The evening in Tristan Duchy was quite chilly. Perhaps, it was because the territory was right next to the Kendride Margraviate, which bordered the land to the north.

Grabbing his coat, Marquis Bogut let out a sigh.

As he walked out of the Duke's mansion into the courtyard, white breath vapor came out with his mouth.

There was no hesitation in his gait as he had seen everything he wanted to see.

“...What an absurd guy, being able to have dominance over the Devils like that…”

He muttered while scratching his head.

“You think so, right?”

At a glance, it seemed like he was talking to himself since there was no one there, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Suddenly, a woman appeared under the light shade, wearing an expressionless face.

Marquis Bogut let out a snort, dumbfounded. He simply couldn’t believe that someone was actually able to hide their whole body in such a light patch of shade.

I guess her reputation of being able to infiltrate any place as long as there’s an area without any light isn’t a lie, huh…?

“...Truly a skill that befits someone who bears a title that was only bestowed to two people in this whole continent.”

Marquis Bogut looked at the two animal ears standing on the woman’s head as he said those words.

Biped, the race who faced severe discrimination in the Empire.

Normally, for such a race to come into one of the most authoritative noble territory in the Empire, it would be nothing short of suicidal, but considering who this person was, it wasn’t the case at all.

“Nice to meet you, Grand Assassin. This is the first time I’ve seen you in person. All this time, we’ve only been writing to each other, hm?”

“...”

“Right, come to think of it, was the other Grand Assassin from the same family as yours? As expected, your whole family is—”

“What do you want?”

Well, that didn’t work.

This was his first time meeting the Grand Assassin, but the unfriendliness that he felt in person didn’t feel so different from her writing.

“...That person right there, is your target.”

Marquis Bogut looked behind inside the Duke’s mansion while continuing,

“You’ve seen him from the distance, right? What did he do to that ‘Devil’s Vessel’.”

“...I won’t accept any assassination request against that man.”

Her answer came in a flat tone.

“The Holy Land has already sent someone to assassinate him. I refuse to get a bad blood with someone from the same field as me.”

“You got it wrong, I don’t need you to kill him.”

“...What?”

She responded with an incredulous tone, as if asking, ‘Then why would you hire an assassin?’, but the Marquis ignored her and continued to explain while smiling.

“What that man has done is just the beginning. From now on, the Devils gathering around that man would start their moves in earnest, and you’re the only ‘person’ who can observe it in detail, while being conscious, without getting caught.”

“...”

“Do you understand why I hired you now?”

“...”

Since her whole face was being wrapped tightly in a hood, the Marquis couldn’t see what expression she made, but he was sure that she was frowning at him. He ignored that and continued while smiling.

“Infiltrate the academy. Get as close as possible to that man. If you see anything that stands out, report it to me.”

Marquis Bogut paused for a moment before adding something with a meaningful smile.

“...Also, you might run into your family there.”

“...”

The Assassin stayed quiet for a moment before bursting out laughing.

“I don’t care about them.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

Right before she disappeared into the shadow again…

Her cold voice entered his ears.

“Because they’ve betrayed me.”

“...”

Marquis Bogut quietly watched as the Assassin disappeared with such words.

…Betrayal, huh?

It was a familiar word to him.

And he would be getting more and more familiar with that word in the future.

“-!”

As he thought so, his upper body suddenly leaned forward violently.

A violent cough burst out from his stomach, accompanied by the pain so great that blood started to fill up his mouth.

“...”

He touched the area around his mouth while smiling bitterly.

In the white breath vapor that came out from his mouth, he could smell the strong scent of blood.

“...Hang in there a little longer, Bogut. You’re doing great.”

He muttered while instinctively stroking his neck—the thing that he had always done every time this happened.

Except that this time, the locket that he had usually grasped in his hand was nowhere to be found.

The locket with the picture of Astrid, Armin, and him in it.

“...”

I knew it…

Giving it to Armin before I left was a good idea.

Without it, he felt as if he had broken a bad habit of relying on it every time he was feeling weak.

So, instead of grasping that locket…

He clenched his teeth as he ruminated on the words engraved on that locket.

“My friends...”

From now on, until forever…

Until death separates us apart…

“Just a little more, my friends…”

Almost there...

It’s just around the corner…

The thing that I had promised you guys…

“...I’m almost there, Astrid.”

He muttered before he started to walk forward while wobbling.

It did not take long for his figure to completely disappear into the dark.

●

The cleaning up after that whole fiasco wasn’t that hard.

While the White Devil’s Demonic Aura could affect people’s minds in a bad way, fortunately, Yuria currently only had one Fragment within her, so there would be no serious aftereffects lingering on those people’s hearts.

Though people who came back to their senses got confused to find the banquet hall being so quiet and how they had been standing in a daze until then.

…But, I was able to smoothly pass that thanks to her…

I thought so as I looked at Her Imperial Majesty the Empress, who was touring the banquet hall, greeting all the nobles.

Even though they were not in their right minds, they’d have no choice but to pay attention to the Ruler of the Empire if she were to stand right in front of them. In other words, they had to forcefully act normal, even though they felt that something was wrong.

As a result, the banquet hall seemed to have retained its normal atmosphere, though it wasn’t as lively as before.

“Does the atmosphere not feel a little chaotic to you?”

However, it seemed that Eleanor, who had just entered the banquet hall, noticed that something was up.

As she said so, she looked around, as if finding it strange.

“...You sure you aren't just overthinking it?”

I said while forcing a smile.

Fortunately, she came late because she was preparing something somewhere.

If I hadn’t destroyed all the traces of the chaos by immediately sending Yuria, who had lost her mind, to go back to her accommodation with Lucia, Eleanor might’ve gone crazy asking what she was doing in her house.

“...Am I really?”

She replied, tilting her head before walking towards me as if it didn’t matter.

White dress, a pair of earrings, an accessory on her head, sparkling shoes…

“...”

If I may be honest…

She looked breathtakingly beautiful.

So beautiful that I’d believe it if she were to tell me that the reason why she didn’t show up in the banquet hall until now was because she was busy dressing herself up.

“Then…”

While looking like that, Eleanor slowly held out her hand to me.

“Care for a dance, Dowd?”

“...What?”

Without giving me time to answer, Eleanor slightly curled the corners of her mouth as she held my hand and pulled me.

She dragged me to the center of the hall, right in front of the stage where the band was performing. The area where men and women who held affection towards each other partnered up and danced.

“...Eleanor?”

I could feel my facial muscles twitching.

Everyone’s attention was on us. Me being dragged here so aggressively contributed to it, but it was mostly because the person who did so was none other than Lady Tristan herself.

The owner of the party was dragging her partner out, there was no way the attention wouldn’t be focused on us.

“...”

Also, to put it in another way…

This was her loud declaration.

‘This man is my partner.’ ‘Do not touch him.’

But, the problem was…

“Eleanor.”

I lowered my voice as I quickly whispered.

“It’s my first time dan—!”

“I know.”

“...What?”

“I brought you here because I was sure that this is your first time.”

She said with a light smile before she continued in a delightful voice.

“I will lead. Just follow me.”

After saying that...

Eleanor began to naturally lead my moves.

I had learned how to dance from my father when I was a kid—he said that it was part of nobles’ essentials—but that was it. Still, thanks to that, I could blend in naturally without standing out too much.

“This is my revenge.”

She suddenly said.

“What?”

“Once you return to Elfante, there is a high chance that you will advance to the third-year, since you have made enough contributions for that. Do you understand what that means?”

She let out a mischievous smile.

“It means, soon you will become a ‘senior student’. You will be treated the same way as an on-site forces’ frontline. The incidents you’re going to face inside the academy will be on a completely different level than before.”

“...”

It meant…

“From now on, you will face new incidents, opportunities, and countless experiences. Also—”

She took a sharp turn.

As the movement of the dance changed, we stuck our bodies closely to each other. At that moment, she whispered something into my ear in a sweet voice.

“Every single thing that you do, I’ll take your ‘first time’. Just like what I’m doing right now, taking your ‘first dance’.”

“...”

“Think of it as my revenge on you for taking away my heart.”

That was…

How should I put this,

“...Such a horrible revenge.”

The revenge is very typical of her.

As I thought while smiling bitterly,

[Well, that’s nice and all, but damn, you’re fucked if you get caught.]

Pardon?

[You know, there’s one ‘first time’ that she can’t take, right?]

‘...’

[I wonder what will happen once she knows who took your virginity…]

Uh, that…

No matter how hard I thought about it, that was something I couldn’t do anything about…

…Let’s worry about it later, Caliban.

I replied, deciding to focus on my dance with Eleanor right now.

She clearly came all dressed up to do this. I couldn’t let her down.

Fortunately, even with my poor dancing skills, thanks to her lead, my moves still came out smoothly.

…Am I going to pass this without any big trouble this time again?

Just like the dance moves I had been dishing out.

It felt as if this incident was coming to an end now.

Honestly, when I was invited to Tristan Duchy territory, I was seriously worried that something big would happen. Well, something did happen, but it wasn’t that big.

“...”

.

Though…

If there was one thing I was worried about right now…

It was the fact that the Empress was watching Eleanor and me dancing on the stage with a suspicious amount of interest.

It was as if…

She was somehow jealous…?

“...”

Cecilia the 11th…

Until the party was over, she didn’t stop sending such a gaze our way.

●

“How was your outing, Your Imperial Majesty?”

Someone suddenly asked the Empress, who was silently walking while holding her staff.

He was the Sword Saint, sitting on the coach’s box while holding the whip, asking her that question as soon as she got close to the carriage.

But the Empress only looked at him blankly.

Her expression suggested that she was thinking deeply about something. She only stared at him without saying anything.

“...Your Imperial Majesty?”

The Sword Saint, Radu, slightly frowned his eyebrows as he asked again.

“Radu.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. I am listening.”

“Have you ever gone to a school before?”

A strange question was asked.

But, it wasn’t hard for him to answer that.

“No. I was born and grew up in the knightage, so I didn’t have the opportunity to experience such a place.”

“I see.”

The Empress let out a chuckle as she continued.

“I haven’t either.”

"..."

After a short silence, the Sword Saint managed to ask another question.

“May I ask why you’re suddenly curious about that?”

“Eleanor… She looks happy.”

“...Does she?”

The Sword Saint asked, sounding as if he somehow sensed something worrying.

He could be more confident about his guess more than anyone since he was always beside her to assist her.

Sometimes, Cecilia the 11th would behave strangely, to the point that it could astound people around her.

Right now, she was exuding the vibe that felt as if she was about to behave just like that.

“Radu.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“If I were to go to school, would I be able to have such a cool relationship with someone?”

“...Pardon me?”

Radu fired that question, he could feel goosebumps appearing on his skin.

No way.

The Empress, the Ruler of the Empire herself…

Is saying that she wants to enroll into the Empire’s educational institution…?

This is an even worse disaster than a commander-in-chief asking to be enrolled as a low-ranking soldier in the army…!

“I’m just saying this, but...”

“...”

“If the Empress expresses her wish to go to school, wouldn’t it be a big horseplay? Elfante would definitely turn chaotic. Political problems would arise from that too.”

“...It would be like that, huh, as expected.”

He replied, forcing a smile.

Right, I’m glad the Empress hasn’t lost her mind so b—

“But, what if I enroll not as the Empress…”

“...”

“...Hmm.”

“...”

“Hm. Hm. Maybe…”

Radu closed his eyes tightly.

To him, this was definitely a force majeure.