“I played along with them, but I never planned on having you as my madonna. Instead, I took their fantasized version as my madonna.”

He had no intention of loving someone or having someone as his madonna and put his life for her. But he was told that a knight should have someone like that, so he decided to take his fellow knights’ fantasy as his madonna instead. Ella, who the knights talked about, was like the perfect woman everyone dreamed of, beautiful yet intelligent, with a healthy mind and kind soul that was rare in most ladies. But then..

“I realized today, however, that fantasy can exist in reality. I saw my madonna standing in front of me.”

“What? Didn’t you say you didn’t fall in love at the garden today?” asked Ella.

“That is true. I first fell in love with you, you who existed in their stories. But I figured the real you was different from the stories,” Vylun answered.

“So, you fell in love with me from those stories?”

“Not quite. I can’t explain well as I am a man of the sword, but I realized today after talking with you that my madonna was alive and breathing here. You were even more perfect in some ways than I imagined.”

Ella, who was listening to Vylun’s stories while blinking, looked so beautiful. She resembled the Goddess of myth, who disappeared. Her courage and intelligence were shown today at the garden, and the power to act, bringing even those people from slums that ordinary noble ladies would hate being near, and made contracts with them.

The Ella that Vylun saw in his eyes was much more charming and beautiful. There was no way he wouldn’t fall in love. There was no way he wouldn’t like her. In the end, Ella from the stories of those knights and Ella in real life became one and took place within him.

“So, you fell in love with me today then,” concluded Ella.

“I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you so deeply if it weren’t for those stories. So, in a way, I didn’t fall in love with you today at the garden,” answered Vylun as he corrected her.

“But you didn’t like me just because of those stories, so you fell in love with me today.” Ella, who had been smiling and talking in a playful tone, changed a bit. Vylun was surprised by her as she argued exactly where he had fallen in love and couldn’t come up with an answer.

“Is that really important?”

“Of course! It’s really, really important. The younger me from those stories and me right now are completely different people,” said Ella.

Vylun brought himself closer to Ella, trying to find the meaning of her words. But he couldn’t understand why she was fiercely arguing back. Then, he retorted, “It’s not like the knights have your younger self as their madonna.”

“I’m not talking about that. I mean.. So, you’re saying you like me right now, and not Ella from the stories, right?”

“If you insist on making that distinction.. Yes. I like you. The one that I’m looking at right now.”

Ella made a bright smile. She was overwhelmed by an emotion that she hadn’t even thought about while surrounded by Luciella’s people, Luciella’s emotions and thoughts, which popped up while talking to Vylun.

She wished that he would like her, as Ella and Ranhee, not Luciella, more. If she, in the future, opened her mind to someone, she wanted that someone to think the same. She knew it was foolish to compete with Luciella of the past, but she couldn’t stop herself from doing that. Ella was a bit shocked by her unexpected emotions.

“The Chancellor, Duke of Tuchizen, will now enter.”