In the past, Elisha met Dell Pyrion the year after Asensio’s death.

When the battle with the 1st Empress started in earnest, Elisha needed a Knights Order for herself, and the guards, which had been left unattended until they went beyond wild dogs and turned into wolves, met Elisha’s needs.

The harsher and rougher they barked, the more she liked it, so Elisha let them know the reality over and over again.

Well-trained guard dogs who faithfully carry out their duties will be rewarded.

At that time, Dell said.

In the ten years after he became a guard, for the first time, he asked if anyone would reach out to him with his abilities.

He said he was determined to give power to the one who paid the highest price.

Ten years passed in vain, and Dell had to stay with the guard.

So Dell said that as the decade went on, his thinking continued to change.

He swore that he would risk his life for anyone who offered him a hand, and he promised to make those who did not choose him deeply regret it. After spending his time like dead dust inside, he felt that his life had become futile and painful, so the time had come to let go of everything.

Regardless of whether he had an owner or not, he barked like a mad dog in all directions, wandered around like a wolf, and suddenly became a domestic dog.

But after being beaten to death and his fire being put out several times, he laughed saying that there was nothing that could not be done.

The man who nearly died over and over again, crossing the threshold of life and death because of his lack of learning ability, smirked.

Dell only giggled when he almost died the day he got his own surname, free from his lifelong status of being an illegitimate child of Count Pyrion.

But when Dell died, he was not called Marquis Joachim, the name he loved so much. But the dog of Elisha, the Silver Flame Witch.

The funny thing is that Dell didn’t hate it.

Even at the moment of his death, he was content with being the Witch’s dog.

So this time, let him live like a human and let him die as a human.

Elisha was willing to watch him live as Marquis Joachim, the Crown Prince’s favorite, not the Witch’s puppet.

A mutt is not called a mutt because it eats dung.

It’s a mutt because it can’t stop eating dung.

[T/N: There is a wordplay here. The word ?? (mutt) here (can also be translated as mongrel), which is the harsher word for dog, is the combination of the word ? (dung) and ? (dog).

So, the ?? (mutt) is not called ?? (mutt) because the ? (dog) eats ? (dung). Get it?]

“A deal? I’ll accept it with an open mind. You’re going to ask me to lie flat and lick your toes, but you say it as if you’re going to give me something in return. You make my heart flutter.”

Dell, who spoke while sweeping his chest with his hand, smirked with wrinkles around his eyes, like a middle-aged man.

At first glance, it looked like a smirk of an old playboy, but Elisha knew how twisted he was inside.

Elisha took into account that Dell, who had lamented in the past that he would have crawled to her on his own if Elisha had come five years earlier, was still Dell anyway.

Elisha held her child in one hand, and then, with her free hand, grabbed the hem of her skirt and stepped forward with one foot.

The nose of the shoe, too crude to be attributed to the Imperial woman, was exposed under the hem of the dress.

Soon, the hem of the dress flew off as Elisha approached Dell. Dell only thought that she would slap him in the face in return for blatantly wagging his tongue. Well, would she?

But she stopped.

While everyone there was waiting for her next move, she spoke to Dell instead.

“What do you want me to do?”

Dell swallowed with his dry throat as her flawless sky-blue eyes, which were opaque and would not forgive any intrusion of other colors, were piercing his eyes.

“What should I do?”

It was fortunate that the tongue still moved well regardless of what he was feeling at the moment.

“Isn’t it obvious? Didn’t you just say it with your mouth? The value of you and your men.”

Then, Elisha lowered her gaze and pointed to the exposed nose of her shoe.

It didn’t seem easy, but Dell, who didn’t know why she was going out like that, was astonished.

Elisha’s mood improved as she changed her expression with a sly face.

But it wasn’t enough to soften her behavior.

“Are you going to keep doing this? Is this a place where not only the guards don’t have pride in themselves, but also a place where the commander can’t even keep his own word?”

“I heard that the 2nd Knights of the Imperial Palace had been disbanded. If the reason for the Empress visiting all the way here has something to do with it... We are the ones who have been pushed aside, can’t the Crown Prince return to Marquis Blemir at any time? If that happens, it would be the 2nd Empress or us, who’d be like a dog chasing chickens.”

“Why do you say so many words?”

“So many..”

Elisha asked Dell, who swallowed the harsh swear words.

“So the guards won’t accept my offer with the Crown Prince?”

“That!”

That is not the case.

The guards will accept it.

These guards are the ones who have not been able to show themselves because they haven’t had a chance until now, and who think they won’t lose no matter who they fight against.

Even if Marquis Blemir or the Crown Prince faction come to oppose them to elect a new 2nd Knights Order after they have taken their place, they have no intention of backing down easily.

Who is more desperate among those who want power and honor, and those who will block them from executing the values of life and revenge?

It’s true that a desperate heart can’t steal victory, but it gives you the persistence to give up more and endure.

Elisha looked at them, not just Dell, but all the other guards.

“I don’t blame the guards for their lack of pride. Because you don’t have too much, you didn’t get results for your efforts, and no one recognized your achievements. Pride has to be built up, but since you only lost what you have, isn’t it natural?”

It was a declaration that it would be different in the future, and it was the final sentence for Dell.

Dell soon realized that it was unlikely for the woman in front of him to persecute others recklessly.

She was trying to tame the whole guards by defeating the guard leader, Dell.

Thud!

The moment he realized, Dell was already on his knees.

A large, well-toned man with short gray hair, about two meters in length, crouched down like a beast.

He was too big to be a dog and more resembled a wolf, but unlike his sullen eyes, he crawled on all fours to reach in front of Elisha, breathing out submissive energy all over his body.

It was a sight to behold. Elisha would stop him if she had to, but she would not stand up and reach out to him.

Since his strength was unlike in the past, now is the perfect opportunity.

Even if it wasn’t this time, Dell would have revealed his strength at least once in the future.

Then, Dell’s shadow was cast in front of her tiny foot.

A shadow cast from him flows over Elisha.

At that moment, Dell’s backbone grew cold.

Swish!

At the sound of something hitting the wind, Dell hurriedly leans back.

Thud!

At the same time, in the space between Dell and Elisha, a sword was pierced as if dividing the boundary.

Dell leaned back and lifted his face, auburn eyes were staring down at him, watching.

“Sir Rohan?”

His presence was strong just by being there, but he was on the sidelines the whole time, so Dell didn’t really care.

He stepped up.

Elisha wasn’t surprised either, but when she looked at Rohan with a somewhat confused expression, Rohan said.

“Anyone who covets His Majesty’s wife will be punished for treason.”

The tone was calm, but the meaning was strong.

“C-Covet? What nonsense! Why would I— To someone who looks beautiful on the outside, but is like a witch on the inside!”

Dell exclaimed with so much sincerity.

Rohan frowned slightly at the word ‘witch’, but did not respond further.

Rohan, who retrieved his sword and returned it to its original position, looked back at Elisha.

“He speaks too much. Is this still not enough?”

Even though he didn’t have to step forward, he thought about Elisha’s position and waited. He knew that he had cut her off at the end, but Elisha shook her head.

“What I started, I will finish. And if I thought it had to be done, I would have done it already.”

Elisha turned her gaze not to Rohan, but to Dell, who was sitting at an angle on the floor, with his arms behind his back to support his upper body.

Her expression was like asking, “What do you think?” So Dell raised a hand and scratched his head.

“Why do two people with different positions come together and make such a headache?”

The apex of the Imperial faction and the emerging power of the Crown Prince faction.

In the midst of a disadvantage, who will give more importance to the instructions even in a situation where there is some justification?

Dell thought that the Silver Witch might be trying to test him again.

“Heuu..”

With a frown on his lips, Dell leaned forward again.

What a woman.

If there is a master who drives people like that, it seems like he can run without end.

Since the distance was already quite close, he was now right up to Elisha’s feet.

Why does he have to do that?

Because it should be done.

After that, Dell opened his mouth as he received all the gazes from the guards.

At that time, he felt someone’s presence above his head again.

Dell, who grumbled that it was already difficult to lick her shoe once, hesitated as he was preparing himself for another attack like before.

However, the presence was not dangerously fierce, it was a soft presence, like a cat jumping down and standing next to him.

And when he turned his head slightly to check.

“Your Highness the 3rd Prince?”

It was the young prince who had been held in the witch’s arms all the time.

Elisha wondered if the current scene was not good for the child’s education as Leon, who was in her arms, shuddered.

But no matter how much she looked at it, she couldn’t find anything bad about it.

If there was something that seemed to be bad for the child’s emotions, she covered his ears, so there was no way to guess.

Oh, could it be?

“Are you scared? Shall we go out?”

When Elisha asked, Leon shook his head.

It means he doesn’t want to interfere with his mother’s work.

“Then what do you want to do? What would you like me to do?”

When Elisha made eye contact with the child and asked, Leon seemed to be a little troubled, and whispered in Elisha’s ear.

Elisha nodded her head, released her hand from his neck, and put him back to the floor.

Leon believed that everyone had their own position and circumstances.

Mother is Mother, Sir Rohan is Sir Rohan.

The same goes for this old wolf, who spit out the words that caused all the trouble. He’s only doing what he should be doing.

He was wondering if there was anything he could do in a situation where everyone could not back down, but he suddenly remembered what happened at the training ground not long ago.

He tried to stay still as usual, while wondering if he could come forward, but the words his mother had said kept ringing in his ears.

Do whatever you want to do.

I want to hear anything you’d like to say.

You’re Mother’s joy.

So Leon mustered up his courage.

“Ehm..”

Leon coughed softly and cleared his throat, squatting down to face Dell.

“Mother said that her everything belongs to Leon.”

Dell wondered what this young prince was trying to say, but Leon’s voice continued.

“So give Sir Dell’s loyalty to me. And I’ll give mine to you.”

“Ah..”

Dell stepped back and looked back at Elisha’s feet, which were hidden under the hem of the dress, then at Leon’s feet.

It is a good move to escape from the label Rohan had given him, and show his intelligence and mindfulness.

In any case, Dell was supposed to be a bastard, but he tilted his face towards Leon’s, the prince whom he thought had a good head in contrast to his weak-looking figure, feet..

Two small palms were held out in front of his face.

It means to get it on his hands, not his feet.

Dell looked at Leon, and Leon looked embarrassed, but he didn’t avoid Dell’s gaze and smiled softly.

Whoa, how could an angelic prince be born under such a scary witch?

In surprise, Dell buried his face in Leon’s palm for a moment and then removed it.

Even if Leon put his hands together, he couldn’t even cover half of Dell’s face, but strangely, it felt very large and spacious.

One is terribly spicy and the other is dazzlingly lovely.

Oh, these two heads. Dell had an ominous feeling that they had something that attracted people.

Translator’s note:

This whole chapter is about Elisha getting Dell’s loyalty. Elisha knows Dell will come with her because in the past, Dell said that if she came to him 5 years earlier, he would’ve crawled on all fours to her.

Dell is the illegitimate son of Count Pyrion, which he hates, and in the past, Elisha made Dell Marquis Joachim after joining her for some time.

In this chapter, Dell wants to show his loyalty by kissing Elisha’s feet, which Rohan stops under the pretense that he looks like he is ‘coveting the Emperor’s wife’ (I’m sure he’s just jealous, but, carry on.)

In the end, Dell kisses Leon’s hands to show his loyalty (because he’s such a dazzling, lovely angel)

That aside I believe I’ve translated Elisha as something like?Silver Flame Witch?in past chapters but I couldn’t find it and I’m not sure whether I translated it exactly that way, so if you can help me find it I’ll be really grateful @@