That night.

At the edge of the attic balcony in the back garden of Ron Cathedral.

Christine stood by the railing in a gauzy dress, gazing up at the moon.

Lately, she hadn't been able to sleep.

Especially after seeing news about Hale.

That's right. Even though she hadn't seen Hale once since Theology Day, she had, quite properly and openly, been having Maria gather news on him every day whenever she went out.

Maria hadn't been too willing at first, because she felt there really were a few too many girls around Hale.

"Maria, have you forgotten? He can decipher the writing of the Divine Kingdom. That's the real reason I wanted to meet him. He could have been one of the faithful. He descended into this world, and God granted him wisdom. My mission is to guide that wisdom, that ability to read the Divine Kingdom's script, onto the proper path."

That speech moved Maria deeply, and she quickly said, "As expected of Lady Christine. I was overthinking it."

After that, she happily ran around helping collect information on Hale's recent affairs.

In the end, Maria found it all rather ordinary.

Hale's daily life was almost a straight line between two points.

School and home, over and over again.

There was barely anything worth specially noting.

Until today, when Maria suddenly learned that Hale had been named to take part in a swordsmanship exchange match with the delegation from the Kingdom of Cathrine.

So she came back and told Christine.

And after that, Christine found herself a little unable to sleep.

Of course, she also knew what happened after Theology Day.

Hale had saved Letitia in the underground district, and his strength was likely no weaker than Moyel's.

It was probably related to that power within him, the one she had sensed.

God had pointed Hale out to her, so she had to bind Hale to herself.

But Letitia liking Hale was already a done deal, and lately there were quite a few Hale fangirls at the theological academy too.

Was she still supposed to wait?

Christine had originally planned to approach Hale first and take it slow, gradually turning him into something that belonged only to her. Unless she had no other choice, she didn't want to rely too much on Hale's power either.

But now, it seemed that when the time came, things might not be up to her.

She had to make her move as soon as possible.

Like a blooming flower that leaves bees intoxicated.

The night wind swept past, and her golden hair danced under the moonlight.

She raised her right hand to her ear.

Her left index finger tapped lightly on the railing.

In the end, carrying with her that lingering sense of familiarity toward the black-haired young man, one that still refused to settle in her heart, she turned and went back into her room.

...

Friday.

Hale got up early.

Today was the day of the swordsmanship exchange with the Cathrine delegation, and the event would be held at the swordsmanship arena.

Sanctum University was rich enough to throw money around. It had specially built venues for both magic and swordsmanship.

When Lofu heard about it, she immediately got Hale a suit she believed made him look the coolest.

In truth, though, there wasn't anything especially remarkable about it. It was just that when Hale had bought Lofu from human traffickers back then, he had been wearing something similar.

A first-love filter, basically.

"Young Master, teach those people a harsh lesson. Lofu knows you have the strength for it."

She had never doubted Hale. In her eyes, he could win anything.

There had been a little incident the year Hale bought her from the traffickers.

The trafficker saw that Hale was young and dressed formally, and figured he was a fat sheep ripe for slaughter.

So he threatened him.

"Little master, coming to our underground street at your age to buy yourself a woman to play with, not bad. But this one you've picked is top quality. She hasn't fully grown yet, but she's fresh as can be. Shouldn't you pay a little more? You wouldn't want people finding out you came here to buy yourself a toy..."

In the end, one sentence from Hale stunned even the trembling Lofu on the spot.

"I'm the second son of House Faxius. Depending on the situation, I remove people who can't keep their mouths shut."

The trafficker hadn't expected Hale to state his name so directly either, because in their line of business, even noble lords had to be careful not to let their wives find out when they came to buy women.

But Hale had only been thirteen when he bought Lofu.

Still, the name of House Faxius really was frightening.

The power of a ducal house wasn't something they could afford to provoke.

So none of them dared threaten Hale about leaking the matter again.

And when Hale brought Lofu back that day, he only told the people at the estate that she was a girl he had happened to find. She had gotten separated from her family and was begging for food alone in an alley.

Since she had nowhere to go, and he pitied her, he brought her back.

Lofu didn't like Hale without reason. At least up to now, the fact that her parents had sold her to traffickers, and that Hale had then bought her from them in the underground street, remained a secret between the two of them.

You could even say that many servants in House Faxius still often suggested that maybe Lofu should take some time off and go look for her parents.

But Lofu always refused with a smile.

To her now, wherever Hale was, that was home.

...

Siman had arrived very early today.

For her, an event like this swordsmanship exchange was absolutely worth taking seriously.

This wasn't just about representing herself. It was also about representing the Sanctum Sword Society, representing House Feng, and on a larger scale, representing the Papal Dominion.

And the one hosting this match was still the same vice principal from Theology Day, Count Lide. At the same time, Dean Morgan of the Swordsmanship Academy was also present.

Dean Morgan wasn't just the head of the Swordsmanship Academy. Twenty years ago, he had also been president of the Sanctum Sword Society. He had long since earned Curia recognition as the "Sanctum Throne," and also held the title of "Sword Throne" in the Bazell Empire to the west of the Papal Dominion.

To make a comparison, he was basically an academician-level figure recognized by two nations at once.

A title with serious weight behind it.

Without that level of prestige, he couldn't have become dean of an entire academy department.

Dean Morgan had originally been very busy. Five years ago, he declared that in his lifetime he wanted to make a push for either the Papal Dominion's "Holy Light Crown" or the Bazell Empire's "Sword Crown." Since then, he had barely shown up at Swordsmanship Academy events. Aside from appearing at graduation ceremonies, things were usually handled by the vice dean.

But this time was different. Leaving aside the fact that this was the Kingdom of Cathrine's first delegation for exchange in twenty years—

There were also quite a few people at today's swordsmanship arena whose status outweighed even his.

He didn't dare put on any grand swordmaster airs.

For example, over there was Letitia, crossing one leg clad in patterned white lolita-style stockings and sipping fine black tea.

And then there was Christine, warmly chatting with Count Lide while somehow looking absent-minded.

Or the Kingdom of Cathrine's ambassador to the Papal Dominion—Marquis Chekhov.

The old man with the scar on his face had once fought in the great war between the Kingdom of Cathrine and the Demon Lord Realms in the northwest. He was someone who had crossed blades with a Demon Lord's retainer.

It was said that the reason he had been stationed long-term at the embassy despite the poor state of relations between Cathrine and the Papal Dominion was simple: if diplomacy between the two countries suddenly collapsed, he could personally force a breakout and get his people out.

There also seemed to be a young marchioness in Cathrine's delegation.

Then there were the two young heirs from House Faxius and House Feng, both needing this swordsmanship exchange to polish their reputations.

In short, never mind the nature of the event itself. Just the people attending this exchange already made it anything but ordinary.

And Dean Morgan wasn't the only one who had caught that scent.

Reporters from every newspaper in the City of Saint Louis had already swarmed over and blocked the main entrance.

They were waiting to grab the first report.

Some of them had even thought up their headlines already.

—Breaking! The first swordsmanship exchange in twenty years features two future dukes.

—Icebreaker! A small sword meet with great meaning. A match you can't miss in this lifetime.

—Gossip! A mysterious young marchioness from Cathrine joins the competition. What kind of sparks will fly between her and Young Master Hale of House Faxius? Our paper will bring you the latest firsthand coverage.

...

And at this moment, Hale had just arrived.

He looked at the reporters outside the swordsmanship arena, all poised and ready to pounce.

Then he simply muttered,

"Man, there are a lot of people."