Chapter 272: Princess’ concern

Seraphina sat rigidly on the plush leather bench of the luxury carriage, her red eyes locked in a terrifying, unblinking glare.

Her target was the most irredeemable, idiotic guy on the continent. He just ruined her previous night—no, he had single-handedly assassinated her peace of mind, her dignity, and likely her entire life.

The carriage was packed for the scenic journey toward the next resort town. Across from Eren, Seraphina shared her seat with Aria, while the fluffy little shadow panther cub dozed peacefully between the two noblewomen, completely unbothered by the suffocating tension. Flanking Eren on the opposite seat were Emma and Norelia, both comfortably pressed against his sides, looking out the carriage window at the sweeping mountain vistas.

Eren felt the princess’s murderous glare burning a hole through his forehead. Finally, he raised a hand and casually waved his fingers in front of her face.

"Everything alright over there, Your Highness?" Eren asked, his blue eyes gleaming with innocent cheekiness. "You’ve been staring at me for twenty miles like you’re trying to figure out the best recipe to roast me alive."

"Shut your mouth," Seraphina hissed under her breath, her leather traveling boot shot forward, kicking him hard right on the shin.

"Ouch! Hey!" Eren winced, rubbing his bruised leg with an exaggerated grimace.

The sharp thud immediately drew the attention of the other three women. Norelia turned her head from the glass, Emma raised an eyebrow, and Aria tilted her chin with mild concern.

"What on earth happened, darling?" Aria asked smoothly, stroking the soft fur of the sleeping cub.

"I was just the victim of unprovoked royal violence," Eren complained, gesturing at the stone-faced princess. "Her Highness decided to punish me for no apparent reason."

"You probably deserved it," Emma remarked instantly, crossing her muscular arms with zero sympathy.

"I concur," Norelia chimed in with coldness.

Eren tossed his hands up in mock despair. "Why does this domestic jury always assume I’m guilty by default? Just once, I’d love a shred of legal defense from my own camp."

Emma snorted. "You’d get a defense if you hadn’t vanished into an underworld warzone for a week without filing travel paperwork."

While the three of them bickered with their usual chaos, Aria turned her golden eyes toward Seraphina. She studied her childhood friend’s rigid posture, noting the pale knuckles clutched in her lap and the tense, twitching corner of her jaw.

"Sera," Aria murmured, leaning in close. "What is truly bothering you? You look feverish."

Seraphina’s gaze darted to her blue-haired best friend.

In a fraction of a millisecond, the dam in Seraphina’s mind burst.

Vivid, agonizingly detailed flashes of the previous night flooded her thoughts.

A volcanic blush exploded across Seraphina’s porcelain cheeks, burning all the way down to her collarbones.

She jerked her head away, staring frantically out the opposite carriage window to hide her scarlet face.

"It’s... it’s nothing," Seraphina choked out, her voice unnaturally high before she cleared her throat and forced it into a stern rasp. "I am simply... deeply frustrated that this reckless idiot hid the fact that a literal Demon Queen has been serving as the Vice Principal of the imperial academy right under my nose."

"Technically, Your Highness, I revealed it this very morning," Eren said with an easy, unrepentant shrug, leaning back into the leather cushioning.

"It is entirely too late!" Seraphina snapped, her crimson eyes flaring as she struggled to keep the indignant tremble out of her voice.

"And tell me, what would you have done if I told you on day one?" Eren tilted his head, eyes gleaming with cool amusement. "Marched into her office with three regiments of the imperial army? You don’t serve an eviction notice to a walking cataclysm."

"She is an existential threat to all of humanity!" Seraphina retorted.

"My mother is not a threat," Norelia intervened. Her voice wasn’t loud, but the flat calm in it sliced clean through the carriage cabin.

The petite professor turned her gaze away from the glass, her red eyes locking directly onto the princess with an unnerving stillness.

"And I would appreciate it if you refrained from calling her Demon Queen," Norelia continued smoothly. "To this empire, she is Vice Principal Carolynn. To me, she is the mother who raised meshemy own parents abandoned me. That is all."

Seraphina’s jaw tightened. "Miss Norelia, I respect you, and I respect your intelligence. But you were an infant when she took you in! She is a demon whose nature is deceit. How can you be certain she isn’t simply using you as a convenient human shield?"

"I am certain because she gave me the tools to end her life if the worst should happen," Norelia said without flinching. "The very reason you consider me respectable is that she poured centuries of patience into raising me. If the empire ever decides to declare war on her... you will find me standing in front of her in first. And I will burn everything before I let you touch her."

Seraphina’s retort died on her lips.

She stared at the petite academic, caught off guard by the unyielding ferocity. Looking at Norelia right now was like staring into a mirror—two daughters, both ready to tear the continent apart just to pull their mothers out of the dark.

Seraphina broke the gaze, shifting her eyes to Eren.

"I can understand her," the princess murmured, her tone frustrated. "She was raised by that woman’s hands. But you, Volsver? Why are you shielding her? Why would you put your neck for a demon you barely know?"

Eren rested an elbow on the carriage sill, resting his chin on his knuckles with a quiet, easy smile.

"Because I promised to keep her safe, so long as she isn’t the architect pulling the strings behind this Substance crisis," Eren said softly, his blue gaze meeting Seraphina’s without a flicker of evasion. "She put her trust in me. That happens to mean something to me."

"You would turn the entire human realm against yourself just for a promise to a demon?" Seraphina demanded, her breath hitching.

"Yeah," Eren replied simply, a spark flashing behind his blue eyes. "Just like I promised I’d put you on the imperial throne, Your Highness. And look at where that reckless vow has dragged me. My word isn’t selective, Your Highness. Once I give it, I see it through to the end."

Seraphina froze.

Her breath caught clean in her throat. Her heart gave a violent, traitorous thud against her ribs, heat blooming across her chest that had nothing to do with anger. The raw, unshakable weight of his loyalty hit her like an impact—reminding her that this madman truly was moving mountains, defying gods, and burning underworld syndicates all to keep a promise he had made to a discarded princess.

Desperate to hide the wild fluster threatening to swallow her whole, Seraphina forced out a sharp, aristocratic scoff, turning her head away to stare intensely at the carriage paneling.

"F-Foolish rogue," she mumbled under her breath, trying to bury the warmth in her cheeks. "Even so... she invented The Substance. The bloodline traces back to her."