Mahanas Mevasa paced around the room, filled with anger.

He had never been hit in his life. It was natural, as he was the noble prince of Leden and heir to the Mevasa royal family.

But Ophelia had injured him twice. Every time he looked in the mirror and saw the scratch on his face, Mahanas trembled with rage.

That crazy wench.

When his sister suddenly grabbed an expensive porcelain vase made in the south during their conversation, Mahanas saw how her eyes shone bright blue.

Was she really out of her mind?

She had always been strange. Ever since that worm-like merchant’s son, whose name he could barely remember now, died, his sister seemed broken somehow. She would lie like a corpse, then suddenly scream and smash everything around her.

Seeing how the Grand King kept such a mad woman by his side, Mahanas thought he must be quite a simple man – only able to see one side of a person – but it turned out that man wasn’t in his right mind either.

Mahanas couldn’t understand what the Grand King had done, no matter how much he thought about it. Just because he raised his voice a little at his sister, he threw him?

The man’s touch was so rough that Mahanas lost consciousness right away. And when he opened his eyes, he found himself in this solitary room.

When he woke up in the room without any servants, Mahanas didn’t realize he was confined. But when he was prevented from taking even one step outside the room, he understood his situation.

“Open the door! I must see the Queen now! Do you think you’ll be safe after leaving me in this state? I need to protest to the Grand King!”

But no matter how much he shouted, it was useless. The guards outside the door acted as if they couldn’t hear him.

The only time he could see a human face was when servants brought food. Even that stopped for a while when he threw it, so he had no choice but to eat what was given to avoid starvation.

It was the first humiliation he had experienced in his life, but there was nothing he could do.

Moreover, the treatment was so poor that when the candles in the room all went out, they weren’t replaced. Thanks to that, he had been alone in the dark room since early evening.

Mahanas glared at the door, panting with anger.

“Call the Queen! Tell her your elder brother is calling! Now!”

It was then that the door suddenly opened.

The one who entered the room was not Ophelia, but a tall man. Because his shadow stretched out in front of him, Mahanas didn’t recognize his face at first glance.

But as he came closer, Mahanas saw his bright yellow eyes.

“G-Grand King?”

Clunk. Instead of an answer, the door closed. When he realized he was left alone with the man in the darkness, Mahanas stepped back in fear. But before he could retreat more than a few steps, a strong hand grabbed his chin.

“Prince.”

The man’s low, sunken voice was like ice water poured on his back. Mmph. Mahanas shook his head violently, but that hand, as solid as a rock, didn’t budge.

“If you received money from me, you should have stayed quietly buried in Leden until the Queen touched you.”

It hurt. Mahanas tried to remove the hand squeezing his chin due to the pain from the rough touch. But the more he struggled, the tighter the man’s grip became.

“You dare crawl in here and harm her?”

It was an unfair accusation. Mahanas wanted to protest if he could. Anyone could see that he was the one who had been harmed, not that crazy girl.

To begin with, Mahanas couldn’t understand what the Grand King was saying. He hadn’t even touched a hair on Ophelia’s head. Hadn’t the Grand King burst into the room before that?

But the man didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“If you catch the Queen’s eye one more time, I will personally skin you alive and throw you to the wolves.”

The Grand King didn’t say anything more after that. The man twisted his chin for a moment, then threw him down before leaving the room.

Even after rolling on the floor of the room, Mahanas remained dazed for a while. His legs were weak, and he couldn’t easily stand up. He didn’t know why an old acquaintance who had died at the hands of a beast came to mind at that moment.

Because the pain in his jaw didn’t subside, he sought a doctor, and was told that his jawbone was cracked.

You go so far as to damage my bones? They were both mad, but Mahanas couldn’t protest. Come to think of it, the Lord of Rohos had also said he met with an accident while hunting with his king.

Moreover, the King of Aglante was not in a position where he could dare raise his voice.

Until now, he had been able to treat Ophelia as an equal, using his sister as bait, but now Mahanas knew his situation was not the same as before.

Still, he couldn’t just return after being treated like this, so he gritted his teeth, and his sister came to visit him.

“Elder brother, let’s have a talk.”

His sister’s fair face, who came to him late at night accompanied by a knight, was clean. It was in complete contrast to him, who had a large wound on his forehead and even damaged bones.

Because he wasn’t in the mood to face her, Mahanas was going to tell his sister to get lost. But before he could open his mouth, his sister said with an indifferent expression,

“Didn’t you say you needed money?”

His saliva involuntarily went down at those words. His sister snorted as if she knew he would react that way, then turned her back.

Ophelia took him outside. Despite it being summer, Mahanas shivered due to the cool air characteristic of the north.

His sister, wearing expensive white fox fur, didn’t even blink.

“W-where are we going?”

Although the moon was bright enough that it wasn’t completely dark, he was still scared to walk relying only on the lantern held by the knight in the late night. But Ophelia didn’t respond to him.

When they finally reached the small chair in the garden, Ophelia said,

“Sit down.”

So Mahanas sat down as she told him to. The cold, hard stone touched his buttocks, but somehow he couldn’t refuse.

He actually needed the money too,

Looking at him, Ophelia muttered,

“You’ll be uncomfortable sitting like that.”

Before he could ask what she meant, the knight standing next to her grabbed him by the collar. And Mahanas’s head was dunked into the artificial pond behind the chair.

The fishy-smelling water, plant roots, and organic debris went straight into his esophagus. Mahanas struggled at the dirty and suffocating feeling he had never experienced before. Then the knight pulled him out again.

“What are you-!”

The words didn’t finish. He was dunked into the water again.

Only after repeating the act of dunking him in the water and pulling him out several times, just before he lost consciousness, did the knight let him go. Mahanas sat on the ground, breathing heavily. His head was dizzy, and he had no strength in his body.

When two small silk shoes stopped in front of him, Mahanas looked up and glared at his younger sister looking down at him with blue eyes.

“You, you bitch, really……”

“Hazel.”

Then the knight who had just dunked him in water stuffed something into his mouth. Mahanas wanted to spit it out, but his cracked jaw was too painful to move carelessly.

His younger sister, who was clearly mad, showed no change in her expression.

“Answer my questions with a nod.”

“……”

“I guess you didn’t understand what I said.”

Then the knight took out something he had been carrying at his waist and sprayed it on him. The stench of oil was strong enough to be felt even through his nose, which was half-numb from the water torture he had just endured.

Mmph, umph. Mahanas, whose mouth was gagged, groaned. Watching him, the knight took out a matchbox from his bosom.

Ophelia received the matches from the knight and struck one. With a hiss, a small flame arose.

“Even while you’re dawdling, the match is burning. When it’s all burned up, won’t I drop it because it’s too hot?”

The blue eyes of his sister saying those words reflected the yellow and red flames. Mahanas looked up at that sight with terror-filled eyes.

Confirming what was in his eyes, his sister slightly raised the corner of her cold mouth.

“Now do you feel like answering?”

His wife returned not long after.

When Ophelia entered the bedroom with a tired expression, Idren got up from the bed where he had been sitting and approached her.

“Did the conversation go well?”

And he gathered up the outer garment she had almost taken off. Ophelia answered the man who didn’t even try to hide that he had been waiting,

“I did as planned.”

“The Prince of Leden didn’t harm you, did he?”

“Of course not.”

Mahanas was terrified. His body was shaking so much it was visible even in the dark night.

As she lay down on the bed, led by her husband who had draped her nightgown over her, Ophelia recalled what she had said to Mahanas.

“When you return to your homeland, give me the title of princess.”

A title would be better if she wanted to claim the right of succession to the throne.

“As for the territory that comes with the title… two islands in the western sea should do. I’ll give you money if I’m satisfied with the results.”

Mahanas clearly didn’t want to, but he nodded quickly, probably not wanting to be burned alive.

Ophelia said to her elder brother before blowing out the match that was starting to feel hot,

“And if you mention bride price or anything like that in front of me one more time, I’ll burn you from head to toe, remember that.”

Just as she was about to recall how much her elder brother’s light blue pupils had been shaking when she said that, Idren, lying next to her, grabbed her hand.

“Your hand is cold.”

His expression was quite pitiful as he said that, and Ophelia couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Seeing her like that, Idren’s eyes widened.