The cursed lust raged as if it had been waiting.

‘I want to caress every curve of your body until it’s worn out.’

‘I want to grip your insides, leaving bright red marks until you break into tears of pain,’

‘I want to thrust my entire self into you and savor the sight of you moaning all night long.’

The moment he imagined Kasha’s red lips crying out his own name, Leon’s rationality finally snapped.

Thump. Thump.

In Leon’s bloodshot eyes, the image of Kasha lying helplessly was captured.

And finally. His hand was about to touch that snow-white nape.

Leon swallowed a hot breath.

But at that moment.

“I’m… hungry… Simon. Why…. Hic.”

An irritating name popped out of her mouth.

Suddenly, as if cold water had been poured on a roaring flame, the light in his eyes went out.

At the same time, his hand that had reached for her lost strength and returned to its place.

Sob. Ugh.

Another tear streamed down her eyes, as if something was so sorrowful.

“Hungry… Hic. Ugh…”

Why on earth was she pleading hunger after calling a man’s name? And why were his feelings so complicated seeing her tears?

“…want to wake up… Hic.”

She suddenly sobbed and writhed. As if having a seizure.

The desperate struggle of her fragile body was like that of a bird with broken wings. It looked like she might hit her head on the bed’s headboard at any moment.

He reflexively reached out and grasped her wrist without realizing it.

“It’s okay.”

Whispering as if soothing a child.

Swoosh.

As if she understood, her seizure stopped.

Instead, like a baby animal searching for its mother’s milk, she burrowed into his hand holding her wrist and pressed her cheek against it herself.

Her damp cheek began to dry as it touched his burning hot hand.

A strange blue wave rose in his chest as he looked at the tear stains crossing her dried cheek.

In the ruins of his chest, something hot was bubbling up and rising from the cracks.

Thump thump

His heart starts beating again.

In a completely different way than just before.

Not knowing what to do for a moment, he suddenly remembered what he was about to do.

He raised his other hand and placed it on her feverishly hot forehead.

Because his hand was so hot, her forehead felt rather cool in comparison.

Over the snow-white forehead where sweat-soaked hair clung, a weak pulse throbbed pitifully at the temple.

He slowly closed his eyes and poured his holy power over it.

The holy power that had been dormant for a long time poured onto her forehead like a waterfall finding its course.

After a while, Leon slowly lowered his hand from her forehead.

“……”

She was now sleeping with a calm and peaceful face.

As he stared at that face as if enchanted, he noticed that his carnal desire had strangely calmed down.

Clearly, the desire hadn’t disappeared.

Deep in his gut, red-hot desire was still boiling like lava.

That cruel desire that would burst out explosively and tear apart everything around it if even a small gap appeared.

But strangely, he had a peculiar certainty.

He would not harm her.

He might be able to.

As he looked at Kasha’s face, caught up in an inexplicable hope, her lips suddenly moved slightly.

As if she was about to say something.

As if she was about to call out a name.

But that was only for a moment, and she fell back into a peaceful sleep, breathing softly.

‘Was she about to call that Simon’s name again?’

Suddenly, as that thought occurred to him, Leon’s expression turned cold.

Simon.

Simon Blanche.

Yes. It was definitely him. He was said to be from the Blanche baronial family.

It was a face he had seen fleetingly a few times when he attended gatherings of noble youth, unable to resist his father’s nagging.

He was certainly a handsome man with a good way with words, but somehow always nervously looking around at others’ reactions.

Whenever their eyes met, he would greet Leon with a servile smile.

They had only exchanged formal greetings, never feeling the need to mingle further.

Who would have thought he’d witness such a scene with Kasha Lyuschino.

‘Kasha Lyuschino! Are you really going to do this?’

Leon, wandering the library, heard a man’s irritated voice and tracked down its source.

Unaware that Leon was eavesdropping on their conversation while hiding, the two continued their argument.

‘I don’t need your apology, Simon.’

He couldn’t understand all the words exchanged, but Kasha’s firm voice clearly rang in his ears.

‘No, …and… ah, yes. Shall we… go to our… and…? You said you wanted to… eat…’

Simon’s side lowered his voice like a mouse, making it hard to hear everything, but it was clear he was trying very hard to appease Kasha.

‘I have no reason to sit across from you.’

And Kasha’s expression.

Cold contempt and extreme anger that Leon had never seen before appeared on her face.

Her eyes darkened as if blazing. At that moment, she seemed unfamiliar, like a stranger.

‘What’s going on?’

No matter how you looked at it, the relationship between the two was far from ordinary.

It was surprising that the woman who was always calm could make such an expression.

Meanwhile, Simon was trying to persuade her with a servile expression throughout.

Leon observed the two closely with a subdued expression.

Suddenly, he saw Simon lean in close to her and whisper in her ear.

For a moment, Leon realized he had flinched as if about to jump out involuntarily, and tried to think rationally.

It’s clear that the two have a suspicious relationship. Even at a glance, their conversation was dramatic and emotional.

‘Could he be the one she wanted to block access to by using me?’

The reason she wanted to have a contract romance with Leon.

‘If it’s really him…’

What reason could she have to desperately avoid him, even to the point of making a contract with a human cursed with lust?

Leon was thinking this as he narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, Kasha staggered and dropped all the books she was holding onto the floor.

‘Kasha! Are you alright?’

While Leon was again instinctively calming his twitching body, he saw Simon try to support her, only to be rejected.

After that, the two continued to face off, exchanging some words.

‘But why does Kasha look so unstable standing there?’

Leon suddenly noticed that Kasha’s condition was not normal.

Even from a distance, her face was flushed.

She was trying to hide her condition, which looked like she might collapse at any moment, by forcing her eyes to shine brightly.

But it gave a pitiful impression, like the last struggle of a small animal cornered.

‘This won’t do.’

Leon found himself beginning to approach them.

Whatever was happening, it wasn’t right to leave a sick person unattended.

Muttering such an excuse to himself.

That’s when it happened.

As Simon murmured something and approached her, Kasha staggered backward.

Her feet, having lost balance, were flailing in the air above the stairs.

‘Dangerous…!’

Leon launched his body like lightning without a second thought.

Thud.

Thanks to his beast-like reflexes, Kasha landed safely in his arms.

‘But… how can a person be this light?’

It seemed harder when he had lifted Eve.

Leon frowned, thinking this without even having time to collect his thoughts.

Moreover, she was hot.

Her entire body was boiling like a small furnace.

‘Why did she come all the way here in this condition, pushing herself…’

As the furrow between his brows deepened, that fellow Simon came panting.

‘Kasha! Are you alright? Sir. This person is my companion. I’ll support her, so please hand her over…’

Simon, who was babbling like that with a face that somehow looked pleased, suddenly lowered his voice in surprise when his eyes met Leon’s.

‘L-Leon, Your Highness? How are you here…?’

‘You said this person is your companion?’

At Leon’s low question, Simon stammered with a confused face.

‘Ah, yes. That’s right.’

‘What kind of relationship do you have with this lady?’

‘Uh, that’s… it’s difficult to explain exactly…’

There was no patience left to listen to his evasive words.

The woman in his arms was too hot and small.

As Leon turned abruptly and started walking with heavy steps, Simon, seemingly having come to his senses, ran after him.

‘Your Highness! This person is, really my companion. I will, take her home, huff. Please leave her to me.’

Simon seemed out of breath trying to keep up with Leon’s pace.

‘I cannot entrust the lady’s well-being to someone who finds it difficult to explain their relationship.’

‘No, what are you saying! Your Highness! No, forgive me for saying this, but aren’t you, huff, the one who has no connection here? Do you even know, huff, who this woman is that you’re taking away?’

‘Katiana Lyuschino. The daughter of Count Lyuschino.’

At Leon’s matter-of-fact answer, Simon stopped, seemingly flustered.

However, he didn’t give up and followed Leon again.

People’s gazes from all over the library were following the two.

Simon’s expression seemed somehow more anxious than when he was talking to Kasha.

‘Even so! Your Highness, huff. I have, been in contact with this woman, for two years already! What kind of relationship do you have with her, huff, to go this far? Huff huff.’

Leon, who had already reached the library entrance, looked for Kasha’s carriage with his eyes and replied coldly.

‘Me? I’m the one who had an appointment to meet this lady at this place today.’

‘…What do you… That can’t be. Even so.’

Simon muttered in disbelief, sweating on his forehead.

Glancing at him, his complexion had turned as pale as Kasha’s.

At that moment, someone who looked like the coachman of the Lyuschino family ran towards Leon with a surprised face.

Leon took a step towards him, giving Simon a cold look.

‘I am an Imperial Holy Knight. Surely you’re not worried that I would harm a collapsed woman.’

‘Y-Your Highness. That’s not what I…’

‘Just go back and wipe your sweat, young Blanche. It’s pitiful to see you so lacking in exercise.’

‘Your Highness!’

The last cry somehow sounded like it was uttered through gritted teeth.

Leon walked with even larger strides to prevent him from following.

The burning sensation on the back of his head was surely not an illusion.

Finally, after laying her in the Lyuschino family’s carriage under the coachman’s guidance, he boarded the carriage himself before the coachman could stop him, and ordered like a master.

‘Return directly to the Count’s residence. She suddenly collapsed. Treatment is urgent.’

‘Uh… Ah, yes! Understood, Sir Knight.’

The coachman answered hastily after glancing at Leon’s uniform.

As he looked down at Kasha’s face, lying limp on the seat in the carriage that had thus departed, a sudden realization flashed through his mind.

The curse had not manifested.

Throughout the time he had held her and brought her here.

‘What exactly is this woman?’

Looking at Kasha breathing evenly on the bed, Leon fell into contemplation.

The symptoms that had constricted him like a prison since the curse manifested. They were losing a kind of regularity in her presence.

‘What exactly are you, Kasha?’

Leon looked down at Kasha with confused eyes.

Even at this moment, a strange emotion pulsed in his chest.

Perhaps something even more dangerous than a demon’s curse…

“What are you saying! Don’t tell me you left Kasha alone with that man?”

Suddenly, along with a booming voice, Kasha’s door burst open.

“You there, Sir Leon Aranias! What exactly are you doing to my younger sister?”

Daril Lyuschino, huffing like an enraged bear, was glaring at Leon.