‘It was a close call, with the Ice Dragon opening his eyes at the same time. Either way, it’s a relief you found her safe and sound, but what are you going to do now?’


  ‘When was I ever the type to plan?’


  ‘Your marriage was a one-time thing, in the first place.’


  Their eyes that pretended to be worried about the subject of their arranged marriage, which they regarded as a one-time thing, were filled with pity.

  So Izek was more sarcastic than usual.

  ‘I don’t know, if either of us were slaves, we’d be filming the romance of the century.’


  ‘I don’t know why you’re mad at me. With your temper, your or your father would have sent her on a ship bound for Romagna by now, no matter what she said. What’s bothering you?’


  What was bothering him?

  He didn’t know. All he could be sure of was that he got annoyed whenever King Feanol acted like a caring outsider.

  Even when he pretended to be adept, while having a former pagan slave as a queen despite all kinds of opposition.

  ‘She’s known all over the royal families now.’


  ‘She’s the daughter of the Pope.’


  ‘As your wife, in the north, she’d be under your jurisdiction. If what you’re feeling is just a clumsy sense of responsibility, let it go when you can. I won’t stop you. You’ll regret it a lot if you push for it with compassion or responsibility.’


  ‘.……’


  ‘At times like this, you look more like your mother than Ellen.’


  You look more like your mother.

  That wasn’t even funny.

  Princess of Britannia and Duke Omerta.

  A woman who had always been unhappy while living in the center of power and yearning for life, eventually hanged herself.

  He was the first person to find her mother hanging from a willow tree early in the morning.

  His father, who ran one step later, hit the willow tree until his fist was covered with blood.

  Like the tree was the one who killed her.

  At first, they really loved each other. They were so passionate.

  No one interrupted the love between the two, nor were there any obstacles, so they just struggled in the pit created by themselves, but eventually the wife hung herself and the husband drove her to that act.

  Neither side understood nor wanted to understand.

  Yes, at first Izek wanted to meet his mother again and ask her.

  He became a paladin with the desire to reunite with his mother, who became a ghoul in exchange for her unforgivable sin of suicide.

  Such naive thoughts died down every time he killed a wild beast.

  His mother really had died. But now, as a ghoul, she was just another being to kill.

  The question of whether his mother would be among the countless fallen remains of his sword became irrelevant.

  It was not for any other reason that he kicked himself out of every marriage talk and claimed to be an ascetic.

  It was not because of the shock caused by his mother’s suicide, as others recklessly guessed.

  It was just the idea that the same blood was flowing in his body.

  Same blood. It was possible because he had the same blood as his father.

  It would be hilarious to only pick the good parent and regard them as the same blood.

  You couldn’t say that you didn’t know the debt after accepting the inheritance.

  How comfortable it would be if everything in the world was as simple as fighting the monsters.

  But now, it was not even that simple.

  No, actually it was still very simple. It was just a matter of telling the truth.

  Tell the king, his father, the commander of the Knights, the important people in the North, and then tie her up.

  She was a deadly existence that could completely turn the whole world upside down.

  The North would not want to let her go, and even the Borgian family would not be able to overturn the negotiating table this time.

  Or he could just put her on a ship and send her back.

  With minimal consideration, he could decide to forget everything that had happened here, ask her to do her own work, and send her away forever on the condition that she would never step into the North again. It was a very simple task.

  And it would be his job to live like before.

  But why was he doing this?

  Even contacting trashy Vigilante guilds, pressuring his colleagues and deceiving everyone.

  What made him hesitate to let her go?

  ‘I really didn’t know either. I didn’t know I could do this……I’m not lying to you……’


  It didn’t matter if she knew or not.

  The sight of her making excuses while calming the mad ice dragon with one word appeared in front of his eyes.

  “If you push ahead with compassion or responsibility, you’ll regret it a lot later.’


  Compassion. Responsibility. What the hell was all that?

  The uncomfortable feeling that had been with him since the night he saw the scars on her collarbone, was it just compassion?

  The faded, cruel marks on her body that looked like it would break even with a little force, making his blood run cold, was it just a sense of responsibility that he felt?

  The sight of her sniffling at the stable with a whip disturbed his mind.

  What? When? Why?

  He remembered what she said by the pond of Angvan Palace.

  ‘You can hit me.’


  At first, he suspected that she was just trying to provoke him to break up.

  As time went by, he felt that something was increasingly strange and that something in her was deformed.

  ‘I’ve fallen in love with you.’


  He couldn’t even laugh. What did she mean by confessing her love with such frightened eyes?

  How could she come up saying that it was okay to hit her?

  It was not a matter of falling in love in the first place.

  It was difficult to define exactly what it was. The more he looked at her, the more she felt like a child, not an 18-year-old woman.

  Not in the sense of immaturity or innocence, but in the sense of helplessness and blindness.

  She wasn’t in a position to be so humiliated. She was the princess of Romagna, and not any other woman from a common family.

  And yet, she was acting like that.

  What was she so afraid of? What did she want?

  Well, she didn’t even seem to know what she wanted, so how would he know?

  And yet, she confessed her love foolishly.

  Since he became a Paladin, he has seen countless people who were helplessly out of their minds.

  They looked fine from the outside, but went crazy in various ways.

  Nevertheless, in this case, he had never seen someone like her.

  Just because she met one or two crazy people, she wouldn’t go that far.

  Furthermore, Rudbeckia had never even lived with them.

  All of her ex-fiances were reputed.

  However, they also fell behind the power of Borgia.

  Izek had never met his wife’s family, but he knew that Rembrandt Alfonso, who became a eunuch, was not the kind of person to touch women.

  Nevertheless, before suffering the greatest humiliation as a man, he gave his legacy to Cardinal Valentino.

  That smart jerk.

  Overly-smart jerk.

  Who made the Pope’s daughter this way?

  Who made Cardinal Valentino’s dear sister twisted to that extent?

  Was Cardinal Valentino the man who broke his sister to that extent?

  Damn it, he should just pretend he didn’t know. As always, such annoying things, it would be simple if he just turned a blind eye to other people’s circumstances.

  But then, what was the source of this anger bubbling in him?

  ‘I remember telling her not to say anything.’


  ‘Did I know she’d run away like that?’


  It was not necessary to read his father’s mind.

  From the beginning of this marriage, the Duke’s intentions were very obvious.

  “If I had known she’d go crazy like this, I would have stopped the marriage at all costs!’


  ‘Brother!’


  “P-Please forgive me!”


  ‘I’ve sinned to death!’


  The appearance of the servant, who turned blue from lack of air and begged for forgiveness, was miserable.

  The escort guard, who was choking under his grasp, had become one hell of a sight.

  His excuse, brazen nonsense, claiming that he thought Rudbeckia would stay in the temple for a long time, and forgot what she looked like.

  ‘.……It would be unfair if I only killed you, when you all committed negligence together.’


  “D-Duke, please forgive me……’


  ‘Wish my wife to wake up safely. If she isn’t fine, all of you won’t live.’


  After bringing Rudbeckia back, he spent several nights on the floor, beside her bed.

  There was no particular reason. He just wanted to feel her and hear her breathing.

  ‘Save me, save me……’


  She was a damn woman. It would have been much better if she were a vicious and selfish woman as the rumor had it.

  If she had been like that, he could have sent her on board.

  If she were a woman who would rather take advantage of him, if she were a woman who showed off every little ability, everything would be much easier.

  If she was a woman who loved being pampered, or if she was just a normal woman……

  He wouldn’t have been in so much pain.

  There was a crack in the thick ice barrier that had been built over the years.

  Just as even the most severe cold ice melted away in the spring sun, his cold and simple world was collapsing.

  “Izek?”


  All in all, it was very annoying.