The sound of her pounding heart seemed to echo in her ears.

She clenched her slightly parted lips, fearing her heart might leap out, causing heat to rush to her eyes.

This isn’t right. Why are you tempting me? Diana’s face flushed so deeply it felt like it might burst.

She didn’t know she was this weak to such a handsome face. Even her brothers were quite good-looking.

Her eldest brother was none other than the main villain of this world.

But was it fair for a man described in a single line to be as alluring as the protagonists of the narrative?

Tears involuntarily welled up in her eyes.

“I feel like I’m going to burst, Diana.”

What’s going to burst?

For a moment, an indecent thought flashed through her mind.

It was because the atmosphere surrounding him was sensual enough to captivate a person. Her face reddened even more.

“You, you’ve omitted the subject!”

She really is about to burst. Her face, that is.

Pfft. A laugh escaped without her realizing. How amusing.

One moment he wanted to squeeze and burst her, the next he wondered what it would be like to gently tap and make her ring. He was curious.

A new emotion invaded him once again.

He decided to act honestly.

He gazed endlessly at the sleeping woman, thinking.

How should he treat her, who had silently taken a step into his world?

To him, unfamiliarity had always been nothing but unpleasant. The fact that this unpleasantness had somehow become not so bad seemed insane even to himself.

That’s how comfortable the time and space spent with her had become.

He had lived suppressing his desires that boiled with a thirst for blood.

A terrible curse drives people mad. The most mind-gnawing thing was the specter.

The family curse prevents the cursed from escaping the specters of the cursed. It makes them endlessly wander the past. Because of this, he severely disliked touching anything with his bare hands.

As if the shock of being covered in his mother’s blood as a child was etched into his very bones.

Diana easily freed him from that past he had accepted as natural.

Because she vibrantly showed him every moment that she was different from that woman. She didn’t give him time to think about the past.

Who could have imagined that he would be able to touch a person with his bare hands?

Although it was limited to her, the warmth that reached his bare hands wasn’t unpleasant.

Perhaps he could survive this insufferable curse.

He tries to grasp, not ignore, the sensation rising from the depths of his heart.

As this stirring becomes clearer, whatever lies at its end, he won’t let it go. Amidst the unfamiliar emotions suddenly blooming, he thus sorted out his feelings.

A madness different from the curse flickered in his eyes, like a beast guarding its territory.

“Ah, right. Rodrick.”

Feeling the touch on her cheek, Diana suddenly remembered slapping Rodrick hard before she fainted.

“Did it hurt a lot? I hit you to snap you out of it.”

Look who’s talking. This woman thought nothing of being cut by a sword.

Was she fearless? Or insensitive? To be insensitive, Diana disliked pain.

“Did it not hurt you?”

The last words she uttered before fainting were that it hurt.

Rodrick released her hand and rubbed his thumb around where the cut had been on her neck.

Beneath the smooth skin, now without a trace of a wound thanks to the priest’s healing, blue veins were visible.

The sight was incomparably fragile.

“…Um, I think it did hurt.”

The pain right before death had been so great that the pain before fainting was quickly forgotten.

The present was more important than such pain. As long as it didn’t hurt now, it was fine.

She smiled sweetly, her eyes crinkling with pleasure.

“I don’t remember well.”

His gaze deepened at her smile, which seemed to comfort him with an ‘It’s okay.’

He couldn’t take his eyes off her faintly shining smile.

It’s amusing. What is it about this small, delicate woman?

That she numbs his thoughts and makes desire rise from his toes to the crown of his head, he doesn’t know.

Instinct takes the lead. Thirst wells up. His body reacts before reason.

A deep shadow fell over her face. Her long eyelashes fluttered at the face drawing ever closer.

“Absorb my curse.”

His voice broke hoarsely.

“…Diana.”

“…”

“I feel numb to my fingertips. I think I’m going crazy.”

“That doesn’t seem to be because of the curse…”

Diana couldn’t finish her sentence as his lips fell like flower petals with a soft touch.

“Your illness. The stronger the skinship, the better, right?”

Touch. The kisses continued, briefly separating as if seeking permission before joining again.

“Do you dislike it?”

His voice, carrying a heated passion, caressed her ear.

Her pink eyes grew hazy, as if intoxicated by his scent.

It wasn’t just Rodrick whose thoughts were numbed. Although it was an extremely impulsive choice, she didn’t dislike it.

“I don’t dislike it.”

Wrapped in the heat he emitted, her sense of reality disappeared.

“I like it, Rodrick.”

It seemed it would be alright somehow. His lips were so sweet that she wanted to taste them more.

At that brief permission, lips filled with intense desire approached roughly. It plunged in dizzily, as if to devour all of her.

With the passionate movement, there was no longer any bitter taste.

“That one looks good.”

She pointed to the dress with the most elegant design for the maids.

The most surprising thing for Diana when she got up was the dressing room of the guest room filled with dresses and all sorts of jewels.

Everything fit perfectly as if she had been measured for them herself.

She closed her eyes and surrendered herself. The maids’ expert hands quickly adorned her.

Knock knock. The neat knocking sound was heard when the finishing touches were being made.

“Come in.”

The door to the guest room, which had been off-limits for a while, opened.

The person who entered with a precise movement was the head butler, who was no less than the real power in this castle.

The old man with his white hair slicked back exuded an aura that couldn’t be taken lightly. He looked more like a knight than a butler.

“You called for me, miss.”

“Yes. How did it go?”

The head butler, accustomed to getting straight to the point while working for the Schwartz family, calmly replied.

“You ordered him to be brought, miss.”

Diana rose from her seat, smiling in response. Though she didn’t show it, she was quite nervous right now.

Even though she had Rodrick’s permission, the actual master of the house was the duke.

She was a woman who knew etiquette. She had to meet the duke in person and request his patronage.

To survey the situation in the capital, she inevitably needed to borrow the duke’s power.

Walking down the heavily silent corridor without a sound, Diana felt like she was going to meet the final boss.

Standing in front of the door that exuded an intimidating aura, the head butler turned back and questioned her with his eyes behind his rimless glasses.

‘Are you ready to enter?’

Sssup. Taking a deep breath, she composed her nervous expression and put on a haughty face.

The butler’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sudden change in atmosphere.

He had heard that she was a princess famous for not setting foot in social circles.

Wasn’t there talk even among commoners joking about how flawed a princess who never left her mansion would be?

The young lady before his eyes now was not the flawed, unsightly noble they spoke of.

She had the demeanor befitting the sister of the future crown princess, known as the flower of high society. Indeed, baseless rumors were not to be trusted.

Her pink eyes shone calmly beneath slightly upturned eyes.

The head butler, snapping back to his senses at her gaze, knocked on the door.

“Your Grace, Lady Beatus has arrived.”

“Oh, sister-in-law!”

As the head butler was knocking, Felice approached happily from the side.

He seemed to have business in the office, carrying a stack of documents under his arm.

“Why did you come here alone? Where’s my brother?”

Rodrick had left to reorganize the knights. For some reason, he was reluctant for her to meet his father. She was sneaking in after he had interfered several times.

“Come in.”

As the office door opened, Diana answered Felice with a slight smile and entered.

Felice quickly followed behind Diana.

Scratch— Scratch—

Despite the many people in the spacious room – aides and servants – only the sound of quill pens scratching paper filled the office.

Already several minutes had passed. The duke, moving his hand amidst piles of documents, said nothing.

Was this a punishment? It was rude to a guest. Ahem. Felice cleared his throat, watching the duke’s reaction.

The quill pen that seemed unlikely to stop suddenly halted. The duke raised his gaze to Diana, then turned to his son.

Though the middle-aged duke had retired from the battlefield, his eyes were still sharp.

Felice swallowed dryly at that keen gaze. Yet he maintained a smile on his face.

“Father. Sister-in-law has just woken up and is still weak.”

At the implicit question of whether he would keep her standing like this, the duke looked at Diana askance, as if measuring her. It was just like Rodrick.

“Princess.”

Declan Schwartz, the head of the Schwartz family boasting middle-aged charm, had a weighty voice that could press down on people.

The arrogant eyes of one standing at the pinnacle looked down at her as if testing.

Diana moved calmly like flowing water, not yielding to that gaze.

“Greetings, Your Grace. Diana Beatus pays her respects.”

She placed a hand on her chest, raised the hem of her dress with the other, bent her knees, and bowed her head. That graceful figure was flawless.

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“I don’t remember inviting the princess.”

It must be those useless sons of mine stirring up unnecessary trouble. I gave no permission. He seemed to be saying exactly that.

“I believe allowing me to stay in the castle was tantamount to an invitation.”

“…”

His eyes said, ‘So? If you have something to say, say it quickly and get out.’ Wow, this father and son are really alike.

Though his light sky-blue hair was the same as Felice’s, his deep blue eyes were identical to Rodrick’s. Diana drew courage from that familiarity.

“Your Grace. I beg your forgiveness in advance for my rudeness.”

“…”

“What? What do you mean, sister-in-law?”

After exhaling a deep breath, she stepped forward boldly.

“Father.”

She approached swiftly and slammed her hand on the mahogany desk with a bang.

“Please give me your son!”

The duke merely looked at her with an expressionless face. The shock came from those around them.

She was making up for the missed proposal like this. Her lips curled up in satisfaction. She had wanted to do something like this.

‘She’s crazy.’ Such a vulgar exclamation escaped from among the aides.

A moment later, the duke’s eyebrow rose crookedly. Even this expression was exactly like Rodrick’s.