CHAPTER 30
From the moment their eyes met, it felt as though time had stopped.
There was no way she couldn’t recognize him.
Aside from the color of his hair, everything else was exactly the same, as if he had stepped straight out of her memories.
For a moment, her chest tightened so much she couldn’t speak.
“Seraphine?”
When the girl didn’t say anything and simply stood there, the Duke of Luvia called out to her again.
Snapping out of her daze, Seraphine hurriedly descended the stairs to get closer to him.
Perhaps because she had been lying down all day, her legs gave out and she stumbled.
Her body pitched forward.
She instinctively reached for the banister, but her hand grabbed nothing.
She was falling.
With a shiver that raised the hairs on her skin, she tightly shut her eyes.
‘…Huh?’
But she didn’t tumble disgracefully to the floor.
Something firm caught her.
He had seen her in danger and quickly climbed the stairs, now holding her by the shoulders.
Seraphine, who had unintentionally buried her face in the man’s chest, immediately felt her head lighten and her energy replenish just by touching him.
“Are you all right?”
“…Ah, yes.”
The deep, resonant voice left no doubt. It was Icarus.
But she wasn’t yet sure of his current state, and they were being watched.
So she couldn’t show her feelings and responded awkwardly with formal speech.
“I’m glad. That you weren’t hurt.”
“Thanks to you…”
Ahem.
The Duke of Luvia, who had been watching the two standing so closely together, cleared his throat.
Seraphine, startled as she finally realized the situation, quickly pushed him away.
“Seraphine, that’s not appropriate attire to greet guests.”
Upon hearing the Duke’s words, Seraphine realized she was wearing a flowing nightgown.
A mistake I’d never make under normal circumstances…
She had been so stunned by the presence of someone she believed she’d never see again.
Lowering her head, she glanced down at herself, and her cheeks flushed slightly.
Her thin, pure white nightgown was not something meant to be seen by others.
“And Duke Saphilorn. While I appreciate you helping my daughter, I would appreciate it if you exercised more caution given her age.”
At the Duke’s warning, the man politely nodded and stepped back from Seraphine.
At that moment, he glanced sharply at the servants who had been watching Seraphine and spoke.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
With those polite words, he draped a coat over Seraphine’s shoulders.
The coat was so large it nearly swallowed her whole, covering her nightgown completely.
Feeling the heavy warmth of it, Seraphine widened her eyes.
It’s warm.
It had just been on his body, so his warmth still lingered.
It felt oddly unfamiliar, and without realizing it, she started fidgeting with the coat. The man quickly turned away.
“I’ll go wait in the parlor.”
“Yes, please do, Duke Saphilorn.”
The Duke of Luvia shot a look telling him to hurry up and go.
Frankly, he didn’t like the man placing a coat on his daughter, but given how thin her clothing was, he let it slide.
“Ah.”
Seraphine reached out as if to stop the man who was walking away.
But then she came to her senses and turned around to change her clothes.
Yet as soon as she returned to her room, Metatron, who was still standing guard, sneered the moment he saw her.
“You’re grinning from ear to ear.”
Was I smiling?
Hearing his words, Seraphine touched the corners of her lips.
They might’ve been slightly lifted. But not enough to say she was smiling like a fool.
She quickly composed her expression and spoke coldly.
“You’re still here?”
“I couldn’t leave. You came right back.”
In truth, Metatron hadn’t planned to pick a fight with her.
But when he saw the unfamiliar man’s coat left behind—as if marking his territory—he couldn’t help but speak up.
“I need to change, so get out.”
Ignoring him, Seraphine pointed to the door with her index finger.
Metatron still felt an unexplainable irritation.
Still, he had no intention of staying. Just as he passed by Seraphine, he suddenly stopped.
“Nothing happened, right?”
“Nothing happened?”
She looked genuinely puzzled, as though she didn’t understand what he meant.
Metatron saw her expression and shook his head.
“Never mind. If nothing happened, then that’s fine.”
Even without seeing it, he could guess.
Imagining Icarus acting like a docile lamb before his master again left a bad taste in his mouth.
Out of her sight, Metatron made a face and quickly exited the room.
Soon after, a maid came in to help Seraphine change, and she hurried to the parlor.
When she entered, the man holding a bouquet stood up abruptly—despite his large frame.
“Thank you for letting me use your coat.”
Approaching him, Seraphine handed him the coat, neatly folded.
His fingertips trembled slightly as he received it.
“Did you wait long?”
“Not at all.”
Their eyes naturally shifted to the teacup on the table.
The tea was untouched and had gone cold.
“This kind of waiting means nothing.”
Realizing what her gaze meant, he quickly added the words, as if to explain himself. Then, as though nervous, he offered the bouquet.
“I couldn’t come empty-handed, so I brought flowers. I hope you like them.”
The bouquet was small, but vibrant and varied.
As she inhaled its sweet scent, Seraphine spoke suddenly.
“Icarus.”
Flinch.
The longing was unmistakable in his eyes the moment she said his name.
“So it really is you.”
She didn’t need a reply to be sure.
Icarus had known from the beginning that the person before him wasn’t just “Lady Luvia,” but Seraphine.
Seraphine, placing the bouquet on the table, studied him with serious eyes.
“What happened to you?”
She could’ve asked how he recognized her.
But right now, she needed to know how he had come to stand before her again—crossing time itself. And what state he was in.
With Metatron, it was understandable—he had no physical body.
But Icarus was different.
Head bowed, he looked as if he carried guilt.
Same appearance, full memory, overflowing magical power despite having given her so much…
And the gods he had slaughtered with his own hands.
“No way…”
The thought that had once flitted across her mind returned.
“Did you absorb the power of my kin?”
The one who devoured gods.
That was the name he had been recorded by in history.
Icarus gave a small nod.
Seraphine sighed at the sight of him unable to lift his head.
Icarus flinched like a child being scolded.
“Did you know what you were doing when you did that?”
“I did.”
“Your lifespan… Don’t tell me you’ve been alive all this time, unable to die?”
“…”
“Hah.”
His silence was an answer.
There’s no way a normal human body could withstand that power.
There must have been side effects.
An exponentially lengthened lifespan aside, his human life must’ve been shattered—and yet he looked so unaffected.
“Why would you do that? Why ruin yourself just to gain that kind of power?”
“I wanted to see you, Princess.”
“…”
“I firmly believed I would meet you again.”
Just like before—when he vowed to be her sword and shield for life—his voice was pure and blindly devoted.
A stray dog with no master is bound to bite anyone it sees.
You never should have fed a starving dog in the first place.
Now she understood why Metatron had spoken so disparagingly of Icarus.
Thinking that Icarus had come to this point because of her made her head ache.
Of course, she had wanted to see him again.
She had even held onto a faint hope.
But now that hope had become reality, it didn’t feel like something she could welcome with open arms.
There were so many things she wanted to say.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine how he had endured all those hellish years.
But swallowing all those words, Seraphine brought up the most casual topic she could, like an old acquaintance might.
“Your hair turned black.”
Likely another side effect, she thought, as she reached out and gently touched his hair.
Her fingertips brushed his cheek.
Like he’d been burned, Icarus flinched—but didn’t pull away.
Rather, he looked at her with eyes full of longing, as if hoping she’d touch him again.
“I like it. It reminds me of how you looked back then, Princess.”
He smiled softly, seeming happy just to be speaking to her.
For the first time since they reunited, his tense expression relaxed.
But only briefly.
“Do you not resent me for this?”
“I don’t.”
Icarus’s lips parted slightly.
He stared at her, not even blinking, as though trying to sear this moment into memory.
“There’s one thing I want to ask.”
“…”
“Why did you run away yesterday? Metatron chased after you. Don’t tell me you didn’t know he was acting on my orders.”
“How could I face you, Princess? I didn’t want you to see me in such a miserable state.”
“…”
“I was content just watching from afar.”
With his head bowed and voice full of shame, he looked like a puppy in the rain.
She still had some doubts, but decided to let it go for now.
There was one thing she needed to clarify first.
“Seraphine.”
“…”
“Call me by my name.”
“But…”
“You’re no longer my knight, are you?”
“Are you… casting me aside?”
Icarus looked at her with an expression like he was about to cry.
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
She didn’t understand how the conversation had taken such a strange turn.
Feeling the disconnect, Seraphine explained calmly.
“As you know, I’m no longer a princess. So it’s only right that you call me by name.”
He had never called her by name before.
He couldn’t.
A mere human daring to speak the name of royal divine blood—especially a princess—had once been taboo.
After hesitating for a while, Icarus finally whispered her name.
“Lady Seraphine.”
Her name, spoken in that deep voice, sounded beautiful.
Then, Icarus knelt before her.
Looking up at her with steady eyes, he said:
“Please punish me.”
