Chapter 111

The meeting, which was expected to end quickly, dragged on for over an hour.

After a long back-and-forth, the victory belonged to Iris and me.

My argument that the Urkel Church would undoubtedly use monsters, and therefore we needed to bring the Spinelle tribe knights from Blueberry County to prepare, was something everyone had to accept.

Hence, Nine had no choice but to accept the proposal, yet he clearly wasn’t happy about me having to go to the front lines.

“Nine? Are you very angry?”

Nine ignored me and didn’t exchange a single word all the way back to our couple’s bedroom after the meeting.

‘Even so, this is too much!’

I understood his feelings, but being ignored like this made me secretly disappointed, so I also stopped trying to talk to him midway.

But when I saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, burying his face in his hands, I felt like I couldn’t just leave him be.

“Nine.”

I walked up to Nine and tapped his back to get his attention.

“I did it because I worry about you just as much as you worry about me. Can’t you stop being angry?”

Still, Nine didn’t lift his head.

I hugged his back and gently pulled down the hands covering his face.

Contrary to his attitude, which suggested he wouldn’t look up, his hands easily gave way to my gentle pull.

I examined his face and froze.

“A-are you crying?”

I was flustered by his tear-stained face and hastily climbed off the bed.

No longer trying to hide it, Nine rested his arms on his legs and looked up at me with moist black eyes.

He looked like a pathetic large dog drenched in the rain. My heart ached at the sight, and I quickly cupped his cheek with my hand and wiped away the flowing tears.

Tears beaded on his long, lush eyelashes. His face was white as snow, but only his eyes and the tip of his nose were slightly red. Although the atmosphere was clearly serious, I found myself thinking he looked sexy.

However, seeing another tear roll down his cheek, I quickly snapped back to attention.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault. Okay? Please stop crying.”

I soothed him gently while stroking his cheek.

“…Chacha.”

Nine, who had been staring at me, wrapped his arms around my waist.

He mumbled, burying his face in my chest.

“…I wish I were so overwhelmingly strong that you wouldn’t have to go to such a dangerous place.”

“What?”

I stared at him with a look of confusion at the unexpected words.

Was he blaming himself for his lack of strength right now?

The male lead, who is the strongest in the world?

It was only then that I realized why Nine was so angry.

‘He’s not angry at me, he’s angry at himself.’

I kept discovering new sides to Nine every day.

Who could have imagined that Nine was someone who would cry for someone and be desperate to do anything for them?

Even I, who had read the original novel, didn’t know he was capable of this.

It was clear that people who only heard rumors about Nine, let alone the people of the Duchy who had been with him all along, wouldn’t know either.

‘He’s so lovable.’

In that moment, my heart felt squeezed by the newly discovered side of Nine.

I genuinely felt like clutching my chest and smashing the continent of Gradia right then and there.

‘Right now, even if I can’t smash the continent of Gradia, I feel like I could smash Eclipse Castle!’

I firmly suppressed the emotions that were about to burst forth and stroked his head.

“Gosh, I love you!”

‘If I didn’t trust Nine, I wouldn’t have offered to go myself.’

Nine looked up at me with surprised eyes.

Gasp!

I realized that my thoughts and words had slipped out incorrectly and quickly pulled his face into a tight embrace.

Though my ears were burning with embarrassment, I spoke calmly, pretending nothing had happened.

“I—I said I’m going because I trust you! And I wanted to protect you too!”

…To be precise, I tried to speak calmly. I tried.

“Chacha. I can’t see.”

Nine tried to lift his head, as if to look at me.

I hugged him tightly so he couldn’t see, but eventually gave up and covered his face with my hands.

“…D-don’t look.”

The situation was the reverse of a moment ago. I covered my face, and Nine called out to me.

“Chacha. Look at me for a moment.”

He rose, took my hands, and—just as I had done before—pulled them down tenderly, his fingers lacing through mine.

I lifted my reddened face to meet his gaze, responding to his soft, affection-filled touch.

A smile appeared on Nine’s face.

Kiss.

His lips lightly brushed my forehead like a feather, then gently settled on the bridge of my nose.

Finally, he pressed his lips firmly onto mine and whispered in a sweet voice.

“I love you too.”

“…”

It wasn’t hard to realize it was an answer to my slip of the tongue.

He could have at least overlooked my embarrassing moment.

I grumbled softly and nestled into his arms with a flushed face.

“…I didn’t hear it. Say it again.”

“I love you.”

“One more time.”

“I love only you.”

Nine’s firm arms wrapped around my back.

I was reassured of his love until he lay down in the bed holding me, and even until we fell asleep.

Of course, from the middle onward, I also reassured him of my love.

It was a warm, blissful night—the kind where you could feel happiness itself.

“Are the preparations complete?”

“Yes.”

The next morning.

The armed individuals lined up in order in front of Eclipse Ducal Castle created a determined atmosphere.

The place we were heading, Count Laurel’s territory and the main base of the Urkel Church, was the Northern city of Vivian.

Since it wasn’t far and Eclipse had long experience in continuous monster subjugation, preparation for the expedition only took one day.

Of course, there were other helpful reasons.

Norman reported.

“Thanks to His Majesty the Emperor conveying the Imperial edict, we have secured cooperation from the territories surrounding Vivian. Since supplies can be secured from the surrounding territories, we have minimized the baggage and focused on mobility.”

After Count Laurel’s death, the Urkel Church spread doomsday theories and doctrines through video orbs, as if it were a last desperate struggle.

But now that their conspiracy was exposed, it was a futile effort.

Of course, there were still some nobles who couldn’t admit their mistakes.

But excluding such a small minority, it was safe to say that the entire Empire had designated the Urkel Church as an enemy.

This was all thanks to the Emperor, who had acted swiftly.

‘If we take the portal, will we arrive at Vivian in a day or two?’

If we hadn’t been able to reduce the baggage due to a lack of cooperation from the surrounding areas, the schedule would have had to be longer.

“Chacha.”

Just then, Nine held out his hand to me. I took his hand and said.

“The Pink Marten side has already departed, so we should be able to meet them in Vivian.”

He nodded his head.

He gently pulled the hand he held, helping me to mount the horse.

Nine then climbed up behind me.

For fear of difficulty in protection if necessary, Iris and I, who were accompanying the expedition, would travel on horseback instead of by carriage.

Looking back, Iris was mounted on the horse of Kroel, the Vice-Commander. Since Kroel was a trustworthy person, I felt somewhat reassured.

The preparation for departure was fully complete.

Nine took the reins of the horse and said.

“We depart. Prepare the portal.”

“Yes!”

The magicians, with dark circles under their eyes reaching their chins, answered spiritedly.

As I watched the portal being prepared, a strange reflection suddenly came to me.

‘Come to think of it, there was no such story in the original novel.’

In the novel I read, the final boss, Count Laurel, died, and it ended with a happy ending.

However, my real story did not end with Count Laurel’s death.

But now, I, too, feel like the end is finally in sight.

If my life were a novel, I would feel that this chapter is the final act.

I felt like this moment, heading towards the Urkel Church, would be the last of the long series of hardships.

‘And at the end of this, there will be a happy ending!’

Finally, the large-scale portal created by the magicians took on a clear form.

‘I will overcome everything.’

I will safely navigate through this crisis, safely return, and find my happy ending with Nine.

I took the hand of Nine, which wasn’t holding the reins, and entered the portal with him.

It was the moment a new story, different from the original, began.