The imperial ballroom, once echoing with elegant melodies, shook with a thunderous roar in an instant. The earth heaved violently, creating thick cracks in the marble pillars supporting the ceiling, and the massive chandelier decorating the space above fell to the floor, scattering sharp fragments.

Screams of nobles erupted from all directions, and rising dust blocked the view. In the confusion, people scrambled toward the exits.

Guest barely managed to hide under the debris of collapsed masonry. Red blood seeped through her clothes from the wreckage that grazed her shoulder and arm, and a dry cough broke out as thick dust forced its way into her airway.

Despite the pain, her gaze was fixed on the center of the banquet hall. She was looking for Ray, her personal knight who had sworn to hold his sword only for her when she took him in—a man once mocked for his slum origins—and raised him to be a knight.

As the ceiling collapsed further, dull cracking sounds continued. As the swirling dust settled, a familiar silhouette appeared beyond a broken pillar. It was Ray, standing with his sword drawn without a hint of hesitation.

However, Ray's eyes were not searching for his liege. Using his broad back as a shield against the stones falling from above, he was cradling a woman in his arms. The one clutching Ray's sleeve in terror was not his liege, the Lady, but Lydia, the daughter of a Count.

With the liege he should protect first as a knight left behind him, Ray's entire focus was solely on guarding Lydia. There was not a moment's hesitation in his touch as he pulled the woman close, striking away falling fragments with his scabbard.

Watching the scene while injured, a silent, hollow laugh escaped Guest's lips. Neither the knight's oath nor all the support her family had provided meant anything in the face of that distorted priority. In the urgent moment where life and death were decided, the existence of the Lady had been completely erased from Ray's mind.

The shock that had struck her chest quickly subsided. In its place, only cold fury and a chilling realization of reality took root. In Guest's eyes, having witnessed the deception and betrayal, no expectation for the knight remained. It only became clear what price must be paid to the knight blinded by false conviction and the woman who used him by posing as a savior.