What hitting. If only he tried half, no, a quarter of what he does to her, Lou would like it. Giving up on a retort, Lou shook her head and started walking.

“I’m incredibly manipulated by you.”

“Don’t say that, who told you that I’m really going to hit you?”
“Lou has been steadfastly steering me from the first time we met until now. It’s a relief that you were a straightforward person, really……”

At the end of the somewhat obscure words, Lou turned to look at him, feeling a chilling shiver.

Facing the chilly mountain breeze, he stared at Lou as if devouring her. Languid but focused solely on her, the slightly upturned corners of his mouth, his self-assured and leisurely attitude—all of it was directed towards Lou.

The presence he felt on the first day in Perseta was right in front of him. That overwhelming presence sought only one person. The one targeted would undoubtedly feel fear, but Lou was no longer afraid.

“If you had twisted just a little, I would have joyfully fallen apart.”

She would have thrown herself into it until the end while loving him with that twisted side. He would become the person she liked, trying to stand out in her eyes no matter what.

“Yeah, maybe. But even if I fell apart, I’m sure you would have fallen apart well, staying true to yourself.”

Lou nodded silently as she looked at him. Then she smiled. He was an existence that could not help but be enchanted, a man who made Lou happy just by approaching her.

“And you would have always held me back before I crossed the line.”

As he spoke, he realized. Yes, that’s how it would have been. He had fallen apart, but the sight of her falling apart was not something he wanted to see.

Lou smiled at him without realizing it. Hayden couldn’t take his eyes off her, like a hungry person.

Isn’t it so obvious who enchanted whom? Just with her indifferent gaze and the smile she sent to everyone, Hayden felt like he would die. He could have pulled out even his soul. No, he already did.

“Hey, Hayden. It might sound strange and awkward to suddenly say this.”

Just by calling him ‘Hey, Hayden,’ all his senses were focused on Lou. It didn’t sound strange or awkward at all. Instead of saying that, he absorbed all the stories she told while she shyly smiled.

“There were times when I didn’t understand myself. I do like handsome men, but I’ve never liked someone so much that it hurts. So I wondered if I was starving for affection.”

“Oh, really?”

The first time. It sounded good. Hayden laughed without realizing it. Laughter kept coming out.

“Yeah. But what’s the use of worrying about such things and trying to understand them? It’s an emotion that can’t be understood in the first place.”

Lou looked towards the children and then held his hand. Once she held it, she immediately wrapped her hand around his, putting her fingers in the grooves, a hand that pressed closely. Recently, those fingers always checked the ring on Lou’s finger.

“Your proposal may have been quick, but it doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t it matter?”

Lou was surprised by her own nonchalance but, realizing there was nothing surprising, she smiled, nodding her head. It was okay to be a bit shy. Hayden’s neck was already turning red.
“Yeah. I like you a lot……, no.”

Now, it wasn’t just liking a lot. It had already surpassed that level.

And based on Lou’s experience, such feelings always had to be conveyed immediately. Now was the moment. A moment that was beautiful, peaceful, joyful, and absolutely fulfilling. She looked up at him.

“I love you.”

As Lou spoke, feeling even more certain, she smiled brightly. Hayden, on the other hand, didn’t skillfully smile at her words. His neck and even his ears were now red as he looked at her in disbelief.

Lou’s gray eyes, slightly widening and instantly darkening, would be unforgettable for a lifetime. Smiling at Hayden rushing towards her, she closed her eyes.

“Hey? The boss and sister are kissing!”

“Kiss!”

Lou hugged Hayden, feeling a tingling and pleasant headache.

Perhaps she had waited for him throughout the time she couldn’t remember.

Even this messy and tingling pain was entirely part of her love for him. Lou couldn’t help but love Hayden, who had pulled her out of the swamp-like lethargy. It didn’t matter if it hurt. No, it was natural that it hurt.

“I love you too, Lou. I have loved you for a very long time.”

Hayden confessed with trembling lips as he watched Lou’s last curse being tied.

In the southern part of Caleta, a foul stench filled the air. Monsters appeared day and night, piercing through the entangled mana, and the Imperial Knights were busy blocking them. Under the sun, common blood splattered, and destroyed corpses mingled in the black darkness.

Carlos Arthur Ingram felt it in the middle of that horrific battlefield.

The curse was complete.

“Ha-ha, ha…….”.

He tried to laugh. This was his victory. Since it was complete, he would undoubtedly win. So, if it was complete, he tried to hold his waist and laugh loudly no matter where he was. He waited only for the moment when curses were intertwined and completed, feeling that he would laugh heartily.

“Ha…….”.

But the laughter didn’t come. Despite turning hot blood upside down, his chest cooled down chillingly, and his previously light knees suddenly wobbled as if about to break.

Certainly, Lou’s head would be in pain, but he didn’t understand why he felt like he had cold water poured on his head. It felt different from the humiliation he had felt about Perseta so far. Carlos’s tongue was filled with decidedly unsophisticated curses.

Instead of spitting out those curses, he reached out his hand towards the approaching monster horde.

The moment his hand moved in the air, the monsters were torn apart. The flesh and blood of dead monsters, who couldn’t even scream, splattered. Carlos, expressionless, pondered what this emotion was as he flipped the blood on the field, now completely overturned by blood.

It was misery.

The fourth day of the horse racing competition. The closing ceremony was held. Horses raced around the track, and a few handsome jockeys who had already become famous engaged in fierce competition.
And everyone still didn’t know which lady the Emperor favored. Among them, only Jane Tellot firmly believed that the daughter of Countess Plache, Yeongae, would become the Empress without a doubt.

Anyway, today wasn’t the end of all schedules, and the hunting competition was just beginning. People were planning to clean their crossbows, bows, and guns once more. Everyone left the closing ceremony curious about what the Emperor would do at the beginning of the hunting competition.

And on that day, Duke Alanka died.