“A lot. Quite a lot.”

“How much specifically? How far can you trust me?”

“..why are you asking such a question all of a sudden?”

“Come to think of it, I think this situation is a bit unfair.”

She grinned. “You want to hear what I’ve hidden, but you never tell me anything about yourself.”

“.....”

He looked taken aback. He didn’t expect to be attacked in this way.

“Let’s do this. Tell me about the ‘secret’ you’re hiding. Then I’ll tell you everything I know about that ‘secret’.”

Talking about it made her genuinely curious.

Will he be able to reveal everything in front of me?

She knows that he has to kill people to live and sometimes he has the urge to kill people for no reason.

‘I don’t want to bother Rupert, but—’

I want to check. Do I have a ticket in my hand to dig into his heart?

If there is, no need to hesitate in the future.

“Noel, do you think that I don’t tell you anything because I don’t trust you?”

“....no?”

“I know from your reaction. You don’t know perfectly.”

He looked at her wife with a sunken gaze.

It’s not because he doesn’t trust her.

‘I’m afraid you will run away.’

It is not difficult to talk about absurd physical abilities or living a life by killing criminals.

Now that doesn’t really matter.

The biggest thing is when he hugs her daughter and soothes her crying wife, in every moment the two feel so lovable, his heart is beating, his spirit is uplifted, and somewhere the hum of ‘let’s kill’ lingers.

He feels both love and the urge to kill at the same time.

No one understands this awfulness and disgust.

‘Noel doesn’t know what situation I’m trying to avoid.’

It’s not that he just doesn’t like his curse being known.

He is afraid of being abandoned.

***

‘I’m bored.’

Michael watched the scenery outside the window from inside the carriage.

Currently, he was on his way to the Ainel Territory.

The original departure date was much later, but he had moved it forward on purpose.

It was because everyday life in the capital felt like an ordeal; invitations piled up, people smiling at him, eyes of longing and admiration.....

It was all so boring he couldn’t stand it.

Contrary to his public image, he does not like being surrounded by people.

Even so, the reason why he always smiles and maintains a kind attitude is purely because of the brainwashing education he received from his adoptive father since he was a toddler.

His adoptive father wanted him to be seen as a ‘perfect existence’ from the moment he took the surname ‘Berris’.

A saint who can fulfill everyone’s ideals. A noble human being worthy of being chosen by God.

Michael behaved well as he was educated, and the result is what he is now.

Most of them like and are enthusiastic about him being clad in holiness. Sometimes it is at the level of fanaticism.

Fortunately, it’s not all bad. Public jealousy apparently has many many corners to use.

‘Am I almost there?’

There are many reasons why he expressed his intention to go to the Ainel territory to the crown prince, but the biggest reason is Noel.

She is the person he treasured the most in the world.

He wanted to pursue a safe, peaceful, and selfish life. Because that’s the safest.

Contrary to him, from an early age, Noel was altruistic and upright from an early age.

She was like a lotus flower in mud.[1]

[1] growing up beautifully in a bad environment.

Michael had no choice but to cover her eyes because she knew everything and was headed the right way.

But now she has almost eliminated the old trap he had laid for a long time.

The cogwheel, which had been forced to stop, began to roll. She was on her way back into the monster’s mouth.

‘What should I do?’

When he saw Noel not long ago, her power had grown considerably. It is only a matter of time before she realizes the truth.

So he has no choice but to be near her before she finds out about everything.

“We are here.”

Hearing the coachman’s voice, Michael raised his head.

It’s time to wipe off the expression mixed with boredom and return to acting as a good and perfect young man.

He smiled as he got off the carriage.

“Well done.”

The coachman lowered his head happily, and a servant from the Ainel mansion came out to greet him.

Looking at that, he made another promise.

I will surely keep Rupert away from Noel.

For her safety.

***

I’m dreaming.

I’m used to it now.

‘Is it a precognitive dream again?’

This time, I will try to gather as much information as possible.

With that determination, I set foot in the well-kept garden.

‘It’s somehow familiar.’

After a brief glance, I immediately realized where this is.

‘Isn’t this the Opion mansion?’

It’s only natural that this looks familiar since this is where I grew up.

What’s going on here?

As I was looking around, I saw two children who looked to be about four or five years old.

I recognized the children as soon as I saw them.

‘That’s me and Michael!?’

To be exact, this is what we looked like when we were young.

It doesn’t seem to be a precognitive dream this time, but just a dream about the past.

The young me confidently asked Michael.

“How old are you? I think you are younger than me.”

“Noisy. go away.”

“Noisy? That’s too much. And call me big sister!”

‘It’s when we first met.’

Michael in childhood was smaller and thinner than me even though he was two years older than me.

Because of that, I thought he was younger than me at first.

“Huh? Your stomach just growled. Are you hungry? Let’s go to the kitchen and ask for cookies!”

“No, I can’t eat it.”

I feel a little odd. I think the conversation is different from my memory.

As I remember, young Michael was kind and dignified from the first meeting.

“Why can’t you eat?”

“I don’t know.”

However, the boy in front of me right now is very picky.

‘Is it because it’s a dream?’

In the meantime, the scenery gradually blurred.

“Ah.....”

When I opened my eyes, I could see the ceiling of my bedroom.

‘I’m awake.’

Nice to see Michael’s young face after so long. Although it’s a bit odd because the content of the conversation is different from what I remember.

‘I’ve never imagined a picky Michael.’

I stretched out with such a small thought. Strangely, my body is much lighter than usual.

‘Even though I had a dream, I must have slept soundly.’

There is nothing wrong with being in good shape.

I easily ignored my dream and pulled the pillow. Now I’m trying to do something that has become a habit every morning.

“Stop! Move! Just be anything.....”

It was a practice to recreate the phenomenon in which time stopped.

Of course it’s embarrassing to even call it a practice as it yields no results. It’s just a one-man show.

“I’m embarrassed. Should I just stop?”

I muttered as I tossed the pillow into the air.

“....?”

I soon realized that the pillow was defying the laws of gravity.

“Oh.”

I naturally looked at my hand and saw the golden powder shimmering.

There’s the watch that I saw when I saved Aren.

That means, right now, I..

“Now I can use it.....”

It’s possible to use this strange ability that I thought only appears in crisis situations.

Then, the pillow fell on my head.

“Ouch.”

....I still can’t handle it very well.

‘If I try, I’ll be able to use it freely, right?’

In any case, it is a strange morning when I wake up from a childhood dream that is different from my memory and can use a power that I have not yet identified.

‘Well, there’s been a lot of weird things lately.’

With that in mind, I washed my face and went to see my daughter.

“Your father must be busy.”

“I know.”

My husband doesn’t show up for breakfast.

‘Now Rupert is avoiding me.’

It seems that he is struggling with the counterattack I threw last time.

I couldn’t quite understand it.

Wouldn’t it be comfortable to just talk about the curse in a cool way?

Does he still hate to reveal that he can only live by killing people?

‘Now that I’ve seen too much there’s no point in hiding something like that.’

But he said I don’t know the secret perfectly.

If so, I might have missed something about him.