“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to meet her.”

Oberon hoped she wouldn’t meet Aria.

He had also heard that Aria was the one who had recently hurt her.

The once pure image of Aria was now completely erased from Oberon’s mind.

Come to think of it, Aria always hurt Clea.

In the past, he didn’t pay much attention to Aria’s actions because he thought it didn’t matter if the villainess Clea Odoi got hurt.

But now things were different.

Oberon was anxious about their meeting.

Of course, Clea herself was enjoying the situation leisurely.

“It might not be bad to meet after a long time.”

“Lady Clea.”

“I know what you’re worried about, but realistically, could Aria harm me even here in the imperial palace? As I said, this is the imperial palace.”

While they were busy watching from the Odoi ducal house, the situation here at the imperial palace was different.

If she were to draw a knife like before, Aria would be caught in the act immediately.

Aria would also be aware of this point.

That’s why Clea was even more curious. What exactly did she come all this way to say?

Meanwhile, the gazes of those around were uneasy.

“I, Bawin, will stay by your side.”

“I appreciate your words, but if you’re by my side, Bawin, Aria will be on guard.”

“Then I will protect you.”

Surrounding Clea, Bawin and Oberon spoke up, saying they would stay by her side.

Looking at this, Clea sighed and said.

“Wouldn’t it be best if I’m alone to lower her guard?”

“That’s absolutely not allowed.”

“No, I’ll meet her alone.”

Clea spoke firmly. She would talk with her alone.

At this, the other two people present closed their lips.

They had much to say, but they knew those words were not enough to persuade her.

Meanwhile, Clea was delighted.

Just when she was wondering how Aria had been doing since that day, an opportunity to see for herself had come.

‘I can roughly guess why you’re looking for me, but I’ll meet you anyway.’

She finished getting ready simply and headed to where Aria was.

* * *

Aria trembled with anxiety.

She had been practically confined to the mansion all this time.

Even the gazes of the servants who always did everything for her had changed.

Those who had followed her to the Odoi mansion were completely replaced, and the rest began to look at her coldly.

As these days continued, Aria felt suffocated being in the mansion.

‘It was unavoidable. That incident was unavoidable.’

The sensation of the knife in her hand grazing Clea’s side seemed to linger still.

When Clea’s bright red blood touched her skin, it felt extremely dirty.

At that moment, someone whispered quietly behind her.

That it was utterly disgusting to shamelessly claim innocence after committing a wrong.

The voice whispering this was none other than Clea’s.

‘No, it’s not my fault. You were wrong first. You who took what was mine.’

Aria denied the voice in her ear. It was not her who had committed the wrong, but Clea.

Even though what she heard was clearly an auditory hallucination, she bit her lip.

As she was buried in her own torment, someone appeared before her.

“I don’t think we’re close enough to run into each other this often.”

A woman’s voice reached Aria’s ears as she was catching her breath.

Aria raised her head. Then a woman’s figure came into view.

The woman who had been shining much brighter than her for some time now.

The woman who had so easily taken Admund’s heart that she could never have was none other than Clea Odoi.

“Clea.”

Aria hated that name intensely. Her eyes burned with anger as she looked at Clea.

Meanwhile, Clea raised the corners of her mouth more leisurely as she watched Aria’s expression that didn’t hide her emotions at all.

That relaxed smile was enough to provoke Aria.

“So, what brings you here?”

Clea had no intention of exchanging idle jokes with her. They weren’t on such terms, and moreover, time was precious.

The same was true for Aria. But feeling like she would lose if she didn’t disparage her even a little, she looked around and asked.

“There’s not a single person guarding you. Well, I guess that’s your worth?”

As Aria said, there were only the two of them in the room.

Clea burst into laughter at Aria’s sarcastic remark that she wasn’t worth having guards.

Aria’s brow furrowed instantly. Why was she laughing when she wasn’t so stupid as to not understand the mockery?

Aria felt anger rising at the sight of Clea laughing leisurely. But for some reason, her body kept stiffening.

“Are you curious why there are no guards in this room?”

“Well, that must be the extent of your worth.”

“You provoke me like this again, even after what happened before.”

“Don’t you remember what I did to you?”

“What I did to you? Ah, that?”

Clea, sitting opposite Aria, stood up, showing her long legs.

Seeing this, Aria trembled for a moment.

Clea moved very slowly towards Aria.

Aria watched her, holding her breath.

She wanted to get up and distance herself even now, but her legs wouldn’t move at all.

Eventually, Clea came right up to her face.

Aria looked up at her, breathing heavily.

“I don’t pretend to be nice like you. Because I don’t care about others’ gazes at all.”

Clea’s thin, pale hand brushed past Aria’s neck.

It happened so suddenly that Aria couldn’t even recognize what had happened to her for a moment.

Clea thought as she watched Aria trembling in fear.

‘Why does she keep coming at me when she trembles like this?’

Their relationship that had continued tiresomely since the academy days.

Clea was tired of this relationship. But Aria wasn’t, as she kept coming at her.

“Tell me, why did you come looking for me?”

Aria swallowed.

She didn’t want to do as she said, as her rebellious spirit rose.

But the moment she met Clea’s gaze, that thought completely vanished.

She turned her head to the side and said.

“I came to propose a deal to you.”

“Ha, as expected.”

“What’s with that reaction?”

“It’s nothing.”

Aria furrowed her brow and asked back, but Clea didn’t react.

Rather, she found the current situation, unfolding exactly as she had expected, amusing.

Clea could even predict Aria’s next words.

“Don’t you want to break that curse of yours?”

Was it because such an obvious statement came out?

Clea showed no particular emotion.

Meanwhile, Aria interpreted Clea’s attitude in her own way. That Clea was maintaining a poker face.

“What are the conditions?”

At Clea’s question, Aria wore a deep smile.

Anyone could tell that malice was hidden in that smile.

“It’s simple. I’ll break your curse, so break up with Admund.”

Aria thought. She should have done this from the start.

This was the only way to reclaim Admund from that cruel woman.

She already knew how to break the curse.

True love.

In that sense, it was perhaps natural that Clea couldn’t break the curse.

Because the person who actually needed to break the curse by receiving true love from another was none other than Aria.

She hadn’t completely transferred the curse to Clea. She had only transferred the death that would come if the curse wasn’t broken.

‘I didn’t completely transfer the curse in case you might meet someone else and break it. That choice was right.’

She hadn’t thought of it at all at the time, but even so, what she had done just in case had come back like this.

Aria felt satisfied with her choice.

If Clea had broken the curse by now, it was clear who the other party would be.

It would mean that Admund’s true love was not her but Clea.

That’s why she was even more relieved. In the sense that she could still run a circuit of hope that nothing was certain yet.

“You’ll break the curse if I break up with Admund?”

“Yes, I’ll break it right away if you break up.”

Hearing Aria’s words, Clea looked at the mark on the back of her hand for a moment. The clock hands were still turning.

Clea smiled as she looked at Aria.

“Before that, let me ask one thing. Even if I break up here and now, do you think you can win Admund’s heart?”

“Don’t bring up stories that have nothing to do with the deal.”

“No, it is related. Even if I break up, you won’t be able to win Admund’s heart in the end, Aria.”

Clea could be certain.

Even if she broke up with Admund now to break the curse, Aria would not win his heart in the end.

The only person who still didn’t know this fact that everyone else knew was just one person, Aria Hersher.

Aria still couldn’t give up on Admund.

Clea even wanted to praise that obsession of hers, determined to have Admund no matter what.

But no matter how much she struggled, Admund was a tree she could never climb.

“And I had no intention of making a deal with you from the start.”

At Clea’s words, Aria bit her lip and approached closer.

“Do you want to die?”

Clea smiled and said to her as she grabbed her collar and asked fiercely.

“Kill me if you can.”