify a corrupted mind.
Only purifiers with exceptionally pure power could do that.
“Why do you ask, Your Grace?”
“Check whether there’s someone named Renia Felt among the registered divine power users.”
