* * *

When Rafine woke up again, it was on the large bed in the Aston Mansion.

Raphine woke up in her room and looked around in bewilderment.

'Wait, then Zerkan must have appeared....'

I was so shocked that I passed out. It looked like he was still asleep.

'Actually, I was very tired....'

After finding Orphana's Holy Relic, she couldn't rest properly and ran to the east. And even after finding the Ruby's relic, he never slept well.

"It was devastating."

Raphine warmly turned on the stretch and called the maid to wash up and go out.

"You don't know how worried everyone was."

Sylane was also worried, and I could feel that feeling in the hand that washed Raphine.

"You must never leave again. Did you know?"

"Okay...."

Raphine barely comforted Silane and left.

Sylane seemed to feel better as she helped wash the clothes, and hummed as she put on new clothes and dried her hair.

Raphine was also relieved, but.... It was only for a while.

After that, I was busy dealing with my family.

"Raphine! Why the hell are you running away, huh? why!"

Dad cried and asked why he ran away

"You, these oppas are running away from home...."

"Did you have fun? huh? Was it fun? How can you abandon your family!"

Luka and Lois also shed tears inconsistently and decided to run away.

"Raphine, don't ever think about going out of the capital for a while. I'm glad it's not a ban, it's this much. Okay?"

Adrian scolded Raffine more severely than usual for being the eldest brother in his own way.

The only thing that showed a different reaction was my mother.

"Raphine, did what you said when you left go well?"

Raphine nodded at the calm question. Mom patted Raffine's head as if she was lucky.

Among them, the highlight was Violet.... Violet came with a lot of nourishing food and was worried about Raffine, and finally asked in a whisper.

"Raphine. Who the hell were those who kidnapped you? Goddess guys... Right?"

He had a serious face, so he couldn't even smile. Raphine managed to explain to Violet that it was not a kidnapping and persuade her to send her back.

It was so late at night.

As she was left in the room alone, Raphine's doubts arose more and more.

'But why did Zerkan come directly to me?'

Besides, just before fainting, the moment the door opened.

The eyes of Zerkan that I saw back then are really... It was so scary that I got goosebumps.

Is it like the eyes of a crazy obsessive man from the original? Zerkan had already grown up with a personality completely different from the original, so I thought it would be okay, but it was a surprise.

'Is the nature still there....'

Raphine swallowed her saliva and rubbed her forearm.

* * *

In the morning of the next day, an invitation flew in from the Imperial Palace.

"What is the second prince's birthday banquet?"

Raphine scratched the nape of her neck as she saw the invitation in the name of Empress Rebecca.

Since the coming-of-age ceremony and the welcome ceremony of the subjugation group were recently held together, it was written that the birthday banquet would be held on a small scale.

So I really want to invite Rafine....

'Empress Rebecca is trying to establish her position quickly.'

Raphine is a spirit warrior and is close to the Empress, so she could be considered a target to be recruited.

"I don't really want to go...."

Still, it was ambiguous to refuse the invitation directly sent by the empress.

After all, if it was the prince's birthday banquet, it was not unusual for Rafine to attend.

All the influential nobles of the capital will be invited.

After thinking about it for a few days, Raffine replied that they would attend without any hesitation when the invitation arrived to Luca and Lois in the name of Prince Antonio.

'Luca, I can go with Lois.'

So I decided to simply judge and choose a dress roughly.

Of course, I didn't pick it up. This is because, when she heard that Rafine was invited to the royal banquet, the maids flocked to her and asked her to try on dozens of dresses.

"Prince Antonio is also very handsome?"

"Yeah, I can't get past our young lady."

"Of course it is. By the way, how is the work of sorting the proposals going?"

"There were so many candidates that the butler had a headache? Sooner or later, we will be selected as one of ten."

Raphine watched the maids talking openly in front of her face with blurred eyes.

Perhaps due to Silaine's influence, the maids of the mansion tended to praise Rafine especially.

Raphine seemed to be very proud of the fact that she was one of the only two elemental priests in the empire.

Officially, there were only two elementals of the Empire, Violet and Raphine.

In the original story, Zerkan was also a Elementalist unofficially, but that changed when Orphana came to me.

'Of course, Zerkan may have met a dark spirit, but....'

"My lady, you must never follow anyone who seduces you in the banquet hall."

"Do you think the lady is still young?"

"still.... You don't know much about the world."

"but.... Ha, a son-in-law who will take good care of our young lady should come in."

Raphine nodded her head while pretending to be in agreement with the maids' polarity. Since they were maids who had been watching them since they were young, there was nothing they could do about it.

As a result of trying on dozens of dresses like that, the decision of the maids was a beautiful white dress.

So on the day of the banquet.

Raphine, who was about to leave the mansion, was very embarrassed by a sudden visitor.

"... His Majesty the Crown Prince?"

Zerkan had come to Raffine.

"Raphine."

Also to escort Rafine.

In other words, they had to enter the banquet holding Zerkan's hand, not Luka and Lois.

After judging the situation, Raphine immediately got tired of her complexion. It felt like my brain was blank.

Of course, Zerkan, dressed in a yearly gown, was so handsome that it was hard to look at him.

Just looking at it made me proud to say that such a person is a citizen of the country where the Crown Prince is the crown prince.

But being a partner was another matter.

"Grant me the honor of escorting you."

Zerkan spoke politely and held out his hand. The maids standing behind them began to growl and scream.

Raphine looked around in great bewilderment. He worked hard to find the whereabouts of Luca and Lois, but they were nowhere to be seen.

In the end, he had no choice but to hand over to Zerkan.

Zerkan led Raffine to the carriage as if waiting.

"Mommy, look at that wagon."

"It should be like that...."

"I'm fine even if I'm not the son-in-law of the Crown Prince."

"Then are we going to the imperial castle?"

"Oh, I love it!"

"I like it too. Pack your bags right now."

The sound of the maids fluttering gets farther away.

Raphine creaked like a broken wooden doll and climbed into the carriage.

As Zerkan sat across from him and the carriage door closed, the air suddenly became stuffy. As if there was not enough oxygen.

Raphine rolled her eyes without even looking at Zerkan before bowing her head.

'No, why is it so difficult to face you?'

Raphine was puzzled by her own behavior, which would harden just by standing in front of Zerkan.

Perhaps the memories of the original work remain in his subconscious, so he is afraid of Zerkan.

'Because he was such a crazy man....'

However, the original Zerkan and the present Zerkan are different.

It is bad to judge people in prejudice.

... Even if I tried to think about it, my body was strangely tense and it was difficult to make eye contact.

'Actually, it's probably just because I'm sorry.'

It's disrespectful to Zerkan to insist on marrying her when she was young and then run away from it now.

In the meantime, he had been avoiding Zerkan to avoid his own cowardice and guilt.

Upon acknowledging the truth, Zerkan felt very sorry for him.

The moment Raffine gently raised her head, her eyes met Zerkan, who was staring at her.

'...!'

Raphine had no choice but to lower her gaze again.

Zerkan was obsessively looking at Raphine with an unknown, subtle gaze. The unfamiliar heat in his red eyes was disconcerting.

Zerkan's face, which he had always thought was beautiful, took his breath away.

Zerkan in an enclosed space with a soft light flowing through it was so beautiful that it felt bewitching.

Raphine exhaled briefly. My heart was beating strangely and my skin felt warm.

No, your thinking is wrong. It's not just about feeling sorry....

'It was just because he was so handsome.'

It hardens because of the fact that Zerkan is looking at him.

I was conscious from one to ten to the extent that breathing was changed to manual. Even the slightest movement seemed to be seen by the opponent.

In such silence and tension, the carriage arrived near the Imperial Castle.

In reality, it must have been a short time, but to Rafine, it felt like billions of years.

Apparently, Zerkan also didn't say anything, so the tension was doubled.

'Why do you keep looking at me without saying anything anyway.... I'd rather be completely indifferent.'

Raphine couldn't swallow saliva or move her fingers, and she was still stiff.

As the carriage stopped, Zerkan first got off the carriage and reached out to Raffine.

'Honestly, holding hands is a bit awkward....'

Since I danced at the last coming-of-age banquet, my whole body stiffened if I could even touch Zerkan.

It was because the hard hand that wrapped around his waist came to mind, and his mind was racing.

Raphine couldn't even hide her tension, reaching out a trembling hand and grabbing Zerkan's hand.

As soon as my fingertips touched it, it felt like electricity was passing through it.