* * *
I waved my hand through the air.
Following my gesture, a translucent, bluish shield appeared.
A rectangular plate formed first, then it curved around me, surrounding my entire body.
“…Whoa.”
The moment it fully formed, I could feel it—it was clearly stronger than before.
It wasn’t quite a finished version yet, but it was the most complete one I’d ever made.
“Seol! Look at this!”
My heart was overflowing as I turned to Seol.
He narrowed his eyes in what looked like a smile and lifted a front paw.
It was his signature way of saying, “Well done.”
“Haha! Amazing, right? Now it doesn’t disappear even when I get distracted!”
I couldn’t help but get excited at the thought that I’d finally done something right.
For the first time in my life, joy felt like it was spilling out of me.
It felt unfamiliar, almost to the point where I wondered if I was allowed to be this happy, even as I acted like a fool, swept away by the emotion.
“How… How am I improving this quickly all of a sudden?”
Honestly, I’d been stressed for a while since I wasn’t making any progress.
Seol kept saying I was better than yesterday, but to me, it all looked pathetic.
[It’s because your divine power is based on your emotions.]
“My emotions?”
Seol quietly nodded.
I already knew my divine power was a little unique.
Noah had said it wouldn’t activate unless I was consciously aware of it.
‘Awareness and emotion.’
If the former is the condition for activation, then the latter must be… the foundation of it?
“So if I’m feeling happy, my divine power gets stronger?”
[To be exact, the divine power you can use becomes stronger. The amount of divine power humans can hold is set from the start. But you…]
“Me?”
Seol looked at me for a moment, then dropped his gaze.
[Never mind, it’s nothing.]
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about what he left unsaid.
But if he wasn’t telling me now, it meant he couldn’t—at least not yet.
Which meant I had to figure it out or discover it on my own…
‘Do I really have to go that far, though…’
What mattered most was that I could now properly use the divine shield.
After deactivating it, I asked the question I’d been holding onto for a long time.
“So, can I learn other things now? Like attack skills?”
Just a shield wasn’t enough.
There’s a reason they say the best defense is a good offense.
[Yeah. It’s possible.]
“Really?”
Seol licked his paw pads dotted with pink jelly-like spots, then rubbed his face with it.
[It’s going to be much harder than creating a divine shield. But if you manage to do it, you’ll be able to wield a Divine Sword too.]
“Divine Sword……”
The word still felt like it belonged to someone else.
“So that means… there are two Divine Swords in this world now? One of them’s with that guy, right?”
[Something like that.]
Of the two, Seol possessed one.
Baldur must’ve arranged it so Seol was born carrying it from the start.
But I… I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.
‘There’s already a Divine Sword. And a chosen hero—Kim Minsoo—wields it.’
If Baldur prepared for what would happen after his death, it must mean he knew what was coming.
Even so, he chose to give me a Divine Sword…
‘It feels like he believed the Demon King would be resurrected no matter what.’
Just how far ahead had Baldur seen?
Do ancient gods facing death gain that kind of foresight?
And me… just how much should I trust a god like Baldur?
“…It’s hard.”
I just wanted to live happily with the people I cared about.
Was it really so difficult to ask for?
I murmured the words in a soft grumble and ran a hand through my bangs.
That’s when I felt a warm, cozy pressure on my thigh.
Seol had come over and was gently resting his head there.
[Don’t be too anxious. I’ll protect you.]
“Haha, really?”
I asked softly as I picked Seol up.
He was a bit big, but still just a fox cub.
Though his appearance was deceiving—I knew firsthand he was already stronger than me.
“Little rascal.”
Still, it felt both heartwarming and a little sad that a baby divine beast was saying things like that.
[Hey! I am a divine beast, you know! When I reach my true form, I’ll be super, super huge!]
As if to prove he was the proud divine beast, he opened his eyes wide and shouted back at me.
It was such a predictable reaction that I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Should a mighty divine beast really get worked up over such an obvious tease?”
[Still! It made me mad, okay?]
“That just means you’re still a baby, little divine beast.”
Seol narrowed his eyes and glared at me, then started pressing his front paws into my forehead in retaliation.
He was surprisingly strong, but I still had more muscle than this baby divine beast.
I let him have his way for a bit, then suddenly pulled him into a hug. H
e wriggled for a moment, then quietly settled down.
[…I hope you get even happier.]
“I’m already happy enough.”
So happy that I felt afraid it would all vanish like a dream when I opened my eyes.
[…]
Seol said nothing, and I didn’t add anything either.
Instead, I buried my face in his soft fur.
How long had we stayed like that?
[Someone’s coming.]
The moment he finished speaking, Seol turned invisible.
I carefully set him down and looked toward the door.
Soon, someone knocked.
It was Mila.
“Young Master, he has arrived.”
The he Mila spoke of was my grandfather.
I’d been told in advance, but hearing he’d actually arrived made my throat go dry without me realizing.
“It’s not like this is one of those engagements the family is against or anything.”
He’s someone who wishes for me to live the life I want.
And the other party is Raizen, the only heir of House Pantheon.
If anything, he’d be pleased—certainly not opposed…
“Then why am I so nervous?”
Maybe it’s because of what happened during his last visit.
I was so startled when he suddenly brought up Raizen’s engagement that I accidentally broke my teacup.
After taking a small breath, I rose from my seat.
“Let’s go, Mila.”
∗ ∗ ∗
The place we headed to meet my grandfather wasn’t the drawing room, but a more private room deeper inside.
That alone suggested this wasn’t an official visit.
After all, people still believed that relations between the Marquisate of Kreveta and the Duchy of Pantheon were not what they used to be.
“But once word gets out that I’m alive, public opinion will flip.”
Choosing this method was, I heard, not just to deal with external enemies but to weed out those within as well.
The carriage accident that killed my parents could only have happened with an insider’s betrayal.
That’s why my grandfather had also acted as if he had severed ties with House Pantheon all this time.
“Maybe today… I can finally ask about the state of things within the Kreveta family.”
I’d asked him last time too, but he told me we’d talk about it during our next meeting.
So that day, we only exchanged small, ordinary conversations before returning to the room where Duke and Duchess Pantheon and Raizen were.
“And then he suddenly brought up Raizen’s engagement…”
No matter what I think about, it always ends with this engagement to Raizen.
I found the way my thoughts kept circling back to it a little ridiculous and let out a faint, self-deprecating laugh.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the door.
Mila knocked.
A deep voice answered from inside.
As the door opened and I stepped in, my eyes met my grandfather’s as he sat at the table.
His somewhat stern face softened the moment he saw me.
“My dear boy.”
He stood and opened his arms toward me.
I was nearly of age, yet he still called me “dear boy” and embraced me without hesitation—it still felt a little unfamiliar.
But I smiled brightly and stepped into his arms.
“Grandfather.”
“Yes, I’m here now.”
It was a heavy voice, different from Duke Pantheon’s.
While the Duke’s voice was low and commanding by nature, my grandfather’s held the weight of years.
“Have you been well?”
“Sigh…”
I had expected him to say yes, of course.
But instead, a deep sigh reached my ears, unexpectedly.
* * *
