“It can’t be. It can’t be possible. Surely Princess Ormia has no blessing! She’s even denied by God!”

A cry of despair echoed through the corridor.

Liam, who had been deliberately holding back until now, strongly deflected the knights’ swords. The momentum changed. The knights began to falter and retreat.

Liam carved the stone wall of the corridor with the tip of his sword. A cold smile appeared on his face.

“Either she hid it because she didn’t want it known.”

Small sparks flew from the sword’s tip, forming a ball of fire.

“Or you just didn’t investigate properly.”

The fireballs increased in number one by one, filling the surroundings.

Even the knights familiar with abilities hesitated and retreated as the number gradually increased.

Some looked back at Duke Bersi, terrified by the searing heat and size. Having served Duke Bersi until now, they recognized how enormous and impressive Liam’s fire ability was.

Even the dukes didn’t use such power unless a royal was present.

“Now there’s no one left with a blessing.”

“Liam Wilboyer!”

“You should experience the despair that the Wilboyers felt. Isn’t that fair?”

The fire slowly rotated, becoming a huge vortex. It shot towards them.

“Aaargh!”

Even Jeffrey, who had no combat experience, could see the clear difference in ability.

Duke Bersi blocked with his water ability, but Wilboyer’s flames were larger and hotter. As death approached, Jeffrey fled. He ran for his life.

His breath rose to the top of his throat, and his lungs felt like they would burst.

He could hear his own heartbeat as he gasped for breath as if it was his last moment of life.

‘Ormia had a blessing?’

It doesn’t make sense.

The royals and dukes of Glishia wouldn’t have verified so carelessly.

They couldn’t have missed someone with a blessing.

Then did Ormia hide it?

‘Why?’

If she had revealed her blessing, the contempt and disregard she had received would have disappeared.

She could have escaped the shameful infamy of being denied by God and lived well, respected.

‘Did she deceive me?’

Why? For what reason?

He was angry.

He felt wronged. The person who could have changed his life was right beside him.

Someone who could have turned his life around and brought him, a non-noble, into the royal family. No, perhaps someone who could have elevated him to a position he never dared to dream of.

Such a person had liked him.

Ormia Beltoa.

The woman who looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes when he first approached and spoke to her.

Although she was cautious and kept her distance at first, Ormia gradually opened her heart to him.

For Jeffrey, it was just social interaction.

It was part of his work to save his family, like flattering Duke Haiman to gain favor.

She was someone to use as a stepping stone for social advancement, but the affection-starved Ormia Beltoa easily fell for him.

When he mentioned the title of viscount, the king granted it, saying to take it and be gone.

Ormia drew a line, saying she was no longer a Beltoa now that she was married.

Although he had expected it, Jeffrey was considerably disappointed that Ormia Beltoa’s value was only that much.

He had agreed to take responsibility for an incompetent royal that everyone avoided, but the reward was less than expected.

Moreover, Ormia clung to him like a half-eaten candy or spilled punch, uncomfortably sticky.

Her clingy longing made Jeffrey uncomfortable.

“My lord, Lord Olan. You were the only one. The only one who liked me.”

Ormia, looking at him shyly.

Meeting her made him feel properly recognized. Her gaze, looking at him as if he were her whole world, gave him confidence.

“Jeffrey.”

But her voice became a burden

“Jeffrey, can’t you stay by my side?”

Her affection suffocated him. It was already overwhelming with just his family, but this felt like it was constricting his body.

He shook her off to prevent her from holding on and turned his back.

He acted more coldly, feeling that if she caught him, if he turned back to look at her, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

Afraid that he might fall in love with Ormia Beltoa.

He didn’t want to accept her, who had no ability, nothing to her name, and was cast out by the royal family, and roll in the dirt together.

But now they say Ormia Beltoa had a blessing.

Jeffrey stopped walking, feeling a pain constricting his chest. He clutched at his heart.

He had to go up.

His mother always praised him as an exceptional child, but he knew better than anyone that he had no ability.

When he told his sister to reduce her spending, she retorted that she needed to dress up to marry well.

The weight of the family he had to take responsibility for was already overwhelming.

As he struggled to feed his family, he didn’t want to add another burden.

“Jeffrey, I want to marry you.”

In that breathless moment, with his heart pounding as if it would burst, Ormia’s faint proposal, uncertain of rejection, came to mind.

When he approached her, he hadn’t thought of marriage. It was just networking, a connection to the royal family, part of business.

But when Ormia proposed, no other thoughts came to mind.

At that moment, his heart beat purely.

Ormia, who desired nothing but affection.

A woman who simply loved Jeffrey Olan as a person.

“Jeffrey?”

At the familiar voice, Jeffrey Olan looked up.

Leticia Beltoa. The king’s illegitimate child and, unlike Ormia, a royal with a blessing.

Though not of legitimate lineage, she was loved by the royal family and nobles, the opposite of Ormia, the woman who could make him perfect.

As if untouched by the empire’s invasion, Leticia stood there, disconnected from the situation where all blessed royals had died.

Wearing a splendid dress, she smiled brightly at Jeffrey.

She was beautiful, as if she had just left a banquet, despite the bleak prison corridor.

It was so out of place that he doubted if he was hallucinating.

“Leticia.”

As he uttered her name gladly, Leticia looked behind Jeffrey and raised the corners of her mouth fully.

“He’s an unnecessary person. Please take care of him.”

As soon as those words ended, something hot pierced through his body from behind and burst out of his chest.

The cold blade of the sword, so fast it wasn’t even stained with blood, erupted from his chest.

“Uh…”

The pain came belatedly.

‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!’

Blood seeped from the wound pierced by the sword.

What is this?

Who stabbed him?

Why was Leticia, who had whispered love and lamented their secret meetings, just smiling as she watched him bleed?

Amidst the questions, Liam Wilboyer’s words came to mind.

“With this, no one with a blessing remains.”

‘Why did he say no one with a blessing remains? Leticia is here.’

As the sword was pulled out, his powerless body fell to the floor with a thud.

Blood gushed from his chest, and his hands and feet grew cold. A groan escaped him from the pain that seemed to tear at his wound.

“Leticia…”

He reached out to Leticia, who stood still watching. He felt something flowing from the corner of his mouth.

‘She won’t like this appearance.’

When he wiped his mouth, blood smeared on the back of his hand.

“Save me, Leticia…”

He barely managed to grab Leticia’s dress. As the dress was pulled, her ankle became visible.

But the flesh, the skin was pitch black.

“How dare you, filth.”

Leticia coldly shook off the hem of her dress and stepped back. Her arm, visible inside the sleeve, was also black.

“You think I dealt with you because you were so great? You worm. If I wasn’t a princess, I wouldn’t have even spoken to the likes of you.”

Leticia spoke with a contemptuous voice. She had been such a kind woman.

“Was it necessary to kill him? He’s just a worm who can’t do anything anyway.”

Liam Wilboyer approached Leticia, stepping over his body. He wiped the bloody blade on the cooling body and sheathed his sword.

Leticia’s cold gaze briefly rested on Jeffrey.

“There’s no need to keep him alive either.”

“If only you hadn’t married Princess Ormia. Then we could have met proudly.”

This wasn’t the Leticia who had cried in his arms, lamenting their cruel fate.

“Always ‘if I do this’, ‘if I do that properly’, ‘if I, if I.’ How annoying! You just kept spouting nonsense about how others would recognize your true worth.

How tiring it was to listen to that. You just ran your mouth without taking action or making any effort. With no ability at all.”

The eyes that had looked at him as if he were the most wonderful and great person in the world were now full of contempt.

“You should have been grateful just to marry a princess. But you greedily coveted me too. Who would take seriously someone who doesn’t even cherish his own wife? A man who cheats once will cheat again, how can I trust that?”

The lips that had whispered love now cursed Jeffrey Olan.

“And to try to attach your family to me, clinging like leeches and just spending money. Why would I feed someone else’s family? I’m not crazy.”

Ormia had always apologized. She had given all her dresses and jewels to his mother and sister.

Jeffrey no longer had the strength to lift his head. His cheek touched the cold stone floor, and he could feel the hot blood draining out moment by moment.

“I’m leaving.”

“Ah, let’s go together, Liam.”

Leticia’s familiar way of speaking to Liam seemed natural.

Their footsteps soon became inaudible, and Jeffrey was left alone in the prison corridor.

His vision blurred.

“Jeffrey.”

Ormia Beltoa’s voice came to mind. She had called his name with a whisper of affection.

‘If I had lived a proper married life…’

What if he had cherished and loved Ormia as his wife?

A life that would end in death by the empire’s invasion anyway. Might that short life have been a little happier?

A wife who took good care of his mother and sister, loved her husband Jeffrey, and considered him the best.

If he could meet her again, if he could marry her again.

If it was a life that would be short anyway.

If he had told his mother she was a burden, told his sister plainly there was no money, and lived happily with Ormia.

“The bride and groom may now seal their vows with a kiss.”

Jeffrey came to his senses at the officiant’s voice. A temple wedding hall full of guests. The king and queen were in attendance, and dukes watched from the guest seats. And in front of him stood the bride wearing a veil.

Her hair was tied up so the color wasn’t visible, and her face couldn’t be seen, but Jeffrey lifted her veil.

He remembered why he had wanted to marry this woman.

Because she loved him, incompetent and full of pretense. She was the only one who loved Jeffrey Olan as he was, without thinking about ability, wealth, or family.

“Ormia.”

Before he could see her face, the illusion crumbled. The wedding and the bride disappeared. Only darkness remained before him.

“Ormia…”

Hot tears flowed.

That was the death of Jeffrey Olan.