"Wh-what do you mean? Why?"

Her father was the lord of this land. He was like an emperor in Valin's territory. Yet he got caught. Her father had to get her out of the prison. He had to support her until she became the Crown Princess.

So what will happen to her now?

"I can't wait to take revenge for my brother, but I'm different from trash like you. So I'll wait for a fair judgement."

The maid said to Joanna. However, Joanna didn't have the energy to get angry. She couldn't accept the reality that her father had been caught.

"How about you eat this? This might be your last morning after all."

The maid sneered and left the prison. An eerie creaking sound rang out and the massive prison door was closed.

Joanna looked at the ugly lump of potatoes.

This was her last morning? Why her? What did she do wrong? Those who dare to do this are bad! She should've been in the monster's place! Why was she being punished!?

"Ah!"

Joanna screamed and threw her food away.

"I'm going out! Let me out right now! No! I don't want this!"

But now there was no one to listen to her.

***

Marron became the high priest at a young age because of his upright character, diligent way of life and strong will to reform the church.

Tenstheon had selected Marron, a new face, to eliminate the Asmodian trials that had been going on for over hundreds of years. Marron was also clearly aware of that.

In the capital city and places where the influence of the imperial family was strong, the trials had almost disappeared.

However, on islands and small territories that were geographically isolated, the Asmodian trials still ran rampant, and it was a significant problem.

Due to the close tie between the lord and priests, even if a central order was issued, the people wouldn't follow it. In response, Marron decided to go to various places to investigate the actual condition of the Asmodian trials and impose punishment. The first thing he did was investigate the Valin Estate.

Valin's lord and his daughter, Joanna, had executed many people over trivial reasons.

Yet people kept their mouths shut in fear. Without any evidence, they couldn't report it. They thought it wouldn't be easy to investigate the trio, but Blake made things easier.

Upon hearing that Joanna was behind the bars, many people lined up from dawn to accuse the lord of Valin, Joanna, and Priest Alt.

Thanks to this, they were able to implicate the Viscount and the priest too.

"Thank you. Everything went smoothly thanks to you."

Marron thanked Blake. When he heard that Blake was in the valley of chaos, Marron went over to see him. At that time, Blake said he wanted to visit Valin estate for a while but he didn't say why.

Marron didn't mention where he was staying. In fact, he hadn't even decided on a place to stay in the first place. Yet Blake predicted his location exactly.

"She dug her own grave."

"Thank you for remembering me."

"You talk too much."

"It's the first time I've ever heard that."

Marron's eyes twinkled as he spoke to Blake, but Blake only frowned as if he was used to it.

He tells him that every time they meet, so how has he never heard of it?

"Anyway, I'm glad I helped you."

Heir of the curse, the Roums and the trials. The empire's state was bad, and Blake had been at the center of all the contempt. He was also one of those who wished that the reckless trials would disappear.

"Do you have anything else to say?"

"Do you want me to go?"

"Yeah, if you know that, then please leave."

"Is it because of her?"

Marron had always liked Blake, and he was always fascinated with his powers. But it wasn't just that. Blake had suffered from the curse at an early age, yet in the end, he gained the power that everyone envied.

The only problem was that he wasn't interested in others. He focused all of his efforts on the missing Crown Princess and he didn't spare any room in his heart for others. He couldn't even be bothered to be friends with anyone, and of course no woman could sway him.

No matter how many times Marron explained the importance of connections to Blake, he still couldn't persuade him.

Marron recalled the sight of Blake holding the woman's hand tightly.

She was beautiful, but her scars were so severe that it overshadowed her beauty.

"Marron, is there any way to treat the burn scars and mute people?"

"All the treatment at the church came from mana stone. It's no match for the goddess' power. What you can't do, I can't either."

"I see."

Blake never relied on anyone but this time, he had voluntarily asked Marron for help.

He really cared about her.

For the first time since the Crown Princess went missing, a new person had entered his heart.

But her identity was unknown and her appearance wasn't helping either.

They had a rough road to walk on ahead of them.

Marron was a bit worried but then he remembered how Blake overcame the curse with no problem.

"Thank you."

Blake smiled. It was the first genuine smile Marron had seen on his face in seven years.

***

Similar to the original story, this timeline's Joanna also drove innocent people to their deaths through the Asmodian trial.

But Blake was different from Richard, and he protected me immediately.

When I thought back to last night's event, strangely enough, I realized that I had never been worried. I believed in Blake.

I didn't doubt him even for a moment that he'd go along with it just because I'm not Ancia.

Blake held my hand tightly all night.

Was it to comfort me because I had been falsely accused?

I didn't think so. He must've suspected that I'm Ancia.

He's really nice to me, but how did he find out?

Was it just the perilla leaves and lemon jam?

I thought I'd be glad if he recognized me, but I was actually rather confused.

The knights were busy preparing for our departure since morning and Blake left the place for a while when the high priest visited him. I sat down and watched the knights prepare. Actually, I wanted to help, but when I thought about it, I felt that I'd only increase their burden. My left hand had severe burn scars and it didn't work very well. My right hand also trembled slightly.

"Oh, when will this nomadic life be over?"

"I know right."

The young knights grumbled.

"Ah, will the Crown Prince get married and settle down?"

My heart sank. Blake was getting married?

"When does Diana graduate?"

The brown-haired knight asked Jayden.

"She's in her 6th year now."

"She actually wanted to graduate back then, but she took two years off to look for her sister."

Diana took two years off because of me?

Diana had desperately drowned herself in her studies back then, saying that she didn't want to address children younger than her as her senior.

Of course, I thought she'd already have graduated by now and become a great knight.

However, she was still attending the academy.

"But, a two-year break? Is that even possible?"

"His Majesty helped her. At first I thought he did it because she was Her Highness' sister, but turns out he was taking care of his future daughter-in-law."

"Then, she'll get married once she graduates?"

"I guess so."

Everyone nodded, but the knight with a very short haircut snapped,

"When they get married, what if we need to continue the search for Her Highness on our own?"

"Hey! Don't say such scary things!"

"That's right. Does that even make sense?"

"Why doesn't it make sense?"

"Alex, that's why you're not popular with women."

"Why? What's wrong with me!?"

The knight called Alex got all fired up.

"Now that Diana's going to be the Crown Princess, no matter how close she is to her sister, would the original Crown Princess like it if her husband took her own sister as his wife?"

"Maybe...?"

"Of course not."

"Well, I don't know."

"Anyway, I hope they can get married soon. We can't keep searching for the dead like this. He must move on."