"Did you enjoy your vacation, Viviana?"
Faust looked at his childhood friend and asked with a smile.
"It was certainly a memorable break. Please allow me to return to my duties."
Her voice flowed like a clear spring, cool and composed, the kind of tone that was pleasant to hear just on its own.
Faust nodded. "Of course. Without your company and protection, I'd feel quite out of sorts."
Viviana Roselyn.
Commander of the Kingdom's Royal Guard, and heir to House Roselyn.
The Kingdom of Aurum, having been founded only a few decades ago, naturally didn't have many noble families with ancient lineages.
In fact, there were very few nobles in the entire kingdom at all, and most of them were wealthy merchants who'd bought their titles with cold, hard cash.
There was no helping it—if you wanted to develop a backwater like this, you had to resort to selling titles and offices.
Making money wasn't anything to be ashamed of.
Faust certainly didn't think honorary noble titles were all that precious anyway.
Nobles without mystical inheritances weren't considered "true nobles," so the more of these honorary aristocrats the better.
It's not like he was the one handing out the honors, and he could constantly extract wealth from this group regardless.
But even with all these paper nobles running around, there were still genuine power-holding aristocrats within the kingdom.
Viviana's father, Count Roselyn, was exactly that kind of figure. He and the King of Aurum had once been close friends.
During the war of independence that swept across the entire empire, he rallied a large group of like-minded compatriots to rise up in rebellion.
They fought as guerrillas along the empire's southeastern border, gradually growing stronger and laying the foundation for what became the Kingdom of Aurum.
A band of comrades from Aurum, building a refuge in the southeastern mountains, as the saying goes.
After that brutal struggle, only the old king and Count Roselyn survived.
The latter became Aurum's greatest power-holding noble outside the royal family—in fact, you could say he was the *only* one with real authority.
It was precisely because of the bond forged in blood and fire that the king trusted his old comrade deeply, placing the kingdom's only Royal Guard under Count Roselyn's command.
And with the relationship between those two old-timers, Faust and Viviana naturally counted as childhood friends.
In fact, their relationship went well beyond what "childhood friends" could simply describe.
Viviana had once been Faust's fiancée.
This wasn't hard to understand. Count Roselyn and the old king were thick as thieves, so having the next generation marry was the most logical decision imaginable.
Call it a power couple joining forces, cementing ties between families. You get it, right?
However, Faust wasn't too keen on the idea. Don't get the wrong impression—it wasn't that he disliked Viviana.
On the contrary, his childhood friend was satisfactory from every angle. Unfortunately, she was from Aurum.
His Highness the Prince had his sights set on uniting the world under one banner! His ambitions could swallow the very cosmos!
If he only wanted to govern the Kingdom of Aurum, marrying Viviana would completely consolidate his power.
But if he wanted to expand outward and push into new territories, that would be utterly useless.
Faust simply couldn't accept wasting such a valuable marriage alliance like that. He had his heart set on marrying a foreigner—someone from outside. There was no way around it.
So His Highness the Prince could only subtly hint that he wasn't particularly fond of Viviana.
This engagement wasn't purely a political marriage to begin with. It came more from the earnest hopes of two close friends. Since one of the younger generation wasn't willing, they had no choice but to call it off.
Though it was somewhat unfair to Viviana, Faust firmly believed his actions were correct.
His Highness gazed directly at the lovely face beneath the young woman's hood and said gently:
"Now that I have your protection, I can finally relax. I really can't do without you, it seems."
Though the engagement had been canceled, that didn't mean his relationship with Viviana had soured. After Count Roselyn stepped down, his daughter naturally took over as commander of the Royal Guard.
Setting everything else aside, Viviana's loyalty was absolutely beyond question. What put Faust even more at ease was his certainty that Viviana had feelings for him. Ten years of deep connection couldn't possibly be fake.
And the Royal Guard commander's personality? Well, she was quite easy to handle.
"Perhaps that's not entirely true, Your Highness?"
Contrary to the prince's expectations, his flattery didn't have its usual effect. Viviana said coolly:
"I heard you met a woman you fancied at the ball, and now you're searching all over the city for her. Isn't that right?"
Was she... jealous?
Faust's eyelids lowered slightly as he worked hard to observe the expression beneath the young woman's hood. That delicate face looked rather cold.
This was truly unusual. Generally speaking, Viviana didn't display negative emotions on her face.
Besides, whenever His Highness threw his wild parties in the past, the blonde girl would stand guard outside the door. Why would she care about something like this?
Unable to figure it out quickly, Faust simply brushed it off with an understated response:
"You could say that, I suppose. But mostly I'm just curious. Those few nights felt like a dream. I need to know who she was, don't I?"
Seemingly accepting Faust's explanation, Viviana nodded with an almost imperceptible movement and asked:
"Then why don't you just use a portrait to search for her?"
Faust gestured toward the shoe-fitting event in front of the palace. "If I still remembered, I wouldn't be using this method to find her. I can't recall that girl's face or voice at all anymore."
This was the truth. The moment "Cinderella" left, Faust's related memories seemed to have been wiped away.
Though he still clearly remembered his interactions with "Cinderella," he couldn't recall anything else no matter how hard he tried.
Viviana pursed her lips. "You've even forgotten what she looks like, and you call that love? According to you, even if she stood right in front of you, you wouldn't recognize her!"
Faust maintained his polished smile. "Even so, I want to find her. I *will* find her. Even if I forget again and again, an unwavering love and obsession will guide me to meet her once more."
His Highness saying something like this actually broke character a bit. He'd never spoken lightly of love before, and even his sweet nothings were mostly ambiguous statements.
But Faust had his reasons for speaking this way. Since he knew for certain he was in the script of the *Witch's Feast*, he naturally had to play his role to the fullest...
At least for now, he had no intention of defying fate. There was nothing particularly objectionable about the "Cinderella" script anyway.
Mephisto had already warned him: don't get clever, don't think you're being smart, don't assume the wheel of fate can't crush you.
Naturally, Faust followed that advice, planning his words and actions according to his pre-awakened mindset.
Fortunately, this wasn't difficult.
Awakening didn't mean immunity to "fate's" influence. If he didn't deliberately keep his guard up, it was easy to slip back into that lovestruck state of mind.
Viviana froze at his words, lifting her pale chin slightly and making a small sound of surprise:
"...Your Highness, it seems you're serious this time."