Chapter 7 …

“That’s right. I read it properly.”

Diarin summoned a feather from Oll, pretending to take it out of her reticule, and held it in her hand.

If examined closely, it was a mysterious feather suffused with an auspicious glow, but Ramd was in no state of mind to notice that.

To him, it looked no more than a crude reusable magical quill that could write without ink.

She walked closer to the wall surrounding the Imperial Palace. Placing the paper against the flat stone surface, she swiftly signed it with Oll’s feather.

Before coming to the Imperial Palace, she had considered signing it in advance at the estate.

‘But pre-signing a document that tells them to kill me felt a bit much.’

If Ramd had let the matter slide, she would have simply pretended nothing happened and burned the paper.

But with a knight who displayed such blatant hostility, it was better to make things absolutely clear from the beginning rather than leave room for ambiguity.

In truth, Diarin had a very specific reason for needing to go to the Bukmunseok Territory.

To hunt as many monsters as possible and completely replenish Lor’s magical power.

Though Oll and Lor currently lived as familiars, they had originally been divine sacred beasts.

As a result, maintaining sacred beasts required enormous amounts of magical power, and in the Bukmunseok Territory there was a forest overflowing with monsters.

Diarin’s goal was to secretly hunt monsters there on a regular basis.

That was the only way to gather enough magical power to sustain the sacred beasts.

So somehow.

No matter what.

She had to win Ezet’s favor and reach the Bukmunseok Territory.

She absolutely had to.

“Well, I’ve signed it.”

Deep wrinkles formed between Ramd’s brows.

“Lady Conclister.”

No matter what, this was too much…

Surely there was no need to go this far—

Ramd bit back the rest of his words and shut his mouth.

Diarin Conclister belonged to Duke Concl.

There was no way he did not know why the Duke was desperately clinging to the engagement between Diarin and Ezet.

‘Because Duke Concl wants to place the Third Prince on the throne.’

The Eighth Prince, Ezet’s status, was clearly rising.

The Emperor had summoned Ezet several times to praise his achievements. Countless envoys from foreign kingdoms had visited the Imperial Palace to sing his praises.

A prince who had returned alive from beneath the Water Gate Stone.

A prince who had even dragged back the corpse of the great monster Skellus.

The living legend adored by knights across the continent.

That was Ezet Asperk.

His lord.

And the Eighth Prince of this Empire.

There were already as many nobles seeking Ezet’s favor as grains of sand on a white beach.

Duke Concl was no different. For the sake of the Third Prince, whom he supported as the next Crown Prince, he wished to earn Ezet’s trust.

To make Ezet support the Third Prince.

To achieve that, someone from the Concl family needed to remain by Ezet’s side.

That person was Diarin.

Once again, Ramd was reminded how useful the title of fiancée was.

Since the relationship was publicly acknowledged, other noble houses could not openly scheme against it.

Of course, Duke Concl might even use Diarin’s hand to poison Ezet…

‘Yes. In the end, this is all for His Highness.’

“……”

Ultimately, Ramd had no choice but to accept the pledge.

With an expression that clearly said he felt uneasy, bewildered, and utterly lost, he carefully folded the document and tucked it into his clothes.

“…I will keep this only as clear proof of your determination.”

“Of course. I have no intention of dying either, Sir Ramd.”

Diarin’s voice was bright as she replied.

Yet the pledge resting against his chest felt strangely heavy.

Even though it was only a single sheet of paper.

After hesitating for a moment, Ramd spoke.

“Lady Conclister.”

“Yes, Sir Ramd?”

“Um… I apologize for my rude and excessive remarks earlier.”

Those transparent light-purple eyes glanced toward him.

That was all.

Diarin merely looked at him once and offered no response.

Not even the customary assurance that it was fine.

“……”

As a result, Ramd found himself nervously watching her mood all the way until they reached Ezet’s palace.

* * *

The White Oak Palace, Ezet’s residence, was exactly as it had been two years ago.

An old-fashioned palace, elegant in style but poorly maintained, with paint peeling from corners of the antique ceiling.

The sort of palace assigned to neglected members of the Imperial Family.

He could have repaired it with his own money.

Yet he had not.

‘The Empress must be furious. She already disliked Ezet before this.’

Now that Ezet’s status had changed, she could no longer openly mistreat him as she once had.

Still, judging from the condition of the palace, the Empress seemed determined to continue making trouble.

Or perhaps she was delaying renovations under the pretext of budget allocations.

For Diarin, it was fortunate.

‘Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress. Thank you for being spiteful.’

As Diarin’s mood improved, Oll’s curiosity overflowed.

〈Master, why is this place so shabby? Is it a stable?〉

Lor answered in her stead.

〈It seems the prince is incompetent.〉

〈Wow. Then why didn’t you kick him? Master?〉

〈This demon is poor as well.〉

〈Ah, right. That’s true.〉

Ignoring the insolent conversation of her familiars entirely, Diarin looked at Ezet standing before her.

To her eyes, Ezet’s face looked strange.

‘It’s like someone pressed a blur spell over it.’

In her previous life, there had been a peculiar magical tool called a blur.

Applying blur to a painting would smear the lines and colors into a hazy mess.

That was how members of the Imperial Family appeared to eyes blessed with Fair Bloodline.

A vague visage.

A familiar boy precisely because nothing could be clearly seen.

Unexpectedly, he had not made her wait.

In fact, Diarin herself had arrived slightly late.

‘Even back when we were in the territory, he always treated me with courtesy.’

Members of the Imperial Family were expected to be both authoritative and refined.

Even the notorious Fourth Prince was said to display impeccable manners at Imperial balls.

Of course, comparing Ezet to the infamous Fourth Prince felt terribly unfair…

Ezet spoke first.

“You said you would break off the engagement.”

“Ah, yes, Your Highness.”

The only visible feature, his golden eyes, remained as cold and dry as ever.

“Is that possible without Duke Concl’s consent?”

“Of course. I’m Lady Conclister, not Lady Concl. Though at this point my title is little more than an honorary one…”

Diarin’s gaze darkened slightly as she thought of the sealed-off Conclister Territory.

“In any case, it’s possible. Duke Concl won’t be able to bring up the engagement to Your Highness for quite some time.”

She had heard that Duke Kelstuder was already targeting Ezet.

And it wasn’t only Duke Kelstuder.

The number of nobles coveting Ezet would only continue to swell.

No matter how influential House Concl was, it could not openly ignore all those noble families.

“So it’s clearly a profitable deal for Your Highness.”

Diarin handed the contract directly to Ezet.

It was remarkably simple and straightforward.

1. Allow me to remain in your territory for one year.

2. Depart for the territory immediately today.

3. …Please provide me with a somewhat warm room.

Diarin never noticed that Ezet’s eyes lingered unusually long on the third condition.

“After one year, I’ll leave of my own accord. Duke Concl is far more meticulous and troublesome than people realize, so it’ll be easier to deceive him if I’m in Your Highness’s territory. Besides, he promised to send the key to the additional armory only if I went.”

The key to the additional armory.

Behind Ezet, Ramd’s eyes briefly gleamed.

That day had been so chaotic that he had not thought much about it, but the additional armory key was essential for the regular subjugation campaigns in Bukmunseok Forest.

After silently studying Diarin for a moment, Ezet asked,

“Why are you offering to break off the engagement?”

“Because I want to leave House Concl.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes. And… neither Your Highness nor I entered this engagement because we wanted to. So wouldn’t ending it be better for both of us?”

Ezet did not answer.

He merely looked at her with a steady gaze, as if trying to determine her true intentions.

Diarin cleared her throat lightly.

“Um, and Your Highness. I even brought compensation.”

“…Compensation?”

“After all, I’m the one requesting the annulment.”

“……”

That was clearly something Ezet had not anticipated.

‘He’s surprised.’

Diarin was secretly observing him with every bit of magical power she could muster, allowing her to read his expression more accurately than usual.

Seeing those eyes, usually as tranquil as a sunset, reveal even the slightest hint of another emotion felt strangely satisfying.

For some reason, it improved her mood.

For the first time since sitting down, Diarin smiled sincerely.

Instead of speaking further, she carefully removed the shawl draped around her shoulders.

It was an incredibly light, delicate shawl, as though woven from spider silk.

“Sir Ramd, you know what kind of shawl this is, don’t you?”

Suddenly addressed, Ramd Veston flinched.

Though caught off guard, he quickly examined the shawl and replied.

“…Isn’t it a Verge Shawl?”

“That’s right. A Verge Shawl. Madame Patricia was so excited explaining how a craftsman has to spend three full years weaving one until their hands blister. Though it’s true.”

Not only was the design beautiful, but the fabric itself was an extremely rare magical cloth no longer produced.

When worn, turning the diamond clasp attached to the center of the shawl would unfold brilliant multicolored wings behind the wearer, making them resemble an angel or fairy.

A single handspan of the fabric cost roughly the equivalent of a baron’s annual income.

It was an extravagantly expensive shawl.

For socialites seeking attention, it was the ultimate luxury item—something money alone could not buy.

Its production numbers were so low that even secondhand pieces retained tremendous value.

And that wasn’t all.

If Diarin sold every piece of clothing and every golden accessory she had chosen to wear today, she could barely purchase an entire noble estate.

Colored gemstones and diamonds might have been more expensive in terms of purchase price.

But gold was far easier to convert into cash.

That was why Diarin had deliberately selected only heavy ornaments crafted from pure gold.

Each time she intentionally chose something expensive, the head maid’s facial muscles twitched.

Yet she ultimately could not stop her.

Duke Concl had probably given orders beforehand.

It seemed he truly considered Ezet too valuable to lose.

‘Which works out perfectly for me.’

Even the castle where Ezet resided in the Bukmunseok Territory looked impressive only from the outside.

Inside, it was poorer than the home of a wealthy commoner.

‘If this palace is still like this, Bukmunseok Castle is probably the same.’

“There are plenty of beauty salons, workshops, and jewel merchants in the Bukmunseok Territory, aren’t there? I’ll convert all of this into cash there and give everything to Your Highness as compensation.”

“……”

The expression on Ramd’s face, standing behind Ezet, became strangely complicated.