“I will decline the marriage proposal, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

After Owin called the doctor and had him examine his master, he was told that his condition had gotten even worse. It was a shock.

“If it goes on like this, the Crown Prince will die.”

Unlike Owin, who was startled, Sislin responded bluntly.

“I see.”

‘That’s what he said.’

Everyday, he proved he was truly an amazing master. Owin grumbled inwardly as he grabbed a pain reliever.

“It is natural for Duchess Annette to refuse. If it’s a partner that doesn’t take care of himself like this, I also wouldn’t want to.”

“Owin. Shall we make a bet on who will die first?”

Oops. Owin felt cold sweat running down his back and turned to face his master.

Scary eyes, like the lions of hell, were fixed on him.

Today’s secret to prolonging life is:

Do not provoke a man whose marriage proposal is rejected.

“I wanted everything about Annette, but I feel like I have too much ‘disrespect’.”

Sislin quietly added strength to his molars, muttering to himself.

“For any woman, it will be difficult to accept it easily. If it’s Highness the Crown Prince..”

Owin pondered carefully, as if suddenly possessed by Annette.

“Compared to other people, you are definitely the type that is difficult to embrace.”

“You’re saying a lot of crazy things today. Talk more.”

Usually, Owin didn’t talk much, but today his master ‘died’ and was a little crooked after hearing simple words.

“Of course you are attractive.”

“.....”

“No, actually, speaking as a man, you’re so attractive that it’s ‘mask-like’.”

It was natural for women to be attracted.

It was a very instinctive attraction. Like animals that responded to pheromones.

Owin was still thinking in ‘Annette Mode’ (or ‘Marriageable Age Lady Mode’).

“You have a very handsome face..”

The sharp eyes under strong eyebrows, the straight masculine nose bridge and well-defined jaw were flawless handsomeness itself.

It felt a little overbearing, though.

“You’re 190cm tall, and you have a good body.. You are one of the most powerful people in the Empire.”

Owin felt his heart pounding as he explained. It seemed like he was very much possessed by the spirit of the ladies.

“Is that all? You have great wealth, and aren’t you even the crown prince? You are going to be the emperor! You’re a really cheat character.”

“.....”

The position that Annette refused today seemed to be taken by Owin.

“However!”

There was always a twist. Owin said while raising his index finger.

“Actually, Grand Duke Hyacinth has a tendency to arouse women’s maternal love.”

“.....”

“Besides, what about Marquis Winston? His soft charm is like castella. For a woman, they can easily fall in love with him.”

Owin smiled softly, as if contemplating which flavor to try (he only smiled a few times a year) and tapped his chin.

“But, you.. A relatively dangerous man is a little difficult to approach.”

“Is it.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have to kill them all if I have to.”

“....?!”

Owin, who was the number one person who never heard the word ‘kill’ as a joke, was shocked.

Somehow, the conversation became cold.

Well, now it wasn’t about whether the other aide’s master died or not.

His master was the biggest problem.

Owin came back to his usual self and spoke with a stiff face.

“..First of all, the most important thing is the health of Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

The loyal aide was genuinely worried about his master.

“What are you going to do?”

‘Are you going to run madly forward like a racehorse with your eyes covered?’

“If you go crazy and lose your life like this.. as an aide..”

Kuu—

Owin clenched his fist.

“..I never want to see that happen to you.”

‘Have you never lived a peaceful life all this time, Your Highness?’

Sislin got up and slowly put on his clothes.

“Didn’t you hear me, Owin?”

“.....”

“With Annette, my powers will gradually come to an absolute.”

The doctor had said:

If he was not swayed by the power of Mephisto, the so-called ‘raging devil’, but instead ‘complete’ a powerful force.

He would reach a point where he could treat that demon like a servant.

“I intend to end this suffering by ‘perfecting’ my strength.”

He had forgotten to sleep due to the pain of many days and nights, and now he smiled hazily with exhausted red eyes that were.

It was the eyes of a maniac.

“The more I touch Annette, the stronger my abilities become.”

Looking at the smiling face that was licking his lips, Owin thought that if Annette saw this face, she would surely run away again and turn down a proposal she had already rejected.

“..But, Your Highness, isn’t it unknown whether ‘collapse’ or ‘completion’ comes first? Are you taking a gamble?”

“No.”

His eyes blazed as red as the scorching summer sun.

“I’m sure it will be ‘finished’.”

Owin saw his master’s confidence. The aide felt his heart pound for a moment.

It’s a great pleasure to serve a man like this.

The loyal aide, in the end, bowed his head without further complaints.

“All right.”

━━━━???━━━━

Gerard was being put to shame.

It had been several days since the day he was called to the Great Temple and subjected to hard interrogation.

Originally, even if it’s the Great Temple, a prince could not be taken carelessly, but thanks to Annette’s large-scale incident, the temple was about to take the lead.

—Because they had a good excuse.

“Because of the nobility’s public opinion, we have no choice but to conduct it like this, Prince.”

It was Annette’s calculation.

After a few days of insanity, Gerard cursed Annette and Sislin all day in his private palace.

“Shit! Venénum, why is that monster still intact, why!”

He unleashed his power.

Surely, he put a curse on him.

“Thanks to the activation of my powers, even now, my vitality is worn out. But the curse didn’t work on him!”

Gerard widened his red eyes like a snake. In front of a cunning sorcerer in the form of a real ‘black snake’.

“Sislin, I will make that bastard go back to ‘the most painful time’.”

If one curse had been afflicted that day, Sislin would be thrown into the Crevasse once more.

“He should have been stuck in the Crevasse by now, and he should have gone crazy!”

The snake wiggled its red tongue and smirked. It slowly climbed up the statue’s body, twisting its body and saying,

[Gerard, curses don’t work well on opponents with strong physical and mental strength.]

Gerard’s eyes widened at those words.

‘Did this wretch trick me?’

[But rest assured, my foolish contractor. Sislin is getting weaker day by day, and soon, he won’t be able to withstand the curse.]

There were sniggers and laughter. At that moment, a thick cloud swerved and revealed the crescent moon.

The bright moonlight from the thin moon poured down like a divine revelation into the palace.

[It’ll be tonight at the latest.]

“....!”

Gerard’s face became aglow with delight.

━━━━???━━━━

“For the time being, please do not share the news of the Crown Prince. Victoria.”

“..Oh dear.”

Victoria just replied with that, and her eyes lit up as if she knew something.

She smiled and said,

“Is the Crown Prince ‘out’?”

“....?!”

‘Hey, I’m not running an audition program for my husband.’

‘Please don’t make such an interested face, butler.’

“Not that.”

“I’m sorry. I thought the atmosphere was pretty good.”

Sislin and I?

Nonsense.

‘I’m always nervous when I’m with him, and I’ve never been comfortable, but you think the atmosphere is good?’

Victoria tapped and organized the sheets in my bedroom, and then lifted the blanket, muttering to herself, “Are you not here today?” and placed it back again.

‘Who are you looking for there?’

Could it be a person with silver hair and is a bit of a jerk?

“When I see you two, I think about the love that risked one’s life.”

Without realizing it, I touched my wrist. Do other people feel it too?

From the beginning, Sislin had risked his life for me.

Without a single bit of hesitation.

“Besides, when I look into the eyes of the Crown Prince, I can feel the deepest sincerity.”

..Sislin?

‘It’s completely different from what I’m feeling?’

“When the Duchess looks somewhere, other people look at the same place as the Duchess.”

Victoria whispered in my ear, as if she was telling me a big secret.

“But the Crown Prince always looked only at the Duchess. No matter where the Duchess looks.”

“....!”

I see.. Sislin..

He did so without me knowing.

I suddenly wondered. What other moments I didn’t know existed with Sislin.

With my eyes lowered, I said,

“But like I told you. The future with the Crown Prince.. I’m afraid.”

“Love is inherently fearful.”

The more intense the emotion, the harder it was to predict. People become weak in front of love for fear of being hurt by that uncertainty.

One step at a time, I was backing away without realizing it.

I was afraid of getting hurt.

Perfect love was inevitably linked to fear. It was like that for everyone.

Victoria smiled secretly.

“That’s why, people who love are always willing to embrace the other person and say this, ‘Nevertheless.'”

At the same time.

A huge event happened in the Imperial Palace. The prince who was in his bedroom, his huge body tilted and he collapsed.

“..Your Highness the Crown Prince!”