“What on earth is this…?”

I asked in confusion, looking alternately at the restraints on my wrists and Leonie.

“Is that all you have to say? Why don’t you answer my question?”

“What, are you saying I’m the culprit in that case? Do you think that makes any sense?”

Though I was trying to evade somehow, my mind was so muddled I felt like going crazy.

How on earth did she come to the conclusion that I was the culprit? And Leonie of all people?

Plus, what’s with these restraints…

Suddenly, I remembered who Leonie’s fiancé was.

‘It must be Siegfried. He must have ordered Leonie to capture me.’

But the timing was strange.

I had certainly gotten rid of all evidence related to the kidnapping case, so how did they realize I was the culprit now?

Even Princess Veronica suspected me, but she couldn’t arrest me due to lack of evidence.

As I was organizing my thoughts, Leonie spoke up.

“You know a man named James Hibalt? He’s apparently a victim of yours, and he witnessed you. Well, it seems there’s plenty of other evidence too. So there’s no use denying it.”

No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t recall a man by that name. That’s when I realized.

‘They fabricated false evidence.’

Right, come to think of it, the opponent was a demon.

And not just any demon, but the king of demons no less.

For him, fabricating false evidence in violation of the law would be no big deal.

‘But… why?’

I may be an illegitimate child, but I’m still related to his fiancée’s family.

If I were to be arrested as a criminal, it would clearly tarnish the reputation of the Schmidt family. It would harm Siegfried himself too.

Does he have a reason to arrest me that’s worth enduring such negative impacts?

There was one thing that bothered me.

That demon we lost in the Black Wood Forest.

Perhaps that demon reported about me and Dietrich.

‘Even so, this situation is unnatural.’

Why go through the trouble of using Leonie like this? He could just quietly send an assassin after me.

‘Or am I wrong? Am I thinking about this incorrectly? Argh, I don’t know. I don’t know anything.’

Perhaps the confusion showed plainly on my face, as Leonie spoke in a taunting manner.

“Looks like you’re racking your brain trying to figure out how to escape… Give up on such thoughts.”

“Escape? That won’t happen. Because I’m not the culprit.”

“Wow, you’re really being shameless. I’m already curious if you’ll maintain this attitude in court.”

Leonie lightly mocked me and then dragged me outside. I squinted at the dazzling sunlight.

“Enjoy this moment. It might be the last sun you ever see, sister.”

“…”

Leonie’s words were right.

If I end up in prison like this, I’ll never be able to come out again.

The serial handsome man kidnapping case was a huge incident that shook the empire. If framed as the culprit, I would receive a heavy sentence.

Moreover, since Siegfried would have prepared plenty of evidence that I was the culprit, it didn’t seem easy to get out of this.

‘…Escaping now is the best option.’

It was obvious that if I fled from here, I’d become a fugitive on the run, but no matter how much I thought about it, that seemed like the best choice and future.

‘Let’s use my ability to break these restraints and run away.’

I’ve already carried out countless handsome man kidnappings. I was confident in escaping too.

But… what’s this?

My ability wasn’t working.

Something was strange. This had never happened before, not even once.

I tried to activate my ability once more. Again, there was no change.

‘This can’t be happening…!’

Noticing my agitation, Leonie approached and whispered in my ear.

“Those restraints were specially prepared by His Highness the Prince. So that the great handsome man kidnapper can never escape.”

As I looked down, I noticed the unique shape of the restraints.

I had thought they looked unusual, but did this mean they were blocking my ability?

‘This can’t be. Am I really going to be arrested like this?’

There were still so many things I hadn’t resolved. This couldn’t happen.

Belatedly realizing the situation, my whole body froze.

Leonie merely smiled at me, a smile brighter than the sunlight.

It was the happiest-looking smile I had ever seen on her face.

There was quite a distance from the Gerald Information Guild headquarters to Vivian’s house.

Ren was doing his best to get to her house, but there were physical limits.

The entire time he was moving, he prayed from the depths of his heart. Please let Vivian be safe.

He was more desperate than ever before.

Because he had personally experienced just how evil Siegfried, who was targeting her, was.

It was just as Vivian’s house was finally coming into view. He saw a carriage parked nearby.

‘Am I too late? No, not yet. It’s not too late.’

Several people were descending the stairs of the house.

Leonie was at the forefront, and the knights following behind were restraining and dragging Vivian.

He had to rescue her immediately.

Just as he was about to bring out his shadow to attack everyone restraining Vivian,

Ren was bounced back as if he had hit something in midair.

It was as if an invisible wall had been erected right in front of him.

Sensing something strange, he tried to pass through the barrier using his shadow, but even the shadow was blocked.

He urgently turned on the communication device and called out to Vivian.

“Can you hear me? Lady Vivian, Lady Vivian!”

It seemed even the communication device wasn’t working.

He desperately called out to her again. Nothing changed.

No, this couldn’t be happening. This was dangerous.

He had already experienced hell during the short time he was separated from her.

No one could take Vivian away from him anymore.

Ren, who had suddenly become calm, quickly assessed the situation.

‘Is it magic? No, that’s not it. It’s different from ordinary magic somehow.’

When he reached out his hand forward, he could feel the wall. A sticky, gloomy energy seeped in through his hand.

A somehow familiar sensation.

Similar to the energy he had felt from Siegfried in the past.

Ren realized in an instant. That wall was created by a demon.

If the caster was a demon, the method of dealing with it was more or less set.

‘Find the demon.’

His shadows split into dozens at once and spread out in all directions.

Not long after, one of the dispersed shadows sent a signal.

It meant it had found the demon.

He moved without hesitation to where the demon was said to be.

He recalled Vivian earnestly pleading with him not to think about confronting demons directly because they were dangerous, but such things were of no importance now.

The demon seemed to be hiding inside a nearby building. It was a place where people had stopped coming since the owner had recently changed.

What caught Ren’s eye as he charged into the building as if about to demolish it was a bizarre creature.

Instead of hair, it had five horns, and its lower body was closer to the shape of a horse than a human.

The sclera of its eyes was filled entirely with black, creating an eerie atmosphere.

The thick dark energy transmitted through the air proved it was a powerful demon, but Ren didn’t care.

He brought out his shadow. Soon after, a vast amount of killing intent flowed from Ren.

The demon, Naberius, was quite taken aback when a human suddenly barged in.

Today, his mission was to cast a special barrier spell on a human designated by the king, Belial.

Naberius had the unique ability to cast barriers on designated objects or creatures to prevent others from approaching.

Within a certain range, he could prevent people or powers he hadn’t designated from entering the barrier.

Since he couldn’t use the spell on himself, it wasn’t particularly suitable for combat, but it was quite useful.

Especially when doing covert operations that shouldn’t be interfered with by others.

So he often received orders from Belial to cross over from the demon realm to the human world to set up barriers.

But this was a first in all the numerous missions he had carried out so far.

‘A human dares to ambush me without knowing their place.’

Naberius was quite weak when it came to combat, so he was often called the weakest by his comrades.

Still, no matter how weak he might be, he was a proper high-ranking demon.

He was not an entity that humans could contend with.

Naberius’s lips split up to his ears, forming an arc.

Blood flowed as his skin split, but he didn’t mind. It was a habit that emerged when he got excited.

He raised his front legs high to trample the human running towards him.

The scene of the human being cruelly crushed by his swift movement was already vivid in his mind.

…That’s how it should have been.

Suddenly, a black mass pounced on him. A moment later, blood gushed out like a fountain from all over his body.

Naberius suddenly lost his balance. Now that he looked, the rear part of his lower body had been cut off.

It was natural for him to lose balance, as he who had been standing on four legs was now standing on two.

Bang!

He eventually fell to the ground with a loud noise.

Before he knew it, he was subdued by the human.

“Release Lady Vivian immediately.”

Naberius attempted to regenerate to escape from the human’s grasp, but it didn’t work as he wished.

His entire body was wrapped in an unidentified black mass.

‘What on earth is this…’

This couldn’t be happening. He was a proud high-ranking demon.

As time passed, pain began to surge. Eventually, the human male thrust his fist into his abdomen.

“Release the barrier, I said.”

“Kyahahahaha!”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd situation.

He felt like he was going crazy. He wasn’t afraid of dying, but the shame of being defeated by a human was eating away at his mind.

Naberius said with a faint smile.

“I refuse.”

“Then I have no choice but to kill you.”

The human, without changing his expression, raised his weapon just like that.

Naberius giggled and mocked the human once again.

“Killing me won’t do any good. That’s the special aspect of my unique ability.”

“…”

The human male’s face suddenly crumpled. The demon was quite satisfied with the expression distorted with anger.

Normally, barriers would be lifted when the caster died. However, Naberius’s was an exception.

His spell used a special medium, and the barrier could only be removed by destroying that medium.

‘And that’s in the king’s hands now. He said he’d remove it after putting the human woman in prison.’

Of course, there was no need to tell the human about this fact.

The white pupils swept over Ren’s face, filled with derision.

“You can’t save that woman with your power anyway.”

The shadow, which had turned sharp like a fang, pierced Naberius’s heart.

“Kuhek.”

The demon groaned and coughed up blood.

‘I can’t die alone like this.’

Naberius’s choice, sensing his impending death, was truly demonic.

He used his last remaining strength to activate a device hidden in his bosom.

It was a device that would instantly transport him to the portal he used when coming to the human world.

‘My subordinates should be near the portal.’

Light mixed with various colors enveloped Naberius and Ren. The demon smiled confidently.

“Let’s see how well you survive.”

With those words as his last, Naberius’s eyes closed. It was the demon’s final words.

Crunch, crunch.

Ren’s shadow swallowed the demon whole. A sound like butchering an animal filled the space.

Looking at the demon’s corpse, Ren dusted off his hands. Then he belatedly sensed something strange.

This wasn’t the abandoned building he had been in until just now.

In a space filled with pitch-black darkness, dozens of eyes glowed.

Several demons suddenly rushed towards Ren.