/
Eloise wanted to get along with Leo. Because she was, after all, married to Johannes, making her Leo’s mother.
Of course, Eloise didn’t approach Leo with authority. Rather, it was the opposite.
“Leo, do you want to play a game of hide and seek? I learned how to do it from the bell tower keeper.”
“Sorry. I don’t want to overdo it because I have a swordsmanship class in the afternoon.”
“Aha, so when you misbehave, the teacher hits you, right? I understand.”
“What? Why will the teacher hit me?”
“Ah
 no? I, I see.”
Eloise seemed to be much more nervous when she deals with Leo than when she deals with the other children. It was probably because she was too enthusiastic to ‘want to get to know each other’.
Of course, the deeper the story goes, the less pleasing the outcome.
“Leo, would you like to eat this? I went into the kitchen and requested for one.”
“I recently ate lunch. I’m not hungry anymore.”
“You don’t want to eat anymore? Oh my God
 How could that be? You never know when you’ll go hungry, especially now that you’re young!”
“The Duchy is not that poor.”
“Oh
 Is that so?”
In that way, Eloise secretly approached Leo, but Leo was wary, like a bad-nature cat.
Although people didn’t dispel their doubts, this bright and cheerful person had been quite helpful in defusing the stiff atmosphere in the castle.
The residents of the duke’s castle gradually grew accustomed to Eloise and even started to worry about her wellbeing.
“She’s such a bright person, but she might be startled after seeing an evil spirit.”
“I heard Kate is looking to hire an escort for her. Should I try applying?”
The worry grew even worse when the priest dispatched from the temple returned to the capital and sent two new dogs in exchange.
However, when an evil spirit appeared, it was dealt with in an instant, leaving only a single severed heart and a large jewel. [1]
The people of the Duchy, who were accustomed to evil spirits, were surprised by this. Usually, despite the priest’s best efforts, some people would get seriously hurt by the black smoke that the evil spirit releases.
It was typical for a few individuals to die if an evil spirit manifested itself somewhere without a priest. It was crucial to physically kill the heart by substantial force without the aid of heavenly power.
Regardless of how strong the northerners were, only a handful of people like Johannes—were able to subdue the far more powerful evil spirits with no casualties.
They concluded Eloise would not be safe if an evil spirit materialised before her. She had no combat skills at all and a slim frame that didn’t appear to have any muscles.
Despite that, they believed that simply witnessing the evil presence from a distance would cause Eloise to return to the South.
“Anyway, now that it’s been resolved, isn’t everything perfectly alright? Good!”
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Eloise proceeded to appear cheerful and at ease because of the way the evil spirits were handled neatly. She even gave the dog the name “John” and they got along pretty well.
In particular, John closely followed Eloise, and she could tell the Leo was eager to play with John. Now Eloise started to carefully use John to approach Leo.
“Leo? Would you like to stroke John?”
“
 he’s, he’s cute
”
“Give him this and then give him a stroke.”
“Its leftover bones! How did this dog protected me
”?
“He’s just an ordinary dog, huh?”
Eloise grinned and continued to speak.
“The faithful dog of the temple, John.”
“
”
Oddly, Eloise appeared relieved and pleased when she stated those remarks. She appeared to be saying aloud what she had been internally contemplating, and her expression of frustration subsided.
“I’m going to take John for a walk now. Do you want to come with me?”
“Umm
 Then, can I hold the dog collar to John?”
“
 the dog?”
In a timely manner, John intervened.
“Woof! Woof”
“
”
“Would you like to hold the leash?”
“Yes
”
Eloise, who finally succeeded in taking a walk with Leo, smiled.
***
It was a peaceful afternoon at the Duke’s Castle. As usual, the days were chilly and the sky was overcast, but it felt like floating.
I originally liked cloudy days. Because I didn’t have to worry about my shadows being caught.
As long as Johannes Noavik was in the capital, there was no need to worry about his pursuit entirely.
The happiest days of my life were these several days in the Noavik Duchy. The atmosphere was tranquil.
People fear the North due to the presence of evil spirits, but I am by far the most fearless person when it involves evil spirits. My luggage was thoroughly examined as soon as they arrived, but the long gun stashed inside the big teddy bear was not found.
Leo is cuter than I thought. Of course, he resembles Johannes Noavik, the ‘real temple dog’, but people here are blunt and they don’t care about needless gossip and worked hard in their jobs.
Carefully clutching on to John’s leash and walking alongside Leo as we take a stroll, I believed these days have been very nice.
‘Johannes will remain the capital, so there will be no chance to encounter each other.’
Although she owed him before returning, she decided to use her debt to save Leo Noavik this time. At any rate, Johannes was a seeker to avoid.
He was also the opponent of the ‘Blue Ruby’, who was more difficult to encounter than any other evil spirit in the world.
‘Of course, someday we will have to negotiate
 For now, it is not the time.’
I was enveloped in a strange feeling when I saw Leo, who played happily with John. I’ve worked hard to change the future so far, but it’s the first time I’ve ever felt like I’ve really accomplished something.
Originally, the onslaught of the evil spirit would have gravely injured Leo. Leo, who had been beaten repeatedly by the evil spirit, was unable to be saved and eventually passed away, which must have been heartbreaking for Johannes.
But now Leo wasn’t hurt, that is my secret.
‘If you think about it, everything was suspicious.’
I thought as I looked at the gun inside the teddy bear.
‘For this certain time, evil spirits appeared way too often in the North. Besides, it only attacked Leo as if it was on purpose
’
Evil spirits were beings without will and intelligence. Nevertheless, last night, the evil spirit headed to Leo’s room with no hesitation.
‘I’ll have to watch out.’
Anyway, even before I returned, Leo continued to be attacked by evil spirits at this time. Right now, it seems like I have to monitor Leo’s window tonight as well. This is because that is the only path that evil spirits can attack from the outside.
As I was thinking about it, Leo, who was running around with John, suddenly asked.
“Are you familiar with evil spirits?”
“Yes? Evil spirits?”
“Yes.”
I blinked, not knowing what to say. Well, I know better than anyone how to kill it

“If you’re going to stay in the North, you should know something about evil spirits.”
Seeing me not showing any emotional agitation despite the presence of a higher evil spirit, Leo seemed to have finally made up his mind that I would probably stay for a while longer.
“First of all, evil spirits drop gems when they die. The higher their level, the bigger and more valuable gems. It is said that the superlative evil spirits that appear occasionally drop ‘Time Stones’, which has a rare ability.”
It was real. I didn’t have to answer, but I nodded quietly. Leo’s words continued.
“And most demons appear around midnight. Especially when it comes to higher-level demons. Occasionally, the lowest level demons appear during the day, which is extremely rare.”
“Okay?”
“Normally, we don’t see one inside the castle. The gatekeepers can handle that.”
Leo looked at me with an expressionless expression. He raised his chin and said,
“Which is great. Normal people can’t even properly dodge lesser demons, let alone deal with them. Especially if you don’t have strength. Because we have the strongest fighting power, we can handle it with just pure strength.”
“Ah, that’s right
”
“The duke is notably amazing. When he was eight, he said he even killed a superlative demon with no powers. He wasn’t even injured.”
Leo looked even more proud when he mentioned the ‘Duke’. I didn’t bother to ask why Leo called Johannes ‘Duke’, instead of ‘Father’.
‘Maybe he knows he’s not his real father
’
Apart from that, the absence of the great Johannes gave me true peace of mind. As Leo said, Johannes’ fighting power was not to be ignored.
But that peace did not last long.
It’s because after their walk, Kate came to see me saying that there’s something she needs to tell me.
“The Duke said that they will be returning soon. I just got a letter.”
“
 What?”
So my peace of mind was shattered earlier than I had anticipated. I was surprised for a moment that I stared blankly at Kate.
Kate solemnly declared the quick end of my peaceful days.
“They said that it would take them three days to arrive.”
“Three days?”
Originally, Johannes was not attached to the estate. He was like that before his return, and he was like that now. But what the hell does this mean? I had to manage my emotional agitation while forcing myself to manage my facial expressions.
Three more days to see that human face in the flesh.
Obviously, on the wedding day, I was relieved to hear that it would be difficult to see your face for at least a year. So it was a pretty bad news for me.
I asked in the guise of equanimity, trying not to express my near astonishment.
“Why is he going back? He must be busy
 chasing after the ‘Blue Ruby’.”
“It must have been because a higher-level demon appeared. The young master almost got hurt.”
“There was no one injured, no?”
“Still, it has been a while since a high-level evil spirit like this has appeared. He may want to check it out for himself.”
I sighed. How the hell did this human came to be?
It was my misguided judgment that no one would come if no one was hurt. It was really weird. In his last life, even when Leo was seriously injured, he did not come back to the Duchy.
I took care of my facial expression as best as I could and grounded my teeth inside.
But the truth is, that person has always been like that. It feels like he’s making fun of me. He always behaved differently than what I would expect. Even if time turns back and that fact would not change.
I staggered back to my room while breathing heavily, thinking of Johannes Noavik. To be honest, he had a handsome face, but it was still awkward.
The story of how the ‘blue ruby’ returned and became the pursuer’s wife was as follows.
***
[1] Prologue
I am apologizing for the late late lateeee update. It has been a crazy month. I will strive to have a regular update for this story.