“…The princess is too beautiful and noble for someone like me to have.”

Dmitri vowed in front of Isabella.

“Hmm… I thought you were a foolish man, but it seems you have good taste.”

Isabella’s chubby hand was adorned with a ring.

A symbol of the vow and proof that Isabella had become Dmitri’s companion.

“Alright. I’ll specially accept your proposal.”

As Isabella agreed, Dmitri kissed her on the lips.

Bella, who witnessed the scene, giggled.

“Huhuhuhu… Dmitri, you’re something.”

Bella, with a smug expression, hugged Dmitri and rolled around on the bed.

She struggled to hide her rising smile until they returned to the mansion.

At first, it was just self-satisfaction.

She wanted to take revenge on Tristan, who had forced her into an engagement to bind her.

She wanted to make him uncomfortable.

She wanted to see him squirm.

In the end, he accepted her petty revenge.

In the office, just the two of them, he proposed.

Even though she knew it was a fake proposal, Bella found herself surprisingly immersed in the situation.

“…You could’ve done it if you wanted to.”

Bella, under the covers, pondered the words Tristan had whispered.

She pondered his voice.

She pondered his intense gaze.

Bella had planned to reject him immediately if he gave a half-hearted proposal or insincere words.

But she couldn’t.

Everything felt vivid.

His jet-black hair.

His intelligent features.

And in his decadent eyes, Bella’s reflection was perfectly captured.

It was the proposal she had dreamed of.

Bella suddenly recalled his kiss.

Her face flushed uncontrollably.

“Really, how crude…”

Curled up under the covers, Bella caressed her bare feet.

“Where are you kissing…”

The sensation of his lips on her instep was vivid.

At first, it was mortifying, but she gradually grew accustomed to his kisses.

It felt like her feet were being conquered by him. No, maybe he had planned it from the start.

With a gaze that seemed determined to conquer her from head to toe, he had explored her feet.

Recalling that moment, Bella shivered.

She had tried to remain aloof, but she almost gave in.

Tristan lovingly caressed even Bella’s hidden, dirty parts.

And before she knew it, Bella found herself craving his kisses.

She had vowed not to get engaged, hating his bindings.

But now, ironically, she longed for his bindings again.

Bella took out the bear doll she had been holding.

The scarred bear doll, Dmitri.

After so many repairs, it had become thin and reminded her of someone.

“Hmph. What are you looking at?”

It was the first gift Tristan had given her.

Though just a cheap bear doll, she had treasured it.

He was her first love.

“…Do you think I’ll really fall for you with that look?”

Bella glared at Dmitri as if in a staring contest.

Staring at Dmitri’s expressionless face, she remembered the cold-faced boy she had fallen for at first sight.

“…Just this once.”

Closing her eyes, Bella carefully kissed Dmitri’s mouth.

It was an awkward kiss, but she didn’t pull away for a long time.

Then, the moment she kissed Tristan’s lips came to mind.

If she had been just a little taller, could she have claimed his lips?

Would she have been satisfied just claiming his lips?

Even now, just imagining his lips made her heart feel like it would burst.

If she had kissed his lips then, would he have accepted her?

Eventually, Bella’s lips parted with regret.

Sleepiness was creeping in.

She felt like she could step into a dream any moment now.

She felt like she could have a sweet dream, carrying this happiness with her.

Bella hugged Dmitri tightly, as if he were something precious.

And she murmured absentmindedly.

“Goodnight, my first love…”

*

Late at night.

Not far from the Ruelberta mansion, at the Aslan headquarters.

The sound of high heels clicking echoed.

A burly man, drowsily reading a newspaper in a chair, noticed the sound’s owner and yawned.

“Ugh… Long time no see, Helga.”

“Commander Wylie.”

Wylie Vives, the commander of Aslan, stretched.

“Looks like you’re on duty tonight? Huhu… Without me, the commander has to take shifts himself?”

“Hahaha. Duty shifts are just lonely as hell. How have you been?”

“Yes. Very well.”

Helga smiled brightly.

Even as the deputy commander of Aslan, she was known as a beauty, with many members falling for her.

But seeing her now, everyone would be shocked.

The scars that once covered her body were gone, and her clothes, except for the military coat, were what any ordinary girl would wear.

And the biggest change was in her face.

“Seeing those eyes makes me emotional…”

Wylie nodded as he looked at Helga’s face without the eyepatch.

The eye hidden by the eyepatch wasn’t hideous.

It was shining. A black pupil, different from her eye color, sparkled.

It was none other than the eye of her master, Tristan.

“This eye is more precious than my body.”

“Wasn’t it given to you to cherish your body more?”

“Oh my, as expected of the commander. You know well. Huhu…”

Helga smiled shyly, like a girl her age.

Wylie couldn’t help but admire the smile he had never seen on her before.

“You’ve changed so much, Helga.”

“Have I?”

“Yes. I thought you’d spend your life on the battlefield, but seeing you now, I must’ve been completely wrong.”

“The battlefield isn’t bad. There’s always tension, and you can feel alive. But… I realized something while being with the person I love. That I had been dead all along.

Helga continued quietly.

“Maybe, while roaming the battlefield, the person I was slowly died. Leaving behind a life of only killing enemies, being close to the Count… the things inside me that had died started to come back to life.”

She touched her left eye as she spoke.

“The Count is my light. The light that filled my eyes, which had been lost in darkness.”

The woman in front of Wylie had the unmistakable expression of a girl in love.

Seeing this, Wylie spoke with satisfaction.

“Good to see. I’ve kept the deputy commander position vacant since you left, but it seems unnecessary.”

“Huhu… Thank you, but please pass the deputy commander position to another member. I’ll probably be by the Count’s side for life.”

“Nonsense. This is the Count’s order.”

“…What?”

Helga’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

“The Count only left the deputy commander position vacant on the surface. Your first title is bodyguard knight, but your second title is still Aslan’s deputy commander.”

“I’m still the deputy commander?”

“Yes. It’s probably a recognition of your achievements in Aslan. Though it’s an honorary position, you still have the authority to command soldiers as you did as deputy commander. You just don’t handle deputy commander duties.”

“This is hard to understand. Why would the Count do something so unnecessary…?”

“What else? It’s because he trusts you enough to give you such extraordinary authority.”

“So that’s it… The Count trusts me…”

Finally understanding Tristan’s intent, Helga’s eyes reddened. Seeing this, Wylie realized his mistake.

“Ah, damn. The Count told me not to say anything…”

“Huhu… Commander, your mouth is always loose.”

Helga spoke with a slightly tearful voice.

“Hahaha! I may open my mouth on my own, but I’d never spill under torture. Ah, right.”

Wylie spoke as if he had just remembered something.

“I forgot while talking. Follow me.”

Creak.

Wylie opened the iron door to the basement.

There, stairs led to Aslan’s interrogation room.

Descending into the lightless basement, they reached the interrogation room.

“The man you handed over doesn’t seem to have a loose mouth like mine.”

This was the reason Helga had visited Aslan’s headquarters in the middle of the night.

“Commander. You didn’t lay a hand on him, did you?”

“Hahaha. Of course not. You know if I did, he’d die too easily.”

“I guess so…”

Wylie chuckled and opened the interrogation room door.

Inside was a shabby table and chair.

And on that chair…

“Hand me over to the security bureau!”

The man Helga had caught at the bar was sitting there.

Though his face was a bit bruised, he looked fine.

“This is the security bureau.”

“Don’t lie!”

“Yes. Of course, I’m lying.”

Helga naturally sat in the chair across from him.

The man shouted angrily.

“What’s the point of this! No matter how much you’re Aslan, this is false imprisonment!”

“My, you’re smarter than you look. You know the law too.”

“Shut up and hand me over to the security bureau!”

“That’s difficult. We still don’t know your identity.”

“I told you! I’m a thief! If I knew you were really Aslan, I wouldn’t have pretended to be you!”

“That’s not all, is it?”

“What?!”

At that moment, Helga grabbed the man’s collar.

“Gah!”

The man’s head slammed hard into the table.

Helga pointed to the torn collar, specifically the large mark hidden beneath it.

“What’s this?”

“Damn it… Can’t you see? It’s a burn! Aaaah!”

Helga struck the man’s broken finger with her fist.

“What’s this?”

“Ahhh! A tattoo…! It’s a tattoo! I got it a long time ago!”

“I thought so. But this tattoo, though faded, looks a lot like one I saw when I was young.”

“What, what?”

Helga released the man’s collar and sat back in the chair.

She crossed her slender legs and spoke.

“A wolf holding lightning.”

“…?!”

“The symbol of the Empire’s Naval Special Forces. Only soldiers who survived under ‘that man,’ the strongest in the navy, could get that tattoo.”

Hearing this, the man looked incredulous.

Helga quietly spoke the name.

“Are you my father… no, are you a subordinate of Baron Gale Wolfbert?”