Sienna stood up from her seat as soon as teor entered the room.
I, too, stood up, gazing at him in a daze.
His appearance was unusually splendid.
teor had been praised for his looks ever since he turned nineteen, and it seed that today he was at the peak of it all.
He was dressed not in his holy knight uniform but in the ceremonial robes of the ducal family.
Though a holy knight, his status as the heir of a top-tier noble family ant he would participate in the prayer ceremony as a noble, rather than as a knight.
His silver hair, usually a bit unruly, was neatly combed today, revealing his perfectly smooth forehead and sharply defined nose.
The deep-colored robe he wore showed no sign of wrinkles.
On one side of his chest were nurous dals and emblems that shimred gold.
But what stood out most was his face.
With his proper attire and styled hair, he radiated a brilliance that made it impossible to look away.
He had always been handso, but today, it seed even more pronounced.
Well, I’m glad teor showed up.
I had no idea what Sienna was about to say, but it seed like it would make sick.
I hadn’t heard any rumors about myself when I was disowned. The only reason I didn’t hear anything was probably because I had gone for special training shortly after.
Whatever rumors existed, I didn’t care about them. There was no truth to them anyway.
But why was Sienna bringing it up now?
I thought about it, and then sothing ca to mind—sothing teor had said when he first learned about my identity as the Demon King’s daughter.
"I confessed to you."
"..."
"I’ve liked you since we were young. I confessed, but you didn’t want , so I left."
Wait a second.
Did teor’s false confession sohow reach Sienna?
If so, it would make sense why she wanted to et alone.
teor looked back and forth between Sienna and , clearly surprised.
His reaction was exactly what I expected.
He spoke loudly.
"Crescent, what are you doing here?"
He slowly walked into the room.
Of course, teor was surprised to see here. I was just as confused about being here.
I opened my mouth to say sothing, but Sienna beat to it.
With a soft, almost innocent smile, she replied.
"I asked her to escort . I wanted to see Crescent again after such a long ti. After all, she was once teor’s sister."
"…."
teor froze in place.
He stared at Sienna, his face unreadable.
And now, this situation with the three of us felt incredibly awkward.
I had been part of the sa holy knight order as teor, but we rarely encountered each other in person.
Even when we did have to work together on missions or Magi inspections, we always kept things professional, never crossing personal boundaries.
We had never shared anything personal.
For the past two years, we had kept our distance, each focused on our roles as holy knights.
Fortunately, teor never interfered with my decisions. I appreciated that he let continue my work without comnt.
But now, here I was, in a private space with him and his fiancée.
This was not my place.
"Escort? You asked Crescent to personally escort you?"
"Yes. Since the holy knights are all supposed to be here, and I rembered Crescent had once escorted Princess Tinis personally."
teor lowered his head slightly.
The shadow over his face made it hard to read his expression.
After a long pause, teor finally spoke.
"You... how dare you..."
"..."
"..."
My eyes widened.
How dare he?
Was he really saying that to Sienna?
I was at a loss for words, and Sienna seed just as stunned.
When teor lifted his head again, his face was colder than I had ever seen.
"You dared to assign Crescent to be your personal escort?"
"!"
Sienna stepped forward in surprise.
"Did I make so kind of mistake? If I did, I’m sorry. I’ll cancel the escort right now."
I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
It was the first ti I had ever seen teor this angry.
No, even when he found out I was the Demon King’s daughter, he hadn’t reacted this coldly.
But for so reason, it seed like he was angrier now.
teor smiled coldly.
"Sienna. Crescent didn’t co here to protect just you."
Sienna’s face tightened.
"Not only Crescent, but all the holy knights are here for that reason. But to assign Crescent as your personal escort? Do you have any idea what position she holds as a holy knight?"
"teor..."
"Crescent, I’m sorry, but I need you to leave."
Suddenly, teor’s voice struck , and I hesitated, wanting to say sothing but deciding against it. It would be ridiculous to add anything more to this situation.
I just nodded and turned to leave.
"Alright."
As teor’s gaze lingered on for a mont before returning to Sienna, I felt her gaze but couldn’t bring myself to look at her.
I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of this.
I quietly left the room and stepped out.
Finally, I could breathe again.
In hindsight, teor wasn’t wrong.
It wasn’t appropriate for a noble to ask a holy knight for personal protection like that.
Holy knights were chosen to represent divine power, capable of fighting against Magi, so it was far from a casual request.
But it seed that the Holy Palace had already approved of this arrangent.
Now that I thought about it, Sienna must have been allowed to make such a request because of her future position as the Duchess of Pluto and her close connections with the royal family.
teor, as a fellow holy knight, must have felt his pride wounded.
This is really uncomfortable…
Now I had to figure out how to face Sienna again.
I suddenly found myself troubled by thoughts that I didn’t want to have.
I tried to shake them off, but the feeling of unease lingered.
The situation was one I never wanted to be in, yet I had found myself caught in the middle of it.
Ding!
What? Jealousy?
What nonsense is that?
Oh, really, this is making feel worse.
Was Gabriella just trying to make fun of for being caught between teor and Sienna?
I muttered angrily as I left the mansion, but deep down, I couldn’t shake the curiosity about what teor and Sienna might be discussing behind closed doors.
***
The prayer ceremony preparations were underway in the plaza.
I sat atop a railing overlooking the event space, my hair tied up high, keeping a careful eye on the crowd below. I was on alert, watching for any signs that Magi might appear.
The sound of laughter and bright conversations from the people below seed to spill into my ears like sunlight shattering in all directions.
Everyone looks so happy, it’s nice to see.
While I kept my senses sharp for any sign of Magi, I couldn’t help but observe the people around , all dressed up for the occasion.
Most were gathered with their families.
Children held onto their mothers' or fathers' hands, and I spotted couples standing with their arms linked.
It was a scene that felt distant from , one that felt unrelated to my life.
There wasn’t a single person who had co alone, and it made realize how disconnected I felt.
teor must be sowhere nearby, probably with Sienna and Rearwin, right?
Ugh. I wish I could co here with my father. But if I brought him here now, the Demon King would descend upon the peaceful human world... sigh.
A deep sigh escaped .
" Crescent."
The sudden voice startled so much that I almost fell off the railing.
When I turned around, I found teor standing there, his silver hair shining and his flawless features gleaming in the sunlight.
I looked at him with a slightly surprised expression.
teor wasn’t wearing the ducal family’s ceremonial attire, but rather the pure white holy knight uniform, just like mine.
"What are you doing here?"
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