“I apologize for this.”

“Please, I beg of you. Help me just this once.”

Grit bowed his head again and repeated his request despite the other party’s refusal.

The other person’s status was merely that of a viscount.

Yet the reason he bowed his head was because the current situation was extremely urgent.

Having just been rejected everywhere else he had asked, Grit was desperate for the person before him.

Despite bowing his head sincerely, the viscount’s reaction remained indifferent.

“That is all the funds we can offer you.”

“Look here, I’m begging you like this. Can’t you do something for the sake of the relationship we’ve maintained until now?”

Grit pleaded for help, even bringing up their long-standing relationship.

Hearing Grit’s desperate words, the viscount sneered and looked at him.

“Well, you should have treated your daughter better.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it funny that someone who knows full well who he owes his luxurious life to has been neglecting his daughter?”

“What are you saying, Viscount!”

The viscount deliberately provoked Grit with his words, waiting for him to get angry.

He thought that if Grit had any sense, he wouldn’t fall for it, but contrary to expectations, he reacted too simply.

Seeing him immediately reveal his true nature, underestimating the fact that he was merely a viscount, he was dumbfounded.

‘Where did that attitude of bowing and pleading just a moment ago go?’

Watching his brazen attitude, he felt disgusted.

‘She’ must have seen this side of him even more; how had she endured all this time?

He looked briefly at the teacup in his hand.

Seeing the still-warm tea in the cup, the viscount couldn’t help but smile.

The contents inside reminded him of something.

He remembered something that happened a very long time ago.

“Don’t be like this, Viscount. Think of the relationship we’ve maintained since our predecessors’ time.”

“Are you still going on about that?”

But that smile completely disappeared at Grit’s words.

“The reason I’ve maintained a relationship with the Odoi family until now wasn’t because of that petty relationship from our predecessors’ time, but because of the only sane person in your family.”

“Viscount! Will you not regret those words!”

“It’s quite amusing to talk about regret when you’re in such a desperate situation that you’re personally going around seeking funds.”

The head of the Rockin viscounty, Bawin, paid no heed to Grit’s words.

Although Grit was raising his voice and pointing fingers right in front of him, he just kept looking into his teacup.

His attitude remained composed.

“Do you think the nobles are unaware of what happened between the grand duke’s family and the duke’s family? From the moment Clea Odoi, the talk of the town, suddenly disappeared from social circles, it was as good as admitted by the duke’s family.”

Grit had also heard the rumors at first.

The secret meeting between the crown prince and the duke’s daughter.

He didn’t believe it at all.

There was no way Clea would have seduced the crown prince, and even if she had tried, the crown prince wasn’t someone who would be swayed by such attempts.

Since everything would be resolved once Clea returned, he didn’t bother to try and correct the rumors.

And as a result of that careless thinking, Grit was now experiencing a series of humiliations for the first time in his life.

“I hear your son is also going around looking for people, but don’t you think it’s all in vain?”

“Is that all a family that does nothing but play with money has to say!”

“Yet it’s the duke who has come to us for that money play multiple times.”

Bawin continued to taunt Grit to the end.

While there was a clear hierarchy and order of rank, in reality, money and power took precedence.

Even a duke without power was no match for a powerful baron, and even a count, if he was a margrave, could surpass a marquis and a duke.

From Bawin’s perspective, the most useless things in the world were honor and tradition.

‘Honor, such a thing can be bought with money in this world.’

Even the Odoi family originally had considerable funds.

However, due to the duke’s greed, a series of reckless investments led to the decline of the family’s fortunes.

As they failed to see proper returns, those who had been helping the duke’s family gradually disappeared.

Now, only a greedy individual and an incompetent one remained in the Odoi family.

In Bawin’s eyes, the future of the Odoi family didn’t look bright.

He thought they might soon face extinction.

‘Did they say she went to the crown prince?’

Bawin, who had little interest in the Odoi family without Clea, turned his thoughts elsewhere.

He had once heard people say that the crown prince would marry Aria Hersher.

Of course, Bawin wasn’t particularly interested in such matters and knew that rumors couldn’t be trusted, but now it was different.

‘Since I’ve received help before, I should offer help as well.’

He stood up from his seat.

At the same time, he looked at Grit, who still hadn’t left, and grasped the cooled teacup in his hand.

“Please leave now. There’s nothing more to discuss.”

“Aargh!”

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

As he dismissed him, he poured the tea right over Grit’s head.

He wished he could have poured hot tea to give him burns, so he wouldn’t have to see his face for a while.

But with the already cooled tea, he just felt annoyed.

* * *

“You don’t seem pleased.”

“Because the plan has changed.”

“But I like it.”

Hayden and the other believers were discussing slightly modifying their existing plan.

Admund vehemently opposed this.

He argued that they should proceed without modifications, as no one knew what might happen if they went ahead with a public confession.

The person who persuaded Admund from the side was none other than Clea.

“Wouldn’t it be better if people could see and believe even a little?”

To prove that there wasn’t even a shred of falsehood, they would openly display the act of confession in front of people.

This was Hayden’s suggestion to prove that no one had helped her.

“Don’t push yourself.”

“You’ve already agreed to stay by my side, haven’t you? Just having you beside me gives me strength.”

It wasn’t something said just to reassure him.

When Admund was by her side, she truly felt energized as if by magic.

Not only that. Even the watch on the back of her hand seemed to tick slower.

Once, she thought that as the watch slowed down, it might mean her time was almost up, but that wasn’t the case.

Since realizing that the clock hands slowed down because of Admund’s presence, it felt like the time they had together was lengthening.

“How should I react if people say harsh things to you? If they think you’re someone who can be hurt without concern because I prefer Aria more.”

“Just ignore it then.”

Clea answered clearly, as if she had been asked an easy question.

But even after hearing her answer, Admund’s expression didn’t soften.

Knowing well why he wore such an expression, she sat down next to him and said,

“There’s no reason to be hurt by every single thing people say.”

“I agree with that too. But I don’t want to hear people talking about you as they please.”

He was afraid that the angry crowd, having only heard rumors of her being a villainess, would hurl harsh words at Clea.

Clea gently smiled, feeling wistful about why someone who cared for her so much had only appeared by her side now, and took his hand.

“Then how about becoming a tyrant?”

“A tyrant?”

Hearing Clea’s words, Admund looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

It wasn’t the first time he had heard the word tyrant.

But the reason for bringing it up was different.

Other people were always busy telling him to be cautious about becoming a tyrant, and to take it as a negative example.

Right now, there was no one to succeed the imperial throne except Admund.

As the future emperor with a guaranteed future, he had grown up hearing only that he should become a wise ruler.

But now, the woman before him was asking him how about becoming a tyrant.

“If you dislike it so much, you don’t have to listen or see it.”

Admund had been told to listen to the empire’s people more than anyone and become a wise ruler.

What Clea was saying now was the opposite of what those who had taught him had said.

Admund raised the corners of his lips towards her, who was openly telling him to become a tyrant.

Hearing these words for the first time, Admund felt a strange sense of liberation.

“Then from now on, I should strive to become a tyrant.”

“Yes, if you become a tyrant, I’ll gladly become the villainess.”

“There’s no need for you to become a villainess though.”

“Isn’t it better to be cursed together than alone?”

Laughing out loud at Clea’s words, Admund took the hand of the woman sitting beside him.

Having grown accustomed to her cold hands, he playfully whispered quietly,

“I’ll postpone becoming a tyrant for now.”

“Oh my, that’s a shame. I was curious to see what you’d be like as a tyrant.”

“You’re probably the only one curious about such a thing.”

As their gazes met while talking, the two pressed their lips together.

After their lips touched briefly and parted, Admund, seeming regretful, licked his lips and said,

“I wonder if this is okay, since this is a temple.”

It was a remark made while realizing that obscene acts were forbidden within the space of a temple.

But Clea looked at Admund with an expression of incomprehension and said,

“Is there a problem just because it’s a temple? We’re both going to repent soon anyway.”

When she pointed out that they were both going to repent anyway, Admund was momentarily stunned. She smiled and pushed him over.

Clea fell over without any resistance and wrapped her arms around his neck as he approached.