Luzbel met with the nobles with territories near the Valencia Duchy.
Every one of their faces was pale. They had hidden behind the Emperor and made demands, but now that they were facing him like this, they couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
Moreover, since the rain had started pouring again, they didn’t seem certain whether it was truly safe to take the lands back as things were.
“Ahem.”
They had rather hoped Luzbel would stall for more time, but seeing how he came to find them immediately as soon as he received a notice, it seemed he intended to discuss the matter soon.
One noble, wearing an awkward expression, cleared his throat without properly meeting Luzbel’s eyes.
“It has been… a while, Your Grace.”
“Yes, well.”
Luzbel maintained an overbearing attitude.
“Ahem, I heard that you have been in the Capital for quite some time. I should have come to greet you first, but…”
“Yes. It seemed you had much to say.”
“…I-I am sorry.”
He ended up drawing an apology out of him with just a single sentence.
Well, it was their fault to begin with, so it wasn’t difficult to receive an apology.
“I will return the lands.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. As much as you like.”
The nobles brightened instantly, but soon their expressions darkened again at the thought of the flooding.
If they took them back immediately, it seemed they would suffer losses.
They would have preferred to stall for more time, and as if reading their thoughts, Luzbel made a proposal.
“But I cannot return them just like that.”
“…Mm.”
The nobles hadn’t expected to receive them back easily anyway.
“W-We would like His Majesty the Emperor to notarize it.”
Luzbel had already calculated even that much.
“As you wish.”
“…!”
At his unexpectedly compliant permission, the nobles’ minds began spinning rapidly.
“As long as the proposal is not too unreasonable, I will accept it.”
They had thought the negotiations might become easier, but of course, that wasn’t the case. Those words meant that they shouldn’t even think of trying to cheat him.
The nobles, realizing Duke Valencia wasn’t so easy to deal with, nodded.
“We have our conscience as well…”
Though they said that, they all thought the Emperor would set an appropriate price.
After all, no matter what Duke Valencia said, he would have to compromise rather than be consumed by excessive greed.
“Ahem. This is too heavy a matter to discuss in a place like this, so let us set a date soon.”
“That is my intention.”
The nobles thought that if they timed it well, they could recover their lands even if they had to pay some money.
Of course, the longer they delayed, the higher the price would become, but they couldn’t take them back while they were still money-draining burdens.
There were rumors that a Saint had appeared, but since it was raining again, they were unsure, so they decided it was best to wait and see for now.
“Heh heh…”
Unaware that Luzbel had already coordinated to some extent with the Saint, the nobles smiled repeatedly, thinking everything would eventually go their way.
They were dreaming different dreams.
***
Edith wanted to have a serious talk with Luzbel.
But somehow, she had ended up coming to the Capital and missed the timing.
Several days had already passed.
She wanted to see Luzbel as well, so she finally decided to go find him herself.
Since he was someone she liked anyway, rumors of marriage or anything else didn’t matter.
Though she wished she could explain this properly to Luzbel.
Nervous, Edith dressed up nicely and went to the Valencia mansion.
It was a place she had visited a few times before.
Today, she could enter confidently.
“You came.”
Unlike that time when she had only visited Jeron and left, the servants welcomed her warmly as she entered confidently.
“…Ah. I am sorry for coming without contacting you—”
“No, that was not why I said that. I wanted to come pick you up myself.”
“Sorry?”
“Hm?”
He wanted to come pick her up himself? Luzbel?
“Ahem, let’s not stand here like this. Let us go inside.”
“Ah, yes.”
Edith followed behind Luzbel with a dazed expression.
“Um, Young Master Jeron…”
“Do not tell Jeron yet.”
“Yes.”
The one who appeared to be the head butler of the mansion bowed deeply and withdrew.
Edith became confused.
Why should he not tell him?
Was he still being cautious? What kind of restraint was this? Her thoughts became complicated.
As if he had read her thoughts, Luzbel let out a small laugh and spoke.
“If Jeron comes, we will have less time alone together.”
“…Yes?”
“I want to spend a little more time alone with you.”
‘What is this?’
She had thought something was strange since before. His attitude had subtly changed.
Ever since that time he said she resembled Aisha.
“Um, Your Grace.”
Given Luzbel’s personality, it made no sense that he had shifted from Aisha to her.
Had he instinctively sensed something?
“I came because I have something to tell you.”
She felt she needed to confirm it.
“Yes. Please speak.”
“…Um, perhaps…”
But it was harder to say than she expected.
She had planned to test the waters, but Luzbel’s attitude had blanked out everything she had prepared to say.
“No, but why are you being so kind to me?”
Edith asked, her emotions suddenly surging.
“Is that what you came to say?”
“No, that is not it, but.”
“…Aisha.”
When Aisha’s name came out, Edith, who had answered instinctively, trembled slightly.
“Am I right?”
“…So you had suspected it after all?”
There was no need to test him.
Because Luzbel’s eyes were filled with certainty.
“So it really is true.”
When Edith spoke as if admitting it, he merely let out a small laugh.
“It was strange.”
“What was?”
“…You were exactly like Aisha. Her habits, her way of speaking.”
“…What?”
“When you were there, I slept well. My mind was at ease.”
“…”
“But when I faced the Aisha I actually knew, an indescribable sense of discomfort rose within me.”
“…It did?”
“Yes. I did not understand why. But I could not shake the feeling that you were Aisha, so I even wondered if I had gone mad.”
“…”
“When we met the sorcerer, I became almost certain.”
“Is that why you asked about souls?”
“Yes.”
No matter how suspicious it was, could someone really believe it so quickly?
“I kept seeing Aisha in you. The Aisha from when we first met, and the Aisha who had once been kind.”
“…”
“It was never something like a split personality from the beginning. Then everything makes sense.”
‘I see.’
Luzbel had been suspicious all along, even about the time when she had stayed in that body for so long.
“It was you from the beginning, was it not?”
“…You can believe that?”
“I thought I had gone mad. But right now, you understand what I am saying, do you not?”
“…What if I am deceiving you?”
“If that were the case, then I would just be that kind of man. But that is not it, is it?”
Before she realized it, Luzbel was looking at her with a deeply affectionate expression.
Edith let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
“Why are you crying?”
She thought she had been smiling, but it seemed she had been crying instead.
In the end, the truth that Edith had never expected to reveal herself came out of her own mouth.
***
The Saint, and the person who had been Aisha.
That was the current Edith.
Luzbel had been certain that Edith was Aisha, but he didn’t know the reason why.
However, after hearing everything, anger rose within him.
“…And yet she shamelessly…?”
To think she had personally come, caused a scene, and treated Edith so recklessly.
“Aisha must know everything.”
“…She would. Since she is the one who did it.”
“The one behind it is Marquis Lisellon Erves.”
“What?”
“Looking at my childhood memories, Marquis Erves cast the spell.”
So that was why the two of them had been so desperate to keep her bound.
“Then are you saying Marquis Erves is the sorcerer?”
“Yes. He must also be the one who sent the sorcerer to infiltrate House Valencia.”
Luzbel’s expression hardened.
“Will you be alright like this?”
“I know he will target me again someday.”
“…Edith.”
“I plan to reveal that I am the Saint.”
If Edith revealed that she was the Saint, the Temple would protect her first and foremost.
She was the Saint who had appeared after more than ten years.
And she also had the protection of House Capanteni.
Even House Valencia itself would likely go mad protecting Edith, so she would become someone who couldn’t be touched carelessly.
“They were probably afraid that I might regain my memories.”
“Yes.”
“For now, I have to pretend that I remember nothing.”
“Yes.”
It was unconditional agreement.
Even if Edith suddenly said she wanted to paint with his nose right here, he would probably still answer, “Yes.”
He was even smiling foolishly right now. He had been someone who maintained dignity, at least outwardly.
Anyone who saw that expression would realize he had fallen in love.
“Right now, it is just the two of us.”
“…”
“There are only two of us. Do I still have to pretend?”
“…But Luzbel.”
“Yes.”
“My appearance is completely different now, but you still love me…?”
“I love you.”
The answer came without a moment of hesitation.
“What I loved was not Aisha’s appearance, but simply you. The you who helped me. Can you believe it, if I say I still cannot forget the day we first met?’
In that hell-like childhood, she was the only person who reached out a hand to him.
It was a chance encounter, but falling in love happened in an instant.
From that moment on, Luzbel devoted everything he had.
Because he had no one by his side.
Even cheap sympathy was fine. He just wanted to keep holding the hand that had reached out to him.
“What about you, Edith? Do you love me?”
“…It may not have been for Aisha, but for me, it was love. Just like you, from the very beginning.”
Joy filled Luzbel’s face when he heard those words.
It was love that had finally returned after a long journey. It had been love from the beginning.
The atmosphere suddenly became strange.
Their moist gazes met. Their lips seemed about to touch at any moment, but—
“Edith!”
Bang.
With the door bursting open, Jeron appeared.
Startled, Edith pushed Luzbel away and quickly stood up, then approached Jeron.
“Hm? What were you two doing?”
“W-We weren’t doing anything!”
“…If not, then fine. But why is your face so red?”
Edith touched her burning cheeks with her hands, then cleared her throat awkwardly and fussed, saying it was nothing.
To anyone, she looked exactly like someone who had been caught doing something improper.
“Hmm?”
Jeron narrowed his eyes and glanced at Luzbel behind her.
Luzbel was smiling faintly, the corner of his lips slightly raised.
