/
And Damia, unexpectedly, didn’t have many thoughts. Instead, her feelings about this situation were simple.
‘I suppose the Crown Prince is troubled by this situation.’
She knew the public opinion of Heinrich was not very good. Apparently, it was because immediately after he was appointed as the Crown Prince, the problem of ‘pollution’ arose in the South.
After all, it wasn’t Heinrich’s fault. But if the heavens hated him, wouldn’t all natural disasters be his fault?
Because of this, rumors abound that he was a cursed prince and that God hated him. Under these circumstances, it is possible to push Teresa Dmitry, a devout god-preaching noble family, to be his fiancée.
Maybe this was a trick of the High Temple. Nevertheless, it would probably be difficult for Heinrich to reject this engagement.
‘What to do?’
If a woman named Teresa Dmitry was crowned Crown Princess, the power of the High Temple would be much more substantial. If this was the case, nothing good would come out for Damia.
‘It would be nice if I knew the deal struck up between the temple and Cesare.’
Damia brooded over the looming question that had been bothering her all along.
From generation to generation, her family devoted themselves to the High Temple. It was natural for them to supply all the things they wanted and for their business to be sustained by those fees.
But what enticed the High Temple to abandon her family and choose Cesare instead? What the hell did he offer that was worth that much?
‘There must be a reason.’
But for now, there was no way to know the intention of the High Temple. While Damia was thinking about this, Lessid broke the long silence and announced:
“Anyway, Sir Akkard must return to the capital, to stop Heinrich’s engagement.”
“It’s a pity,” concluded Lessid, smiling broadly. But, of course, that smile didn’t look regretful in the slightest.
‘Sir Akkard is going back to the capital?’
Damia looked back at Akkard with a start. He seemed very dissatisfied with this situation, and his eyebrows furrowed with a displeased impression.
Strong lines, sensual features, and a tanned complexion as if sweet sugar had was licked by fire. He was a handsome man with strong, classic southern features. At the very least, he was an intense beauty, overflowing with sensualness even if he was currently donning a frown.
Taking in his face, Damia’s heart fluttered slightly. She knew he would return someday, but it was happening now.
‘I see. He’s
 
 setting off.’
Damia didn’t use ‘leaving’ because their relationship was nothing, to begin with; so he wasn’t really leaving her.
After all, Akkard’s departure didn’t change anything. On the contrary, it was an association she commenced knowing its briefness from the very beginning, and she never forgot it for even a single moment.
Even if he didn’t leave, as long as Akkard was a prodigal casanova, their affair was like a momentary mirage. It was a relationship with a deadline and ultimately meaningless.
Had he stayed here, the end would have been near anyway.
The northern girls were conservative and couldn’t approach him easily, but it was only a matter of time. Even now, Damia saw several girls winking at him, blushing and caressing their breasts.
Perhaps soon, captivated by his beauty, they too would approach him. Just like Damia herself did.
And Akkard, the playboy, would never miss a chance to taste another woman.
‘
 
 That’s the relationship, between us.’
Damia became a bit bitter when the future she had vaguely foreseen was drawn so concretely.
In the first place, Akkard was born with a fickle nature and grew bored quickly. But she was aware that she had not been abandoned because he had not fully ‘conquered’ her yet.
But that too was now over. Returning to the splendid capital, he would soon forget the women of this distant northern periphery.
‘It’s better this way.’
With that thought in mind, Damia quietly touched her chest. It wasn’t painful, but somehow she felt a feeling of emptiness.
A sense of loss.
How lonely must she be to feel a loss because of Akkard Valerian? He’s a man who didn’t even regard her as anything more than a sex toy to relieve his sexual appetite.
Damia snickered at herself in self-deprecation. Still, she wanted them to part amicably, so she offered a light farewell.
“You’ve suffered in the unfamiliar northern part of the country. Before you head back to the capital, lets part with a goodbye.”
At that remark, Akkard bit his tongue, sealed his lips, and his mouth grew tight.
Damia saw his amethyst-like eyes trembling and looking at the floor with a strange light.
It was as if
 
 As if he had been hurt by her words.