Was this truly the ability of a villain who disappeared before the start of the original work?

The fortress-like castle crumbled under the monstrous strength of the man with incredible physical abilities.

“Si-Sister!”

When everyone was frozen in place unable to move, Noel quickly sprang into action.

Noel, who had been sitting on the lap of a knight with a gentlemanly appearance, ran towards her as soon as he saw her.

“Noel!”

Glad to see him, Diana also tried to run over, but Rodrick grabbed her wrist.

Surprised by the sudden action, she looked up at him just as Noel bumped his head against an invisible barrier and fell backwards.

“Uwaah. Sister.”

The collapsed wall was regenerating. Noel got up and pounded on the transparent barrier with his small fists.

“Sister! Sister!”

Those who had been distracted by the child’s pitiful actions snapped to attention when they saw their master.

His blue eyes were cold enough to cut through flesh. The knights swallowed hard.

“Find where it connects to the castle.”

At his brief command, the knights replied in unison.

“Yes sir!”

With the knights’ response, the regenerating wall was fully restored, once again blocking the space between them.

“We’ll have to look for an escape route.”

Diana felt dejected as the momentary hope that had risen crumbled. Such powerful magic.

She nodded, drawing strength from the wrist Rodrick was holding.

“We’ll have to play hide and seek after all, right?”

“Yes. The princess alone.”

Me alone? Blinking in confusion, she bit her inner lip at his next words.

“From now on, we act separately. Princess, you do what you need to do. I’ll look for an escape route on my own.”

Right now she was charged up thanks to Rodrick, but who knew when her magic would suddenly drain again without warning.

It would be fortunate if only the magic drained. The pain was something only those who had experienced it could understand.

Rodrick’s judgment was correct. Moving separately would be more efficient than staying together.

She understood logically, but hesitated to part from him. She feared the pain that would come.

“After keeping me by your side to prevent me from getting hurt.”

“The fog has cleared. At least you won’t fall and get hurt.”

The axe he swung had even cleared away the fog. As the mist filling the entrance hall dissipated, visibility gradually improved.

The only things to watch out for now were teleportation magic circles or traps where monsters might pop out.

“What if we get lost and can’t find each other?”

“I’ll come find you.”

When she looked up at him skeptically, Rodrick, who had been gazing at her indifferently, let out a short sigh and pulled something out from inside his coat.

“Keep this. It has a location tracking spell on it.”

It was a pendant with a deep blue magic stone that resembled his eyes.

Diana quietly received it, and moved her dry lips, debating whether to speak or not.

“Well then.”

As Rodrick turned to leave after saying his piece, Diana hurriedly grabbed him.

“Rodrick!”

He turned back as if asking if she had more to say, and she hesitantly continued.

“Um, before we part, could you give me a tight hug?”

One of his eyebrows raised crookedly, looking displeased.

“No, I don’t mean clinging to you like some pervert. I’m sure many women have clung to a handsome man like you, but I’m not saying this with any indecent intentions.”

Diana’s voice gradually became smaller under his gaze that looked like he might kill someone.

“Sounds indecent to me.”

“What?”

“Just a hug is fine?”

Huh? This easily? Her pink eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected response. Worried he might change his mind, she quickly replied.

“Yes! Just a hug is fine. If it’s unpleasant, even just holding hands is okay.”

As she extended her hand, Rodrick took it and pulled her towards him.

Diana was moved when he opened his broad embrace. She thought he was an iron wall, but he turned out to be a man who could be reasoned with.

Seeing this considerate side of him gave her hope. Since it had come to this, should she try proposing under the guise of a deal?

“Princess.”

Feeling like absorbing even a thick concentration of curses wasn’t enough, she took a deep breath. The heavy masculine scent eased her anxious heart.

“Nothing else to say?”

“About what?”

As she blinked, pondering if she had forgotten something, she belatedly remembered her manners.

“Ah, thank you. Rodrick.”

“So you have nothing to say.”

“Pardon?”

He cupped her cheek with one hand and looked down at her expressionlessly. His inscrutable blue eyes seemed to be piercing through Diana.

The pose looked like he was about to give a forceful kiss, but it wasn’t romantic at all. This felt more like an interrogation.

“What are you doing?”

Her already slim cheeks were stretched out. Her pronunciation became muffled along with it.

“You’re ugly.”

“Huh.”

Who? Me? Diana’s beauty, as the sister of the villain with the greatest beauty in the empire, was outstanding enough to rival the female lead and the villain. So she was confident in her appearance.

“How rude. I’m not lacking anywhere, you know?”

“What impressive confidence.”

“Because it’s the truth.”

Ignoring Diana’s words, Rodrick turned and strode forward.

As she faded into the distance behind him, Rodrick looked down at his hand. The warmth he felt even through his black gloves was unfamiliar.

Strangely, touching her wasn’t unpleasant.

Though he was always on edge, being with Diana seemed to gently calm his taut nerves, leaving him in a peaceful state he hadn’t felt in a long time.

There were too many suspicious elements to consider this mere coincidence.

There’s something here. His sharp intuition was telling him so. He could tell just by how Diana was trying to cling to him.

If she wouldn’t reveal it directly, he would just have to uncover it himself. Whether that would be beneficial or detrimental remained to be seen.

‘It’s been a while since my madness subsided.’

His brother had run away claiming he would break the curse, but for Rodrick there were only two ways to break the curse.

Either the child his brother bore would inherit his curse, or he would finally be unable to endure and self-destruct.

Both options had his death as a foregone conclusion, but Rodrick was calm about it.

In a situation where there was no child to inherit it, if he self-destructed, the curse might fly off in an unexpected direction and harm his brother.

So the only option was to endure the pain until his brother inherited the duke title and had a child.

Because it was not something that weak-hearted fellow could handle.

As long as his brother didn’t inherit the curse, Rodrick didn’t care what happened to himself.

[Papa!]

The child appeared without warning, blocking Rodrick’s path.

“What is it.”

[What about Mama? Are you moving alone, Papa?]

“I have no intention of indulging in this pointless make-believe.”

He passed right through the child’s body and continued walking in search of an escape route.

[I’ll let you out, you know?]

“I don’t believe the words of lesser beings.”

[Really? Then I guess I’ll only open the exit for Mama?]

“Do as you please.”

[Then I’ll have to punish Papa! For trying to destroy this castle on your own. You’ll stay with us forever until you die.]

As the little one clapped his hands together, the floor turned muddy and Rodrick’s feet sank in. The corridor, which had changed into a swamp, slowly began to swallow him.

However, his expression remained calm, without a trace of bewilderment. As if he had always experienced such things.

Rather, it was the child who was taken aback by his reaction.

[Huh? Why aren’t you surprised?]

“Where does this connect to?”

[Hmph, as if I’d tell you! Hmm, is this too weak? How about this?]

As the child snapped his fingers, Rodrick’s vision flipped and he found himself in a different space.

His lips twisted fiercely at the familiar yet dreadful space.

‘Br-Brother.’

In the space splattered with red blood, a woman was wailing, and his brother was dying in her hands.

‘Don’t come, brother. I’m fine.’

The curse didn’t only affect those of the family bloodline. It eventually drove even the duke’s longtime companion mad.

A terrible curse that made one unable to recognize their own child as their child.

‘Aagh! That! That’s not my child! It’s a monster!’

Despite being told to stay away, his brother, longing for his mother’s embrace, finally approached the woman.

‘Brother.’

What did he do right that his brother was smiling as if apologetic?

‘Someone. Someone please remove that thing!’

His vision blurred at the chaotically unfolding scene.

‘Please, someone kill that monster!’

In front of the shattered glass fragments, light reflected and his vision swam.

Ah. How did he respond at that time?

Even knowing this was an illusion, nausea rose and his throat tightened.

The child smiled broadly at the emotional disturbance of the man who seemed like he wouldn’t show any change no matter what was done to him.

Should he trap the man at the bottom of the castle like this?

The smug expression of the child with folded arms changed abruptly at that moment.

Someone was touching his core. Gasp. The child inhaled sharply and disappeared with a face transformed into that of an evil spirit.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I think I’ve found most of them.”

Diana was holding an armful of miscellaneous items, from old dolls to wooden daggers.

They were worn toys, objects imbued with children’s thoughts.

She had thought she only needed to find the one child who proposed the game of hide-and-seek, but there were multiple children hiding.

Finding them wasn’t difficult. Their thoughts could be read like magic, allowing her to discover the children’s souls. When she picked up an object, the child’s soul naturally followed her.

Her ability to read magic came in handy at times like this.

After parting with Rodrick, she moved quickly with her recovered body. With her body feeling light for the first time in a long while, she was able to move as if flying.

One of the children following behind her tugged on her sleeve and pointed to a spot. It was time to end this long game of hide-and-seek.

“Is that it?”

The child nodded. It was the object belonging to the child who had proposed the hide-and-seek game to Diana.

As she was about to touch the alter ego containing the child’s soul, the child popped out of thin air.

[Don’t touch it!]

“I’ve found them all.”

As she reached out her hand, flames erupted throughout the room. The already burned furniture emitted smoke once again, obscuring her vision with acrid fumes.

“So it wasn’t fog, but smoke.”

It seemed real, but everything was an illusion. Though the searing heat threatened to melt her skin as it flickered menacingly, she paid no mind and continued to reach out.

She picked up a half-melted teaspoon hidden behind a piece of furniture in the corner.

“There you are.”

[I said don’t touch it!]

The child was terrified. Though they had asked to be found themselves, they never really believed she would find them like this.

They had proposed it wanting to escape, but paradoxically hoped they wouldn’t be found. They didn’t want others to see their grotesquely distorted forms.

Adults were scary. Scary, but also missed.

Waaah. The child who had been charging at her like an evil spirit was now wailing that it was hot. The other children were no different.

Children hiding in small, cramped spaces. As she touched each object, the soul of the child dwelling within it appeared. Every one of them was burned and hideously transformed. And they were crying, unable to leave the spot where their object was placed.

The wizard’s castle. She wasn’t sure what purpose this place was built for, but one thing was clear. Children had been sacrificed.

With her arms full of objects, Diana led the children out of the west corridor. Even the acrid smoke blocking their path was ineffective.

Though the illusion seemed real and her eyes watered from the acrid fumes, Diana pressed forward.

Her recovered physical state wasn’t bad at all. Despite the scorching heat, her steps were unwavering.

[Wh-Where are you going?]

“To your guardians.”

Her expression was as resolute as her firm voice. She seemed somewhat angry.