‘Something done in his spare time is not as good as the real thing; the sword is trash now.’ Edmund looked at his dull sword with disappointment in his eyes.

The young man changed his gaze to the forest and threw his sword. A scream could be heard, and the leaves began to move like someone was running away.

‘Only observing? i wonder who it is.’ He sighs.

He began to approach the Shafran soldiers, walking over the bodies lying on the ground carelessly, which led him to realize that the hero's memories prevented him from feeling anything when he killed all of these people. The archduke gestured for the soldiers to let him pass. Ariadne still had a grin on her face as the young man passed and stopped in front of the archduke.

‘Your Majesty, I apologize for how I look; we can continue.’ Edmund bowed

‘Your father wasn’t aware that you had this kind of power? explain.’ Adrian stated.

‘Well, I can’t use magic; he only cares about that.’ He passed his hand on his hair and looked at it.

‘Father, I have told you that the king of Velvent is a fool, but a cunning one. Who knows if this is not his doing!?’ She spoke angrily.

Ariadne expressed disgust at the blood that was dripping from Edmund's hair. The smell was strong and made her feel sick.

‘By the gods, peasant, wash yourself; you are disgusting right now.’ The princess fans Edmund.

‘Ho, I’m sorry. Luck that we have a river right there.’ he smiles at her.

The soldiers began to pull the bodies out of the road and into the woods. Edmund entered the water of the cold river, washing all of the blood that was on his body. Ariadne returned to her carriage, and before entering, she looked at Eliza.

‘Eliza, get new clothes to the peasant there; he deserved.’ She waved to the maid.

‘Yes, your highness.’ the maid bowed.

Edmund saw the maid put new clothes on a rock for him while covering her eyes so she could not see him. He got out of the water, got his new vestments, and returned to the caravan at the same time as the soldiers finished getting the bodies out of the road.

The soldiers were nervous around Edmund as he passed them going to his wagon. The carriage door opened, and he passed and saw Ariadne looking at him.

‘Get in, peasant; my father wants to talk to you.’ She looked away from him.

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The young man entered and sat next to Ariadne, who was looking outside as the carriage began to move. Adrian smiled at the young man.

‘First, Thank you for what you did.’ He bowed to Edmund.

Ariadne looked at her father in shock.

‘Father, no, you don’t need to do this.’ She lifted his head.

‘There is no need for this, your majesty. The young man nodded to the Archduke.

Ariadne sat next to the archduke while holding him dearly, Edmund was surprised to see this side of her, a kind princess, hugging her father, He could see that she genuinely felt bad that he was bowing to him, Adrian looked at his daughter and to Edmund.

‘You are our benefactor; i can’t free you but i will give you a reward.’ He nodded to the young man.

Edmund looked to the princess with a smile on his face; the archduke noticed and also looked to his daughter and back to the young man.

‘You can’t have her, everything but this.’ Adrian spoke angrily.

‘What?’ Ariadne and Edmund shouted at the same time.

‘The way you looked at her, i assumed that you were.’ He stopped mid sentence.

‘No!!! I was going to say that she should learn how to fight like me.’ Edmund rubbed the back of his head.

‘I would love to, father; i don’t feel pain anymore and i’m stronger than the peasant.’ She grabbed and held her father’s hand.

‘Don’t call him like that, Ariadne, which is distasteful, be noble, you are better them this.’ Adrian looked at her with a serious look.

‘I don’t mind your majesty,’ Edmund laughed.

‘You don’t need to wish that; i was going to ask you to do that for her.’ The archduke smiled.

‘Just give her more support in the future.’ Edmund looked at Ariadne.

‘Peasant.’ She whispered, looking at him.

‘Fine, it is done.’ Adrian grinned.

Some time after they crossed the border, the caravan got to a town.

‘This is it, my beloved daughter. As I said before we arrived at Velvent, once I had secured the Chatzi territory from both sides, it would now be yours.’ Adrian's eyes were filled with sadness.

‘I realize that other nobles are pressuring you because of me; perhaps one day I will convince these dimwitted nobles to change their ways.’ The princess hugged her father.

‘However, I hid something from you in order to keep you safe. You are now a duchess. Sorry, but this is the only way to keep you safe, my daughter.’ The archduke looked down and covered his face in shame.

Her eyes widened. Edmund was confused by what was happening; he didn’t understand what his words meant.

‘How could you have done this to me? I have a plan; it would work.’ She yelled out in rage.

‘I did it for your safety. I love you. All I wanted was for you to spend the remaining time you had in peace and happiness. How would I know that Edmund would be able to heal you? is that even true?’ Adrian's eyes were filled with tears as he gazed at his daughter.

‘No!!! You betrayed me, father; this is exile, not safety.’ Ariadne shoulted.

She looked at the archduke with utter hatred as she clenched her fist, shattering the fan she was holding. To Edmund, it looked like she was about to break the archduke’s neck, so he prepared himself.

‘No matter what you do, Ariadne, they will never accept you for who you are. When you look at Edmund, you would think that someone with his abilities would have been by his side a long time ago. but is not true.’ The archduke looked at his daughter with serious eyes.

‘But...’ Ariadne's ears lowed.

‘It was out of my hands; that was the best I could do to help you. use their hatred for the Chatzi.’ Adrian wiped his daughter’s tears.

After passing the town, the caravan stopped in front of a hilltop mansion. The door of the carriage opened as soon as it came to a stop, and a male Chatzi wearing a butler's uniform helped Ariadne exit. This revealed a group of Chatzi maids and staff members standing in front of the mansion door.

‘Welcome, duchess.’ All of them spoke.

She smiled as she looked into each of their individual eyes. Each time she felt another drop in her heart, it was a strange feeling. She simply went to the door. They looked down, and two butlers opened the door. Eliza got out of her carriage and quickly followed; the archduke just watched it with a sad expression on his face as his daughter entered the mansion.

Edmund got out of the carriage last and saw his wagon going to the back of the mansion. He ran after it and jumped on it.

‘To my new home!!’ He shouted.