As the creatures approached Lucerne their limbs were sliced and flew; their heads spewing green body fluids. Other beast-type beasts spewed red blood.

When Lucerne cut down a beast in front of a soldier, the combatant peed his pants at the ghastly sight. The rest of the Black Lions Knights followed him.

As he promised, it took 15 minutes.

15 minutes later.

A bloody man stood in the middle of a bloody battlefield where the corpses of 500 demonic beasts were scattered about.

It was the end of the war.

***

The rebellion was suppressed, and the war was over. Additionally, Lucerne took the opportunity to clear out the monster nests near the west gate.

As a result, Elisha knew there would be a new trade route, and the merchants and traders would be thrilled.

Lucerne informed the butler of his return.

'He will be returning tomorrow,'

Elisha thought as she lay on her bed.

'Then will you arrive around morning?'

According to the butler, the imperial family would meet him in person at the gate tomorrow. Obviously, citizens would flock to the streets to celebrate. The kingdom was rejoicing over the eradication of forest monsters.

It would probably be a boisterous return ceremony. Elisha recalled Lucerne's return, which she saw only once in her previous life.

Among the clamor of people, he stood on a balcony and looked at the crowd. Everyone cheered for him.

'It's a relief that you're not asking me to meet you.'

According to the butler, there is no need for her to go out to meet him. It would be hectic because there would be so many people.

'I haven't been introduced to high society yet as the general's wife so it wouldn't make sense for me to meet him tomorrow. You can go out next time, of course, if there's another event like this.'

Elisha lay down on her bed. For some reason, she couldn't sleep.

Suddenly, Lucerne's words appeared in her mind.

'Don't sleep in underwear on the night I come back. I think I'll be in a hurry.'

Suddenly, her cheeks burned.

'Right, he must be kidding.'

When Lucerne returned this time, she would not be able to avoid it. Definitely… they would do it until the end and consummate their marriage. He would have slaughtered countless people and monsters on the battlefield… she guessed he must be terribly excited.

'If either of us commits adultery, you will be exempted or add to the debt by 10,000 gold coins.'  [t1v: the raws in Korean don't seem to specify who does the adultery—it might be he's implying if he does the adultery 10,000 gold gets written off of her debt]

It was hard to know how serious Lucerne's words were. Since he wasn't the type of man that joked around in that kind of way, she didn't think there would be a woman on the battlefield with him.

Elisha tossed and turned several times because she couldn't sleep.

'Should I take a bath?'

The good thing about coming here was that she could take a bath at will. The bathtub was made with temperature-controlled mana stones, so she could soak at any time she desired. That one thing was very pleasing to her.

Elisha took off her clothes. She took off all her underwear and put on a bathrobe. Then there was a rattling sound somewhere. Elisha was startled.

'The room that the butler said I couldn't use.'

The tightly closed door was rattling. Elisha took a step back.

Kreeeen—

The door opened.

"Lucerne?"

An unexpected person stood before her.

Elisha doubted her eyes. It was definitely him.

He walked calmly in his travel clothes as if he were a person who was casually returning from a short trip. Looking over the surprised Elisha, he leisurely scanned her body.

"It's a long time ago, but I guess you remembered."

"……."

Elisha's cheeks turned red. On their second meeting, Lucerne had been in the bathroom with a bathrobe on when Elisha met him there by accident. Their roles were now reversed so Elisha felt flustered.

Elisha completed the knot on her bathrobe with trembling hands.

"What are you doing here?… No, didn't you send word that you would be returning tomorrow? The soldiers…."

"The soldiers are stationed near the gate. I'm going to board the warpgate as scheduled tomorrow morning."

He raised the corners of his mouth and an eyebrow. Elisha glimpsed into a spark of fervor in his eyes.

"Then why are you……."

"Well,"

Lucerne whispered.

"I have a lot to do, so I came early."

"You can open a gate at this hour?"

"I can open it."

Elisha recalled that gates she used to travel to the capital were for the imperial family to use unless someone was granted permission. It had been a stupid question to ask Lucerne, who could even open gates exclusively for the imperial family at will.

'But… the High General left his soldiers behind?'

The more she listened to his story, the more odd it seemed.