Love Found at the End of Despair
The Akkan Empire was vast. Incredibly, maddeningly vast.
That made the roads leading to each territory more precious than anything else—and losing control of them was becoming unbearable.
This was precisely why the Duchess of Orleans was seething with rage.
She spoke of loyalty to the empire, yet the imperial family demanded she hand over the very lifelines of her territory—its roads and forests—without resistance.
“That is…!”
“Our knights can no longer approach the territory without imperial arrows being fired at them as a warning. In the name of the imperial family, no less. How much more of this humiliation must we endure? Forget your empty promises and show us your true power. You promised us glory and greatness—deliver it now!”
The duchess’s carefully maintained politeness crumbled with every word.
Capia had been enduring the woman’s fury by treating her like a mere canary, but now she bit her lip hard.
She still had not recovered her lost holy power. She had no idea what had caused it or how to restore it.
If the House of Orleans turned against her now, the situation would become truly dangerous.
She had planned to slowly corner the fake lady and turn her into a puppet… but there was no time left.
The saintess glanced reflexively at the closed door and whispered,
“Oh, Duchess. Everything becomes possible if the House of Orleans becomes the Klein ducal house’s greatest benefactor.”
“What?”
The duchess stared in disbelief at the sudden, unrelated mention of the Klein family.
Under her fierce glare, Capia began to reveal a terrifying secret.
“Listen carefully, Duchess. The current Lady Klein is an impostor. We are searching diligently for the real one, and this matter is strictly confidential. Do not attempt to investigate on your own. We will find her soon—it will be as if none of this ever happened.”
“W-what did you say?!”
The duchess was stunned by the revelation.
How could she not be?
The Tiana Marietta Klein whom Capia spoke of had made her debut this spring and had even been escorted by Crown Prince Silas himself. Moreover, the news that the Klein ducal house had found their lost daughter had spread so widely that even the stray dogs in the capital knew of it.
And now she claimed that the brilliantly returned lady was a fake?
Impersonating noble status carried severe punishment in any nation, but the Akkan Empire’s penalties were especially harsh.
Yet what truly made the duchess’s hair stand on end was something else entirely.
Has she gone mad? Capia, you are the saintess of the main temple—everyone knows you are ultimately responsible. How can you say such a thing?
Everyone knew the place where Lady Klein’s parentage had been verified was the Ciel Main Temple. The heavens knew, the earth knew, and even she herself knew.
Though furious, the duchess did not speak rashly and simply stared at Capia.
The saintess had not been at the temple on the day of the verification. Why had she left the temple empty on that particular day? Coincidence? Or something else…?
I must be careful.
The duchess understood that she was already in a precarious position. Any further misstep would ruin everything.
If all of this was part of the saintess’s scheme, she could not afford to get involved carelessly.
One wrong move and she might be accused of having been complicit from the beginning.
I never imagined I would open a basket of vipers.
Capia was too desperate to notice the coldness that had entered the duchess’s eyes. She focused only on saving face.
“The fake lady is extremely dangerous and cunning. Please leave everything to us. We intend to find the real lady and protect her safely. If you move recklessly and try to uncover traces, you will be discovered.”
“……”
“We can reap two great benefits. With the fake lady’s fatal weakness in our hands, we can turn the Klein ducal house into mere puppets whenever we wish! Once we have taken sufficient advantage, we will reveal the existence of the real lady to the world.”
The saintess spoke as though she were the greatest strategist in the world. Watching her, the duchess felt a chilling certainty.
The saintess… has gone mad.
“Hmm.”
Realizing that appearing too uncooperative might provoke the fanatic who borrowed the name of the main god, the duchess let out a thoughtful sigh. The tactic worked perfectly.
Capia launched into an impassioned speech.
“Afterward, we can make the Klein ducal house an eternal recipient of the Orleans family’s friendship and grace.”
“What do you mean…?”
“We already possess evidence of the fake lady’s true identity, but we are waiting for the right moment. It will be far easier to act once we find the real lady before the Klein family does. Don’t you agree?”
The duchess felt the back of her hand resting on her knee tremble with spasms.
After greedily reaching for a gold mine and losing a vital territory, was it right to stand by and participate in an even greater crime?
Should she trust this saintess who had hidden the existence of the fake lady and had surely manipulated her more than once?
“…I need time to think. Please return for now. I will not speak of today’s conversation to His Grace.”
The duchess withdrew, maintaining a cautious distance.
Capia returned without any gains and felt a twinge of regret, but she consoled herself that it could not be helped.
She had already confessed. There was no turning back—she could only charge forward, even if the path ended in a cliff.
Yes. Dotricia is far too uncooperative. I should deal with her quickly. It would be better to position myself as the savior of a foolish lady who does not even know her own origins and refuses to uncover the truth, even though she is a mage!
She had sent the mentally unstable Lument. By now, he should have some idea of his own situation.
The mere thought of the arrogant fake lady stirred her anger. That creature’s stubbornness had made everything far more difficult than necessary!
Capia ground her teeth as though she would bite through her own lips.
“Even in the presence of the saintess, she dared to speak such insolence. She will pay the price for her sins.”
She would not let her die easily. Never.
Meanwhile, the conspiracy unfolding beneath the surface was being relayed in full to someone who had been holding her breath in silence.
“…Ha!”
Pay withdrew the fine echo she had attached to Dot and received a different proposal instead of being sent to the monastery. Lucius had suggested she send it to Capia this time.
At the time, she had hesitated, finding the idea distasteful.
“Won’t we be discovered? Lucius, Capia is still the saintess blessed by the main god, after all. I’m worried about the temple knights too.”
“Trust me and send it. I’ve filled it with water energy and mana, and I’ve cast a high-grade concealment spell. She won’t notice a thing.”
「That’s right! Pay, I’m confident too! Please trust me!」
“Ugh… All right.”
After much deliberation, she had followed his advice—and within days, it had brought back such staggering information.
Pay was speechless with shock.
She had already known their intentions were pitch-black, but this was beyond anything she had imagined. To toy with someone else’s fate to this extent was worse than any demon.
Lucius, who had been listening beside her, clicked his tongue.
“The fake lady is vicious enough, but the mad saintess is something else. Even ancient demons would weep at her skill. To squeeze every last drop out of a single person so thoroughly…”
Pay wrapped her arms around herself and murmured in a lonely voice.
“I’m scared…”
The words were too heavy to bear, the truth too horrifying.
She had already suspected what they might do, but hearing it spoken directly from the culprit’s mouth felt entirely different.
As Lucius had said, Capia was acting with a wickedness that surpassed even a demon’s incarnation. Even while trying to create another accomplice, she wove lies with such cunning.
Would everything be all right…?
After arriving at the Magic Tower, Pay had once taken out a book on black magic out of curiosity. The opening page contained these words:
“If you are not prepared to become a demon yourself, do not turn this page. Demons are exceedingly cunning. The moment you feel curiosity toward them, you will be tainted by evil. Are you willing to cease being human and become a demon?”
Only the corner of that page had been heavily worn with fingerprints. Everyone who reached for black magic hesitated for a long time before ultimately stopping.
If she kept approaching Capia in order to bring her down, would she herself become just as wicked?
“Pay.”
Lucius came to stand before her struggling figure and met her eyes.
His gentle black eyes were filled with worry. Even the beautiful, deep light of the obsidian ring he had given her could not comfort her heart right now.
Pay finally spoke after a long silence.
“Can a person really change like that after being tormented by inferiority for so long? I understand… Dotricia’s situation, Capia’s position. Both of them must have lived difficult lives in their own ways. But this… this isn’t right. Not every caterpillar becomes a beautiful butterfly, but they don’t turn into something completely different either.”
“You never will. No matter what happens, you won’t become like that.”
“Lucius…”
Pay’s beautiful eyes, usually so patient, were brimming with tears.
Lucius’s lips approached carefully and brushed against her wet eyelids, as if telling her it was all right to cry as much as she wanted.
The clear, transparent tears could no longer be held back and rolled down onto the back of his hand.
He accepted her uncontrollable sorrow as his duty, yet he wished that one day she would face only days filled with happiness.
He wished that receiving her sorrow would become more than duty—that it would become his everyday life.
Lucius’s firm resolve echoed in her ears.
“I will protect you and your heart until the very end. And don’t be too afraid. Even if time passes and your appearance changes completely from how it is now… I will be beside you, behind you, in front of you—wherever you are. Pay. Do you understand? You and I are together forever.”
Chu.
This time his lips rose and parted her hair, pressing a kiss to her smooth forehead.
At that warm, gentle kiss, Pay’s pent-up emotions collapsed like a dam bursting.
She had thought she would burst into loud sobs, but only a few tears fell. Only her small heart pounded violently.
The reason was clear.
Because Lucius before her had become her comfort, her sorrow was slowly clearing away like mist.
…So this is what it means to be happy in his arms. The time I spend with him is what makes me whole.
When countless waves of cold seawater had tried to wash away the sandcastle that was her, he had always stayed by her side and protected her.
Whether joy or sorrow, I want to share every moment of this world with Lucius.
Pay had always considered herself strong, yet deep down she had been incomplete and constantly craving something she could not name.
Perhaps that was why she had thrown herself so desperately into magic. Magic showed results when one put in effort.
But the thirst had never disappeared.
Only now did she finally understand what she truly wanted.
It was love, after all. Even if she had hated him for a moment and sulked, she still wanted him.
Once everything was over, once she had tied up the loose ends of what she wanted to do, then… she wanted to go anywhere, as long as it was with him.
She would be fine living the same monotonous days every day. Even if she could no longer wield magic, it would not matter.
In her eyes, clouded with sorrow and exhaustion, there was only one person she wanted to hold.
One mysterious existence.
Lucius.
Lucius!
Will you look at me? I have something I must say.