Rüdiger had never seen her in person.
He had heard tales, of course. Whispers in the devil courts about the Emperor's daughter—the half-blood with crimson eyes and a mother whose mana once rivaled gods. But none of it prepared him for this moment.
His sharp crimson eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of her descending from the cliffs, flanked by a winded a mage apprentice and a pale Arthur still clutching his comm-tab.
Her dark braid fluttered behind her, her crimson eyes burning with urgency and discomfort as she approached. She was radiant—unnaturally so for a high she-devil.
"So... this is her," Rüdiger murmured, almost to himself, his voice dropping into a velvet growl as his gaze swept down her figure. She didn't just look like nobility—she was bred perfection. Ripe. Powerful. Desirable.
He stepped away from Micheal mid-fight, mana pulsing irregularly around him. Not from fatigue—but from something older. Deeper. Genetic.
The surge of raw devil mana from him hit Magda like a tidal wave. Her breath caught in her throat. Her fingers twitched.
No.
She stiffened.
Rüdiger's golden eyes dilated slightly, drinking in her fear.
Her reaction confirmed it. She was one of them.
A high devil. A rare, precious one. And she had just recognized a true male of her species.
"Your... Highness," Rüdiger said smoothly in the common tongue, stepping toward her with exaggerated courtly grace, brushing a strand of wind-swept hair from his brow. "You look just like your father."
Magda narrowed her eyes and dipped her head politely. Her voice was strained but polite. "Second Uncle Rüdiger... I presume?"
The word 'uncle' soured on her tongue.
Rüdiger's lips curled.
"Indeed. Though such formality is unnecessary. Between us… family," he said, voice thick with implication.
She stiffened as he continued closing the distance.
Her feet wanted to move. But her body betrayed her. Her instincts screamed, not in fear—no, in ancient, encoded recognition.
This was the kind of male her ancestors were bred to obey. And Rüdiger knew it. His smirk widened.
"I came to see what sort of land my dear niece is protecting."
"We don't require your help," Magda replied with polite coldness. "Your presence only causes chaos. Please, return to the capital."
But Rüdiger stepped closer, his voice slipping into a tone only she could fully grasp. In the Devil tongue, raw and invasive, he purred:
"You are of age, fertile, and unclaimed by trueblood. Why shouldn't I claim what is mine?"
Magda's body tensed.
No one else would understand what he said. To onlookers, he was just speaking calmly. But Magda's hands curled into fists. Her crimson eyes narrowed.
"Stop," she said, tone cracking with hidden panic.
"You smell of heat, little one," he whispered, leaning forward. "Your scent—it's maddening."
"I'm married," she snapped in the common tongue.
"Not to one of us. Besides, your mana is untainted, untouched by a male."
"My husband is right here."
"But not one of us," Rüdiger replied, this time aloud for the others. He turned briefly to Micheal, who had risen now, shoulders trembling.
"You forget, Princess, YOU FORGET WHO YOU ARE!" Rüdiger gestured with his eyes toward Micheal.
To others, Micheal was the image of restraint. But Magda saw the twitch of his fingers. He was seconds away from unleashing everything.
She stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm, her palm cold.
In her mind, this wasn't a battle her weak husband could win.
"Please, don't," she whispered.
Rüdiger's gaze locked on the intimate touch. His mana flared.
"Come with me, mate," he said, voice low in Devil tongue. "It is your purpose. Yours and mine. That womb of yours will bear only greatness with me."
She slapped him.
The sound echoed.
For a moment, the world held its breath. Rüdiger's face turned slightly, hair shifting with the impact. He licked his lips, amused.
"You've spirit," he snickered. "All the better. The last one they tried to marry me off to didn't even look me in the eye."
As his fingers reached out toward her again, brushing her cheek like examining cattle, Arthur couldn't hold back any longer.
He fumbled for the whistle given to him as a retainer of House Shelb's heir. It made no sound. Arthur felt life draining off him, but he didn't stop.
He reached into his comm-tab and sent out every emergency signal possible.
Rüdiger laughed. "Does he think he can summon help before I take what's mine?"
"Second Uncle, please show restraint," Magda said, sensing Micheal's pulse racing, his breath quickening.
Micheal moved.
Unseen to Magda, a crackle of electricity passed by Micheal's eyes.
Rüdiger saw this. "Interesting."
But it wasn't Micheal's hands that stopped the madness. It was the sky.
A shadow passed.
A screech—echoing, terrible—cut through the air.
A massive golden wyvern swept into view, its rider leaping down in a storm of aura and ice.
The temperature plummeted.
The moment Ethan landed, even Rüdiger stopped.
The difference was immediate. Rüdiger, predator that he was, looked upon another creature in his territory.
"Commander Ethan von Shelb," the young devil said with a grin, but his shoulders were squared now. "Back again, I see."
"Take one more step toward my sister-in-law and you lose that pretty smile," Ethan replied coolly, eyes glinting.
The last time they met, Ethan had fought Rüdiger without mana—just raw aura and strategy.
Rüdiger still bore the scar on his back from that encounter.
"Now, now! Don't get all riled up, Commander. We were just having a little family reunion."
"Rüdiger, let me remind you," Ethan said, shaking off the frost that condensed upon his descent, "The last time you had Lucan watching your back, and I was sparring on behalf of someone else."
Rüdiger's tongue clicked.
Devils were powerful, and with power came their undeniable intuition for danger.
Ethan's aura was something that even mana-rich non-humans feared.
"Very well. You win this round."
He turned to Magda. "I'll return for you, my mate."
"Don't call me that," she hissed.
Rüdiger diffused into thin air.
But the damage was done. Magda was trembling, shaken to the core, and Ethan knew it.
With a cold stare, he placed his cloak around her.
"Come," he said, motioning to both her and Micheal. "Back to the Castle of Altona. Now."