She wanted to see Cecilus immediately and talk to him and get him to confess his crimes, but she was not allowed to leave the group.

She could leave if she wanted to, but right now she was on a much more important job than Cecilus. She should be here as commander of the Vermilia army.

“Stand up! The Cardinals are coming!”

After a short sleep, at dawn they were walking up the hill and checking the troops.

Seeing them coming, Cornelia studied their faces as they stood at attention and gave the military salute. The soldiers of the Virgo Cathedral were even younger than Yu.

She was reluctant to put them back into battle without any rest, but this was war, there was no other choice and everyone had to push their limits.

“Did you say seven thousand cavalry?” Yu asked. His lips were starting to turn purple from some medicine he had taken, but he was still very charismatic. “Where did you get the money to build this army?”

“There was already an army when I arrived,” replied the Cardinal of Libra.

“Tch... This world is so unfair.”

Yu's right hand was held by Yurine and Cornelia was walking on Yu's left. Being able to walk side by side with him made this battlefield more bearable.

Next to Cornelia was Sir Devan. Sir Devan had been grumpy since Yu had appeared and had been silent since he received the news that Shimey von Bishory had died.

Cornelia couldn't stand him and didn't even want him to be near her when this sullenness was added to his already unlovable face.

Behind Yu walked Sivina, who was obviously jealous of Cornelia and Yu walking side by side, Ana and Link on Sivina's right, and Jaime Salamon on her left. Behind them were the roarons, the Virgo Cardinal's bodyguards.

“They will flank us from the north and south,” Link said, he was walking behind them. “We may even be surrounded on all sides later.”

“Yes, it will be so. Let the three thousand cavalry of the Libra Cathedral wait behind the hill, and when we are surrounded they will come from behind and break the siege.” Yu's wooden hand was on his chin, but he couldn't hold it, so he looked like a statue.

“They might notice our cavalry or calculate it,” Keichi Tempo said.

Next to Keichi walked Akalda and Sir Yashin Huo. Behind them was a team of ten guards.

“They might deploy a little further away to avoid detection,” Yu said. “Even if they consider our move, at most they will leave some troops in the city, but I don't think they will be a match for the cavalry. Many of their cavalry have been killed by magic stone arrows.”

They had inflicted a not insignificant number of casualties on the opponent who had attacked in the night. Cornelia watched as her archers' magic stones tore through the armor-clad soldiers.

“So, is that our plan? We're just going to attack?” Sivina quickened her pace a little and approached Yu. “We're kind of improvising.”

“We can use archers. In fact, now that we have the support of the Libra, let's give the archers the magic stones we will use to break down the walls. With the Libra Cathedral, we can breach those walls without the stones.”

Yu looked at Keichi. Keichi's face was sometimes expressionless, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes pitiful. He was expressionless now. His dark lips were flat and his slanted eyes were looking at the ground.

“I hope that helps?”

Keichi nodded at Yu. “It will be.”

“So, Jaime,” Yu called out.

“Yes!” Jaime ran and got between Yu, Yurine and Keichi.

“Have them take the sack of magic stones and prepare the contents for the arrows. At least five thousand will be ready by the time the sun is fully up.”

Receiving the order, Jaime curtsied and ran away to deliver it.

Some soldiers were taking a nap, others were just resting their eyes, and almost everyone who saw them stopped what they were doing and saluted.

The Cardinal of Libra and the army of Vermilia were ready to fight, but it was difficult for the recruits of the Virgo Cathedral to recover from the shock of the night and prepare for a second battle.

“You know, when we were in Rolderhelm, we met a guy who looked a lot like you. His name was Satoshi.”

When Yu started to talk about something off-topic, Cornelia listened more attentively than before.

Yu was going to tell her something she didn't know, and if Yu was telling her something she didn't know, she wanted to memorize every word.

“Yes, he was a friend of mine.”

None of them spoke, they walked a little further and more soldiers got up and saluted them.

“So…” Yu turned to face Keichi so Cornelia couldn't see his gaze. “Since you didn't ask what happened to him, you know he's dead.”

Keichi didn't answer, he was looking at the floor. For a cardinal, his movements were very passive.

“I can assume that your Blessing gives you any information you want, then?”

When Yu started talking about the Libra Blessing again, Keichi raised his head and squinted at him. He was already slanted, so his squinting was hardly noticeable.

“Maybe I was curious and searched it,” Keichi said.

“Maybe, huh?” Yu let go of Yurine's hand, sped up and stopped in front of the group. “Not being honest makes you less trustworthy, but I understand.”

Yu was intelligent and this was evident not only when you got to know him, but even when you looked at his appearance.

“When I became a duchess... Yu... He is smart enough to deserve to be a duke...” Cornelia smiled while holding the ring finger of her left hand.

Even if he came from no family, even if he had no noble blood, he made Cornelia's heart tremble and that was enough for her. On top of that he was intelligent and together they could bring peace, security and prosperity to her land.

Of course, there were only two members of the Vermilia family left, and Cecilus would not become duke, and probably would not be allowed to continue his line.

This required Cornelia to secure the family's future and bear children, and the idea of doing this with Yu was enough to make her deliriously happy.

“Yu is already a father, I mean, he would be a good father to our children... He's great in every way.”

She wanted to stand here and watch Yu and think more about him, but when Yu started talking, she chose to listen to his beautiful voice instead of thinking about him.

“Keichi…” said Yu.

“It is wrong to address His Eminence by name,” Yashin Huo interjected. “Especially for a commoner.”

Yu continued to stare at Keichi without breaking down. “I apologize.”

“Huh?”

Cornelia couldn't tell who made the noise first because everyone reacted at the same time.

Keichi's expressionless face disappeared, his lips parted in surprise and his eyebrows raised as if he could not understand the other. She had never expected to see such an expression on his face.

“Yu, are you okay? Do you have a fever?” Yurine walked towards Yu, raised her hands towards him and took his right hand in hers.

“I'm fine, why do you ask?”

“Why are you apologizing then?”

Yu didn't answer Yurine and Cornelia felt the need to turn around for some reason. When she did, she saw that Sivina, Ana, Link and the roarons had the same reaction as Yurine and Keichi.

Was Yu's apology such a surprising event?

“I can admit that I'm wrong sometimes,” he said and looked up at Keichi as he removed his hand from Yurine's and stroked her head. “I know I was hard on you, but I'm sure you can understand why, so I won't go any further or tell you why I was hard on you. I'm sorry.”

“I-it's not a problem...” Keichi was still in a daze. It might have been the first time he had ever seen someone apologize.

“Let's do our best today,” Yu said.

“How did you fit the sun in your smile, man!”

His skin had turned white since she had seen him and his lips had turned slightly purple from the medication he had been taking in recent days, but his pearly teeth and bright smile were still radiant.

In a few seconds Cornelia fell in love with that smile again and again and again. Had she ever seen a more beautiful smile in her entire life?

She put his hand on it and tried to restrain her heart, which was beating as if it would burst through her chest, but it was impossible.

“Whatever happens today, Keichi, let's not give up. Let's do our best and finish off the enemy in one go. We may be crushed, but let's not give up. No matter how much the enemy comes at us, let's not give up and finish the job today.”

“If we are weakened...” Keichi was pessimistic about Yu's motivating words.

“You know what they say; Get up, stand up, don't give up to fight.”

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There was not a word in Yu's sentence that she understood. She looked at Yurine, Sivina and the others to see if they understood, but no one did. Except for one person.

Keichi's lips trembled, his eyes widened as if they would burst. His shoulders, which he had been trying to keep upright, slumped in surprise. Cornelia realized that tears were coming from Keichi's eyes.

“This is... English?” Keichi said. Cornelia didn't know what English* was, but it wasn't hard for her to understand that it was a language.

Keichi didn't look like a Moranian. Maybe Yu spoke in the language of his country.

“Yes, I believe I know English well. I never got below ninety in high school.”

Keichi's knees trembled and everyone took a few steps back and away from him. Needless to say, he was the center of attention.

“Your Eminence?” Akalda held out her hands to him but froze when Keichi fell to his knees.

“I... I thought I was alone, in this world, in this fucking place...”

Yu's big smile shrunk to the gentle, caring smile of a parent. Keichi was on his knees crying.

“You've been here... all this time...”

“Yes, Keichi. There are many people like us in this world.”

“You...”

Cornelia, who normally thought he was pathetic, now didn't find him pathetic. Keichi was happy. So happy that he had a smile on his face.

“Cardin-” Akalda tried to speak but Keichi raised his hand to silence her.

“Yu Valarfin,” Keichi said. Yu held out his hand for him to stand up. “Did your friends know about this?”

“Heh...” Yu pursed his lips and shrugged. “But I told them not to tell you, in case you were wondering.”

“I see, I see now… But why are you telling me now?”

“I thought we'd have a better chance of success if we were friends. Also...” Yu balled his hand into a fist and held it out to Keichi. “No one understands us but us. So let's get up now, teach this enemy a lesson and go home.”

Keichi looked at Yu's fist, then balled his own hand into a fist and clapped it with his. It was a different greeting Cornelia had never seen before.

“Yes, let's do that,” Keichi said. It was as if a soul had settled on his soulless face.

“We've also become friends, but that doesn't mean I'll give up Vermilia and make way for you. Cornelia is a supporter of the Virgo Cathedral.”

Cornelia’s heart was beating wildly when Yu looked at her and winked. She couldn't even say her own name if someone asked her right now.

“I'm in love... I'm in love... I'm in love...”

Yu was great. How could a man like him exist? The scene she just saw... Yu was like a prophet.

The Yu that Cornelia saw was glowing, it was the sun itself. It was as if she had suddenly lost control of the emotions she had been trying to control for so long and now suddenly her chest was overflowing with them.

She wanted Yu to be her, she wanted to be Yu's. These feelings burned her. Cornelia's every cell was burning with love. If they let her, she would kneel before Yu and beg him to be with her.

“So be it,” Keichi said. “I wasn't looking forward to it anyway. I'll get out of this mess and get back to my own work.”

“That's what I'm going to do,” Yu said. “All right, we'll talk again later. Now let's get back to work.”

He couldn't clap because he didn't have a hand, but he tapped his right hand on the wrist of his left arm for the same effect.

“What exactly do you know about the enemy?”

When Yu started walking again, Yurine climbed into his lap. Keichi started walking closer to Yu. Cornelia looked back out of the corner of her eye and saw that the members of the Virgo Cathedral were still dumbfounded.

Yu must have done something they hadn't expected, but Cornelia decided not to treat it as something abnormal. This was exactly the kind of Yu she wanted, a savior.

Feeling a look of displeasure on her, she turned her head to the left and saw Sir Devan staring at her. There was disappointment and anger in his dark blue eyes. Cornelia felt fear budding inside her and she snuggled closer to Yu.

“That wizard is one of the Children of the Storm.”

“Wait a minute...” it was Link who spoke. Yu and Keichi turned around and looked at the blond-haired knight. “You're talking about a direct descendant of Azer, right?”

Keichi nodded. “Yes.”

“But why?” Yashin Huo spoke for the first time since they started walking. “The crown are heretics. Why does Azer support them?”

“Is Azer supporting them?” Keichi answered the question with a question. “I don't think so, probably this person I call ‘wizard’ is just someone who has a mind of his own.”

“Was such a thing even possible?” Link put his hand to his collar as if he was holding something. There was a necklace around his neck, but she couldn't see exactly what it was because it went through his collar.

“What do you know about them?” Yu asked. Receiving the question, Link nodded.

“I don't know anything different from what everyone else knows. I thought they were serving Azer.”

Cornelia was thinking the same thing. Azer's children were apostles, they would have followed in his footsteps and would never have strayed from that path, but now that she thought about it, he must have had many children and someone would have been a misfit.

“That wizard will perform a ritual sacrificing the nobles in the city and make lightning bolts rain down from the sky. That's how he can destroy the whole army,” Keichi said.

“So that's why we have to move before they get to the city, I see.”

Yu kept walking with carrying Yurine, and Cornelia was so close to him that sometimes their shoulders touched as they walked.

“Yes, but it doesn't end there. Yu Zao Long is a warrior not to be underestimated, and by his side is a woman with one of Azer's Blessings. This woman has visions of the future. I don't know the extent of her visions, but she can foresee our plan.”

“I see, we're up against an opponent who knows what we're doing... So I'd say we're screwed, if they know we're coming for them, they can send men ahead to the city and bring back noble prisoners.”

“Don't worry, I've sent the elite hussars of the Libra to prevent this. At least if they succeed in the noble transfer, we'll know about it.”

Cornelia could use some water magic. They were a wealthy family and hired good teachers for her, but Cornelia was more interested in the sword than in magic and used magic as an auxiliary, not as her main weapon.

Yet she knew how people were sacrificed in spells.

“Black magic.” Yurine said what Cornelia was thinking. “They're going to do black magic.”

“Didn't Sharley use black magic too?” Yu asked.

She had seen Sharley von Bishory as a small child. After Sharley's father died and he and her mother moved to Rolderhelm.

“Yes, Yu. No doubt it was black magic,” Yurine replied.

“So Rie was practicing black magic too, I assumed he learned it from her.”

“Of course, my mother is a great mage! The best of mages! Of course she will know different ways of magic!” Yurine held Yu's cheeks and spoke excitedly. “But such magic must not fall into the hands of lower forms of life, Yu. You did well to kill that bastard Sharley.”

Yu had killed a member of the family that the Vermilia family was supposed to protect? Although he already knew that he had killed one of them...

“You killed a Bishory?” Sir Devan asked.

“Three.” Yu looked at Sir Devan out of the corner of his eye.

“You can easily say in front of me that you killed my family members?”

Sir Devan's hand was on the hilt of his sword. Cornelia knew he didn't like the other Bishorys, he was just trying to cause unrest because he didn't like Yu, and that made him even more unattractive.

“Yes.”

Yu offered a sly smile that made Sir Devan a little more nervous, then turned his eyes back to the path he was walking. Sir Devan himself was aware that he could not harm Yu, so he was not seen as a threat.

“But three... How three? Sharley was first and Shimey was second. Who's the other one?”

He thought he meant one of the Bishorys in Rolderhelm, but the smile on his face was very suspicious.

“It won't be easy, but if we kill Yu Zao, we can end the war quickly. This is a great opportunity. We can get what we want much sooner than we expected, Yurine!”

“Yu, it really is.” Yurine's red eyes shone as she looked at Yu's face. “And then we'll live happily ever after!”

“Y-Yeah...” Yu laughed and hugged Yurine, smelling her hair. “I still want to be realistic and I know it won't be easy, but I can't stop dreaming. Our first target is the wizard, the next target will be Yu Zao Long.”

Yurine suddenly kissed Yu's cheek. It was normal for Cornelia, who was used to them, but the Libra Cathedral side watched with open mouths.

“It's a nice dream,” Link agreed. “But keep the realistic side on top.”

“I will.” Yu stopped when he saw the soldiers marching towards them. “I wonder, didn't the Church of Andromeda want to make a Huo king? Where is the one they want to make king?”

“Juel Hao Long,” Keichi replied. “He's in Leo City. He wanted to marry the daughter of the Lion Cardinal. We haven't heard, but he's probably married and on his honeymoon or something.”

“The Church of Andromeda had offered to find him a bride from outside the country, but His Excellency was a bit... Anyway.” Link started a new sentence before he finished the first one. “Yu Zao Long is engaged to the King of Label’s niece, for example.”

“I see. I was thinking how easily they left the north without fear of being invaded.”

Five Vermilian soldiers stood in a line in front of them and waited for them to finish speaking. When they finished, all five fell to their knees, and one spoke.

“My condolences, my duchess.”

***

She was in front of Cecilus's body. They had carried him into a tent and covered him with a banner in magenta, embroidered with the Lion of Vermilia.

Cornelia knelt down and raised the banner. They hadn't removed the arrow that had gone through Cecilus's throat, it lay there broken.

“How did this happen?”

Her brother was wearing armor that was not his own. He wore a helmet on his head, but it was open at the face, allowing Cecilus to read the fear on his face.

She was not sorry for his death. She just didn't know what to do, what to say, what to think.

“I'm not sad, but... Normally I should be sad, but... I just feel a lack.”

A piece of her old life was gone. The last surviving Vermilia was Cornelia.

She blamed herself for not feeling sadness beyond that. She had not loved her brother since the moment he was born and had never cared for him except for the name he bore.

But she still couldn't accept the situation.

“This is how it was going to end anyway, but...” There was no end to Cornelia's buts.

“He must have somehow escaped from the place where he was held, probably running for help when he met the arrow.”

Yu touched Cornelia's shoulder. They were the only ones inside the tent.

Cornelia looked up and met Yu's eyes. There was no sadness in his amethyst violet eyes, he already wanted Cecilus dead and this was actually the easiest way to get rid of Cecilus.

“How can I think these things even though I'm his sister?”

He looked at Yu for something to say, but Yu said nothing as he knelt down and leveled himself with her.

“I think I should feel sorry for being his sister... No, this feeling... I can't accept it because my mother died to give him life.”

Then his mother had died in vain.

Cornelia murmured. “If you were going to be a terrible person, if you were going to die... Then why did you kill my mother...”

She had her head down, she was crying and she didn't want to show her tears to Yu.

But Yu put his index finger under her chin and lifted Cornelia's head up. Although Cornelia was still looking down, tears were now visible.

“Yu... My mother... She was innocent... She was a victim... That she died for Cecilus... It hurts...”

“I know,” Yu said.

Cornelia looked into Yu's eyes. There was no emotion there, but it was still beautiful to look at.

“I thought the same thing about my father when I met my mother. The same with my sisters... I thought the same thing later when Rie died because of me.” Yu's voice was like wine, numbing Cornelia to listen to. “You can't stop it from hurting, but pain is temporary. You just need someone to keep you busy.”

“Yu...” Cornelia called his name. She wanted to beg him to talk more. “Make me busy.”

She was burning to kiss him, but if she did it now, she would only be taking advantage of Yu's emptiness. This kiss had to be more special.

So she closed his eyes and just hugged him.

Yu said nothing as she stroked his hair.

Cornelia wanted to live this moment forever. She wanted Yu to numb her, to take away the pain in her chest, to distract her. She wanted Yu.

When she was with Yu, she felt as if she had traveled to an unfamiliar city and saw someone she recognized while she was wandering around in a hurry. That familiar person was Yu.

She hadn't even met him for a month, but she felt like she had known him for a very long time. She felt like she knew him well enough to give up who she was for him.

“What did I live for before?” she asked herself. “To prove I was strong, for my people...”

Yu stroked her hair and inhaled her scent.

“I lived for what I thought I had to do.” She hugged Yu tightly, not wanting to let him go. “But now I want to live for what makes me happy.”

It was obvious what would make her happy. It was clear from the first moment she saw him.

“Yu...” She whispered in Yu's ear.

It felt good to say his name. She liked saying his name.

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

She thought that confessing this would relieve her, but she was burning more than she expected. She had thrown herself into the flames and there was no way out.

“I love,” she said again. “I love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.”

“I know, Cornelia.”

The mention of Yu's name made Cornelia's heart race even faster. She wouldn't be surprised if her heart were to burst out of her chest right now.

“I love, love, love, love, love, love, love.”

It burned to hold him, his scent filled her lungs and his love had already filled her heart to overflowing.

She had wanted to be a duchess, but now she didn't want it any more.

Yu was the only thing she wanted. She didn't want to have anything else.

Only Yu was enough for Cornelia forever.