As evening quietly approached, the chaos that had enveloped Evergard since dawn finally gave way to peace once more.
Clarice, who had been too busy managing the aftermath, sighed as she looked at the split-in-half royal palace.
"…It's over."
The setting sun shone down as if to console her for a long day's hardship, as though signaling a proper end.
Though the collapse of the palace had clearly left a scar on the monarchy's authority—
A scar was still just a scar.
Thanks to the Tower Master Regant rescuing Princess Adeline from beneath the rubble, the damage wouldn't shake the kingdom.
A scar… yes, just a scar.
Princess Adeline had survived.
And that was enough.
A palace could always be rebuilt. But if Adeline had died, it wouldn't have just been a scar—it would have been irreparable.
Clarice decided to be content with that much.
"Will the palace repairs begin tomorrow?"
A voice called from behind.
It was Silverna, walking past the royal guards at the main gate.
Thanks to their efforts in the north and now again here, Caldias had done so much. They would surely rise in status within the kingdom, even surpassing Helmut.
But given their nature, Caldias would likely stay focused solely on defending the North.
"Yes, that's right. The nobles wanted to begin work overnight, but—"
"You prioritized the people first."
"I thought that was the right thing to do."
"…"
"What's fortunate is that Helmut's knights were already deployed here. Thanks to that, civilian casualties were minimal."
Clarice added with a sigh of relief,
"It was like a miracle."
"I heard Helmut's knight numbers dropped after Arandel's death."
"Which means only the best survived. You know that too—how hard they fought in the North."
"…"
Silverna held her tongue.
Despite the tense history between her and Helmut, their knights had been a great help in the North.
Their layered experience is what allowed them to protect Evergard now.
This was also thanks to Edel, who was acting as Helmut's family head.
Rather than rushing to recruit new knights after their losses, he chose to focus on quality over quantity.
"How is Isaac doing now?"
Clarice glanced sideways at Silverna and asked.
"He's sleeping."
He was the one who had shattered their enemy's strongest sword.
If Kangwoo had fully gone berserk, the entire course of battle might've changed—or something even worse could've happened.
No one would dare say Isaac fought alone.
But if you asked who had the greatest influence that day, everyone present would name Isaac Logan.
"I see… That's a relief."
To Clarice, the fact that Isaac was finally able to rest was welcome news.
"He must've been exhausted. A deep rest will do him good."
She smiled as she said this, and Silverna silently agreed, sneaking a glance at her.
"It's over now, right?"
"Yes, of course."
"…"
From the moment the Transcendents made their move, it had been a relatively short war by timeline.
But it had been one of the most intense and perilous times in recent memory.
Seeing how troubled Silverna looked, Clarice chuckled and shifted the conversation to the future.
"From now on, Caldias will be busy rebuilding the northern wall."
"The royal family will provide support, right?"
"Of course. We've already discussed it with the Magic Tower."
"…Already?"
Silverna was surprised at how quickly negotiations had progressed.
Clarice smiled and held up a peace sign with her fingers.
"For someone like me who can't fight on the battlefield, all I can do is prepare for what comes after."
"…"
"Because I believed in your victory."
Together with Adeline, Princess Clarice had prepared many things. From the North's defenses onward, the time had come to handle internal affairs in earnest.
Things would get even busier than before—so much so that past hardships would seem mild by comparison. But Clarice's heart felt lighter.
"Sigh, it's almost a problem how much there is to do."
Silverna chuckled at her playful grumbling.
Being able to speak about the future so peacefully was the result of everyone's effort.
"We'll need to send supplies to the North, and food, and workers."
"More importantly, we need to decide where the new northern wall will be built."
"Oh, right! Maybe we should expand it a bit beyond the old Malidan Wall?"
Clarice joked, but continued going over her growing to-do list.
"We'll have to meet with the nobles and pressure them to release their hidden assets. Rebuild the palace. Reorganize the national treasury. Strengthen the border defenses. And I have to marry Isaac, too… Haah, I'm swamped!"
"Mmm… Hmm?"
Silverna, who had been nodding along dutifully like a loyal subject listening to the princess's complaints, suddenly whipped her head around.
"…What did you just say?"
"What do you mean?"
"That last part."
"Mm, just pretend you didn't hear it."
"..."
"I am a princess, you know?"
Silverna gave her a look that screamed "Are you serious?", but Clarice simply clasped her hands behind her back and gazed up at the sunset.
The princess was avoiding eye contact.
With a sigh, Silverna shifted the subject, bringing up the most pressing matter from their earlier conversation.
"We should reinforce the borders. Other kingdoms may see this chaos as an opportunity."
"Exactly. The reason other nations were willing to cooperate with us was because of the Malidan Wall and how we held back the beasts in the north… Now that that's weakened, they no longer have a reason to stay friendly."
Silverna nodded, then offered a bold suggestion with a glint in her eye.
"How about a political marriage? It would strengthen our alliances."
"..."
"The engagement with Prince Raphael of Brentarion may have fallen through, but there are still plenty of other kingdoms. I'm sure someone of your stature could—"
"..."
As Clarice stared pointedly at her, Silverna cleared her throat awkwardly and turned her gaze toward the sunset.
Both women thought the same thing:
The war may be over, but this isn't really the end.
The greatest threat—the transcendent beings—was gone now. Which meant that Isaac Logan had run out of excuses.
In that sense, Clarice casually probed, wondering if it might be time to go see him again.
"Shouldn't someone be keeping an eye on Isaac? He might still be hurt from the aftermath of the battle."
"Liana is with him."
At Silverna's calm reply, Clarice frowned.
"Why would you put the most dangerous person near him?"
"..."
It was hard to refute. Everyone had heard Liana's true feelings when she was under the curse of Subjugation.
Still, Silverna gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
"I let her have this time on purpose."
"What?"
"…She told me something."
There was a trace of sorrow in her tone, mixed with a kind of gratitude.
"She said she's going to give up."
***
"..."
When he opened his eyes, the sky outside had already turned pitch-black.
How long did I sleep?
Looking out the window, he saw the streets dyed in darkness.
But that stillness brought with it a sense of peace.
'…We did it.'
By cutting down Silver Clock and Helik, everything had finally come to an end.
The sun was rising again in the Abyss of the transcendent beings, and the human realm was safe.
So that's why I slept for so long.
Maybe it was his body finally letting go and resting after everything.
As his senses returned, he noticed someone seated in a chair beside his bed—Liana, dozing quietly.
The Subjugation curse had disappeared with Helik's death, returning her to normal.
"..."
Isaac stared at her for a long moment.
He began to rise slowly, but perhaps due to the sharp senses of a Helmut—
Liana stirred and opened her eyes, looking at him.
"Did I wake you? Sorry."
"No."
Her voice wasn't hoarse, nor did she look drowsy.
She just relaxed visibly at the sight of Isaac awake.
In the darkness, it was hard to see clearly, but Isaac was pretty sure—she had smiled.
The two made their way to the dining hall.
In the crisp air of dawn, they sat facing each other over warm tea, letting the warmth loosen their tired bodies.
Neither spoke for a while.
Then—
"…Lia, there's something I need to say."
Now that everything was over, it was time.
Isaac cautiously brought up the topic he'd been carrying in his heart.
"Can I… go first?"
But before he could, Liana opened her mouth.
So Isaac simply nodded and listened.
"Hey, Isaac."
It took quite a while for the words that followed to come out.
As if something was stuck in her throat, blocking her voice.
Her lips wouldn't move.
But even in the darkness, with her eyes gently closed, she finally spoke with a trembling voice.
"I'll give up."
"..."
"I've thought about it a lot. Really. Way too much."
Maybe because the dam had finally broken.
Everything that came after flowed out of Liana without pause, even surprising herself.
"I felt like I couldn't live without you. No, I'm sure of it—I'll probably struggle a lot."
"But… everything that's happened so far. The endings that Helik and Silver Clock met."
It was cruel—painfully so.
"Maybe those of Helmut blood… aren't meant to love at all."
She let out a bitter smile.
Liana had seen the end of everyone who dared to speak of love while bearing the blood of Helmut.
Her mother, Galenia.
Helik and Silver Clock.
Her younger brother, Alois.
And even—her future self.
"So, Isaac…"
"I just want you to be happy."
Even in the darkness, her smile shone brightly.
Her beauty, like that of a rose, couldn't be hidden by something as feeble as the veil of dawn.
Isaac knew.
He knew how much courage and resolve it took for her to say that.
So he couldn't deny her—couldn't reject it outright.
"…Alright."
Softly, he took her hand and nodded.
Because he understood how painful her decision must have been, he could only accept it.
"Okay, Isaac."
Liana held back the tears that threatened to fall.
Maybe because she wanted to show that she'd grown, that she was no longer the same.
Without shedding a single tear, she held his hand tightly and asked,
"Now it's your turn, Isaac. What did you want to say?"
"Ah, I was…"
Isaac hesitated for a moment.
But after seeing her resolve, he decided to speak honestly.
"I was going to ask if we could take some time to get to know each other again."
"..."
"It's about time I start thinking about remarriage—whether I want to or not."
The truth was, he didn't want to.
But those around him were making it impossible for him to remain single.
So he'd started preparing himself to confront those feelings he'd kept on hold.
And one of the people he had to consider… was Liana.
"Because of the Subjugation curse, I knew that I still had a place in your heart. So I wanted to ask if we could take things slow and see where we stood—"
He gave a sheepish smile.
"But now that you've made up your mind, I'll respect that."
"Okay."
A gentle smile returned to Liana's lips.
Her hand, still holding his—
A little too tightly.
"…That hurts."
Isaac muttered, and Liana, still smiling, replied.
"Isaac."
"Yeah?"
"Can I take back what I just said?"
"..."
"..."
The two stared at each other in silence.
"I should've listened before speaking."
Liana whispered, quietly regretting it.