UMH 08

Chapter: 08

“Milady, why are we going to a place like this…?”

Mei nearly toppled backward as Serena grabbed her nape.

She had been made to pull a shabby hoodie over her head, then taken by a hired carriage into a back alley, stopping in front of a dilapidated-looking building.

In this world, the back alleys were a place for four types of people: those who sold their bodies for money, those who committed crimes and hid there, those who worked in the shadows, and finally, those who came to hire them.

Serena fell into the last category.

This area hadn’t always carried such a dangerous atmosphere. Originally, it was a district where the poor lived, but criminals had moved in, claiming it as their own. Over time, it became known as the Empire’s underworld.

Though many incidents occurred, the residents’ statuses and addresses were mostly unknown, so even the imperial police avoided intervening in matters here. The imperial capital itself didn’t touch it either.

For Mei, coming here without a guard, accompanied only by her lady and two maids, was enough to make her faint.

Even Serena didn’t dare tell her, This will happen often, given the shock she had just endured.

“What about Father and Klaus?”

“They had business at the estate, so they left early at dawn in a hurry.”

“I see.”

Of course, Serena knew. If she didn’t know her own actions, who else would? She had only made a small move.

“Let’s go in.”

The building, lacking even a sign, looked as though it could collapse at any moment.

She raised her hand and knocked cautiously. There was no response from inside.

“Milady, are you sure we came to the right place?”

As there was no answer, Mei kept glancing around anxiously.

Serena counted silently, then spoke again.

“The goddess bestowed her blessings upon the night sky, creating a moon to illuminate the dark earth, and scattered tears of joy, which became stars to adorn it.”

“Milady…?”

When Mei asked what she meant, Serena raised her index finger to her lips.

It was a famous phrase from the goddess’s creation myth, known to everyone in this world. A seemingly ordinary tale of how night was created, but at this door, it took on a different meaning.

The door, which had seemed firmly shut, creaked open. Despite the light streaming from outside, the interior was engulfed in pitch darkness.

“Are you really going in?”

“Of course. If you’re scared, stay here.”

Mei, looking around, decided it was safer to go in together. Trembling, she clung tightly to Serena’s arm.

Once inside, the door closed, plunging them into complete darkness. Gradually, as their eyes adjusted, the room brightened slightly, making them squint.

“Who are you?”

As their eyes adjusted to the light, they saw clearly: a sword gleaming coldly near their necks.

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first? And… threatening someone while asking who they are seems impolite.”

Serena’s calm words accompanied a sweep of her gaze over the interior. Despite the building’s shabby exterior, the inside was lavish and intricate.

Did someone use spatial magic? She hadn’t expected a mage, which piqued her curiosity.

“Milady!”

Seeing Mei, pale and trembling as she called out, Serena gave an awkward smile. She herself had a blade flashing near her neck as well.

“First, lower the sword aimed at us.”

“How do you know about us?”

The man with reddish-brown hair didn’t seem interested in answering. Serena observed him briefly, then exhaled softly and looked around.

“He looks ready to kill at any moment.”

“Then I will, if necessary.”

Serena was a mage. If she wished, harming the man before her would be easy. But if, as she suspected, a mage was present, things would get complicated. By the quality of the spatial magic, this one was highly skilled.

She had no intention of making things unnecessarily difficult. Serena spoke to the man:

“Tell your lord that the Silver Flower has arrived.”

“……”

Diego watched Serena calmly drinking tea in front of him, his heart burning with frustration. He never imagined that this person had sent that letter to the battlefield.

“Milady, that letter… exactly what was it?”

Since returning to the Empire, he had been searching for the one responsible.

“Is it not proper to inform you of what I know?”

Serena shrugged, placing the teacup she held on the table.

Mei, overwhelmed by shock earlier, had fainted, foaming at the mouth, and was resting in another room.

Though skilled at gathering information, Serena felt guilty for bringing a child unaccustomed to such situations. She resolved to give Mei a raise, glancing at Diego, whose astonishment was still evident.

“You seem to have many questions.”

“Yes. First, I want to know the source of information about the Guardian’s power.”

The depth of the Hiegels River, or the existence of spies in the kingdom, could be learned easily by placing people in the army. But knowledge of the Guardian’s power was on another level.

She couldn’t claim she had read the original records, so she had prepared an excuse.

“When I was young, I knew an old woman who had moved from the kingdom to the Empire. She told me a tale passed down in her homeland, a myth from the kingdom’s early founding days.”

“The story of the Guardian’s power?”

“Yes. She said the Guardian’s power doesn’t work during an eclipse.”

“So, you sent me a letter based solely on that legend?”

“It was a kind of gamble.”

“Do you realize… what you gambled with?”

Serena met Diego’s rigid gaze, then lowered her eyes. His hands were clenched, veins standing out. He was holding back anger.

“I gambled with the outcome of the army, and ultimately, with human lives.”

“Many could have died if it went wrong.”

“Yet I believe it wasn’t entirely untrustworthy. There must have been a reason the myth was preserved.”

It was a flimsy excuse, but there was no material regarding the Guardian’s power in the Seiren Kingdom. She couldn’t claim to have forged nonexistent data. The Guardian’s power was a secret passed down in the royal line.

This was the best excuse she could devise.

“Furthermore, I judged that your Grace would not act immediately on the information alone. Isn’t that right?”

“That is…”

“You checked everything I sent and, recognizing its high probability of being true, you took a gamble, didn’t you?”

Diego had indeed verified all information sent by the Silver Flower. He had investigated soldiers suspected of colluding with the enemy and tracked their movements.

Even with hints from the Guardian’s power and the eclipse, he hadn’t reached certainty, ultimately relying on a gamble. The woman before him seemed to understand all of this intuitively.

“Ha… Second, how did you find this place?”

He slowly unclenched his fists and exhaled deeply. He was someone capable of containing anger, even when boiling from within—a quality Serena admired most.

Expressing emotions recklessly ruined everything. It blinded you, preventing success. A person capable of controlling their emotions was necessary for her.

“I have a highly capable informant. Only my maid and I knew this until now. But now, since your Grace knows, that makes three. Ah, everyone inside this building heard, so perhaps seven in total.”

This place was Diego’s secret hideout. Knights he had saved gathered here, childhood friends who became his secret order, ‘Nox.’

Diego was honestly surprised Serena had counted the people inside. He stared at her in astonishment.

“Your Grace should learn to manage your expressions. I am a mage with magic. Now seven people know this.”

It could have been a vulnerability, but Serena revealed it to gain trust.

He brushed his neck sheepishly, then hesitated before speaking.

“Finally… what did you mean yesterday?”

“Yesterday?”

Though she already knew, Serena feigned ignorance, amused by Diego’s reaction the previous day.

“You… proposed… to me… didn’t you?”

After glaring as if she could kill someone moments ago, he blushed at the mention of a proposal. Serena lowered her eyes, pretending solemnity.

“That was… because I fell for you at first sight.”

Her shy, trembling voice could belong to any girl in love, though her eyes betrayed nothing.

“Milady, are you teasing me?”

“I thought it was perfect acting. Apparently not.”

Her expression turned blank instantly. Raising the teacup leisurely, Diego tensed as he held the armrest.

Had they not met eyes, he might have believed her. But Serena deliberately looked up and locked eyes.

“Marriage… is with the person you wish, milady.”

Even as he said it, Diego’s tone lacked conviction.

Marriage as a union with a loved one was distant from their world. Among nobles, marriage was always political, a tool for the family.

“You have a sense of romance, Your Grace.”

Embarrassed by her words, Diego clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Hmm… I merely recalled how other young ladies had thought, so I spoke.”

Clink.

The sound of the teacup setting on the table echoed sharply.

“Marriage may be said to be the fruit of love, but in reality, it is not. It is merely a means, a tool. I apologize if my words yesterday were misleading. My mention of marriage was purely as a method.”

“A means? For what purpose?”

Serena’s eyes shone calmly.

“I will make you emperor.”

“Wow, what a remarkable lady.”

Watching the departing carriage, Alola giggled. Eiden nudged his side.

“My lord, do you really think this makes sense?”

Chester, who had earlier pointed a sword at Serena, asked. Diego stretched on the sofa, releasing his clenched hands, and sighed softly.

“If you do not become emperor, I trust you know what awaits before the South and Hilstein.”

“But… I cannot do that.”

“If you wish to protect what is precious, do not refuse blindly. Think it through.”

Diego slowly closed his eyes, recalling their recent conversation.

The common people like heroes. But those in power do not. A hero with power is a threat that must be removed.

After the late emperor’s death, Diego was the first in line to succeed the throne.

Though born from a liaison between the late emperor and an unacknowledged consort, he was still legitimate under imperial law.

Marriage for nobles was political, a tool for alliances and heirs. Without permission from the primary wife, any child from a consort was illegitimate, even for the emperor.

The late empress had supported adoption of her consort’s son to give him some recognition. But from the late emperor, there was nothing but gratitude.

“But that lady’s words hold truth. Can we truly trust the emperor and Duke Walter?”

Eiden’s question fell into silence.

The current emperor had never liked Diego. His mother, whom Diego loved, had withered away and died, depriving him of a father’s love.

For Diego, a duke constantly fighting on battlefields, the concept of ‘emperor’ was distant. Victory in war for the people’s happiness was sufficient.

Yet… Serena’s arrival disrupted that notion.

Now, every encounter with her felt like a bomb being thrown.

“They say meeting three times means fate. If we meet again, please marry me.”

Serena’s words still lingered in his ears. Diego fiddled with his earlobe.

Her promise to make him emperor—and those two words, marriage—weighed on him.

She claimed it was just a means, yet her gaze was calm, like a quiet lake, undisturbed by any turbulence.

Suddenly, Diego wondered about her inner thoughts.

Why, how, could a young adult woman possess such eyes?