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“Let me ask you one more time: Did you kill the 10th Apostle, no, the Great Sage?”

A chill descended heavily upon Nova’s entire body.

Even under the suffocating weight of the air, Nova didn’t change his expression.

He understood that the Duke was testing him.

‘The Duke won’t kill me. For now, I’ll just let things unfold.’

“…Impressive that you can endure this; what’s written here isn’t just nonsense.”

The Swordmaster—a threat imbued with sincerity far beyond mere existence.

It was a pressure that would make even ordinary people, let alone most prominent characters, crumble.

Seeing Nova withstand a pressure that even a fellow 10th Apostle would feel threatened by, the Duke lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Ha! Do you think I won’t kill you?”

“Not at all. Even now, my limbs are trembling from your energy, Your Grace.”

“Well spoken… Honestly, I don’t care much about whether you did it or not.”

Nuer, having said that, stood up and slowly walked towards Nova.

In front of him, the Duke placed his hand over his chest and lowered his head slightly.

Nova, who hadn’t changed his expression even in the face of overwhelming killing intent, furrowed his brow in confusion.

“…What is this?”

“I have something I must say to you… Thank you sincerely for saving my daughter.”

The highest ruler of the territory, a mere commoner known as the Duke of the North, bowed his head.

Even he, who believed he had a complete read on Nuer, couldn’t help but be surprised by the Duke’s actions at that moment.

“Please raise your head. What would you do if someone else were here?”

“It doesn’t matter. Well, it does, but… Anyway, I was looking for you.”

‘Come to think of it, that seems to be the case?’

Shortly after the escort mission ended and he returned to the organization,

Nuer had requested a private audience with a certain unknown man, but he was denied.

That made sense, as the organization was a top-secret group, and its existence was classified.

“At that time, I couldn’t protect my daughter; it’s all due to those damn monsters that keep appearing endlessly.”

While staring at the extreme mountain range outside, surrounded by snow and ice, Nuer spoke through clenched teeth.

“…I’m truly sorry about the Duchess… I couldn’t protect her.”

Siel’s mother, Selena Gruwein, had already been introduced as a deceased character in the original game.

It was unclear whether Akandis had any involvement in the original, but the primary cause was her illness.

“No, you completed the request properly. You safely protected my daughter.

I’m not shameless enough to blame you for that.”

‘As expected.’

Nuer, as he knew the original story, was a man who valued honor and integrity.

And above all, he was a foolish father who treasured his daughter dearly.

“The reason I called you this time doesn’t hold any special significance. I merely wished to treat you both graciously as benefactors, but…”

Nova pointed towards the corridor behind the door.

“By the way, I wanted to ask… Why are you doing that over there?”

“Oh, about the Master of the Golden Tower’s disciple? I received an urgent call two days ago… asking if she could work for a few days.”

According to Nuer, he had received an urgent message two days ago from an anonymous girl expressing her wish to work as a maid.

Nova had informed Stella he would be heading to the Duke’s Manor, and it had been just two days since then—talk about perfect timing!

‘She applied to be a maid to keep an eye on me…? And that guy accepted it?’

Looking at him with disbelief, Nuer subtly shifted his gaze elsewhere.

“Ahem… I don’t intend to bind her with just a few days of maid service.”

‘Seems like he’s trying to slyly maneuver her to his side.’

“More than that, have you met Siel? She should have welcomed you before I arrived.”

“Oh… Yes, I just greeted the Princess. There was a little trouble, though.”

The Duke sighed, as if his head were throbbing, pressing his forehead.

“You know, my daughter has feelings for you…”

“…I can guess.”

It was impossible not to know, considering how overtly her feelings were displayed.

To Nova—or rather, to Shin-woo, the gamer who loved this game more than anyone in his previous life—

Siel was a complex presence. Although he liked Stella the most, he had also invested time and affection into her.

Some might say it was just an excuse, but it wasn’t easy to cast her aside.

Recently, he had been trying to distance himself from Siel in the academy, but she had refused to let him.

“I… cannot reciprocate her feelings.”

He had thought about that. This was a world from a game. Would it be possible to connect with multiple heroines all at once?

Since he had to save the world, wasn’t it fair to get some kind of reward for that? What was so problematic about it, anyway?

They were supporting characters, and he was the main character, so he thought it was fair to act as he wished.

But Nova could now see how foolish and despicable that line of thought was.

[I love you… Nova… I am in love with you.]

Chased by Arhan, on the brink of death for the second time, Nova was saved by her.

A girl he thought was an NPC, someone he deemed worthless, Lena, told him that she liked him.

Only in that moment of mortality did she finally convey her true feelings. And she chose death without a trace of lingering regret.

It was then that Nova fell into a shock as if he had been struck on the head.

Every person has their own history, filled with their own hearts and wills.

Lena, even knowing he had no interest in her, sacrificed her life to save him.

In truth, he had known all along. He was aware that Lena had feelings for him, but he hadn’t outright rejected her.

She had a pretty face and was competent, and he had thought, maybe… that wouldn’t be too bad.

And now, he hated himself more than anyone for having ever thought like that.

He had promised at his friend’s grave not to toy with or take lightly the feelings of others.

Thus, as he lived in this world, he decided to love just one person.

“There’s only that girl, the one doing that ridiculous maid cosplay, in my heart.”

“…Ha, who said I’d give my daughter to you?”

The Duke’s expression looked somewhat bittersweet, tinged with disappointment.

“Even if it’s not you, there are countless high-ranking nobles who wish to marry Siel…”

Just thinking about his daughter getting married to someone else twisted Nuer’s expression painfully.

“My apologies. There must be someone far more suitable for Siel than me.”

“If you’re going to speak like that… I get your point, but… Please don’t hate Siel.”

“Yes? That’s impossible! I’d never do that. On the contrary…”

“On the contrary?”

“Oh, I mean in a good way, of course, as a fellow student and companion.”

The Duke, who had a dubious expression, soon shook his head, saying, “You understand this as well, but Siel is still young; she hasn’t received her parents’ affection.

I couldn’t fulfill my role as a father.”

With a face full of deep regret and guilt, Nuer continued to speak.

“After Selena died, I forced Siel to shoulder the responsibilities of a princess and pushed her even more.”

“I hoped you would understand. After all, as you said, Siel is still a child.”

“At that time, I had lost my wife and wasn’t in my right mind… but saying this is merely an excuse…”

Boom!!

In that moment, an enormous thunderous sound reverberated throughout the Duke’s Manor.

“Is that… could it be?!”

As Nova quickly checked the window from where the sound came, he spotted two figures in what appeared to be the Duke’s training ground.

“…Damn it!”

‘Those two shouldn’t be left alone together, to begin with!’

“What’s going on?… Could it be in the training ground…”

“I think we need to head down immediately.”

At the center of the training ground, Stella and Siel were facing each other.

Siel’s eyes sparkled coldly, with a sharp rapier in hand.

She lowered her stance firmly, waiting for an opening from her opponent.

In contrast, Stella exuded intense energy, tightly gripping her sword.

A tense atmosphere hung between the two, as if ready to explode at any moment.

“…You’re pretty good at this, huh?”

“I absolutely cannot lose.”

“You two… what are you doing…?”

Before Nova could say anything, the two fiercely clashed their swords against each other.

The sharp sound of metal clashing filled the training ground.

 

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