“This lullaby...” Yu's whisper was drowned out by the battle trumpets, but Sivina, listening intently to his every word, heard what he said.

“What lullaby? What are you saying, Yu?” Yurine heard Yu's words too. When she turned him head and looked at Yu's face, she saw the tears in his eyes.

Yu's wooden hand went to his chest, his eyebrows furrowed as if in pain, but the tears in his eyes were not because he was hurting, but because his heart was hurting.

“Yu, why are you crying?” Yurine raised her hand and wiped the tears from Yu's cheeks. “Don't be afraid, Yu. I will protect you.”

“No,” Yu said. He was still holding the horse's halter with one hand. He took his wooden hand off his chest and put it around Yurine's waist. “I'm not scared... I'm just...”

On the hill, the trumpets of the Cathedral of Virgo were sounding, and also the trumpets of the army coming from the south. Yu turned his horse to go south and see what was happening.

“Yu, wait. I'll go with you.”

Sivina's mount was dead, so if she wanted to follow Yu, she would have to do it on foot.

Although she thought she could catch up with a horse by running, she didn't need to, so she jumped on Yu's back. Considering that one of them was a child, carrying three people for a short time should not be a problem for a horse.

“You set up a new defensive position,” Yu said to Cornelia. Then he mounted his horse and rode towards the southern area controlled by Link.

Shimey von Bishory was supposed to be there, but Yu said he killed Shimey.

“Yu killed someone... It bothers me.”

She didn't want Yu to kill people. She was teaching him how to use a sword, but it bothered Sivina that he had to kill people. If anyone should have blood on their hands, it should be Sivina, not Yu.

“But he said it so simply... He's obviously killed people before.”

She wanted to wrap her arms around Yu's waist, but her hands hit Yurine's waist, who was leaning fully against Yu.

Yurine grumbled, but Sivina still put her hands through and wrapped them around Yu's waist. Yurine grumbled all she wanted, but Sivina was not about to give up on this moment.

“First I washed him, I even saw his private part, then I put his head on my knees... And now... I'm hugging him...”

She was constantly getting closer to him and even though they were on the battlefield, Sivina was entranced by this closeness.

So much so that she involuntarily rested her chin on Yu's shoulder and whispered. “Yu...”

“Yes?”

“E-Ee... Ee...” Sivina felt tongue-tied when she realized that she had whispered his name, and she thought of something to say to save the situation as she involuntarily squeezed him.

“VuUUUUUUuUu!”

“VuUUUUUUuUu!”

Fortunately, the trumpets sounded again without Sivina having to lie to Yu, and by this time they had reached the south side of the hill. The soldiers had built another shield wall behind the ramparts and were waiting for commands from Link, who was riding his rino at their head.

Link wore silver armor like Sivina's and his cloak was gold like Yu's.

But his face, unlike Yu's, was covered in blood and his sweat-drenched blond hair stuck to his face. Sivina looked up at the ramparts and saw logs piled up abnormally in one spot.

A small part of the walls had collapsed and the enemy had entered, but Link and the soldiers under his command had managed to defend it. When they had a chance, they used logs to cover the collapse.

“What's going on?” Yu asked. He had brought his horse to Link's green rino.

“A fish bigger than the fish that wants to eat the small fish is coming.”

“You might as well have said ‘a different enemy army is coming.’”

“In some ways they are enemies, in some ways they are not,” Link said and rode his rino a little over the hill.

Yu followed him and when they reached a position where they could see behind the walls, they could also see the other army coming towards them and the banners they were carrying.

“The banners of Libra,” Sivina said. She remembered them because she had seen them in Andromedia.

Banners depicting white scales on a blue background fluttered in the hands of soldiers on horseback. The royal soldiers were fleeing into the city as the soldiers of the Libra rushed at them.

“Do you think we should go out and chase the royal soldiers? It's clear that the Libra Cathedral has come to support us,” Link said.

“No.” Yu's answer was clear. “It would be a disorganized attack and we don't have much cavalry, we can't catch them even if we chase them. Let's not tire ourselves for nothing.”

Sivina was in favor of going outside the walls and running at the enemies, but Yu's word was no disadvantage to them, so she would comply.

“And we can't be sure right away that the incoming troops belong entirely to the Libra Cathedral. I was expecting another enemy army, perhaps trying to ambush us using one of the banners of Zodyanists.”

“That's also possible,” Link said.

Using different banners to deceive enemy troops was one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it was considered a war crime if the battle was lost.

“Somehow that sounds like something you would do,” Sivina said. Her chin was still on Yu's shoulder.

“I would have done it. After all, if we win, no one can judge us.”

She didn't know what to say. She loved him as he was, but he was far from her ideal Yu. It would be selfish to change him for herself and she would continue to love Yu even if he lacked certain values, but she still wanted him to be a role model.

“I think you're satisfied,” Link said. He was talking to Sivina. “I have no problem with that, but the battlefield is not the place for it.”

She realized it when Link spoke. No, she was already aware that she was hugging Yu and that their heads were next to each other, but she thought that was normal.

Now she realized how close she was to him in a place where people could see her clearly.

Yurine turned her head when Link brought it up, but Sivina had already moved her head before she saw her, just hugging Yu around the waist.

Since they were on horseback, this was in some ways normal. So instead of reacting harshly as she normally would, Yurine snorted and turned to face the activity behind the walls.

“I don't think they pose a threat to us.” Link reined in his rino, which started to move in place. “A group is heading for the gate.”

They could see what Link saw. As the enemy army fled into the city, a detachment of horsemen from the Libra army approached the river and took the road to their gates.

If there were no mages as powerful as Yurine or warriors as skilled as Sivina, this group of a hundred at most would pose no threat to them.

“Clear the way, let them come,” Yu said. Two of roaron's warriors took the order and urged their rinos to pass it on to the troops in charge of the west.

“Don't let the soldiers down their guard, call Cornelia to the gate.”

At Yu's next command, two more roaron warriors separated from the group and rode their rinos to deliver the order.

Yu turned his horse and rode with the roarons towards the west gate. He had told Link to stay at the head of the troops just in case.

“They came to get the support of the House of Vermilia, didn't they?” Sivina asked. Although she no longer rested her chin on his shoulder, she still hugged his waist.

“Right now, huh-” Yu suddenly stopped as he spoke. “I mean, they couldn't have come to help just for the sake of Cornelia's rosy face.”

But Virgo Cathedral also wanted Cornelia's support. She was to become a duchess, one of the highest positions in the kingdom, but above all Cornelia had popularity.

If a popular figure, a folk hero, supported the Libra Cathedral, it would mean that more people would flock to them, and in the end the Libra Cathedral would have the influence to directly influence the decisions of the Church of Andromeda.

“The Cathedral of Libra is more powerful, more respected than us. It's a better choice for the Vermilias.”

There was no doubt that if Cecilus came to power, he would support the Libra Cathedral. But for Cornelia, Sivina could see that she liked Yu, and at first she had thought that she was a woman who didn't let her feelings get in the way.

“But now I see that Cornelia has turned out to be a person who will simply let her feelings get in the way for Yu. How could she be so easily attracted to him...”

She remembered the moment she met Yu. Like every other person who would see him, she thought he was very handsome, but she had never felt the emotions she felt now.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

On the contrary, through his humiliation of Satoshi, she had come to think of him as a pompous, arrogant man. It was more an objective fact than her subjective opinion, Yu was a bully in her eyes from the first moment they met.

Of course, the more she got to know him, the more she thought he was a person who tried to do good things but had a bad character, and it wasn't until Ana told her that Yu was carrying her that she changed her mind.

She hadn't come to the conclusion that Yu was a great man after that, she had just given him a chance to see him as a good person.

When they went to İlonya, she left without spending much time with him, and when they met again, she acted completely spontaneously. Even as she placed a kiss on his cheek, she had no romantic feelings for him at that time.

But as she got to know him, as she spent more time with him, her feelings began to develop. Given Yu's extraordinary looks, she thought that any girl who spent some time with him would like him, as long as they didn't have different orientations like Ana.

She was aware that he was not a nice person, even if he was nice to some people. Even though she was aware of his personality, in the end Yu didn't seem like someone who was bad for the sake of being bad. At least that's what Sivina hoped.

“Do they call Cornelia's situation love at first sight?”

Sivina's feelings for Yu grew and grew, but she didn't call it love until the day they met the dragon. Of course, if Yu took a step forward before that day, Sivina's feelings could quickly turn into love.

When they met the dragon, or rather when she thought Yu had died to save her, and then when she met Yu again, her feelings had turned into a love that she couldn't deny now, though she denied it at first.

“Yu is someone who does bad things for good reasons and I'm in love with him.”

Sivina was in love with Yu.

She knew there were tons of things she didn't know about him, maybe he was much worse than she thought, but she was still in love with him.

It may not have been love at first sight, but it was built like a solid building, one brick on top of the other.

“Open the gates!” shouted Yu. Lord Marcus and Lord Keer's men were here, and somewhere ahead lay the body of Cecilus.

The door they had built opened and they waited. Cornelia and Jaime, who had been appointed Yu's squire, had arrived.

“Those who came…” Cornelia was back on her komodor. Sivina spoke for her.

“The Cathedral of Libra.”

She wondered what she would do. Would Cornelia loyally support the Virgo Cathedral?

“And even if she does, she will have done it for Yu, because she loves Yu...”

If she had to fight for Yu, she would, but she was still afraid that Cornelia would conquer Yu's heart.

“This delegation,” Yurine raised her head and looked at Yu's face. “Yu, the ones we saw at the Church of Andromeda.”

Blue cloaks hung from the shoulders of the knights in white armor. Their horses were also decorated with blue cloth.

These knights entered from the front, then the knights spread out to the sides like a wing, and the three who traveled above the komodors came forward.

One was a knight, Sivina could not see his face because it was hidden by the helmet he wore. This knight was moving to the left behind the one in front.

To the knight's right was a woman in a light, low-functioning armor that showed her curves and was intended to provoke people, her red hair showing in all its elegance because she was not wearing a helmet. Sivina remembered that her name was Akalda.

The one in the middle of the two, slightly ahead of them, was not wearing any armor. He was wearing a completely plain blue shirt and black pants.

He looked a lot like Satoshi, but with a more mature, serious face. It was Libra Cardinal Keichi Tempo.

“Sivina, forget what I said about Keichi and my hometown at the Andromeda Cathedral. I don't want Keichi to know anything about me. Tell that to Ana and Link.”

She memorized what Yu had said. He didn't want to give his personal information to Keichi because he saw him as a rival.

“He said they came from the same place, but they're so different. He's not even close to Yu.”

He didn't even see the need to compare Yu's face with other people. No matter who she compared it to, Yu would be above them all, and the result would never change.

“Did you hear that?” Yu asked. He was talking to Kigaro and Dimen.

“Yes, we don't open our mouths,” Kigaro replied.

The roarons had heard what he said because they were with Yu at the time.

“Sivina!”

As Cornelia came up to them, Sivina heard a voice behind her. A green-haired girl riding a rino and wearing green armor was calling her.

“Ana, I'm glad you're okay,” she said. Yu was moving away from Ana as he rode his horse next to Cornelia.

She was glad Ana was okay. Even though she had wanted his first kiss to be with Yu and Ana had stolen that chance from her, she wasn't angry with her. After all, she didn't think that a girl-on-girl thing would be a problem.

Besides, she still hadn't kissed a boy and Yu might be the first boy she kissed.

“It's not can be, it will be... I... I don't want it to be anyone else, it's Yu or no one.”

There may have been people with better character than Yu, but in Sivina's eyes there would never be a person on the same level as Yu.

“Duchess,” Keichi said and put his hand to his chest. He bowed his head and greeted Cornelia.

“So he wants to make Cornelia a duchess.”

Yu had already expressed his thoughts about making Cornelia a duchess and that was their goal.

Sivina had thought that the Cardinal of Libra would want to make Cecilus a duke and that they would clash over it, but now he addressed Cornelia directly as duchess.

“Your Eminence, we are grateful for your support,” Cornelia said. Her eyes did not sparkle as they had when she had spoken to Yu, they were as cold as when she had first met him.

“Dear colleague.” Keichi greeted Yurine in the same way he greeted Cornelia. Yurine nodded and Keichi looked at Yu and Sivina.

He had only given Sivina a single glance, but he studied Yu at length, and even Sivina was disturbed by his gaze. It was as if Keichi Tempo was trying to see into Yu Valarfin's soul.

“We don't have much time, I want to call an emergency meeting right away,” Keichi said.

***

They had gathered again in the tent where they had discussed their defense plan in the morning, but this time the people in the tent were different.

Neither Cornelia's nor Keichi's lords were in the tent. At the head of the rectangular table was Cornelia, to her right was Devan von Bishory, next to Devan sat Yu with Yurine on his lap, and next to Yu was Sivina, sitting with her chair close to him.

To Cornelia's left sat Keichi Tempo. Next to Keichi was Akalda, who was casting sly glances at Yu. Her emerald eyes sparkled with an erotic attraction that Sivina could not compete with.

To Akalda's left, sitting opposite Sivina, was Yashin Huo Long, Keichi Tempo's knight. He had blond hair the same color as Link, but his eyes were reddish brown.

There was no expression on his face, he seemed bored sitting here.

“Yu Zao Long and a divinely powerful wizard are coming here with twenty thousand soldiers. If we stay here we will be destroyed. His armies are now north of Vermia, we must march on them and destroy them immediately.”

Keichi was tapping his fingers on the table as he spoke. For some reason, most of the people talking at this table did this, there must have been something magical about the table.

“How do you know?” Yu asked. Sir Devan was going to ask the question first, but Yu beat him to it.

“We know thanks to the report from our scout troops,” Keichi replied.

“It's one thing if you've only heard the news that an army is coming, but the ‘divine-level wizard’ part loses credibility,” Yu said. Sivina glanced down and saw Yu's knee trembling. “Did you only learn such specific information through the scout troops?”

Sivina grabbed Yu's knee. Yu's knee stopped shaking and Yu asked a new question to Keichi, who had gone silent.

“Let's say I believe you because you are a friendly cardinal. An enemy who can destroy us when we are on the hill where we have the advantage, will not be able to destroy us when we attack them?”

They could try to surprise the enemy with a sudden attack and thus achieve victory, and with the support of the Cathedral of Libra, they were now in a good position in terms of numbers.

But it was not so easy to make a sudden attack. Thanks to the city, they could see them coming and prepare in advance, and even if there was no city, the enemy had advance units. They couldn't make a raid in that situation.

“Besides, if we go north of the city and meet the enemy, the troops coming out of the city will come from the south and pin us down,” Cornelia said.

“We have no choice...” A pitiful expression that even Satoshi had never made on his face settled on Keichi's face. He was biting his lip, looking at his own hands and no one else's face.

“You are bad at convincing people,” Yu said.

“His Eminence is an extremely trustworthy man.” Yu looked under the table as Akalda spoke. Sivina looked in the same place but could see nothing. “So far, everything he has said has been true.”

“I mean, your defense of him makes no difference to us.”

If it wasn't Akalda, but Cornelia or Link or somebody they knew a bit vouching for Keichi, those words might have meant something, but when a person they didn't know vouched for another person they didn't know, their words meant nothing.

Sir Devan sighed. “Now you are saying that an enemy army is coming to destroy us, that if we don't march against it we will be destroyed, that this is our only chance. Do I understand you correctly?”

Keichi nodded. “Yes.”

“I don't think the Cardinal of Libra would lie,” Sir Devan said.

“I didn't have the impudence to say you were already a liar,” Cornelia said. “But we're going to move the twenty thousand or so troops on the hill, and that's going to take more than a word. After all, why is marching on them our only chance?”

They all looked at Keichi at once. Akalda and Yashin Huo also seemed curious about the answer.

“This... This is something to do with my Blessing. I hope it is understandable that I do not want to give out information about my Blessing. I believe the Cardinal of Virgo will understand me.”

“Hmph, that sounds like an excuse you're hiding behind,” Yurine said.

“That's a good excuse,” Yu added. “It sounds like an imposition. ‘You will do as I say and I can't give you convincing information because I learned what I said through my Grace.’”

“Yes...” Keichi raised his head and looked into Yu's eyes.

“I thought you found out through the scout troops.”

Keichi clenched his fists at Yu's question. “I already learned about the incoming army from them... Then I used my Blessing.”

Yu put his wooden hand to his chin. “So your Blessing is good for something like getting visions from the future?”

Keichi raised his eyebrows and looked at Yu. He looked scared but not surprised.

“I thought only the Adromeda Blessing had this feature. So there are Blessings with similar characteristics. Although, considering that it is a ‘Great’ Blessing, it shouldn't be exactly the same as yours.”

Keichi gritted his teeth and inhaled sharply through parted lips. Yu was trying to touch his secrets and, judging by Keichi's reaction, succeeding. Needless to say, Keichi naturally didn't like it.

“Yu Valarfin, right?” Akalda spoke with rosy lips and a lewd smile. “I think it's a...”

“Don't rub your foot on my leg.”

When Yu interrupted Akalda, her face suddenly paled. Yu was looking at her with eyes that were partly serious and partly lifeless, and he was not at all impressed by her seductive smile.

Sivina looked under the table again and saw that Akalda had pulled her foot back.

“Y-you must have misunderstood...” Akalda said. She couldn't tell if she was really ashamed or if she was playing the shy girl to seduce Yu.

“No.” Yu replied sternly.

Sivina looked at Keichi, but he didn't seem interested in this little incident. At that moment, a feeling of pity for Keichi arose in her.

She then turned to Cornelia, curious to see her reaction. Cornelia also looked at Sivina to gauge her reaction and when their eyes met, they both turned their heads in a different direction.

Sivina turned her head in the direction of Yashin Huo Long. Unlike Keichi, his discomfort was evident in his tense cheeks, but when he spoke, it was not about Akalda.

He turned to Cornelia and asked, “What about Duchess Cornelia's decision? Virgo Cathedral may not trust us, but ultimately it will be your decision.”

Cornelia looked at Yu, even though she was the one to make the decision. Yu also turned his gaze to Yashin Huo.

“You don't trust us, maybe you think we are luring you into a trap to destroy you. That's what I would think, but it's an absurd thought. If we wanted you destroyed, we would have waited until the Crown had done so, and then attacked the weakened enemy. That would have been a more sensible move, and we would not have ruined our reputation by soiling our hands with the blood of friends.”

When Yashin Huo was met with silence, he continued speaking and asked.

“Would you say that the apostle of God had ulterior motives?”

“Yes.”

When Yu answered quickly and clearly, he slammed his hand on the table and leaned back. “That won't get us anywhere.”

“I have to agree with Sir Yashin on this one, it's not going to get us anywhere,” said Sir Devan. “The Cardinal of Libra cannot be lying.”

Sivina couldn't imagine that an important religious figure would lie, but then she remembered Yu's views on religion.

“Yu, I also think the Cardinal of Libra is telling the truth,” Cornelia said.

“There is no evidence,” Yu replied. “He has no arguments to convince us.”

“Nevertheless, he is the Cardinal of Libra and I believe him.”

“You believe someone you don't know,” Yurine said.

“I also love someone I didn't know a few weeks ago, and if love can happen in an instant, so can faith.”

“W-who is that someone?” Yurine pressed Yu's arms to herself and bared her teeth at Cornelia like a predator.

Sivina was tempted to react in the same way as Yurine.