In the Royal Castle of the Erell Empire, Zephyra immediately stepped into the long, ornate dining hall with purposeful strides.

She was still wearing the same skin-tight black clothes that the Masked Man persona always wore, and even the distinctive mask still covered her face. At this point in time, everybody within the castle... from the lowest servants to the highest butlers knew full well that this was their "Prince’s" secret other identity.

And they all loved "him" far too much to ever reveal the truth to anyone outside these walls.

Eli floated behind her in its usual floating ball form.

"I do hope you’re properly ready, My Prince," Eli said with obvious concern in its voice. "For removing that sacred seal which the Great Rune Wizard literally sacrificed his entire life force to create and maintain, you should at the very least incur some form of significant punishment from His Majesty."

Zephyra rolled her eyes behind the mask where no one could see.

’I seriously doubt I’ll receive that much punishment,’ she muttered under her breath as she continued walking toward the Royal Dining table.

She really didn’t mean to brag or sound arrogant, but the simple truth was that her Father loved her unconditionally and so did her younger sister Emilia like everyone else.

If the Emperor somehow grew to hate her because of this reckless decision to shatter the rune seal, then... well, she supposed that would be okay as well in the end.

She genuinely didn’t mind being hated... not at all, not even if it was from her own Father. That would almost be a relief compared to this suffocating unconditional love that prevented anyone from ever truly criticizing her.

Soon the massive Royal Dining table came fully into view as she rounded the final corner.

It was positioned in an incredibly luxurious room deep within the Erell Royal Castle... one of the most expensive and elaborately decorated chambers in the entire structure. The room itself was worth more than most nobles’ entire estates and not only that, but the grand table itself was extremely luxurious as well, constructed from rare enchanted wood and inlaid with precious metals.

Multiple maids in pristine uniforms were currently serving elaborate dishes to the two people seated at opposite ends of the long table.

The first person seated was her Father... Emperor Abraham Erell. A distinguished silver-haired man with piercing royal purple eyes sat at the head of the table with impeccable posture.

He was wearing all white royal clothes made from the finest materials in the kingdom, with a heavy royal cape of deep purple draped behind his broad shoulders and a neatly trimmed beard framed his strong jaw.

He was the Emperor of the Erell Empire... the most powerful man in the nation and her father, the very same man who had originally pushed her into living as a Prince instead of embracing her true identity as a woman though she was the one that agreed.

The second person at the table was her little sister. Since Zephyra herself was twenty-two years old, that made Emilia exactly seventeen.

The younger princess had inherited the same beautiful silver hair and striking purple eyes as the rest of the royal bloodline.

According to all the court mages and magical scholars, she was well on her way to potentially becoming the Strongest User of Royal Magic in the entire recorded history of Royal Magic Users that had ever existed within the Erell Royal Family bloodline.

She had been born blessed with the second highest natural mana capacity in the entire Empire... second only to that woman whose name Zephyra preferred not to think about and despite her young age, Emilia was already incredibly close to breaking through to the prestigious Wizard class, which most apprentices never achieved in their entire lifetimes.

Immediately, both the Emperor and the Princess turned their attention toward Zephyra as she entered the dining hall. The Emperor’s face lit up with obvious pleasure and warmth.

"Welcome home, my son!" he called out cheerfully.

Princess Emilia smiled brightly and added, "How was the disguise spell?"

Zephyra looked at both of them for a long moment, then slowly reached up and placed her hand on the edge of her mask. She peeled it off her face in one smooth motion.

The moment the enchanted mask was removed, her hair immediately shifted and changed back from the spelled black color to its natural royal silver. Her purple eyes were revealed, and her distinctly feminine features became visible once more.

Zephyra’s beautiful face... her real face, not the masculine illusion was fully revealed to her Father and Sister.

She closed her eyes tightly, genuinely expecting harsh reprimand and righteous anger. She had deliberately broken and shattered the sacred seal, after all.

She absolutely deserved severe punishment for such a rash and disrespectful action. If it had been Klaus in her Father’s position, he probably would have punished her immediately without hesitation or—

"Zephyra, what did you do?!" The Emperor’s voice boomed through the hall, though his voice carried more shock and surprise than actual anger.

His mouth hung open wide in complete astonishment. Her sister Emilia had exactly the same expression of surprise.

Zephyra actually smiled slightly despite it all. Finally... She was finally going to receive the reprimanding lecture that she both expected and genuinely deserved for doing something so rash and disrespectful.

"I deliberately removed the gender-transformation rune," she said clearly. "Because I don’t want to be a boy anymore. I don’t want to continue being something I’m fundamentally not... I don’t want to pretend to be a guy for even one more day. I want to fully embrace my womanly side and live as my true self."

She paused, then continued with even more conviction.

"And I’m here to tell you both that I’ve fallen completely in love with a commoner. The absolute lowest of the low in terms of social status. He doesn’t even possess any particularly rare kind of magical power or special bloodline ability and he will most certainly dilute and ruin my pure Royal bloodline if we ever have children together."

She didn’t actually think those terrible things about Klaus... in fact, she treasured everything about him but Zephyra was deliberately saying the most offensive and outrageous things she could think of specifically to provoke her family into scolding her properly.

Though realistically, she had extremely low hopes of actually succeeding, considering Klaus was literally the only person in her entire life who had ever genuinely insulted and criticized her when she’d asked him to and she didn’t.

"So you absolutely have to lecture me properly and tell me I was wrong," she finished, closing her eyes again and bracing for the harsh words.

Instead of the hateful, angry tirade she desperately wanted and expected, all she received was.

"I think that’s a wonderful idea, if that’s truly what you believe will make you happy, Big Sister," Emilia spoke first with a gentle nod, using her silver knife to cut through her meat with elegance. "Though I personally don’t particularly like commoners as a class, if he’s someone that you specifically chose and fell in love with, then he most certainly must be a pretty nice person worthy of your affection."

Zephyra’s eye twitched.

"He kills people regularly," she said flatly, trying desperately to make her sister disagree or show some disapproval.

However, Emilia just shrugged delicately.

"It doesn’t matter at all, as long as you like him Big sister and you’re happy as well."

"He actively hates royals and nobility," Zephyra added with her heart clenching painfully in her chest at having to speak poorly of Klaus.

But Emilia simply responded.

"It’s perfectly okay Big sis, as long as you are happy with your choice then I as the Princess will fully support it."

Zephyra couldn’t take it anymore. She rushed forward desperately, placing both hands on her younger sister’s shoulders and looking directly into her eyes.

"Can’t you just tell me I’m wrong for once?! Why do you always have to support everything I do unconditionally?!"

The Princess looked up at her with those innocent purple eyes and said calmly, "If you’re genuinely happy, Sister, then you can marry a commoner. You can marry whoever you want. I’ll support you no matter what."

Zephyra felt tears threatening to form. She released her sister and spun around to face her Father desperately.

"Aren’t you furious with me?!" She demanded. "The Great Rune Wizard literally risked and sacrificed his entire life force to give me that transformation seal! And I shattered it completely on a selfish whim! I destroyed something irreplaceable that cost a man his life!"

Her Father shook his head slowly with his expression turning gentle and understanding. "It doesn’t matter at all, my daughter. You deserve no punishment whatsoever for choosing to live as your authentic self."

"Please punish me!" Zephyra practically shouted.

But the Emperor just shook his head again with a small, sad smile. "Why would I ever punish you for this? It truly doesn’t matter. Your happiness is worth infinitely more than any seal or social convention."

Zephyra’s mind was spiraling as she reached out desperately to her spirit companion.

’Eli... Don’t you think I should receive some form of punishment? You’ve been telling me this entire time that there would be consequences...’

There was a brief pause, then Eli’s voice came back, and it was the final straw that broke her completely.

"Punishment? What punishment? I don’t actually think you should receive one at all, My Prince. I was merely testing your resolve."

Zephyra couldn’t handle it anymore. She forcibly ejected Eli from her Spirit Space with a violent burst of magical energy and then immediately ran, generating a massive shockwave that rattled the windows and knocked over several wine glasses on the table.

’What... Why? Why is all of this happening to me?!’ she thought as she sprinted through the castle halls at superhuman speed. ’This cost someone their entire life force, dammit! Why is it always like this?! Why can nobody ever tell me I’m wrong?!’

She wanted to die... She genuinely wanted to just stop existing if this was going to be her entire life... Why did these people love her? Why?!

Zephyra cleared out of the massive castle in an instant, her passage leaving maid dresses fluttering wildly in her wake and guards scrambling in confusion.

’I need...’ she thought desperately as she ran faster and faster, pushing her body to its absolute limits. All Zephyra needed right now... the only thing she truly needed in this entire world... was someone who wasn’t affected by her horrible curse of universal adoration. ’I need you, Hubby. I need Klaus.’

And so Zephyra made a decision and committed to it with her entire being. She would run from here all the way back to Galen Town without stopping even once.

It had taken her a full week to travel here from Rivera City using normal transportation but she was going to sprint back to him using pure speed and determination, and from the moment she reached him, Zephyra would never let Klaus go again.

...Never.

...

The Heroine was currently looking directly at him with obvious disdain.

She was Seo van Aestrea. She was the heir and only daughter of the prestigious Aestrea family. They weren’t normal beast riders as some members of their family controlled Riding Mounts like Griffins and Wyverns.

But Seo was built fundamentally different.

She possessed the rare power to befriend Dragons. Yes, actual Dragons... among the most dangerous beings in the world. That was why she was a Heroine.

By forming Familiar Contracts with different elemental dragons, she could inherit their elemental affinities.

That made her destined to become a Wizard who could use more than two elemental affinities simultaneously... something that didn’t exist in this world apart from the Protagonist but the real problem was: why the hell is she here in Galen Town right now?!

Klaus looked at her carefully. She was the perfect embodiment of insufferable noblewomen brought to life.

She always berated commoners for being born into lower classes and constantly looking down on people with contempt.

It was ironic that according to the game’s storyline, she’d eventually fall in love with a Commoner... the Protagonist.

’Why doesn’t she insult him the way she insults everyone else?’ Klaus wondered. He supposed it was probably because he was a "chosen one" with the Goddess’s blessing, which somehow made him exempt from her usual contempt but she didn’t know that now, did she?

Seo cleared her throat with obvious self-importance and took a deliberate step forward, her expensive dress swishing as she moved.

She looked directly at Klaus with those cold crimson eyes.

"Are you the commoner called Klaus who supposedly saved the noble Cedric Arlain from the Death Cult?" she asked with her tone making it clear she found the entire concept somewhat dubious.

"That’s me," Klaus confirmed simply.

Seo looked him up and down slowly, examining him like one might examine livestock at a market. Her nose wrinkled slightly.

"Hmm. You dress significantly better than I expected, considering you’re a commoner," she said then her eyes focused on his face specifically. "And that face... You look above average at the very least. These are surprisingly acceptable features for someone of your low birth."

Klaus very nearly rolled his eyes at the backhanded compliments, but managed to control himself

However, actually doing so could potentially get him beheaded or arrested on some trumped-up charge of disrespecting nobility, so he simply stood there and let her complete her degrading observations without complaint.

Seo took a step back, apparently satisfied with her inspection. "You look reasonably presentable for a commoner, I suppose."

When Klaus didn’t immediately respond to what she clearly considered a generous compliment, she raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow with obvious displeasure.

"That was a compliment," she said coldly. "Most of the common rabble in this building look as though they can’t even afford proper clothing. Especially the men, who seem to enjoy parading around shirtless like shameless animals."

Klaus understood the social dynamics at play here. The difference between noble status brought wildly different potential reactions.

For example, if this had been a low-tier noble or some random person proclaiming to be nobility without proper proof, Seo would have been beaten up instantly by the adventurers in the Guild, regardless of whether she was male or female.

But she had the distinctive crimson hair and wore the official crest of the Aestrea clan prominently on her clothing.

That was more than enough proof that she was the legitimate heiress and only child of the Aestrea clan and since the Aestrea family was a top-tier noble house with immense political power and connections, nobody in this Guild could say anything to her or challenge her authority unless she literally started murdering people in front of witnesses.

"If that’s the case, then thank you for the compliment, Lady Seo," Klaus said with a polite nod, thinning his lips into what he hoped looked like a respectful expression.

Internally, he already hated this arrogant bitch with a burning passion.

One of the primary reasons he’d wanted to eventually become a powerful noble like the main Villain character was specifically because that status would finally allow him to put entitled people like Seo in their proper place.

She quite literally spent her time casually bullying commoners for entertainment but when faced with someone of equal or higher social standing, she became remarkably quiet and submissive. It was pathetic and infuriating.

But right now, Klaus was unfortunately forced to maintain perfect respectful behavior to avoid having her older brother... the famous brother who was an Aura Master come hunting for his head.

Klaus followed up by asking carefully, "May I inquire why you were specifically searching for me, Miss—"

"I am not ’Miss,’" Seo interrupted sharply. "You may refer to me properly as Lady Seo, commoner. And the only reason I bothered coming to search for someone of your pathetically poor social status is simply because of the fact that you apparently helped out the prestigious Arlain Family. And I now require your assistance with a matter concerning the Death Cult."

’The Death Cult again?!’ Klaus’s mind reeled.

He was absolutely, definitely going to refuse this ridiculous request. Zephyra wasn’t here to help him, and he certainly wasn’t going to risk the lives of Mirela, Serra, and Taula just because some spoiled noble brat demanded it.

"I must sincerely apologize, Lady Seo, but I’m not going to fight against the Death Cult again and risk both my own life as well as the lives of my Companio—"

"You are not allowed to refuse my request," Seo immediately interrupted him, placing one hand on her hip in a power pose. "I don’t care about the lives of your common companions at all. I didn’t ask for them to participate. I asked specifically for you... the one who supposedly combated the Death Cult alone and succeeded."

She took another deliberate step forward, getting uncomfortably close to invading his personal space.

"As a Commoner," she said. "you are no better than a dog cowering beneath my feet. Where exactly did you get the absurd idea that you had any right whatsoever to refuse my proposition? I wasn’t asking for your help as if we were equals. I was telling you that you will help me, and you will obey my command immediately because I am the only daughter of the Aestrea Family."

Her crimson eyes narrowed dangerously.

"And if you foolishly refuse my generous offer, then I will personally ensure that you never have the ability to live a normal life ever again. Not only will every noble in the kingdom actively spite and punish you, but I will make certain that even your own fellow commoners turn against you and make your existence miserable."

This.

This was exactly why everyone hated dealing with cocky, entitled high nobles. Nothing but trouble and threats existed in every interaction and no matter how desperately Klaus wanted to punch her smug face and wipe that superior expression away, actually doing so would only make his situation exponentially worse.

A simple punch could easily become a formal assault charge in the Noble Court, and the sentencing would automatically be quadrupled simply because the perpetrator was a Commoner striking nobility.

Klaus took a deep breath and forced down his rage and pride.

"...Alright, Lady Seo," he said through gritted teeth. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"That’s much more like it, commoner," Seo said with obvious satisfaction. "I want you to help me save a dragon that’s been captured by the Death Cult."