“Aagh!”
Dean, seeing the dagger lodged in his thigh, let out a belated cry of pain and collapsed to the ground.
Elsez stared wide-eyed at the three unexpected arrivals.
‘When did they get here?!’
With his usual relaxed expression—but a gaze as cold as ice when directed at Tezette—Rashiel spoke first.
“You arrived earlier than expected. I thought you’d be here by tomorrow evening.”
Behind Tezette stood Holy Knights with sunken eyes, looking utterly exhausted. They must have ridden for two days straight without rest.
Tezette, in turn, shot Rashiel a look of clear displeasure.
“I’m not one for efficiency.”
Neither of them was particularly pleased to see the other, but for now, dealing with the situation took priority.
Cassian, noticing that the sudden use of force had frightened the villagers, intervened with a scolding tone.
“Why the hell are you throwing daggers? You could’ve just talked it out. Now look, you’ve scared everyone.”
He nodded toward one of the Holy Knights standing behind Tezette.
Finally snapping out of his daze from the grueling journey, the knight stepped forward and announced,
“We have come under the orders of the Saintess to escort His Eminence, the Cardinal.”
At the mention of the Saintess, the fear-stricken expressions of the villagers began to ease.
Astaire, ignoring Dean writhing on the ground in pain, handed Henry over to the Holy Knights.
“This man is involved in the dimensional rift incidents. He will be taken to the Holy Nation.”
“Understood.”
Two knights moved in to take Henry into custody.
He offered no resistance, following them quietly.
That was when some of the villagers, still unable to believe what was happening, hesitantly stepped forward.
“Henry, did you really do it?”
“Henry, there must have been another reason, right?”
Henry stared blankly at them before lowering his head.
He couldn’t bring himself to make excuses. Not to these people—people who still believed in him, who wanted to believe in him.
“…I’m sorry, everyone.”
At his words, the villagers’ eyes filled with shock.
Without another word, Henry turned his back on them and walked away with the Holy Knights.
Elsez silently watched his retreating figure.
‘Considering that bastard stabbed me in the stomach, I should still be pissed…’
But seeing the villagers, utterly devastated, she found no satisfaction in his downfall.
It was the fall of a hero—leaving behind only wounds for everyone.
****
That evening, after settling the situation, Elsez and the Holy Knights set up camp in an open clearing near the village.
“Magic using a portal as a medium… Since this portal is destroyed, using magic to return is impossible.”
Cassian, who had followed along without anticipating Rashiel’s shocking statement, pressed his fingers against his forehead.
Still, meeting Elsez safe and sound was enough to make him accept this unexpected overnight stay in good spirits.
The problem came next.
“No rooms at the inn?”
And so, camping was inevitable.
But what shocked Cassian even more was—
“Wait, so you actually spent the night with this bastard Astaire?!”
The Holy Knights, busy setting up the tents, flinched and turned to look at them, startled by the scandalous remark.
A Cardinal, of all people, known for his strict celibacy—embroiled in such rumors?
Realizing the knights’ reactions, Elsez clenched her fists, trying to suppress the anger rising from her core as she gritted out through clenched teeth,
“You… shut… up…”
You’re making it sound way worse, you idiot!
Astaire, also looking troubled, tried to calm Cassian down.
“Cassian, lower your voice…”
But Cassian, utterly ignoring them, continued to roar in disbelief.
“If there was only one room, you should’ve just slept outside! And you still crawled in there and shared the bed? You shameless bastard!”
Elsez swallowed a sigh and checked her surroundings.
“No one else heard that, right? Rashiel’s already here, so he definitely did.”
But what about Tezette? Or Duke Rittenhouse? Or… her former fiancé?
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she turned her head—only to meet eyes with Tezette, who had been approaching.
Judging by the fact that even the Holy Knights from afar had heard Cassian’s yelling, Tezette must have too.
Yet his expression remained unreadable, as if nothing had changed.
Then, without a word, he pulled out the dagger he had thrown into Dean’s thigh earlier.
Seeing that, Elsez paled, and Cassian, only now noticing Tezette’s presence, jumped in shock.
Grabbing Tezette’s arm, Cassian shouted,
“Would you stop pulling out your damn knife first?! Talk! Use words!”
Rashiel, who had been radiating an icy aura ever since hearing that Elsez and Astaire had shared a room, agreed coldly.
“Just stab him. He’s a healer anyway.”
It was a rare moment—practically once in a blue moon—that Rashiel actually sided with Tezette.
Cassian shook his head in disbelief.
“You guys are out of your minds…”
At this rate, Astaire was going to take the full brunt of their wrath.
Stepping protectively in front of him, Elsez quickly explained,
“I was the one who suggested we sleep together.”
But rather than easing the tension, her words only made their expressions turn even colder.
“No, wait… That came out wrong. What I meant was, there was an extra bed, and it didn’t sit right with me to make him sleep outside, so…”
As she hurried to correct herself, Elsez abruptly stopped.
Now that she thought about it—
“Why am I even explaining myself like a criminal? And if something had happened, what are they gonna do about it?”
The Holy Knights gasped audibly.
They exchanged glances.
“Wait… So… Did something actually happen? With His Eminence?!”
Realizing how they were taking it, Cassian panicked and clapped a hand over Elsez’s mouth.
“Are you trying to get us killed?! Speak quietly!”
Elsez pried his hand away and shot back,
“You’re the loudest one here! Thanks to you yelling the whole damn village already heard!”
“W-What? You— Are you dropping honorifics on me now?”
Cassian stammered, caught off guard by her sudden informal tone.
Ignoring him, Elsez let out her frustration,
“Who cares if they hear? Who cares what happened or didn’t happen? We’re all adults! It’s nobody’s damn business!”
She exhaled sharply, as if finally relieved to get it all off her chest.
But someone was feeling suffocated.
Astaire sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he muttered,
“That’s enough, my lady…”
He wasn’t sure if she was trying to clear things up or just making things worse.
Either way, that conversation was over—for now.
The bigger issue—Who gets the inn room?
“Lady Elsez, you should take the room. Even though your wounds have healed, you must be exhausted. Besides, it gets chilly in the tents at night.”
“Yeah, that’s best.”
Everyone agreed.
Everyone except Elsez.
“I’m fine. How about we let the ones who are actually tired take the room?”
Her gaze drifted to Rashiel and Tezette—who had gone two nights without sleep.
The three men instantly assumed she meant to take the room herself and was just deciding who to share it with.
Rashiel was the first to step up.
“I’ve been awake for two nights straight. I’d like to sleep in a proper bed tonight.”
“So have I.”
Tezette countered.
“If she’s sharing a room, it should be with me. I’m her fiancé, after all.”
“No ex-fiancé could be a more awkward roommate.”
“An ex-fiancé is practically a stranger.”
Rashiel and Cassian immediately shot down Tezette’s claim.
Cassian, who had no intention of letting either of them stay with Elsez, jumped in.
“I’m just as exhausted, you know? I’ve been babysitting these two lunatics the whole time.”
Rashiel scoffed.
“You slept.”
“Did not! You think I could sleep peacefully knowing what you’d get up to? That was meditation, not sleep!”
“You were snoring.”
“Were you actually setting up a magic circle, or just eavesdropping?!”
As Rashiel smirked, Cassian snapped.
Meanwhile, Tezette nonchalantly shoved Cassian’s foot outside the circle and said,
“Then you’re out.”
The bickering resumed.
Watching the three men argue, Elsez let out a sigh and turned away.
Astaire followed her as she walked toward the central campfire.
“I’ll just sleep in the tent. Let those three sort out the room themselves.”
“Are you sure? You were injured earlier, and you must be tired.”
“I’m fine. Those two are way more exhausted than I am.”
“Still, sleeping in the cold—”
“Trust me, dealing with that is more exhausting than camping outside.”
Astaire conceded.
As they sat by the fire, Cassian’s voice still rang faintly in the background.
Hearing it, Elsez chuckled softly.
“Some things never change.”
“You mean…?”
Astaire looked at her curiously.
Realizing her slip, she hastily corrected herself.
“I just meant they act like children.”
“…They do.”
“But it’s more fun this way. Better than silence.”
Even in her quiet, ordinary life, she’d often thought back to these times.
Especially after losing her grandmother—when she had no one left to call family.
Coming back to this world with the power of the Demon God hadn’t been a pleasant experience.
But at this moment, she was happy.
She was glad to be back.
“One day, when everything is settled… Will we be able to laugh together like before?”
As Elsez gazed wistfully into the fire, Astaire watched her silently.
Her golden eyes shimmered, reflecting the flickering flames.
Then, as if drawn in, he slowly leaned toward her.
Sensing the movement, Elsez turned to look at him—
Their eyes met at a breath’s distance.
“…Just a moment.”
Astaire reached out, gently pulling her closer.
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