Diana extended her hand. Her slender wrist looked as if it could snap easily.

“I’m asking for a handshake, Your Grace.”

“What kind of trick is this?”

Diana dropped her pretense and pouted.

“Are you really that suspicious? Are you scared, Duke Schwarz?”

She waved her hand as if to say, ‘come on, take it.’ Despite her whining about her arm hurting, Declan remained motionless with a dubious expression.

Finally, as a hint of doubt crept in, Declan raised his hand, and Diana quickly grasped it.

The faintly wavering curse disappeared through her hand. After absorbing a certain amount, she released Declan’s hand, whose eyes widened in surprise.

“How do you feel? Isn’t your condition better?”

His body indeed felt lighter. It was the same as when Diana had taken his hand in the office. The oppressive weight on his shoulders had lifted.

“Did you just absorb the curse?”

“Yes.”

“So, you’re also removing Roderick’s curse?”

There. It seems he finally believes. Diana gently curled her lips and said,

“Yes. So please don’t say that your son is going to die. I will save him.”

Convinced by her assurance, Declan had no choice but to believe. Indeed, there had been no reports of Roderick having fits since she came to the castle with him.

Ha. Declan let out a cynical laugh and ran his hand over his roughened face.

Hope. It appeared so abruptly. Whether it was true or not would be evident by observing Roderick.

If he dies, it’s the end. But now, there was a glimmer of hope to eliminate the family curse.

“Do you realize what you’ve done, young lady?”

“Um, saving your son?”

As Diana lightly retorted, Declan’s face hardened again as he spoke seriously.

“If what you say is true, it will change the succession dynamics. A discarded piece becomes the ultimate weapon.”

Diana looked at the Duke, surprised. She had thought he disliked Roderick, considering him cursed.

The ultimate weapon. He still didn’t regard him as a person, but at least he acknowledged his value.

“If the curse is lifted, many things will change.”

She understood the implication. Roderick alone was a powerful force. It meant the potential to grow their influence.

Indeed, before her death, the northern military power had halved due to Roderick’s demise.

If the curse is lifted and Roderick fully exerts his strength, the confrontation with the royal family will escalate. That’s what she desired. To face the crown prince in the future, a strong card was necessary.
“I know, Father.”

The return to the formal address narrowed the blue eyes.

“Are you afraid?”

Provoked by his prospective daughter-in-law, Declan let out a loud laugh. ‘Look at this audacious one,’ his eyes seemed to say.

“Roderick will live. I will make it so. So, Father, live long. It’s too early to pass on the head of the family role.”

A flicker of interest appeared in the blue eyes. How did she know?

As years passed, fatigue and frailty hinted at his imminent end.

If the Duke died, the curse would fully pass to the next generation. It would intensify on Roderick, leading to his destruction.

That’s why he was hurrying to prepare Felice as the next head. In other words, Declan was preparing for his death.

Less capable than the eldest but sufficient for the second son to lead the family perfectly.

“Your Grace. The physician is here.”

The sound of knocking was followed by Declan’s permission to enter.

He commanded the elderly physician to be Diana’s personal doctor. The physician bowed without objection to this remarkable appointment.

As Declan prepared to leave with a command to rest, Diana stopped him.

“Father!”

His expression asked if she had more to say, and Diana brightly smiled.

“Can I ask you a favor?”

Her request again astonished those around. Most surprising was that the formidable Duke Schwarz readily agreed to it.

Diana, casually dealing with the formidable Duke, gradually became the center of attention at the castle.

Regularly visiting the Duke’s office, even the servants came to accept it as normal.

All this happened while Roderick was away.

While Diana struggled with pain in Schwarz Castle,

Roderick, burdened with the curse, was in a particularly foul mood.

Leading a select few, he rode day and night to the northwest region.

He had resolved a conflict at the northern border but couldn’t immediately return, and the reason lay there.

Drums sounded, signaling the start of a mock battle. Weapons clashed, and soldiers’ roars echoed between the rocks.

Roderick dismounted his black horse, handing the reins to a subordinate and heading towards a makeshift tent, when a moment occurred.

“Hey, who’s this?”

A brash, fierce voice made Roderick’s indifferent gaze shift to the man emerging from the tent.

His well-trained muscular body and disheveled red hair gave him the raw appearance of a wild beast.

“The Black Reaper of the North graces us with his presence?”

“That ridiculous nickname. Don’t you feel ashamed saying it yourself?”

“What?”

That emotionless face always irked him. The twisted man’s lips curled fiercely.

“Nathan Beatus.”

At the mention of his name, Roderick’s red eyes, filled with killing intent, flickered.