“…Ella.”
“…Yes?”
“Today.”
Dante slowly ground his teeth.
“Really.”
“I’ll make you regret it.”
I stared into his eyes, then flashed him a grin.
“Grand Duke.”
“What.”
“Everyone’s watching us right now.”
“You’re not seriously planning to drag me away here, are you?”
I glanced around.
The people enjoying the festival had turned their attention toward us.
The children watched us with faces full of curiosity, while the vendors had forgotten all about their businesses and started whispering.
“Did those two have a fight?”
“Are they lovers who had a falling-out?”
“They’ll make up soon.”
Lovers?
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
Meanwhile, another wrinkle appeared between Dante’s brows.
“…Shut up.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“…Your expression is the problem.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Dante eventually let out a deep sigh.
Then he released the back of my neck.
“We’re going home.”
“No.”
“I haven’t seen any of the festival yet.”
“I’m not interested.”
“I’ll make you interested.”
“Unnecessary.”
“It’s necessary.”
I stepped in front of him.
“Today’s training is social skills.”
“How to enjoy a festival like a normal person.”
Dante curled his lip in mockery.
“A normal person?”
“Yes.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“…Impossible.”
“It’s possible.”
“I don’t want to.”
“It’s an imperial decree.”
Dante looked down at me for a long while.
“You use imperial decrees very conveniently.”
“You should use good things often.”
“…I think I understand a little why my brother sent you.”
“That was a compliment, right?”
“No.”
“Then what was it?”
“…You’re a disaster.”
I burst out laughing.
“Thank you.”
“I said it wasn’t a compliment.”
“Thank you anyway.”
Dante shook his head in disbelief.
And so, with no choice in the matter, we ended up walking through the festival streets together.
No.
To be precise—
Dante walked ahead.
And I trailed after him like a duckling.
“Grand Duke.”
“Grand Duke.”
“Grand Duke.”
“…What.”
“You answer when I talk to you?”
“That’s progress.”
“Today’s training is working great.”
Instead of answering, Dante simply quickened his pace.
I hurried after him in short, quick steps.
“Grand Duke!”
“Would you like some cotton candy?”
“No.”
“Then a skewer?”
“No.”
“A candy apple?”
“No.”
“Then…”
I paused to think.
“How about a person?”
Dante stopped walking.
“What?”
“A person.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You hate people so much, Grand Duke.”
“Try liking at least one today.”
“…You’re insane.”
“Not yet.”
“You seem like you’re about to be.”
“Who?”
“Me.”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter again.
*'He’s getting better at answering me little by little.'*
That was when—
“Ella.”
“…Yes?”
“Quiet.”
“Yes, sir.”
I covered my mouth with both hands.
A brief moment of peace descended.
But.
It didn’t last long.
The moment we passed the entrance to an alley, something caught my eye.
Red.
At first, I thought it was a scrap of cloth.
But it wasn’t.
It was blood.
“…Wait a second.”
I grabbed Dante and looked into the alley.
Deep inside the dim alley, someone had collapsed with their back against the wall.
Their entire body was covered in blood.
They seemed to be breathing, but they didn’t look conscious.
“There!”
I ran over without hesitation.
“Are you all right?”
I lightly shook their shoulder.
There was no response.
I grabbed their wrist to check their pulse.
Thankfully, they were alive.
But—
I frowned at the sensation traveling up from their wrist.
“…What is this?”
It was cold.
Black energy writhed beneath their skin.
Dark energy.
And a very dense amount of it.
“No way.”
I carefully brushed the hair away from the blood-streaked face.
Then I sucked in a breath.
“…Michael?”
The youngest holy knight of the temple.
A genius swordsman whose name was known even in the imperial court.
He was supposed to be at the Central Temple.
*'Why is he here…?'*
I hurriedly examined his condition.
He had many wounds, but none of them were life-threatening.
The problem was what was happening inside his body.
The dark energy was eating away at his divine power.
That was why he couldn’t heal himself, either.
“Grand Duke.”
My voice dropped slightly.
“Please help me for a moment.”
Dante looked down at Michael.
“…He’s a holy knight.”
“Do you know him?”
“I recognize his face.”
“We have to save him.”
Dante stood there silently with his arms crossed.
“Ella.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t get involved for no reason.”
“This is something the temple should handle.”
I shook my head.
“It’ll be too late.”
“If we don’t do it now, he’ll die.”
Dante was silent for a moment.
Then he slowly turned his gaze toward me.
“…Can you do it?”
“Yes.”
I placed my hand over Michael’s chest.
Warm light bloomed from my fingertips.
Pure white divine power slowly seeped into his body.
A moment later—
Sizzle.
Something like black smoke began flowing out through the gaps in his wounds.
Dante’s eyes widened ever so slightly.
“…The dark energy.”
“I’m purifying it.”
I gritted my teeth.
It was deeper than I’d expected.
If I’d been even a little later, it would have corroded all the way to his heart.
“…Ugh.”
Michael’s lips trembled faintly.
He was alive.
I let out a relieved breath.
“Thank goodness.”
But.
At that moment—
Michael’s eyes opened slightly.
His unfocused gaze slowly turned toward me.
Then he forced his lips open.
“…North…”
“…Snowfields…”
“…Awakening…”
After saying that, he lost consciousness again.
Dante and I looked at each other at the same time.
Something in the snowfields…
was awakening.
That one phrase bothered me far more than it should have.
Then urgent voices rang out from outside the alley.
“Holy Knight!”
“He’s here!”
“Call the medic!”
I rose to my feet and let out a relieved breath.
“Good. We weren’t too late.”
The knights hurriedly carried Michael onto a stretcher.
One of them bowed deeply to me.
“Thank you.”
“It was nothing.”
I waved with a smile.
“I’m just glad he survived.”
Once everything had been sorted out, only Dante and I remained in the alley.
Silence flowed between us for a moment.
I glanced at him warily.
For some reason…
he was incredibly quiet.
“…Grand Duke?”
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Dante stared at me for a long time before speaking in a very low voice.
“…Let’s go home.”
Unlike before, his voice wasn’t angry. It was low and subdued, like that of someone deep in thought.
Without knowing why, I nodded.
“Yes.”
But that day—
I didn’t know yet.
The moment we returned to the Blackwood Grand Duchy,
what awaited me wasn’t Dante’s nagging.
It was training straight out of hell.