Gamigin had made a mistake.
If even a sliver of composure had remained in her mind, she would never have targeted Paimon.
If she had judged the situation calmly, she would have attacked the handmaids instead. To shield the handmaids, Paimon would have been forced to move her body significantly, and as a result, Paimon would have been left fully exposed to the attack.
Paimon, on the other hand, had anticipated all of that. She had closed the distance to Dantalion and provoked him on purpose — it was a ploy to draw Gamigin's gaze entirely away from the handmaids.
Perhaps the problem was that the provocation had worked too well.
Paimon had believed that if she pressed close to Dantalion, Gamigin would not be able to bring herself to attack. She knew that Gamigin loved Dantalion. What woman in this world would recklessly unleash violence while knowing her lover could be harmed? She had let her guard down.
"Ah...!"
It was unclear who had cried out.
Whether it was the voice Gamigin let out the instant she unleashed her magic, or whether it was Paimon crying out in shock at the reality that Gamigin had actually attacked — or perhaps it was Dantalion's voice as he reached out to shield Paimon.
The moment his master was put in danger, pitch-black greatswords burst forth from Dantalion's shadow.
The greatswords intercepted the wind blades in his stead, nullifying them safely. But one strand — a single strand of wind that he had failed to block in time — slipped through the gaps between the greatswords.
With a squelch, blood surged from Dantalion's forearm.
"Dantalion! Are you alright!?"
Paimon shouted. Dantalion let out a faint groan and then managed a wry smile.
"I'm fine. Well, I suppose you could say I'm used to it by now. My bad luck certainly is tenacious."
"What are you talking about... you're still bleeding!"
"A wound like this doesn't even count."
Dantalion rummaged through his cloak and pulled out a potion. He clenched the cork stopper between his teeth, yanked it free, and carelessly poured the liquid over the wound on his left arm.
Watching this, Paimon was absolutely exasperated.
"Give it to me!"
Paimon snatched the potion away. She tore the blanket she had been wearing with a sharp rip, soaking it thoroughly with the potion. She intended to use the blanket scraps as a substitute bandage. Paimon wrapped the piece of cloth tightly around Dantalion's left arm.
"Honestly, you really are something, you know that……"
"What's all the fuss about? I told you it's barely a scratch."
"Just shut up and stay still!"
Paimon and Dantalion bickered back and forth.
"……."
Meanwhile, Gamigin had been standing frozen in place, unable to move. The moment she saw the blood splattering from Dantalion's forearm, her entire body had gone rigid. Once the bandage was finally finished, Paimon turned her head and fixed Gamigin with a terrifying glare.
"Are you out of your mind right now!?"
"I……that wasn't what I……"
"Going around killing the caretakers on your own! And then even Dantalion!"
"It's the truth……I really didn't mean to……"
Paimon strode up to Gamigin. She slapped Gamigin across the cheek.
"If the Death Knights hadn't been there, Dantalion might have died."
"It……it was a Formless Barrier spell. It wasn't that strong……"
"You nearly killed him!"
Gamigin flinched.
"That's enough."
Dantalion approached from behind and pushed the two women apart—Paimon with his right arm, Gamigin with his left. When the bandaged arm gently nudged her aside, Gamigin's body went even colder.
"……Dantalion, but."
"I told you to stop at that point."
Paimon pressed her lips shut.
"I will handle this matter myself."
I'd just wrapped up a job in Polytunia and come back to this mess. The very next morning, no less. It was so absurd I could have let out a bitter laugh.
Paimon stared at me with a displeased expression. I'm angry, her twitching eyebrows said. She wanted to punish Gamigin herself. Sorry, but no meant no.
"Paimon. Please compose the handmaidens."
"A complaint about—"
I shook my head firmly.
"There will be no complaint. As witnesses, they lack the appropriate standing."
The investiture ceremony had only been two or three months ago. At this point, having Gamigin—freshly elevated to duke—become the subject of scandal? It was no laughing matter. The entire empire would be turned into a joke.
That wasn't all. Paimon represented the Mountain Faction, and Gamigin represented the independents. If the two of them clashed in an imperial courtroom, it would far exceed the scale of a one-on-one fight. It would spiral out of control until one faction or the other was destroyed.
"Gamigin's honor is not hers alone. It is the honor of the empire."
"Honor that's nothing but an empty shell is better off gone."
Paimon looked at me as though she refused to back down.
"Whether a wrong can be corrected or not—that is what demonstrates a nation's strength. Failing to correct a wrong is what would truly harm the empire."
"Oh my. Did I perhaps not make myself clear?"
I lightly rested a hand on Paimon's shoulder.
"I said I will handle this matter. Please don't worry."
"……Hah."
Paimon let out a small sigh.
Without answering separately, she turned on her heel. After coaxing the maidens still slumped in the corridor back to their feet, Paimon left the imperial palace.
I let out a weary smile.
Well, what did I expect. What chaos first thing in the morning.
When the magic came flying toward me, I wasn't surprised. Seeing Gamigin lose control like this was something I was thoroughly used to. Rather than shock, honestly, the feeling of "again?" came first.
The method to calm Gamigin down in moments like this was simple. All I had to do was take even the slightest injury.
I ordered the Death Knights to deliberately let a blade of wind slip through. It seemed the trauma of me stabbing her in the abdomen with a knife at the ball had dug itself deep into her. Whenever I bled, her thinking was nearly instinctively paralyzed.
"......"
Right now, too, Gamigin was staring blankly at my left arm.
Honestly, Paimon had shown unnecessary consideration. It would have been better not to hide the wound under bandages and instead leave it cruelly exposed. That way, Gamigin would feel even more psychologically unsettled. It really was an uncalled-for interference.
Well, can't be helped. When you have no teeth, you use your gums. Maybe I should put on a bit of an act.
"Ugh......"
I suddenly grabbed my forearm as if the wound had started to ache. I didn't forget the detail of hunching over slightly. At that, Gamigin snapped back to her senses.
"Dan'talia!"
Gamigin hurriedly propped up my body. What could I say. It was amusing how perfectly she reacted exactly as I intended. She desperately tried to explain, desperate not to be hated by me.
"I'm sorry......I made a mistake......but I didn't mean to......!"
"Of course I know that."
I smiled. It was a strained smile, as if I were enduring the pain.
"There's no way you would have attacked me deliberately."
"Right. It was because of that whore. She got in the way for no reason......"
"But I'm disappointed."
Gamigin stopped abruptly.
"Huh?"
She looked like a puppet with its strings cut.
I wiped the smile from my lips.
"Paimon was right next to me. If your aim had been even slightly off, I would have been the one hit. Gamigin, you cast that spell without a moment's hesitation, even in a situation where I could have been struck."
"I was aiming precisely at Paimon..."
"Even if there was just a one-in-a-hundred chance—can you say with certainty that you wouldn't have missed?"
I stared coldly into Gamigin's golden eyes.
From spending considerable time with her, I had learned one thing: Gamigin could barely withstand my cold gaze. By now, her mind must have gone completely blank.
She probably couldn't even think of how to respond. She had simply been rendered speechless, but I used her silence as a tacit admission.
"So I was right. You attacked me even knowing I could have been hurt..."
Gamigin grabbed the hem of my clothes tightly with both hands. As if her knees had given out, she slowly sank to the floor.
"N-no, Dantalion. Trust me... it really wasn't like that..."
"I even harmed myself to apologize to you."
Gamigin turned pale.
"In the end, venting your own anger matters more to you than my safety. Your feelings take priority over mine. Gamigin. Tell me—how much more do I need to get hurt before your emotions are satisfied?"
"No, Dantalion. It's really not like that..."
I muttered gloomily.
"Is the best excuse you can manage really just 'it wasn't like that'? I don't know where the wise woman you used to be has gone."
"I got angry because I thought you were prioritizing Paimon over me, that's all!"
Gamigin fumbled to open her mouth. She looked like she was desperately trying to come up with an excuse.
"But the maids insulted me first! So, Paimon just butted in on her own... I didn't know you were back, but Paimon said she did, so..."
A clear case of the lover being in the wrong.
The method to push the other party further into a corner here is simple. You pretend to listen carefully to their excuses while only pointing out the things they did wrong.
However, you mustn't keep pointing out the same mistake over and over. That gives the other party room to regain their composure. You have to keep digging up new mistakes, like landing a one-two punch. That way, the other party loses the capacity to think and can only keep making excuses.
For example.
"Gamigin. How did you know I had returned?"
"Huh...?"
"Did you plant a spy in the imperial palace? Were you trying to monitor my every move?"
Gamigin's expression crumbled.
Bingo.
"Answer me honestly. Did you really plant someone to watch me? Because you couldn't trust me? Did it never occur to you that if I were hiding something from you, there would be a perfectly good reason for it?"
"No, no. That's not it, Dantalion, that's not what I meant, I was just... just in case..."
"So you *were* doubting me, even if just a little!"
I burst into tears, overcome with emotion.
There's no need for tears to be genuine. Well, to be precise, all emotions are real. The only difference is whether the trigger that evokes them is real or fabricated. At my level, I can produce tears in five seconds flat.
"Ah..."
The moment the tears started flowing, Gamigin's mind completely shut down.
A man's tears were originally something to be saved for moments of utmost gravity. Until now, I had never shed tears in front of Gamigin. Put another way, this was the first time Gamigin had ever witnessed me cry.
"Ah, ah..."
"How can you suspect me? Gamigin, what have I ever done wrong to you? I have given you everything I could give... the lands of Moravia, the lands of Silesia... a duchy, the most prestigious seat, I gifted you all of it. And yet you..."
When revealing what you've done for a lover, you should describe it as precisely as possible.
Don't just say "land" — say "the lands of Moravia." Don't just say "a title" — say "a duchy." The more abstract, the less it stings; the more specific, the sharper the wound. That's the basic principle. But you only mention the grandest gifts, not the small ones — keep it clean and concise.
"And yet you couldn't even wait a single day for me!"
"No, Dantalion... please..."
"I devoted all my devotion and effort to you, and in return all I get is suspicion and spies. So this is your love. A love that won't grant even a single day beforeinflicting wounds..."
I dropped to my knees. I buried my face in Gamigin's. The tears streaming from my face transferred directly onto her cheeks.
"Gamigin, please answer me... Gamigin. Let me be able to trust you... I want to trust you, but it hurts so much... it hurts so much, Gamigin..."
And then.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry... Dantalion, it was my fault... I'm sorry..."
Gamigin burst into tears.
"I'm sorry for doubting you... I was being shortsighted... I'm sorry..."
Our faces were a mess, streaked with each other's tears.
Right now, Gamigin had lost all reason and was apologizing purely on emotion — and she believed this was the right attitude. She had forgotten the wounds I'd inflicted on her, forgotten that I was the one who'd planted impatience and suspicion in her from the start, and felt with complete sincerity that she was the one in the wrong.
Can't be helped.
Gamigin had zero romantic experience. She had no strategic sense whatsoever when it came to leveraging the wounds received from a partner or the gifts given to one. She didn't know that love was war.
"Really? It's really okay for me to trust you one more time...?"
"It really is... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
I'm the one who should be sorry, Gamigin. First love is supposed to be devastating, after all. It's just that the degree of devastation depends on who you fall for.
If you land a fool, it goes somewhat badly. If you land an irresponsible man, it goes very badly. Since every man is either a fool or irresponsible, the odds of a first love not ending in devastation are practically nonexistent.
"Then... please grant me this small favor. I think then I would be able to truly forgive you..."
But the worst thing is when you end up with a man who uses his lover.
At the very least, resent the heavens for it.