Hecate.
She is one of the few in the Dawn’s Eye who has been directly granted a name by the Supreme God.
That means she holds a certain status and authority within the Dawn’s Eye while also being a person endowed with considerable power.
‘I should find him today.’
Her most important recent mission is none other than planting a seed in the Mystic Eye of a woman named Sylvia Eleonore.
However, due to repeated complications, the task had not been accomplished, and as a result, the higher-ups expressed significant dissatisfaction, constantly pressuring her.
Hecate also felt a sense of guilt for not yet fulfilling the command she had received from the Supreme God, so today, she decided to find Creed Eleonore.
Fortunately, she had just heard the news that Sylvia Eleonore had returned to the castle, so she judged that there would be no major obstacles in carrying out her mission.
Flutter.
With her robe billowing, she successfully infiltrated near the Kaintreche Castle and fixed her gaze on a brightly lit room at the very top left of the castle.
That room was none other than Creed Eleonore’s study, which he practically used alone.
However, it was only nominally a study; in reality, it was a personal space created for the purpose of secretly communicating with her.
And if the light in that room was on past midnight, it meant that Creed Eleonore was looking for her.
Just like in a romance novel, where secret lovers send clandestine signals to meet in private.
But in reality, it was nothing sweet like a secret rendezvous—just two villains conspiring together, which made it all the more ironic.
‘Looks like he’s been waiting. Good.’
Thinking this was a fortunate turn of events, Hecate immediately cast a teleportation spell to Creed’s study.
Swish!
With a faint noise, her body seemed to be sucked into the space and vanish.
Creak.
“…!?”
But halfway through, her body was forcefully pulled back to its original position, and her eyes widened in shock.
What was this phenomenon?
‘Did my teleportation fail? No, that shouldn’t be possible.’
Of course, teleportation over this distance was an advanced technique beyond the reach of amateur mages, but for her, it was not particularly difficult.
Moreover, Creed Eleonore’s study contained a dimensional stone fragment that she had left behind precisely for moments like this.
That alone should have been enough to ensure a successful teleportation over this distance.
Then why?
Unless someone had detected her spell at the very moment of activation and forcibly canceled it, this made no sense.
‘Could it be…’
As that thought crossed her mind, a sudden wave of unease swept over her, and she instinctively tried to leave.
Her well-honed instincts, sharpened by years in the Dawn’s Eye, warned her to retreat.
But it was not so easily done.
Swish!
“Ugh!”
Something shot out from the darkness before she could even gather her magic, forcing her to hastily throw herself aside to dodge the attack.
It was too dark to see clearly, but borrowing the faint glow of the moon, she squinted and spotted blunt, purple thorns embedded in the grass.
Thorns, yes—but if she had been struck by them, she would have ended up skewered like a human kebab.
“Who goes there?”
Finally, Hecate pushed back the hood of her robe, which had been partially blocking her vision, and scanned her surroundings to identify her attacker.
But whoever it was remained hidden in the darkness, making it difficult to see.
Realizing that she had no choice but to force them out, Hecate immediately summoned her magic.
KRRRRR!
A massive surge of power swept through the area, instantly leveling the tall grass around her and exposing the bare earth.
And then, above her head, a colossal magic circle formed, from which a black sphere began to grow larger and larger.
Pop!
Soon, the sphere split into countless smaller orbs, scattering in all directions in search of the hidden enemy.
At that moment—
Whoosh!
“What…!”
Right before her eyes, as if they had been there all along, something appeared—so close she could feel its breath.
It hadn’t charged at her from the front, emerged from the ground, or attacked from a blind spot at the sides.
It was as if the man had simply been standing there the entire time, waiting for her to notice.
His hand rested lightly on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Shing!
A flash—
Before her thoughts could even catch up to what had happened, his sword was already drawn, gleaming in the moonlight as it slashed diagonally through the darkness.
‘A swordsman!’
She had assumed he was a mage since he had attacked with magic at first, but now she realized she had been wrong.
The only reason she wasn’t cut in half was that she had instinctively leaped backward the moment he appeared.
Even so, a deep wound ran from her right shoulder down to her left hip, forcing her to quickly cast a healing and blood-staunching spell through gritted teeth.
Or at least, she tried to.
If only he hadn’t closed the distance again in the blink of an eye.
Slash!
This time, the sword swung upward.
Just like before, she tried to retreat to dodge it.
But there was one difference.
A brilliant silver aura emanated from his blade, making it harder to gauge their distance.
And a second blade, formed of pure magical energy, had already severed her left arm from her body.
Thud.
‘Sword aura!’
The so-called Aura Blade.
She couldn’t believe she had seen that divine power right before her eyes.
There weren’t many swordsmen who could wield an Aura Blade even in the snow of dawn.
The shock of losing an arm was nothing compared to the shock of the unknown man standing before her.
Who in the world was he? That man.
“Huff, huff…! Who the hell are you?”
Already beginning to lose consciousness from the heavy blood loss, she asked for his identity.
But the man remained silent and slowly approached her.
The moment Hecate sensed her imminent death, she decided to use her last resort.
Thud!
Instead of using his sword, the man clenched his fist and struck her abdomen with a powerful blow, knocking her unconscious.
Then, without a word, he lifted her body over his shoulder like a piece of luggage and silently retraced his steps back the way he had come.
That night, Creed sat alone in the study, deep in thought.
More precisely, he was just waiting for someone.
With a small oil lamp providing light, he merely opened a book for display while tapping the table with his index finger, lost in thought.
Then, he heard faint footsteps near his ears.
He hadn’t heard anyone enter, so he wondered if a rat had appeared somewhere. But when he turned his head, he saw a familiar figure draped in a black robe, faintly illuminated by the oil lamp.
“How have you been, Creed Eleonore?”
At the emotionless voice, Creed swallowed hard and quickly straightened his posture from his previously slouched position.
He had sent a signal, but since they hadn’t arranged to meet today, he had just been about to return to his bedroom, thinking it wouldn’t happen.
“I’m glad you came. Thank you.”
“I only came because I heard Sylvia Eleonore had arrived. More importantly, what happened to her?”
“I was just about to contact you about that.”
Bowing deeply, Creed rejoiced internally.
Since he had already secured the help of Kyle Lyard, he had planned to contact the Dawn’s Eye immediately to summon a sorcerer.
But since she had come knowing everything in advance, it saved him the trouble. How fortunate.
“It seems we can proceed with the plan tomorrow. I apologize for making you wait so long.”
“Hmm…”
As Creed continued speaking with a smile, his guest let out a dissatisfied sigh.
“Tomorrow won’t work. Let’s do it in three days.”
“What? Why? I thought this was an urgent matter where even a day’s delay was critical…”
Hearing something unexpected, Creed was momentarily stunned and asked for the reason.
Up until recently, she had been pressuring him to bring Sylvia as soon as possible. So why was she suddenly postponing the schedule?
He couldn’t understand it at all.
“Just as you have your own circumstances, I have mine. Just accept it and keep that woman confined for the next three days.”
“Ah, understood. I don’t think it will be much trouble.”
As her firm words continued, he immediately bowed and rubbed his hands together like a fly.
Since the task was practically accomplished, there was no need to rush.
Swoosh.
Leaving only those words behind, the robed woman disappeared, and Creed clicked his tongue in mild disappointment as he wandered around the room.
Knock, knock.
Just then, the silence was broken by a knock at the door.
“Who… who is it?”
“Honey, it’s me. May I come in?”
“Oh, it’s you. Come in.”
Feeling oddly guilty, his voice wavered as he answered, and a soft voice from the other side responded.
When he granted permission, the door opened cautiously, revealing Marianne, who walked in with a concerned expression.
“What’s going on? You’re still awake so late at night…”
“You should be asking yourself that. You’re not in good health—you should be getting some rest.”
“I was about to sleep, but I suddenly thought of you, so I came.”
Her words left Creed speechless.
He had just set the plan for three days later, yet he hadn’t even considered that the day was their wedding anniversary.
Perhaps this small oversight was a sign.
A sign that the wife he once would have done anything to protect was fading from his heart, being swallowed by his dark desires.
“What do you think? Do you have time in three days? Since it’s a special occasion, how about a short trip, just the two of us…?”
With a pleading, sorrowful expression, she asked for his answer.
Creed frowned slightly.
They had celebrated their anniversary multiple times, but she had never asked for anything special.
Why, then, was she acting so unpredictably at such a critical time, throwing his mind into turmoil?
Instead of feeling guilty, Creed felt annoyed and furrowed his brows as he replied.
“I’m busy that day. Sorry.”
“…I see. Then, I guess it can’t be helped.”
Despite his blatant rejection, Marianne simply smiled faintly and nodded as if unaffected.
But Creed failed to notice the slight twitch at the corner of her lips.
At the same time, he also failed to realize that this was the last chance she was giving him—the last lifeline.
“Then I’ll head to bed first. Don’t overwork yourself and get some rest too.”
“Yeah.”
Creak.
With that short exchange, the study door closed.
And with it, so did the door to a woman’s heart.