Leon suddenly stopped walking when he heard the voice. For the first time today, an emotional expression appeared on his face as he turned to look at Kasha.

Bewilderment.

While Kasha was looking into his eyes with puzzlement, an irritated voice continued to be heard from the reception room.

“Why on earth did that woman come here? How dare you invite a guest without my permission?”

“Father. As you know, Miss Kasha Lyuschino is dating elder brother Leon.”

It was Anthony who calmly replied to the voice of the middle-aged man presumed to be Grand Duke Osilote.

“Don’t talk nonsense! What dating without my permission? What is Leon thinking? After refusing the marriage proposal from the Tyrot ducal family and putting his father in a difficult position, what is he doing with that kind of woman?”

“Father.”

Following Anthony’s attempt to dissuade him, the argument between the two men continued to be heard. And Leon’s face grew increasingly stern.

He gestured to the butler Miles, who was standing beside him, not knowing what to do.

“Escort Miss Kasha to the dining room. I’ll follow shortly.”

“Yes, understood.”

Kasha stared blankly at Leon’s coldly hardened face, her lips moving as if to say something. But Leon still turned away coldly, avoiding her gaze, and disappeared into the reception room.

Kasha had no choice but to follow Miles. She sat at the table as he guided her, but unfortunately, the conversation in the reception room could still be heard clearly.

“Father. You’re home early. I thought you’d be out all day.”

Leon’s voice, as if suppressing something.

“Leon! What on earth are you doing? To actually bring that woman into the house!”

The Grand Duke’s voice, scolding irritably.

“Please lower your voice. The guest can hear.”

“What? This is my house! If she doesn’t want to hear, tell that woman to leave!”

“Father! That woman, you say. She is a noble young lady, the daughter of Count Lyuschino. Moreover, she is a guest I formally invited. There’s no reason to be so rude!”

“This brat, raising his voice to his father… That’s why I’m asking why you brought that woman into this house without my permission!”

“I asked you to mind your words, Father!”

“If I don’t mind them? What are you going to do?”

“I won’t tolerate this any longer.”

Suddenly, Leon’s voice lowered. It was an ice-cold tone, as if frost was dripping from it.

“Tolerate what? What are you tolerating!”

“Father’s…!”

It was then.

“Father.”

Eve’s small, trembling voice interrupted the two.

“Please don’t speak about sister Kasha like that.”

“Eve, what do you know to interfere? Get out.”

“Father. Sister Kasha is truly a good person.”

However, despite his youngest daughter’s plea, the Grand Duke remained adamant.

“Shut up! My children are always interfering in my life instead of being helpful!”

“Father, don’t raise your voice at Eve!”

“I said shut up!”

The Grand Duke exploded in anger and shouted.

Kasha, who was listening to this from the dining room, tilted her head.

‘The level of anger seems… excessive.’

Of course, it’s natural that Kasha doesn’t meet the Grand Duke’s approval.

However, losing control of emotions and shouting at his children like this in front of a formally invited guest was simply unbecoming of a noble.

Especially for Grand Duke Osilote, the emperor’s brother who had grown up and been educated in the imperial palace from birth.

Perhaps because Eve had appeared, Leon tried to calm down and persuade his father, but the Grand Duke just continued to rage unreasonably.

“Have you ever been helpful in my life? Especially you, Eve! From the moment you were born…!”

“Father! I told you to stop!”

Bang.

Along with Leon’s shout, an inexplicable noise was heard, and the reception room fell silent for a moment. But breaking through that silence, Eve’s sobbing voice was heard.

“I… I didn’t ask to be born.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s too much. You and mother gave birth to me! But you’re always angry at me as if I did something wrong…!”

“Your mother died because of you!”

Following the Grand Duke’s shout that cut off Eve’s faint cry, a frozen silence fell for a moment. And soon, Eve’s scream-like sob was heard.

“No! No!”

“What do you mean no! If your mother hadn’t given birth to you, she would still be alive. If that had been the case, our family would never have ended up like this…”

“Mother’s death,”

It was Leon’s angry retort that interrupted the Grand Duke’s senseless rambling.

“was because of your affair, Father.”

Kasha raised her head in surprise. And it seemed she wasn’t the only one surprised.

Slap!

Though she couldn’t see it directly, she could guess that the Grand Duke had struck Leon’s cheek.

“How dare you… in front of your father!”

“Father blaming Eve is a lie to avoid responsibility, but I’m just telling the truth. Mother became so weak after giving birth to Eve because her heart was broken due to Father’s affair. Because she was betrayed by the person she trusted most.”

“You still…!”

“Stop it! Don’t hit elder brother, Father!”

“Get away! These kids, really?”

“Please stop, I beg you.”

Finally, even Anthony intervened, forcibly dragging the Grand Duke away, and only then did the commotion in the reception room seem to come to an end.

“I’m sorry. I made you wait too long.”

Leon, who finally returned to the dining room, looked pale and exhausted. Seeing this, Kasha stood up.

“I’m fine. But today, perhaps… I should just go home.”

“There’s no need for that.”

“Sister, please don’t go.”

Eve, who had popped out from behind Leon, rubbed her reddened eyes and sobbed.

The moment Kasha saw Eve, she instinctively lowered herself and opened her arms. And Eve ran into her embrace without hesitation.

“Sister! Sob sob.”

“…”

Kasha silently stroked Eve’s fragile back. And Eve, like a ten-year-old child, cried her eyes out in Kasha’s arms.

“Sister. Sniff. Father. Our mom.”

“There, there.”

Kasha just held Eve tightly. She stroked her fine platinum blonde hair and occasionally wiped away her tears and mucus.

Kasha understood Eve’s anxiety and loneliness all too well.

After all, Kasha too had lived almost her entire life being rejected and denied.

But Eve was being denied her very existence with terrible verbal abuse even from her father, her own parent.

‘At least my mom didn’t deny me. She was just out of her mind.’

Remembering her mother after a long time, Kasha gently rubbed Eve’s back. Trying to remember how her mother had comforted her when she cried during the times her mother was lucid.

Even though it was Eve who was crying, somehow Kasha felt as if she herself was holding back tears.

‘Eve, I don’t want to believe that such a thing will soon happen to you, so small and pitiful.’

Kasha couldn’t help but hug Eve tightly.

Kasha’s visit to the Grand Duke’s mansion today wasn’t just because of Leon’s curse. Kasha’s other purpose was to protect Eve.

Kasha’s arms tightened around Eve.

Would she really be able to protect this small child?

Because Eve fell asleep in Kasha’s arms, exhausted from crying, the two were only able to talk alone after taking Eve to her bedroom.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know such a commotion would occur. I was told Father would be out all day, I don’t know what happened.”

Leon’s voice, low like a sigh, sounded tired.

He guided Kasha and opened the door to his bedroom. A dark interior. Kasha felt herself tensing at the pungent cigar scent wafting from the bedroom.

“There’s no need to apologize.”

Leon silently approached the window and opened the curtains. The once-dark room brightened.

Looking at his backlit figure, Kasha imagined him curled up alone in the dark room, struggling to overcome the curse.

She slowly looked around the room. It was a room that resembled Leon – beautiful yet lonely.

A large, heavy mahogany bed and a neatly organized desk, an antique religious painting hanging on the wall. Near the fireless fireplace, there was an empty space as if a large piece of furniture had been removed, leaving it bare.

Leon silently watched as he realized she had begun searching for the medium that might be harboring the curse of the magic stone.

Kasha didn’t ask anything about the conversation she had heard from the reception room earlier. Despite learning about a major scandal of the Grand Ducal family, she acted as if she wasn’t particularly interested in it.

She just looked around his room very slowly and carefully.

Taking out a small magic detector from her handbag, she continued her search very meticulously, touching here and there. As she gazed at the religious painting on the wall for a long time and touched it with her fingertips, Leon suddenly asked.

“Didn’t you say the power of the magic stone is different from ordinary magic? Yet the magic detector is effective?”

“It’s better than nothing.”

“But do you know what this magic stone looks like as you search for it?”

“…I saw it in a book.”

After a brief reply, Kasha pretended to focus on her search.

Since she was the one who had split the magic stone to separate its power and curse, she couldn’t confess that she knew its appearance all too well. And Leon never took his dark eyes off her.

After finishing the search of the bedroom, a dressing room connected to the bedroom appeared.

In the dressing room, there were only a few simple clothes hanging, while the rest of the space seemed to be used as a storage room.

Small and large objects were piled up on and under a small side table against the wall.

It was a slightly different space from the image of the bedroom she had seen today.

“…!”

But at that very moment, suddenly the magic detector began to tremble violently.

As Kasha raised the detector towards the side table, it vibrated violently again and finally stopped working, emitting smoke.

‘It’s the magic stone.’

Kasha thought inwardly and hardened her expression.

She had also discovered several characteristics of the magic stone while researching it.

First, the magic contained in the magic stone is so powerful that detectors cannot handle it.

Second, the magic stone looks like an ordinary piece of glass at first glance, transparent and unremarkable, but it turns blood-red when someone uses its power.

Recalling the characteristics she knew, she examined the objects piled on the side table one by one.

Among them, a small wooden box wrapped in beautiful purple silk particularly caught her eye. As she reached for it, as if drawn to something, Leon’s low voice was heard from behind.

“It’s a keepsake of my mother.”

“Ah.”

“This ring was once in it.”

Leon said, touching the finger inside his glove.

A ring that exactly matched the color of Leon’s eyes. One that simultaneously blocked his holy power and curse.

Or, at least, he firmly believed so…?

An ominous feeling disturbed Kasha’s nerves.

However, as Kasha hesitated to touch the box, Leon reached out and grabbed her wrist.