At the end of August, Russell quietly advanced to Tier 2 High Phantom Beast Knight.
At the beginning of September, Roland received a letter sent from the Poplar Desert, signed by Gewen Baimai Gen.
"Dear Roland..."
After reading the letter, Roland's feelings were complicated. Its contents came as no surprise. Gewen told him that Dreller had visited Huyang Castle, and that her father, Baron Gevidas, had already agreed to the marriage alliance.
Gewen firmly refused, but she could not change Baron Gevidas's mind. All she could do now was delay the engagement.
"If you truly love me, Roland, please come to Huyang Castle and fight for me before my father. I don't want to have regrets in my life. I like your wit and humor, not some other Wyvern Knight. To me, being a Wyvern Knight isn't important..."
At the end of the letter, Gewen boldly confessed her love.
Yet Roland could not quite put his feelings into words. More than once recently, he had asked himself, Do I really love Gewen?
The answer was cruel. Perhaps he did not truly love her.
Especially for a noble heir like him, who had become entangled with several lovers at an early age, love had long since become something faint and insubstantial.
Love at first sight with Gewen? That had simply been impossible.
To Roland, Gewen was more like the best answer he had arrived at after careful selection and weighing the pros and cons. Even Roland knew that, to Gewen, he might likewise have been the best answer after repeated comparisons.
What was love?
Even the most passionate love would eventually return to the trivialities of everyday life. No one could live their whole life on love alone—at least, Roland had never seen such an example. Even his parents, whose relationship