Six months ago, Tablo and Cassel were sitting next to the awakened Ruan with serious expressions.

“What are you saying? That you’re going to die like this. Did I convey the message wrong? Ruan, your curse has been completely lifted. So now you won’t die.”

Tablo said with a bewildered expression, looking at Ruan who was talking nonsense after waking up from a coma.

“Tablo, don’t get excited first. Cassel, explain the situation.”

“Since the day the Duke collapsed at the bookstore, the movements from the Crown Prince’s side have been very suspicious.”

“Suspicious?”

“It seems they are planning to assassinate the Prince at Prince Haiman’s wedding the day after tomorrow.”

“Kill the Prince at the wedding? Is that true?”

As Ruan staggered to his feet at Tablo’s question, Cassel supported him.

“It seems the Crown Prince thought my collapse was an opportunity.”

“But according to schedule, you would die in a month anyway. The Crown Prince has no reason to rush suddenly.”

Ruan answered Tablo’s question.

“Right now, I don’t have the strength to stop the Crown Prince. So first, we need to postpone the Prince’s wedding for a few days.”

“Postpone the wedding? By what means do you plan to postpone it? Don’t tell me? Is that why you said you’re going to die?”

As Tablo’s eyes widened, Ruan smiled painfully and said.

“Yes, as you know, I’m the empire’s hero. If I die now, the Prince’s wedding will probably be postponed. They’ll hold a 5-day funeral for the hero, and then there’s a 2-week national mourning period, so that should be enough time for me to regain my health.”

Tablo tilted his head at Ruan’s explanation and said.

“But, it’s a bit strange. The Crown Prince may be stupid and unable to distinguish right from wrong, but he wasn’t the type to think about killing the Prince directly. Why is such a Crown Prince suddenly trying to do such a thing? And not by having someone else do it, but directly?”

“Well, His Majesty the Emperor entrusted the case of the murders of women in the capital to Prince Haiman. And…”

“I recently irritated my elder brother a bit.”

“Your Highness!”

As Tablo and Cassel rose to greet Haiman, Haiman waved his hand and said.

“That’s enough, what’s with the greetings here? I’m sorry. Ruan, I unintentionally provoked my elder brother when I saw him brandishing a sword at your wife.”

“It’s alright. I was planning to end this quickly anyway.”

Moreover, now that I won’t die, I must deal with the Crown Prince for my wife’s sake as well.

Ruan clenched his fist, remembering Daimond who had spoken of making Mercian his mistress.

“So Ruan, what do you want to do?”

At Haiman’s question, Ruan looked at Cassel, and Cassel took out a pouch from his chest.

Then he took out gold coins from the pouch and gave them to Haiman and Tablo.

“What is this?”

“These are gold coins that the surviving women received from the man who took them. Upon my discreet investigation, I found out that these gold coins were specially minted and only given to Her Majesty the Empress at the imperial bank.”

“Only given to Her Majesty the Empress?”

“Yes, it’s an amount given to Her Majesty the Empress every month, but it seems His Highness the Crown Prince took it and gave it to the women.”

“Then, was it really my elder brother who did this?”

Haiman, who had thought it wasn’t Daimond’s doing even though he was in charge of the case, let out a deep sigh at Cassel’s words.

“And there’s one more piece of evidence.”

“What is it?”

Haiman looked at the button Cassel was holding out.

A silver button engraved with the royal family’s crest.

It was a button for only one person in the royal family, the Crown Prince.

“This is?”

“Your Highness, you recognize this button.”

“Why is it in your hands?”

At Haiman’s question, Cassel put the button in his pocket and said.

“The last woman who died was holding it in her hand. It seems she got hold of the Crown Prince’s button while struggling when being beaten by His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Was all of this really done by my elder brother?”

“Your Highness may not want to believe it, but besides the button, a piece of the Crown Prince’s clothing was also clutched in that woman’s hand.”

At Ruan’s words, Haiman sighed repeatedly and said.

“So what do you plan to do with this evidence? Are you thinking of revealing this fact right now?”

Ruan answered Haiman’s words.

“It’s not time yet. The gold coins are indeed Her Majesty the Empress’s, but there’s no evidence that the Crown Prince used them. And even this button and fabric would be useless if he denies knowing about them.”

“So what do you plan to do?”

“Thanks to Your Highness’s provocation, His Highness the Crown Prince must be very angry. So I’m thinking of creating a reason for His Highness the Crown Prince to absolutely have to eliminate Your Highness.”

“Is it right to go this far to remove my elder brother from the position of Crown Prince?”

“I understand Your Highness’s feelings, but if the current Crown Prince ascends to the throne, the empire probably won’t last even half a year. Moreover, if it becomes known that I’m no longer terminally ill, His Highness the Crown Prince will surely try to eliminate Your Highness by any means necessary.”

At Ruan’s words, Tablo also bowed his head to Haiman and said.

“Your Highness, I think so too. The things His Highness the Crown Prince is doing are not at all what the next Emperor should be doing. And anyway, if it’s revealed that the Crown Prince is the culprit of the murder case, he won’t be able to remain in that position anyway. So if Your Highness doesn’t stop the Crown Prince now, as Ruan said, Your Highness’s life will also be in danger.”

At Ruan and Tablo’s words, Haiman fell into thought for a moment.

He had never once thought about wanting to become Crown Prince.

But Daimond’s continued checks against him had already crossed the line.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, it was clear that Daimond would try to kill him, if only to cover up his own murders, as they said.

“So Ruan, what’s your plan?”

At Haiman’s words, Ruan, still seemingly struggling, spoke while breathing heavily.

“His Highness the Crown Prince must think that now is the perfect time to eliminate Your Highness, since I’ve collapsed and can’t get up. That’s why he sees Your Highness’s wedding as an opportunity. The problem is that because my body is like this now, I can’t protect Your Highness right away. That’s why I’m going to die.”

“You’re going to die? But I clearly heard from Tablo that your curse has been completely lifted. How are you going to die?”

“Except for the people here, everyone else thinks I’ve been poisoned, not cursed. So if we spread rumors that the poison spread faster due to my recent collapse, no one will suspect even if I die tomorrow.”

At Ruan’s words, Haiman nodded and said.

“Alright, let’s say you die, Ruan. What do you plan to do after that? As you know, my wedding is only a few days away.”

“I am the empire’s hero, after all. According to imperial law, a hero’s funeral will be held for 5 days, followed by a 2-week mourning period. Then Your Highness’s wedding will naturally be postponed. And I’ll have time to boost my strength. And finally, since I’ll be dead, His Highness the Crown Prince will have a perfect opportunity to eliminate Your Highness, right? Plus, I’ve prepared a small gift for His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“A gift? What is it?”

“You’ll probably find out soon.”

Looking at Ruan who was confident of success, Haiman said.

“In other words, Ruan, you’re saying that your death will create opportunities for everyone?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, then what should I do?”

At Haiman’s words, Ruan explained the plan.

“Alright, then let’s prepare accordingly. Take care of yourself, I’ll be going now.”

After Haiman left, Cassel also gathered the evidence and left Ruan’s room.

“When do you plan to tell your wife?”

As Tablo carefully laid Ruan down on the bed, he asked, and Ruan shook his head and said.

“What? That I’m going to die? Why would I tell my wife that? She’ll find out naturally in a few days anyway. I don’t want to make my wife fall into sadness already.”

At Ruan’s words, Tablo’s expression was momentarily bewildered.

“No, Ruan, I don’t mean when you’re going to tell her you’re dying, but when are you going to tell her that your curse has been lifted? Shouldn’t your wife know, if no one else? That you’re not going to die?”

Tablo spoke, remembering Mercian who had been precariously by Ruan’s side, looking as if she might collapse at any moment.

“I’m planning to keep it a secret from my wife for now. The fewer people who know about this matter, the better. So don’t you go running your mouth carelessly either.”

“Are you really not going to tell your wife? Haa, never mind. It’s your marital affairs, do as you please. But it’s better not to deceive your wife for too long. After you collapsed at the bookstore, I heard your wife nursed you without even sleeping by your side. She barely ate, too. When I saw your wife before coming into the room earlier, I wondered if she was really the wife of yours I knew. Just now, it looked like Clea was forcibly taking her to her room to make her sleep. Even if it can’t be helped now, when you reveal the truth later, tell your wife first without regrets.”

Tablo advised Ruan with a serious expression.

Ruan nodded as if to say not to worry and said.

“I understand, so don’t worry, and you should go now too.”

After Tablo left, Ruan slowly got up and entered the bathroom, then went into Mercian’s room on the opposite side.

According to Cassel, she hadn’t been able to sleep properly since he collapsed, so today she had taken sleeping pills and fallen asleep.

Ruan’s heart ached at the sight of Mercian lying down with a gaunt appearance, her once round and plump cheeks all gone.

“I’m sorry, wife, I don’t want to deceive you, but the situation has turned urgent.”

Ruan looked at Mercian’s sleeping face in the moonlight for a long time before getting up and covering her neck with the blanket.

Mmm.

As Mercian turned over, brushing away Ruan’s hand at his touch, Ruan’s expression crumpled.

The dark bruise left on her white forearm.

What is this?

Could it be because of what happened that day?

Remembering Daimond’s figure tightly grasping Mercian’s arm as she approached him in the bookstore and not letting go, a deep killing intent shadowed Ruan’s face.

Crown Prince, how dare you not only spout nonsense about making my wife your mistress, but also leave such marks on my wife’s body.

Don’t worry, wife.

I will thoroughly repay him tenfold for what you’ve suffered.

Ruan carefully tucked the bruised arm back under the blanket lest she catch a cold, then meticulously covered her up to her neck with the blanket, kissed Mercian’s forehead, and then quietly left her room.

Two days later, as planned with Tablo, Ruan pretended to cough up blood, letting everyone know that the poison was relapsing.

In between coughing up blood, seeing Mercian looking at him with pitiful eyes, Ruan’s heart burned many times wanting to tell her the truth, but he couldn’t.

.

.

.

“Is this the medicine?”

As Ruan, who had become even more haggard after coughing up blood, asked Tablo with a pained expression, Cassel nodded and answered.

“Yes, My Lord. According to the elder, if you take this medicine, your heart will stop for 5 days and it will be the same as being dead. After 5 days, if I give you this antidote, you’ll be able to wake up.”

“Are you sure he’ll wake up in 5 days? There won’t be any side effects that prevent him from waking up, right?”

Tablo asked worriedly.

No matter how good the medicine was said to be, since Ruan’s condition wasn’t very good either, it was unavoidable to have some concerns.

“They said not to worry because the dosage was prepared specifically for the Duke.”

“5 days, huh. Then since you’ll be placed in the family tomb, you can come out then. Alright, let’s die tonight then.”

Ruan said as he took the medicine Cassel handed him.

Bang!!

“I thought something was suspicious when you suddenly said you were coughing up blood. A man said to be on the brink of death sitting here perfectly fine. Just what kind of scheme are you plotting!”

With a loud noise, the door opened and Olivia entered.