In a space filled with tranquil silence, the sound of a woman’s soft snoring gently flowed. Confirming that she was in deep sleep, he opened his mouth.

“Didn’t you say direct contact would help?”

But why are you interfering? Rodrick glared at Noel, who was trying to sleep between them.

Lying on his side with his head propped on his hand, Rodrick reached out to hold Diana’s hand.

Smack. A small hand swatted his arm away in the middle.

“You’re already close enough. You’re trying to get unnecessarily close. Hmph!”

Mmm. Diana, who had been sleeping soundly, stirred, and the two men shut their mouths.

Worried that Diana might wake up, they spoke in very low whispers.

“You said I should hold her while sleeping, so I held her in my arms until she woke up.”

It was when Diana had absorbed Rodrick’s rampaging curse in the Black Forest.

When she didn’t wake up after fainting, it was Noel who told him to hold her while sleeping.

So as soon as Diana opened her eyes, she saw his naked body. But that was an emergency.

“That was different from now! Why do you keep sticking to our sister?”

As Diana’s brow twitched, Rodrick got up from his spot.

He grabbed Noel by the scruff of his neck and lifted him, crossing the room. Noel struggled, but to no avail. As the door suddenly opened, Daren urgently asked,

“What’s the matter?”

“Get rid of this.”

“Pardon?”

“Ack! I’m not going!”

Noel lowered his voice in protest, lest Diana wake up. Daren, though startled, grabbed the child’s armpits tightly so as not to let go of Noel, whom Rodrick was handing over.

“It’s adult time. Kids, go.”

The door closed without a sound. Noel glared at the closed door, his cheeks puffed out.

Adult time. Words that evoked naughty imaginations. Daren’s face turned red as he cleared his throat, hiding his embarrassment with a cough and moving away from the corridor.

[This is the timeline separator] [@#%!@#!]

A man’s voice mumbled.

Beneath long, settled eyelashes, pink eyes opened. A dark shadow flickered before her eyes.

Diana, who had been squinting her eyes as her vision was unfocused, gulped.

[@#%!@#!]

A man-shaped shadow was in front of her.

As Diana stepped back, thud− with the sensation of her body floating, something touched her back. Looking back, there was a portrait.

The portrait of the woman in the passage she had entered with Noel. But the frame was empty.

[@#%!@#!]

“Wh-what…”

The shadow grabbed her wrist. Unable to break free, she looked down at the seized wrist.

As the shadow’s hand seemed to scatter in black, it began to take on substance.

Under the man’s thick fingers, there was a bracelet on her wrist that she had never seen before. Even her clothing was not her own.

Diana was wearing the clothes the woman in the portrait had been wearing. What is happening? Before she could grasp the situation, the man captured her gaze.

[Beatus.]

The shadow had transformed into a complete man’s appearance. He, too, was dressed in clothing from several generations ago.

“……”

Diana could not answer. The man holding Diana was smiling as if he was about to cry. That appearance resembled Rodrick.

Blue eyes with a bluish tinge to the black hair. Tall stature and a sturdy body. The pale yet sharp face also looked similar.

[Beatus. I’ve been waiting.]

She was indeed Beatus. But she could tell that she was not the person this man was looking for.

[I… I’m so guilty towards you…]

Diana gulped again at the sight of the man kneeling and shedding tears pitifully. She wanted to back away, but a solid wall blocked her.

“Uh, um.”

The man grabbed the hem of her skirt and raised his head, looking up at her with a forlorn expression.

[I accepted your curse.]

What?

[This is proof that I will be with you, right? So… I received the curse of madness.]

Her heart constricted and she felt suffocated.

[Did I do well?]

The man’s face, filled with teardrops, was full of joy.

“……”

[Angela.]

An obsessive madness that bordered on madness was thickly settled. The man’s blue eyes felt eerie.

[Angela Beatus. My love.]

Flash. Her eyes opened.

“Diana!”

Huff− Gasp− She was breathing heavily as if she were struggling in water, but she regained stability thanks to a strong hand.

Drenched in cold sweat, she blankly looked at Rodrick.

The touch that peeled the strands of hair stuck to her face was meticulous. She closed her eyes for a moment at that gentle touch and caught her breath.

“Diana. Did you have a nightmare?”

“A man.”

Her throat was constricted and her voice didn’t come out.

“A man?”

“I think a man grabbed me and cried.”

She couldn’t remember. It seemed like a man had appeared, but she couldn’t remember what he had said, so Diana grabbed her head.

It felt like she had heard something important. Her chest felt stuffy.

“You were by my side the whole time, right?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, my energy must have been drained.”

Had she ever had a dream that made her break out in a cold sweat? I think I need to take care of my health.

“Diana. Shall we wash up first? I’ll draw a bath. Or I’ll bring a wet towel.”

Rodrick, who was waiting for an answer, didn’t even glance at the cord to call the maid.

As if he would do everything himself, he was waiting for her answer.

“You’re not going to bring it yourself, are you?”

“Then?”

“Why bother when there are maids?”

He swept her sweaty forehead with his bare hands, as if he had a germophobia.

“Who took care of you while you were asleep?”

He shrugged his shoulders as if this much was nothing. Diana’s mouth gradually opened and froze.

No, so when I woke up, my body was fluffy because this man had wiped it?!

“…Pervert.”

“What?”

“How can you touch a sleeping woman?!”

Diana, who spoke freshly, crossed her arms to cover her chest. The corner of Rodrick’s mouth went up diagonally.

This woman. Who was the one who threw herself at me first and hugged me tightly? Is this the reaction for just wiping her body?

Rodrick lightly headbutted her forehead, not enough to hurt.

“You touch me roughly even when you’re not sleeping, but I can’t?”

“W-well, I have nothing to say when you put it like that.”

“Don’t worry. I had the maids wipe the important parts and change your underwear.”

How lewd that sounded.

“Although my touch did reach every nook and cranny of your intimate mouth.”

At the low whisper, Diana blushed up to her neck.

Rodrick’s eyes deepened as he watched it. The milky white skin had ripened just right, making him want to burst it open and eat it.

His fingertips tingling again, he grabbed Diana’s soft cheek.

“Whaa ih ih? (What is it?)”

To resist his desire, Rodrick kneaded her soft cheek and let go.

“I’ll bring a wet towel.”

His voice sounded as if he was holding back something. As Diana nodded, he hurriedly disappeared into the bathroom.

It was long after her cold sweat had dried up that Rodrick emerged from the bathroom.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Did she really come back from rolling around on the battlefield? Is that how a noble lady should be?”

The word “vulgar” reached her ears after she left Rodrick’s bedroom.

How strange. Even though they must have found out she was a Beatus because of Nathan, their attitude hadn’t changed much.

“Sister.”

Noel, who had come to greet her, held her hand tightly. At Noel’s call, she looked down and Noel said with a bright smile,

“Shall I kill them?”

Perhaps because he wasn’t using magic, Noel, whose body had shrunk to the size of a 5-year-old, had an eerie glint in his eyes. Yes, you could kill them in one blow.

“No, why bother.”

At her indifferent reaction, Noel looked crestfallen. He must have thought he could be of help to her. Diana stroked the child’s gray hair.

“Noel, listen carefully. It’s a loss to deal with such gossiping mouths one by one.”

“Really?”

“Either create a bigger commotion to cover up the rumors.”

The pink eyes narrowed.

“Or deal with the ringleader who’s creating the commotion.”

I see. Noel nodded his head with sparkling eyes.

“So, that unpleasant energy. It’s a curse, right?”

“Yes, but it’s a bit different from the one you absorbed from that man’s body.”

With Noel’s help, Diana, who had been training to read mana, was now able to fully see even the mana that had been too faint to see before.

She could now read the red mana that spread out like threads in all directions. The mana was flowing in the form of a curse.

“That looks like a curse of fascination.”

“Huh?”

“It makes you only listen to the person you like, and really hate the people the person you like dislikes.”

Yes, if that was the case, their behavior made sense.

But how did Noel know? Do you become all-knowing when you become a mage?

Questions about the child kept creeping up. It would be nice if he could tell me before I asked. Noel.

“Sister? What’s wrong?”

Noel tugged at her hand and shook her arm, wondering if it was strange to stare blankly at her.

“Huh? No. Our Noel is just so cute.”

Then the child bowed his head with a bright smile.

“Then how do we get rid of that?”

She had already gotten rid of the fragrance sachet the maid had been carrying. Yet the energy that spread like a multiplication ensnared the servants throughout the castle.

“Either get rid of the person who wished for the curse, or get rid of the medium.”

“The medium, like the stone pieces in that fragrance sachet?”

“Yes, they probably have something bigger than that.”

The culprit pointed to by the current situation was one. Thinking of the obvious culprit, Diana nodded.

Where on earth did they hide the medium? We need to get rid of this ominous energy quickly. Diana was worried that the ominous energy flowing throughout the castle would affect Rodrick.

However, before she could take action, the erupting situation exploded in an unexpected place.

[This is the timeline separator]

It was the day of the joint training between the 1st and 2nd Knight Divisions. It was one of the few opportunities for the two groups, who were usually at odds with each other, to fight openly.

However, their fight was pushed back by an uninvited guest who barged in as he pleased.

“Aah! Please go easy on me!”

“Rodrick’s brother, don’t overreact. I can see you’re holding back your strength and dodging!”

It was Felice, who was dodging while making crying noises, and Nathan, who was swinging a huge sword around like a ruffian.

Felice, who had been too busy with his duties as the heir to come down to the training ground, was aptly dodging and countering Nathan’s sword.

The young master who would become the duke in the future and Nathan’s sword, which was renowned on the battlefield.

Half were watching them with fascination, and the other half were already lying sprawled out and resting after training.

And those who were away from the crowd were gulping down water from water skins in the shade of a tree.

“Did you hear that? The lady we were escorting, she’s apparently that Nathan’s sister?”

“What? That woman is a Beatus?”

“She’s famous in the capital, you know. The youngest who’s said to be secluded in the mansion.”

“Wow, I thought the youngest would look very gloomy.”

Those who had been on guard duty in turns whispered quietly, keeping an eye on Nathan.

“She looks like a seductress just by her appearance.”

“Ha, so that’s why she’s even having an affair with someone like Deputy Commander Daren who puts on airs?”

“If she can boil Commander Rodrick with her body, that’s pretty impressive. Deputy Commander Daren must have been easy, right?”

“Come to think of it, maybe the reason she didn’t come out of the mansion was because she was rolling around with men every day…”

Kwajik−! They could no longer continue their words. Cracks appeared in the huge tree, and thud−! The shattered tree exploded and fell.

With a tremendous shattering sound, the tree they were leaning against shattered and flew away as if it had exploded.

Seated amidst the shattering fragments was Rodrick, exuding a suffocating murderous intent.