After the trial to determine if Mako was worthy of a position in the King's Royal Court, Ana and Polifemo joined the rest of the audience leaving the stands.
Still within the grand castle, Ana hurried through the crowd to catch up with Erick and the angel accompanying him.
Despite Erick's efforts, he couldn't evade her.
Ana's hand landed on his shoulder, forcing him to turn around.
"We need to talk," Ana said, her brow furrowed, glancing at the angel.
Polifemo flew frantically behind her, exhausted and panting like a dog.
"Don't… go so fast…" he gasped, collapsing to the ground at intervals.
Erick shot Ana a merciless look.
"As a member of the House of the Sun, making a deal with an angel is unacceptable," Ana said.
"Unacceptable?" Erick replied, his tone laced with indignation. "What's truly unacceptable is your ingratitude for all my efforts."
Ana's frown softened for a moment.
"I've been handling the family's business all these years," Erick continued. "Since Mako hadn't awakened his system, he couldn't do anything on his own, and yet he always stood around with his arms crossed, all because he's the firstborn."
Erick's voice carried a tone of utter frustration.
The angel beside him flashed a wide smile, trying to cover it with the palm of its hand, but its mockery was painfully obvious.
Ana chose to ignore the angel and respond to Erick. "I get it, Erick. But you, more than anyone, know what it means to make a contract with them."
Erick clicked his tongue.
"You know nothing," he said.
In that moment, Ana felt more sadness than anything else for Erick's situation. In her eyes, Erick had always fought to lift the House, only to be pushed back for not being the eldest son.
But her sadness quickly turned to disappointment.
"You're just a servant, after all," Erick went on. "A warrior? Don't make me laugh. You know nothing."
Erick turned to continue his path. The angel beside him nearly burst out laughing.
"Wait right there, you bastards!" Polifemo shouted from the ground, still panting from exhaustion as he struggled to stand. "How dare you?"
Ana stood frozen, completely still.
Polifemo noticed she hadn't said a word, so he turned to look at her, puzzled.
What he saw was Ana swallowing her pride.
She couldn't hold it back.
"ERICK!" Ana bellowed at the top of her lungs.
The nobles around them, heading for the exit, stopped at her shout, forming a circle.
Several guards snapped to attention, facing the commotion.
"Break the damn contract with them, or…!" Ana shouted again, seething with rage.
Polifemo, more knowledgeable about angels, didn't understand why Ana was so furious.
"I may be a mere servant," Ana began, her teeth clenched, "but I've always supported the House of the Sun."
It was hard to tell if Ana was on the verge of tears or consumed by pure rage. Powerful emotions surged in her chest.
"Making a deal with them means giving more power to the Lunar House!" Ana said bluntly, storming toward Erick.
In a normal situation, the guards would have stopped a disturbance immediately, but since it involved a servant, custom dictated that the House members should handle it.
In other words, no one stopped the furious Ana marching toward the noble Erick.
"Don't be an idiot!" Erick shouted back. "If you're going to do something, let me remind you that you don't even have your armor. Not even a system. You're useless!"
Ana froze at those words, standing face-to-face with Erick.
"I made a deal with them. So what?" Erick continued, driving another stake into Ana's heart, who had always trusted him. "Yes, the only way to make a deal with them is through the Lunar House. So what?"
Ana clenched her fists in rage.
She had already overstepped by grabbing Erick's collar during the trial, shocked to see him with an angel.
In another noble House, she'd likely be banished or even executed for being a mere servant. But her closeness to Mako and Erick allowed her such actions, which otherwise would have cost her life.
In other words, she'd always been seen as family.
Now, Erick was treating her with contempt. But perhaps Ana could live with that.
Until that moment, Ana had tried to preserve the affection she still held for the black-haired, crimson-eyed Erick, to avoid going too far.
"Tell me what you gave in return," Ana said, choking back the pain and wounded pride in her chest.
Erick smirked arrogantly.
"The person who caused our misfortunes. The one who condemned the House of the Sun," he said in a low voice, preparing to leave.
"I promised them the head of that useless Mako. If not for his weakness, we'd still be unstoppable," Erick confessed.
Ana's eyes widened in shock. Hearing that shattered any restraint she had left.
With her fist clenched, Ana landed a right hook square on Erick's face.
The crowd gasped, most of them outraged that a mere servant would dare challenge a noble.
Polifemo's single eye nearly popped out from the shock.
Erick stood still for a moment. It was as if the world had stopped.
Ana could hardly believe what she'd done. She had never raised a hand to Erick or Mako like that. Her right hand, still clenched in a fist, began to tremble.
Erick, his short black hair disheveled from the punch, felt a slight trickle of blood on his lip. He raised his hand to touch the droplet with his fingertip.
Seeing the blood, Erick's face twisted with fury. His crimson eyes began to glow with an unnatural hue.
"You're dead," he muttered through gritted teeth, his voice dripping with rage.
Polifemo was the first to notice what Erick's glowing eyes meant.
Erick was about to use his ability.
"Ana! Get back!" Polifemo shouted.
Exhausted as he was, Polifemo mustered all the strength his tiny wings could give, leaping forward to try to pull Ana away.