Since receiving the proposal, Ludmilla had been intentionally showcasing the wedding ring given to her by Edanant, exposing her left hand proudly.
“I got the wedding ring! Edanant and I will be getting married next spring!”
As she extended her left hand, the ring sparkled brilliantly.
Up until now, this down-to-earth princess thought makeup and accessories were nothing but frivolous decorations. But now, with that beautiful ring on her finger, all eyes were focused on her.
“I hear you promised to marry Edanant of the Hohenberc Family.”
“Edanant? He’s the new hero of the Holy Kingdom, chosen by the Earth Mother, isn’t he?”
The Empire’s Red Dragon and the new hero of the Holy Kingdom.
They truly were a perfect match, a handsome couple.
The nobles of the Valtarian Empire, hoping for the prosperity of the Imperial Family, sent their congratulations to the betrothed couple.
“Congratulations! I heard you received a wedding ring from Lord Edanant?”
“Thank you, Sister Isabel.”
“You must have been busy dealing with the cultists invading the Empire… Hehe, it means Lord Edanant really likes our Liza, right?”
“Ahem! I’m embarrassed!”
Should she risk her life or her wedding ring?
– No way she could say that out loud!
Thus, Ludmilla turned her head slightly, blushing.
“Congratulations, Sister! I heard the news too!”
“Thank you.”
Just then, Alexis, who was sitting next to Isabel, looked filled with anticipation. It seemed like he was overjoyed that Edanant, the newly chosen hero, would become his brother-in-law.
The brother of Hero Maximilian.
And the newly chosen hero.
He was perfectly suited to be the Valtarian Imperial Family’s son-in-law. That’s why there was no disagreement; the engagement was accepted without a hitch.
“……”
Ludmilla silently placed her left hand on the table and stroked the ring on her ring finger.
I’m so happy.
I can’t believe Edanant proposed to me.
There had been a minor incident in between, but she decided to focus on the result.
“Now that Mila has received a wedding ring too… There are now two married women in the Valtarian Imperial Family, huh? Hehe.”
A beautiful lady with luscious reddish-brown hair casually showed off her wedding ring. Ludmilla smiled gently in response.
At twenty-seven, she had been unmarried, so her family must have faced a lot of hardships.
The time to end her single life had come.
Even if a natural disaster swept across the continent, she would definitely hold her wedding ceremony next year.
“I should take my leave. I have things to discuss with Edanant…”
“Already trying to check on your husband? Haha, just kidding. Run along now.”
Ludmilla excused herself to Isabel and Alexis and stood up. Edanant must be waiting for her in the reception room.
He probably wanted to discuss the incident that had occurred in the Marquisate of Hohenberg.
A dark, ominous aura.
Black flames that turned everything around into ashes in an instant.
The power of the Red Dragon, but something felt different.
The power, representing the Empire’s guardian dragon, had descended into violence and cruelty.
If Edanant hadn’t sacrificed himself to quell the madness, the Marquisate of Hohenberg would have faced an unprecedented disaster, burned to the ground by merciless flames.
Uncontrolled power only ensnares the innocent.
She had to find a way to control that power.
With a somewhat heavier heart, she moved forward.
“What a coincidence, Saintess.”
“It seems Edan is calling both the Saintess and the Princess at once.”
They say enemies meet on a narrow bridge, right?
As Ludmilla headed towards the reception room where Edanant was waiting, she unexpectedly bumped into Zebeline in the palace corridor.
She greeted her with a polite nod.
It was basic courtesy towards the Imperial Princess and the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom.
But it seemed she didn’t want to hide her uncomfortable feelings towards a rival; her expression quickly turned cold. The palace maids hastily evacuated the scene, as if caught in the icy wind of winter.
‘Did the First Saintess always wear a ring?’
While stepping together, Ludmilla noticed the wedding ring on Zebeline’s ring finger.
Where did that come from?
Could it be that Edanant gifted it to her?
Narrowing her eyes, she gazed at the glass-colored diamond embedded in the wedding ring. Recognizing Ludmilla’s gaze, Zebeline gently smiled and raised her left hand.
‘I bet she threatened Edanant to get that ring. I can’t believe the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom would act so shamelessly… By the way, the design is quite similar. Is it a replica?’
The wedding ring had a design so similar it was instantly recognizable.
A knock-off.
Ludmilla quickly concluded it was a fake.
Because the wedding ring she received directly from Edanant was the real deal. That’s why she couldn’t help but smirk at Zebeline, who seemed to be desperately denying her defeat.
‘What are you staring at? A shameless spinster who snatched a wedding ring by force.’
Zebeline scoffed at Ludmilla’s blatant reaction.
Just like Ludmilla thought her wedding ring was genuine, Zebeline believed hers was authentic too.
Because the ring she received was an heirloom left by Edanant’s deceased mother.
Being a spouse means inheriting the role of a mother.
The wedding ring held by the spinster princess was merely an ancient artifact passed down through the Hohenberc Family’s lineage. Zebeline valued her own wedding ring even more because of that.
‘My wedding ring is real.’
‘My wedding ring is the real deal, you know?’
Without any concessions, Ludmilla and Zebeline arrived at the reception room simultaneously, glaring at each other as they reached for the doorknob.
Then, they swung the door to the reception room wide open, where Edanant awaited.
*
The Demon Realm.
A territory dominated by demons from another world.
A man had arrived in the demons’ land.
Dressed in black priest robes, the man clenched two blood-soaked swords in both hands as if he had just come from a battle.
Ilkeron Nebiaku.
The leader of the Holy Kingdom’s guardian knights and a mighty figure among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States.
The Black Cardinal.
A monster who had purged countless heretics.
As the cardinal created a mountain of demon corpses, he began to wipe his blood-stained glasses. He silently passed time in the center of the bloody battlefield, waiting for someone with longing.
“…Master.”
“You’ve come, Maximilian.”
After a few minutes, a man with long black hair walked in.
Ilkeron beamed at the familiar face and exchanged warm greetings.
“Did the Holy One send you?”
“Of course. Do you think I’d come here out of boredom in my retirement?”
He had already passed on his duties to the successors in the Holy Kingdom and retired, but he was called back to the mortal realm by the Holy One, an old friend and mentor.
Ilkeron smiled, wrinkles forming around his mouth as he adjusted his glasses.
“This is more serious than I thought. The end of the world foretold by the Earth Mother has already begun.”
Half of the Demon Realm had turned ‘gray.’
Gray.
A colorless ashen hue.
The space enveloped in gray, symbolizing the end, had robbed both color and time. To prove it, the demons swallowed by gray had frozen still, like a snapshot of a paused scene.
It wasn’t just a problem for the living beings.
Everything existing in the material world had lost its function.
The gray was spreading.
Soon, it would swallow all the colors existing on the continent.
The cardinal sent from the Holy Kingdom drew a brief sign of the cross, mourning all the living beings swallowed by gray.
“Have you come to stop Beatrice?”
“Of course not. I don’t have the nerve to declare an all-out war against the Saintess Party.”
He knew of the plan to resurrect the Disaster of Death.
Maximilian subtly glanced at the old cardinal, grasping that the Earth Mother had intervened.
“The Disaster of Tyranny has been resurrected in the Valtarian Empire. It has been released from the Creator Deity’s seal.”
“…What?”
The Disaster of Tyranny.
An ancient specter that had been defeated by the Creator Deity had resurrected.
Maximilian’s eyes widened as he opened his mouth in shock at the cardinal’s words.
“Is it really necessary to awaken the Disaster of Death? Soon, the Disaster of Famine will also resurrect.”
“…….”
The Disaster of Tyranny had risen again.
Soon, the Disaster of Famine would follow suit as if it were a predetermined outcome.
If the Disaster of Death were resurrected as well, it would lead to an uncontrollable crisis.
This couldn’t be overlooked.
The resurrection of all disasters meant a decline for the Creator Deity.
The Black Cardinal reached the demon-infested land, ultimately to persuade the Saintess Party to cross the line. He had come to inform them that the Disaster of Innocence was on the verge of a full resurrection.
“Maximilian. In the name of the holy Creator Deity, I propose a deal.”
The cardinal, laden with trust, extended his hand.
It was a gesture requesting cooperation in a deal with the Earth Mother to stop the end of the world.
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