“Should I run away…? No, no. Let’s calm down first.”

Not only did Siegfried capture the Viscount and Viscountess Schmidt, but he was also trying to capture me.

I was surprised by the sudden news, but when I thought about it slowly, I realized there was no need to be afraid.

The place where I am now is the hideout that Princess Veronica found for Ren.

No matter how skilled Siegfried is, it would be difficult for him to find this place.

‘I’m glad I didn’t go home or to the hideout.’

By now, Siegfried’s knights and demons might have already surrounded my house, but it wasn’t a big problem to worry about.

I could just avoid them.

What I was more concerned about was…

In fact, there were many strange things about this incident that appeared in the newsletter.

From the crown princess stabbing her husband in front of everyone the day after the wedding, to revealing during the interrogation that it was an order from her family.

Not a single situation was natural.

Some might think that the entire Viscount Schmidt family had gone mad, but I knew that wasn’t the case.

It must be clear that the series of events were orchestrated by Siegfried.

He must have brainwashed Leonie on the first night and manipulated her as he pleased.

‘I had a feeling this might happen, but as I thought…’

It meant that Leonie had stubbornly refused to wear the necklace I gave her on the first night.

‘I had a feeling it would turn out this way… but it’s still bitter.’

A slight bitterness swirled in my mouth, but I soon shook my head.

The problem wasn’t just that.

“Lady Vivian, are you alright?”

Ren, who noticed my serious expression, looked at me with worried eyes.

“Mmm, I’m fine. Just a bit surprised.”

I waved my hand as if it was nothing, but in fact, I didn’t feel that way.

I was concerned that the Viscount and Viscountess had fallen into Siegfried’s hands.

‘I thought Leonie, as the fiancée, would be one thing, but I didn’t expect him to lay his hands on the Viscount and Viscountess as well.’

Although Siegfried was a demon, it didn’t necessarily mean that he always sought to harm people.

He wanted to methodically invade the human world, and to do so, he didn’t like to waste his energy on unnecessary things.

‘But the fact that he devised a scheme to capture the Viscount and Viscountess… means there must be a reason.’

At that moment, while I was lost in thought, Ren’s face caught my eye.

Suddenly, I remembered something I had learned not long ago.

The person who had urged the original Vivian to kidnap Callys was none other than Viscount Schmidt, my father.

‘…That must be the reason.’

Siegfried may not know gratitude, but he would surely take revenge on his enemies.

He would never forgive the Viscount who had tried to kidnap Callys, his prey.

‘Then the Viscount and Viscountess…’

For a moment, a gruesome scene flashed through my mind.

The image of them dying at the hands of Siegfried in a terrible way.

My head spun and I staggered, but Ren caught me.

“Don’t think bad thoughts, and get some rest first. You don’t look well.”

I nodded slightly and sat down on a chair, closing my eyes.

I earnestly hoped that the scene in my imagination would soon be erased from my mind.

Unlike Vivian’s imagination, in fact, Viscount and Viscountess Schmidt were not dead and were still alive.

Their arms and legs were tied to chairs, and their eyes were covered with blindfolds, but for now, they were unharmed.

They had been abandoned like this for a long time since falling into Siegfried’s hands.

They had no idea how much time had passed in this state. The Viscountess, exhausted from crying and praying for this moment to end, was in a half-collapsed state.

On the other hand, Viscount Schmidt was enduring this moment with unexpected composure.

It would be a lie to say that it wasn’t suffocating and frightening, but the Viscount tried his best to maintain his reason.

The Viscount knew better than anyone, having perpetrated such mischief many times himself.

Trembling with fear was exactly what the person who put them in this situation wanted.

Although his limbs were bound and his vision blocked, he had no intention of succumbing to the other party’s intention to make them submit in this way.

Instead, grasping the situation would be more helpful for survival.

‘It would be nice if I could at least know where we are.’

Since their actions and vision were blocked, the only way for the Viscount or his wife to obtain information was through hearing.

However, no matter how hard they listened, the only sound was breathing, and they could only tell that the couple was in the same space.

Viscount Schmidt calmly organized his thoughts.

In fact, at first, he also couldn’t accept reality like his wife.

He thought he might be having a vivid nightmare.

That was because it was unthinkable for Leonie to attack the prince at the banquet.

No matter how much he thought about it, it was an absurd thing to happen.

The Viscount had watched Leonie for a long time.

His daughter was kind and smart. She would never voluntarily engage in such a suicidal act.

Moreover, to make matters worse, she falsely claimed that the Schmidt family had urged her to take such action.

This was not the Leonie he knew.

Until the day before, Leonie had been happy to start her life at the imperial palace. It was impossible for her mind to change in a day or two…

‘It must be someone’s scheme.’

His hypothesis was that someone had threatened her and forced her to have no choice but to do so.

And the culprit… was most likely Prince Siegfried.

Because he would be the one to benefit from this incident.

The Viscount was already almost certain that his hypothesis was correct.

It was essentially a circumstantial speculation, but in most cases, that intuition tended to fit best.

So he was waiting. For the moment when he could confirm the truth.

And that opportunity came soon.

Boom.

There was a heavy sound, like a heavy iron door opening.

Upon hearing the sound, the Viscount raised his lowered head.

It felt as if light was faintly seeping through the gap in the blindfold he was wearing.

Then, a familiar voice was immediately heard.

“How have you been, Viscount Schmidt? Hmm, you look more intact than I expected. As for your wife… fortunately, she hasn’t fainted.”

As soon as he heard Siegfried’s voice, the Viscount was convinced.

As expected, the real culprit was none other than the prince.

It was because of his excessively casual and arrogant attitude for someone who had been betrayed by his wife just a day after the wedding.

“What exactly is your purpose?”

Now that the identity of the perpetrator was confirmed, he wanted to know the reason. The Viscount asked the prince outright.

Siegfried pondered for a moment, making a thoughtful sound, and then opened his mouth.

However, the words that came out of his mouth were not the answer the Viscount wanted.

“It’s simple. I have a personality that repays grudges doubly.”

At that moment, Siegfried, who had approached right in front of the Viscount without him noticing, removed the Viscount’s blindfold.

In the Viscount’s vision, which had suddenly brightened, he caught sight of the prince exuding an eerie aura.

The Viscount swallowed his saliva and asked again.

“What grudge do you hold against me, Your Highness? Aren’t we in a cooperative relationship?”

Siegfried shrugged his shoulders once and then removed the blindfold from the Viscountess.

“I thought about it specially for you. What would be the most hellish punishment for you?”

“…”

“Then I finally realized it. The fact that even trash like you, in any case, cherishes your children as a parent.”

“What does punishment have to do with that…?”

In response to Viscount Schmidt’s question, Siegfried burst into laughter. The evil smile hanging on the corners of his mouth, as if amused, exuded a strong sense of intimidation.

“Wouldn’t it be the most excellent punishment if you were to die painfully over several days at the hands of the daughter you love so much?”

The Viscount raised his voice, exploding with anger.

“Don’t say such nonsense! Even if you order her, there’s no way my daughter would do such a thing…!”

“Well, why don’t you and your wife personally verify from now on whether that’s really the case?”

The moment the prince finished speaking, a figure entered through the door.

Leonie, his lovely daughter who he wouldn’t even mind putting in his eyes.

She approached with an eerie gait, like a puppet on a string.

Each movement of her joints was somehow unnatural.

“Leonie…! Are you alright?!”

Despite the cry filled with worry, strangely, Leonie gave no answer.

That wasn’t all. Her eyes, devoid of light, reminded one of an animal carcass.

Sensing the abnormality, the Viscount and Viscountess continued to call out their daughter’s name.

However, it seemed that Leonie couldn’t even hear their voices. She only followed Siegfried’s orders.

“Miss Leonie, begin now.”

Leonie, who picked up the dagger handed by Siegfried, slowly approached her parents with an expressionless face.

A chilling light was reflected along the surface of the well-sharpened blade.

Leonie’s soul, watching her own figure moving according to the demon’s will, prayed for her legs approaching her parents to stop.

However, she had long since lost control over her body.

And…

From that night onward, screams that sounded like shrieks continued for days without end in a secret place within the imperial palace.

Leonie’s father and mother begged their daughter thousands of times to stop.

Leonie, their daughter, also wished for this, but there was no solution.

Neither Viscount Schmidt, nor the Viscountess, nor Leonie’s soul.

The situation that none of the three family members wanted continued endlessly. Just as the demon intended.

And the day when all of this finally stopped.

It was reported that three corpses, difficult to identify, were taken out of Siegfried’s palace.