From a Broken Engagement to the Northern Grand Duke's Son-in-Law

“Dammit!” Lancelot swore, even as they fled.

He was running because the captain had ordered it, but his heart was heavy with guilt. Why did a monster like that have to be here?

“Why am I so weak!” he snarled through gritted teeth.

He should have been the one standing in that spot. But he was too weak to buy time against that monster.

Lancelot ground his teeth and pushed onward. Just then, Lea—thrashing beside him as if having a seizure—twisted violently.

“What are you doing? Why are we leaving Louis behind?”

She was currently being restrained by several unit members, yet even with four men holding her, she was a struggle to control.

“Go back, right now!” she screamed, her voice thick with tears and sorrow.

The task force members said nothing, their faces grim.

Only Lancelot spoke. “Lady Lea.”

“Go back! Go back, I said! I’ll die with him!”

“Lea Praha!”

Every head snapped toward Lancelot. To call a noble lady by her full name without title? The slight was serious enough to have him stripped of his knighthood.

“Huh?” Lea stared at him, stunned into silence.

But Lancelot didn’t care. He pressed on. “What could we possibly do if we went back? Die with him? Or would we just get in the way of his fight? If not that, what else could we possibly do?”

“That’s—!”

“Do you think we want to run?! We want to fight with him, too! We want to die in his place! We’re all thinking that we wish we were in his spot right now!” Lancelot roared, his voice thick with frustration.

“The Demonkin we just saw killed old Roxen’s family. Kai is more loyal to the captain than I am. Hans has never once run to save himself. But they’re all following without a word. To save you!”

Lancelot’s outburst silenced Lea.

Come to think of it, he had never raised his voice at her before. He had always been reverent, treating her as his liege, even enduring Louis’s teasing by claiming it was all for Lady Lea’s sake. To see him shouting like this...

Lea fell silent, though the question still lingered in her eyes. “So you’re just running away?”

Why flee? If they so desperately wanted to stay, why not die together? Lea stared directly into Lancelot’s eyes.

His gaze was resolute as he answered. “No. The captain told me something before. He said our last comrade was trapped here.”

“Our last comrade?”

“Yes. He said that once we have her, our combat strength will skyrocket, and there will be no chance of us dying.”

“Who is she?”

Lancelot paused for a moment, then spoke again. “Mihaila. The abandoned saintess of the Holy Kingdom, the woman they call the Mad Saint. We’re going to get her now.”

This was a woman who could bring someone back from the brink of death.

With the thought that all they had to do was find her, Lancelot quickened his pace. 

This was all he could do. If she was with them, at least the captain wouldn’t die. And if the captain could live... he would gladly risk his own life to buy him that time.

A cold light shone in Lancelot’s eyes.

Their destination: the fifth floor underground.

That was where she was.

* * *

As they hurried down, more monsters appeared, blocking their path.

“We’re busy. Get lost.” Roxen’s eyes were bloodshot as he swung his sword.

Splssh!

The monsters were sliced open, creating a sea of blood.

Splurch.

“Let’s go.”

And so, just as they were about to pass through a path paved with countless corpses...

“Hmm? There are still survivors?” someone chirped from the bottom of the stairs.

Lancelot and the others turned to look. There, a woman was dragging a monster several times her size.

“Who are you?” the woman asked.

In that instant, the task force members knew. This was Mihaila, the one they had been searching for.

She seemed awfully strong for a saintess, but they chalked it up to a personal quirk.

“…You are Lady Mihaila?”

“Hmm? You know me?”

Lancelot let out a sigh of relief and nodded. It seemed they’d found the right person. He quickly spoke. “Lady Mihaila, would you be willing to come with us? We need your help.”

“Huh? Why should I?”

“Huh?”

Lancelot’s mouth clamped shut. He realized that the idea of her simply agreeing to come with them had been nothing more than a fantasy.

She had no reason, no obligation, to help strangers she’d just met.

“Dammit.” Lancelot bit his lip. But he couldn’t give up now. He forced his voice to remain calm.

“One of the Twelve Nobles has appeared in the prison. They say he’s a Demonkin from the Demonic Realm. Our captain is fighting him alone. Please, help us.”

“I know one of the Twelve Nobles showed up. Had a run-in with one myself a little while ago. But that’s none of my business. Whether your captain lives or dies, I just want to get out of here,” Mihaila replied with a smirk.

Her words made Lea’s temper flare.

But just as she was about to retort—thud.

Lancelot dropped to his knees, and she fell silent.

“Please, help us. Someone important to me is dying.”

“No, I mean, why should I—huh? Hey, hold up.”

Mihaila, who had been cleaning her ear with a bored expression, suddenly started sniffing the air.

“Hey, do you happen to know Lady Enoxia?”

“…Yes, I received some teachings from her.”

“Ah, really?” Mihaila asked, her face lighting up with a brilliant smile. She immediately rushed over to Lancelot, gesturing for him to get up.

“Aww, what are you doing? Get up, get up. Who needs help? Is it urgent? Let’s go, let’s go. I’ll go on ahead, okay?”

Lancelot blinked at her sudden change in attitude. But rather than questioning why, he was just happy that she had agreed. He nodded eagerly.

“Thank you!” he exclaimed as he got to his feet.

Mihaila grinned and shook her head. “Anyone who’s a student of Lady Enoxia’s is like a little sibling to me. Let’s hurry. You said it was urgent.”

“Right!” Lancelot nodded and rushed off.

It was time to go save his captain.

* * *

And so, back to the present.

Lancelot and the unit had returned to Louis’s side.

“Louis!” Lea cried, her face a mess of tears as she ran to him.

Louis was unconscious on the ground. Judging by his state, something had clearly happened, but what, she couldn’t tell.

“The Demonkin is gone,” Roxen muttered, biting his lip. If Louis had killed him, there would be a body, but the lack of it suggested otherwise.

That meant the Demonkin had simply let Louis live and fled.

Why?

Roxen took a deep breath, lost in thought. There had to be a reason.

While Roxen was pondering, Lea pressed her ear to Louis’s chest. Thankfully, he was still alive.

“E-excuse me? Please, save him!” Lea shouted to Mihaila.

Mihaila nodded and walked over to Louis. “Move. Unless you want to get hurt.” She rolled up her sleeves and placed a hand on Louis’s chest.

A pure white light erupted from her hand. The light was a fusion of warmth and comfort, and it seeped into Louis’s body.

“This is pretty serious,” Mihaila muttered, looking at him. Louis’s condition was too severe to be healed with Divinity alone.

Her power, Divinity, operated on a different mechanism from a knight’s Aura or a Demonkin’s demonic energy. It was an ability exclusive to members of the Holy Kingdom.

Said to be a gift from the goddess, Divinity was a power specialized in expelling demonic energy and healing or strengthening others.

And yet, this was Divinity wielded by a saintess, someone most adept at its use. For it to be so ineffective... she could see why they had been so desperate.

“This isn’t something that can be fixed in a day or two.”

The man named Louis was currently being consumed by demonic energy. No, it was beyond mere consumption; it was as if he had assimilated with it. His Aura Heart had reached a state where it was now emitting demonic energy.

At this point, the fact that he was even alive was a miracle.

“I don’t think I can do this alone,” Mihaila said.

“Then what should we do?!”

“Hmm? Uh... well? At this point, it might be better for him to go to the Demonic Realm and adapt to the demonic energy there,” Mihaila answered casually.

Anyone else would have thought she was speaking nonsense, but Mihaila genuinely believed it. His condition was no longer what one could call human.

Of course, if they were to completely remove his Aura Heart, he could live as a human... but then he would no longer be able to live as a knight. She wouldn’t do something like that unless he decided it himself.

“Still, his life isn’t in danger. He’s just sleeping right now.”

Mihaila finished a bit of minor healing and stood up. The other unit members let out sighs of relief.

“Thank goodness.”

“That man always has a way of scaring people like this.”

Mihaila chuckled at the gruff remarks from the very people who had been so worried just moments before.

In any case…

For demonic energy to be generated from an Aura Heart, while the Aura cultivation technique remained intact... this was a first.

Is this the emergence of a new kind of power, like Divinity?

Mihaila tilted her head, observing Louis. She wouldn’t know what had happened until the man himself woke up.

…Gotta admit I’m curious.

Mihaila fell into thought for a moment.

“Ah, what the hell. I have to follow them.”

She made up her mind and nodded. She couldn’t stand not knowing. Wasn’t that why she’d been kicked out of the Holy Kingdom in the first place?

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she extended a hand to the unit members.

“I look forward to working with you all.”

She had to observe her new test subject up close.