Liliana had actually already woken up. Seishuin Ena hadn’t gone too hard on her—she merely dispelled her Davidic Kotodama and knocked her out with a single strike. If it hadn’t been for the magical backlash caused by the breaking of the Davidic Kotodama that impacted her body and mind, she definitely wouldn’t have remained unconscious until the next day. This morning, before dawn, Liliana finally recovered from the backlash brought on by the Davidic Kotodama and awoke from her comatose state. And then... she didn’t flee immediately, but instead contacted the Bronze Black Cross first and learned from them everything that had occurred while she was unconscious. Thanks to that, Liliana also became aware of Kaiser’s feats. Barely a month since becoming a Campione, he had already slain five gods and obtained five Authorities, one of which was the legendary God-Slaying Spear that never misses and never loses, and another being the strongest spear and shield to a god—capable of severing Divinity—the Golden Sword! Even before becoming a Campione, he had already been extraordinary, with skin as tough as armor. After undergoing the rebirth ritual upon becoming a Campione, his body transformed—his physical strength now rivaled that of gods or Campiones empowered by the Protection of Steel! Beyond that, he also possessed multiple powerful divine weapons. One of them, as known, could rival the Sword King of Italy’s magical sword Authority that could sever anything. The others likewise were suspected of holding god-slaying power! All these combined made this newly crowned king—barely twenty years old, and not even a month into his reign—repel the oldest Demon Lord, who was renowned as one of the strongest among Campiones. Thus, he became known as the King of Sacred Treasures, capable of freely wielding various mighty divine weapons! All this intelligence deeply shocked Liliana’s heart and mind! Under such circumstances, once she collected herself, Liliana immediately decided to remain here and beg Kaiser for forgiveness. There was no helping it. Even if her actions had been in obedience to Marquis Voban’s orders, the fact remained that Liliana Kranjčar had indeed laid hands on the Hime-Miko under this new king’s command. Marquis Voban could wash his hands of the matter and leave, but she, Liliana—Milan’s prodigy and Great Knight of the Bronze Black Cross—could not simply walk away as a prisoner. If she were to leave, the new king’s wrath might very well be directed at the Bronze Black Cross—or even the Kranjčar family. To protect her family and the Bronze Black Cross, Liliana had no choice but to stay here and quietly await the new king’s judgment. "Punishment?" Kaiser looked at Liliana, who was kneeling on one knee before him, and his expression turned slightly amused as he spoke. "Then why don’t you tell me—what kind of punishment would satisfy my lovely Miko?" That one sentence instantly made Mariya Yuri, who had planned to plead on Liliana’s behalf, blush furiously. Mariya Yuri entered a flustered state. "As expected, what the king likes most is still Yuri," Seishuin Ena teased from the side. "Good luck, Yuri. Since the king already called you lovely, you have to work hard and climb into his bed." Only then could Ena become number two and naturally receive the king’s affection! In the end, before Mariya Yuri could react, Liliana was the one who froze first. "So you and the new king... have such a scandalous—cough, that kind of relationship?" Liliana’s gaze toward Mariya Yuri changed. "It’s not like that! You misunderstood!" Mariya Yuri quickly shook her head to deny it, but her red face utterly failed to be convincing. At least, Liliana wasn’t buying it. So Liliana once again bowed her head deeply toward Kaiser. "To offend the king’s favored concubine is indeed a grave crime. No matter what punishment the king wishes to impose on me, I shall accept it." To strike the king’s subordinate was one thing—but to strike the king’s woman was quite another. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝕟𝕖𝕥 The former might still allow for atonement; the latter was far more serious. If handled poorly, it could bring calamity upon all those behind her. Liliana was well aware of this and only hoped to bear all responsibility herself, wishing that the young king would not direct his anger toward her family and faction. Kaiser gazed at the once again bowed Liliana. As if seeing through her thoughts from her slender form, he curled his lips slightly. "Willing to accept any punishment—those are words you shouldn’t say so lightly." Kaiser said leisurely, "You’re a girl, and a pretty one at that. Saying something like that so casually... Aren’t you afraid I might do something to you?" Those words froze Liliana in place. Kaiser’s statement, without doubt, triggered a brainstorm in the girl’s mind. Don’t be fooled by Liliana’s usually clever and composed demeanor, or the fact that she rivaled Erica as a prodigy. One might think she was a strong-willed girl, but compared to the scheming Erica, Liliana could only be described as pure-hearted. Not only was she a knight proficient in swordsmanship and magic, she was also a domestic goddess. She made her own lunchboxes and sweets, possessed high feminine charm, and loved writing romance novels—very good at fantasizing and daydreaming, but terribly bad at political negotiations. If Erica was a refined noble lady, then Liliana was the ideal wife who could both attend banquets and manage a household. As such, when she was with the foxy and shrewd Erica, she was often the one getting teased, completely unable to handle explicit topics involving male-female relationships. Now, with Kaiser’s one remark, Liliana’s mind instantly conjured up hundreds of miniature scenes... Yes—that kind of scene. "N-No way!" By the time she came to her senses, Liliana was already shouting in a panic. "I’ll break! I’ll seriously break!" The moment those words reached everyone’s ears, the room fell into utter silence. Kaiser’s mouth twitched.Seishuin Ena tilted her head with a curious look.Mariya Yuri... perhaps having imagined something herself... covered her mouth with her hand, staring at Liliana with an expression similar to the one Liliana had just given her—tinged with subtle change. "I-I-I-I-I..." Realizing what she had just said, Liliana stared at the silent trio, and an overwhelming urge to draw Il Maestro and end herself washed over her. "What exactly were you imagining?" Kaiser looked at her speechlessly."Sure, I shouldn’t have made such a suggestive comment, but did your brain just go and generate several volumes’ worth of scenes we couldn’t even upload online?" "Such wild imagination... You really are a novelist." Hearing that, Liliana’s face turned red—not just from embarrassment, but also shock. "Y-You knew I write novels?!" Kaiser had already prepared his answer."You didn’t know?" he replied, smiling like a certain crimson demon."Erica Blandelli swore allegiance to me back on Sardinia." The moment Liliana heard the name of her eternal rival, her expression shifted to one of both alarm and outrage."That vixen told you, didn’t she?!" Her gritted teeth and furious voice made her emotions clear. She and Erica were rivals—growing up together, constantly clashing.The rivalry between the Bronze Black Cross and the Copper Black Cross, between the Blandelli and Kranjčar families, was practically woven into their fates. Not only were they the same age, they both possessed exceptional talents as knights, which only intensified the competition between them. There were times they fought head-on, and times they fought side-by-side. It was a complicated relationship—enemy and friend both. Describing it in just a few words wouldn’t do it justice. You could even see it in the fact that they wielded two swords meant to be a pair. Cuore di Leone and Il Maestro—these two magic swords had once been wielded by one of the strongest knights in Europe: Saint Raffaello, the original owner and guardian of the Davidic Text, master of both swords, and teacher of Salvatore Doni. A dual-sword warrior known across the continent. When Erica and Liliana were twelve years old, they both passed Saint Raffaello’s trial to become official knights and each received one of the paired swords. Their rivalry wasn’t born out of hatred. Erica might openly acknowledge their friendship, but Liliana... would adamantly deny it. Why? Because Liliana Kranjčar had suffered greatly at Erica’s hands! Though both were prodigies and Great Knights, when it came to schemes and politics, Liliana fell far behind Erica. Outside of direct combat, every time she had to deal with that vixen, Liliana’s fate was always the same: being toyed with, fooled, and manipulated. She had no idea how many times Erica had tricked her—always dancing in the palm of her hand. No wonder she ground her teeth whenever Erica’s name came up. Naturally, upon hearing Kaiser mention Erica, Liliana instantly assumed that damn fox had gossiped about her behind her back, ruining her image in front of the new king! Kaiser, of course, didn’t bother correcting her. All he had said was that Erica had sworn allegiance to him.He never said she was the one who told him about the novels, right? So this misunderstanding? Not his problem. "Since you’ve already pictured it so vividly," Kaiser said playfully, "can I assume you’re mentally prepared now?" "You did say you were willing to accept any punishment, didn’t you?" Liliana’s stiff body began to tremble. At last—true fear surfaced in her expression. "Y-You are the unrivaled king of the world... Surely you wouldn’t torment a woman, right?" "Of course I wouldn’t. But you’re the one who said you’d accept any punishment. So this is a special case, no?" "How can a king indulge in personal desires ?!" "That’s a funny thing to say. Isn’t every Campione living according to their desires? Do any of them actually restrain themselves?" "B-But none of them are obsessed with women!" "That’s why they’re all single. Every last one of them. What kind of Demon Lord doesn’t even have a girlfriend? Embarrassing." "I’m not like them. Sure, I don’t need a harem of three thousand women. But three—or thirty—that’s acceptable, right?" Liliana was about to cry. Faced with Kaiser’s coolly delivered lines, the poor girl—an overimaginative romance author—found herself utterly speechless. You couldn’t say he was wrong. Every sentence was logically sound. But if you said he was right... didn’t that mean she really had to offer herself? Was she going to become part of the king’s harem? No, that wasn’t even it! She wasn’t a concubine—she was just a criminal awaiting punishment! This wasn’t a harem—it was a toy! Normally, even if the other party were a Campione, if someone tried to humiliate her , she would rather die than submit. But she had already said she was willing to accept any punishment. If she went back on her word now, wouldn’t that make her a dishonorable knight? In that moment, Liliana felt utterly trapped. Her future felt bleak and full of despair. Just as Mariya Yuri was starting to feel sorry for her, Seishuin Ena finally spoke up. "Please stop teasing Miss Liliana. She’s about to cry." That one sentence drew everyone’s attention. "...How did you know I was teasing her?" Kaiser sounded genuinely surprised. "Because you’re not the kind of person you pretend to be," Ena said with certainty. "Even though Yuri and I could be called your concubines, you haven’t laid a finger on either of us, have you?" "If you were really so lustful, Yuri and I would’ve been devoured long ago." ...That was an incredibly strong argument. Mariya Yuri couldn’t take it anymore."Girls shouldn’t just say things like that out loud!" "It’s the truth," Ena said, unfazed. Liliana was thoroughly confused by everyone’s reactions. So what exactly was happening now? Was she still going to be punished?If so... what kind of punishment would it be?Would it be like the ones she wrote about recently? Or even more daring? As her thoughts wandered, Liliana’s face grew as red as fire. "...Are you expecting something?" A low murmur entered her ears, jerking her out of her fantasy. Liliana stiffened. "I’m not expecting anything!" she retorted, face burning. "Only you know the truth of that," Kaiser said with a smile. "Anyway, since you’ve shown such sincerity... from today on, you’re mine." "No objections allowed." Liliana opened her mouth—then gave up. She said nothing in the end and accepted her fate in silence. That day, the prodigy of the Bronze Black Cross became Kaiser’s possession. As for what awaited her from that point forward... Well, even Liliana herself was imagining it—in vivid detail.