ULDEM 3

After hearing the whole story, Sierra clicked her tongue.

“You’ve known him for ten whole years, and you never once acted like you knew him while attending school together? You’re really something. Did you really have to go that far?”

Sierra shook her head as if she were tired of it. Tislin gave an awkward smile.

But honestly, it wasn’t as difficult as it sounded.

Classes at the Royal Academy were mostly held by department. The Knight Department especially had many classes and personal training sessions only among themselves, so they rarely interacted with other departments.

On top of that, Damian belonged to the Royal Guard, so he was often sent outside. Subjugating monsters, attending diplomatic events, managing occupied territories… Those were only the known duties. There were probably many things even Tislin didn’t know.

Because of that, unless it was a required class shared between departments, Tislin from the Administration Department and Damian had almost no chance of meeting.

And those required classes were only one per year. The History lecture in the first semester of first year, the Royal Etiquette lecture in the first semester of second year, and the International Relations lecture they were taking now.

But the first semester of first year had ended before Damian transferred in. In the first semester of second year, Damian disappeared halfway through because of knight duties and didn’t return until the semester was over.

So it wasn’t that Tislin made a great effort to pretend not to know Damian. More accurately, she didn’t need to. They barely crossed paths in the first place.

When they did meet by chance… she simply pretended not to see him. She had struggled a little to stop her eyes from turning toward him, but since even Sierra hadn’t noticed, it hadn’t happened many times.

“Still, during vacations, Adelind came all the way to Viera and stayed at the Luxen estate with us. So it’s not like I never saw him at all.”

“Wait, wait. The Grand Duchess came to Viera? Why didn’t I know about that?”

“She didn’t go anywhere outside. That was His Grace’s condition.”

The day Tislin’s admission to the Royal Academy was decided, Adelind cried all day. The Grand Duke even quietly asked Tislin if she really had to enroll, but since it had already been decided by royal order, there was no way to refuse.

Then in June, when Damian also enrolled at the Royal Academy, Adelind completely exploded.

She said the Academy had stolen the two people she liked most and even went on a hunger strike, insisting she would follow them to Viera. In the end, after stubbornly holding out, she managed to get permission.

Of course, she was too young to enroll. Instead, during the Academy’s vacations in January and July, she stayed briefly at the Grand Duke’s townhouse in the royal capital, Viera, and spent time with them.

However, Adelind’s safety was most important, so she was only allowed to stay strictly inside the estate. Damian and Tislin visiting the Luxen estate was also confidential.

Even so, those who could guess probably already knew. The important part was that only those people knew.

“If this rumor spreads, Viera will be turned upside down.”

“But it’s still quiet, isn’t it? We’ve kept it secret all this time. If rumors spread now, you’ll be the culprit!”

“Is that so? Ah, never mind that. So when did your crush start?”

“Hmm… It was really nothing special.”

Tislin muttered awkwardly and rested her cheek on her knee. When her cheeks and ears turned red, Sierra gasped.

“What? You’re actually embarrassed?”

“You asked first!”

After throwing a pillow at her, Tislin searched her memory.

It was exactly five years ago.

Damian Xsanov had participated in the war against Parfanan at the age of only sixteen.

Parfanan, ruled by the tyrant Hezra, had once been called a great empire.

About fifty years ago, Prince Hezra—also the greatest magic swordsman of his time—killed all his brothers and took the throne in his early twenties.

At the beginning of his reign, he was an extraordinary conqueror. Countless nations were defeated under his sword. About a quarter of Parfanan’s current territory was conquered during those early years.

But after losing his eldest son, Hezra lost interest in conquest and fell into luxury, pleasure, and cruel massacres. The treasury of the once-wealthy empire quickly ran dry, but there was no end to Hezra’s tyranny.

He placed four close dukes in the four directions of the land and exploited it thoroughly—food, luxury goods, even people.

Among them, the duke ruling southern Parfanan, known as the “Southern Duke,” was a magic swordsman nearly equal to Hezra. It was said that his individual strength equaled three elite knight orders combined. Even after Hezra stopped his conquests, the Southern Duke’s army constantly fought against neighboring countries.

The allied forces formed by the Grand Duchy of Luxen, the Kingdom of Cassedy-Manorca, and many other nations could not conquer even southern Parfanan for half a century.

Until that year—when the sixteen-year-old magic swordsman Damian Xsanov cut off the Southern Duke’s head.

The summer of Luxen was cool, and so was the face of the young knight beneath his helmet. Tislin still clearly remembered watching the victory parade while holding Adelind by the shoulders to stop her from running out.

That street where glory shone like sunlight. Flags fluttering like the wind. Cheers filling the air mixed with the scent of iron and flower petals.

Until that moment, the boy had only been Adelind’s Damian to Tislin. Close, yet distant. She had never especially wanted to grow closer.

Like everyone else, when he removed his helmet, she admired the delicate cheeks under slightly damp hair, the thick eyelashes, and his clear eyes. But that was all.

Her peaceful heart was completely shaken only half a day later.

After being surrounded all day by the Grand Duke and many others, Damian finally came to Adelind’s drawing room in the evening.

“Here. A gift.”

As if he had simply returned from a trip, he held out identical bracelets to Adelind and Tislin. They had Parfanan-style pendants inlaid with gold and agate. Though simple in design, they were precious enough to rival the jewels in a countess’s jewelry box.

“Wow, we have matching ones!”

“Mine too?”

Tislin hadn’t even expected a gift for herself. Her eyes widened in surprise. The cool feeling of the bracelet on her fingertips felt unfamiliar.

The Grand Duke laughed heartily and teased Damian.

“You even managed to find matching ones in the middle of a busy battlefield.”

“There are two girls.”

It was really nothing special. He hadn’t even said it to her directly. But somehow, those words left a mark on Tislin’s heart.

“…Thank you.”

She murmured her thanks in a voice as small as an ant. Whether he heard it or not, she didn’t know. Her face was burning too much to pay attention to anyone’s reaction.

“That’s it? Really, that’s it? It’s that Damian Xsanov! Didn’t he save you dramatically or something?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

Sierra let out a disappointed sigh. With names like Damian Xsanov and the Grand Duchess of Luxen, she had expected something grand, but it was surprisingly ordinary.

The only gain was seeing Tislin’s red ears.

‘Is she really that embarrassed? It’s not going down at all.’

That alone was something.

She didn’t ask how Tislin ended up confessing. There was no need to dig into her friend’s wound.

More importantly, Sierra Pontineer had only learned from Tislin’s engagement letter that Damian Xsanov was even available on the marriage market.

Despite his great achievements and being the sole disciple of the Grand Duke of Luxen—a guaranteed path to success—there was a simple reason marriage proposals had not poured in for Damian.

‘Because everyone naturally thought Sir Xsanov would marry the Grand Duchess of Luxen!’

There was an age gap, but in noble marriages, seven years was nothing.

If one thought of it as the Grand Duke arranging things early for his orphaned granddaughter, everything made sense. Even the unusual bond between the two, though not related by blood, was understandable if they were meant to become one someday.

But that wasn’t the case?

Since the Grand Duke himself would preside over Damian Xsanov’s engagement, this engagement must also have his approval. That meant he had never intended to pair Adelind and Damian in the first place.

One could ask whether this engagement was only a cover and that he might later unite him with the Grand Duchess.

But with everyone already assuming Damian and the Grand Duchess would marry, such a move would be meaningless. There was also no reason for Count and Countess Ermiz to sacrifice their daughter’s reputation for such an act.

So unless something changed, this engagement would likely lead to marriage.

It felt unreal.

My friend? With Damian Xsanov?

“So Tislin, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean? …I’m going to break off the engagement.”

The cheeks that had just been flushed peach-colored while talking about her crush were now pale, without a trace of excitement.

She was serious.

Tislin Ermiz had absolutely no intention of marrying the person she had loved for so long.