643,

Ten years ago, Kakarl was already surrounded by the Water Shrine’s love.

The once-mighty Kakarl clan had long since become rats in the underworld.

Given the situation back then, the Kakarl clan seemed to have no hope of rising again.

But the world is often driven by profit. If some people wanted to profit from the Water Shrine, then naturally, others would want to profit from the Kakarl clan.

The fallen royal family’s long-buried desire was finally awakened by the sweet bait.

And at that time, a little girl of only five was pushed forward and made the slave of this shady business.

As this grand drama played out, all sorts of underworld figures with ulterior motives gathered.

Though they had no loyalty whatsoever, they kept recruiting underlings to gather around them, all to satisfy their own egos.

The Heretics slowly took shape in the shadows.

Eumerika was one of the big shots among them.

A group of girls rallied around the idea that women should stand on their own.

Eumerika’s influence began expanding from the outskirts of Kakarl and soon reached the city center.

The whole process took no more than a few months.

As a nominal subordinate of the King of Kakarl, she should have represented a chance for the Celestial Clan to turn things around.

But Eumerika had never fought to restore the fallen king to his throne. She fought only for herself and for the girls who stood by her.

Perhaps it was because of her reputation that the Water Shrine finally made a move.

For a long time, it had maintained a sham regime: publicly claiming it wouldn’t control Kakarl, while in reality setting up a guard force to keep order.

But Eumerika’s arrival brought this double standard to an end.

Instead, the Water Shrine officially announced that, for the sake of Kakarl’s people, the underground forces would be suppressed.

And the first group to be disbanded was Eumerika’s sisterhood.

“The leader took on all my girls by himself and knocked every last one of them down. After that, he…”

“After that?”

Eumerika covered her cheeks with her hands, trying to hide her bashful expression.

“He actually arranged a new place for us to live, and didn’t even hold all the bad things we’d done against us. His gentlemanly manners are just off the charts~♡”

“Oh…”

At Cyclone’s lukewarm response, Eumerika slapped her cup back down on the table.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!!”

Cyclone broke into a cold sweat. He’d thought Eumerika was about to tell some moving story, but it turned out to be nothing more than the everyday flex of an ordinary strong guy.

But on second thought, maybe that was what love at first sight was.

No complicated twists were needed. It was simple, pure—she saw the other person, and fell for them in an instant.

Now that he thought about it, Cyclone had been the same.

The first time he saw Yuna, he fell for her.

But why?

Cyclone knew perfectly well that the person he’d fallen for didn’t care about his feelings, and that he was nothing more than an outsider.

But why?

Cyclone had actually turned Elyse down.

Elyse had fallen for him at first sight, but Cyclone hadn’t realized it.

If heaven gave Cyclone another chance, he sincerely hoped he could make up for all the love he’d let slip away.

“It’s nothing. I’m just a little jealous of you.”

“J-jealous?”

At Cyclone’s answer, Eumerika’s anger fizzled out.

“That’s right! If you like the leader, you should hurry up and tell him~”

After all that talking, the terrifying master of words had somehow steered the conversation right back to the one thing Eumerika least wanted to discuss.

“W-what’s between the leader and me is none of your business, you lousy man!!”

Cyclone clapped. He had no idea how else to respond to Eumerika’s caprice.