Admund still couldn’t believe what was happening.

Just a few minutes ago, she had been smiling brightly in neat attire, but now she was quietly closing her eyes, covered in bright red blood.

Holding her cold hand felt like holding the hand of a corpse.

He wondered if she might be dead, but he could hear the steady sound of her breathing.

“It was true.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in the concept of a curse that she had spoken of.

But to Admund’s eyes, Clea had only seemed a bit sickly, not like she was about to die.

But with what had just happened, he realized that what she said was exactly true.

The curse definitely existed, and it was eating away at her life.

“Your Highness, I apologize. I never imagined this would happen while I was away.”

Oberon, who had appeared at some point, bowed his head in apology.

Thinking about it, the timing was ridiculously unfortunate.

Lloyd had appeared in the brief moment when Admund had given him instructions.

He wondered if Lloyd had deliberately targeted the time when he was absent, but Admund quickly dismissed the thought.

He knew Lloyd wasn’t that meticulous of a person.

“What happened?”

“I contacted the Grand Duke’s residence and had them take him away.”

“Did he go quietly?”

“He resisted, but it seems the Duke instructed them to use any means necessary, so they bound him and dragged him away.”

Admund scoffed at the fact that Lloyd had remained in place without disappearing, even after seeing Clea’s condition up close.

If someone saw, they might mistakenly think the person he liked was Clea, not Aria.

Admund’s expression hardened again.

“Is it enough to just bind and drag him away? How dare he touch her.”

Thinking that he should properly hear the reason why she ended up in this state when she wakes up, he looked at Clea.

“For now, shall we have someone change her clothes?”

“Do that.”

“I’ll also prepare a change of clothes for Your Highness.”

Her mouth and clothes were completely soiled with blood.

Admund’s clothes were also stained with blood from moving her here, but he didn’t mind.

“There are more important matters than that right now.”

“Your Highness.”

“Follow me.”

Thinking there were more important things than changing clothes, he rose from his seat.

Oberon glanced at Clea once before following him out.

‘You again, Lloyd Percy.’

He had no ill feelings towards the Grand Duke’s family.

Rather, he had only thought that he should get along well with them, but now it was completely different.

Lloyd Percy, who would inherit the Percy family.

In the past, he had been friends with Admund, and he had viewed him favorably because he was close to Aria, who he thought would become the Crown Princess.

But now, the more he learned about him, the more dirt was being uncovered.

‘You really are beyond salvation.’

* * *

‘I wonder if Lloyd has met Clea by now.’

Aria was delighted.

Although she felt somewhat uneasy about not completely severing her relationship with Lloyd.

Still, she thought it didn’t matter if she could use him to remove Clea from Admund’s side.

She wished for Clea to disappear from Admund’s side as soon as possible.

She thought that only then could she take her place by Admund’s side.

‘You should have behaved more like a villainess. If you had just stayed quiet like before, I would have at least sent Lloyd back to your side intact.’

Although it had been a roundabout journey, thinking that things were now returning to their original place, she smiled.

If Lloyd came to tell her that his relationship with Clea had improved again like before, Aria planned to immediately run to Admund to comfort him.

While she was imagining erasing all the things that had happened with Clea and starting anew with him, someone came to her.

“My lady, a guest has arrived.”

“A guest? I met everyone this afternoon.”

Aria’s voice became slightly sharp at the thought of her time being interrupted.

It wasn’t as if just anyone could meet her even if they came to visit.

Unless the visitor’s status was similar or close to hers, they had to make an appointment a week in advance.

Despite clearly knowing this, the maid was smiling.

Realizing something was amiss as the maid smiled despite her obvious irritation, Aria asked.

“Is it Lloyd who came?”

Lloyd was the only person who would come like this without making an appointment.

Other duke or marquis families valued courtesy and would contact in advance before visiting.

Even if it was urgent.

So she frowned, thinking it must be Lloyd.

But.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived.”

“A-Admund?”

A completely unexpected person came from the maid’s mouth.

Unable to believe it, Aria looked at the maid and asked again.

The maid smiled and nodded.

Thinking that what she had been imagining until just now might be coming true, she immediately stood up.

“Do I look strange right now? Should I fix myself up again?”

“You are sufficiently beautiful as you are, my lady.”

“Really? Ah, but maybe I should touch up a little more.”

Immediately after hearing the news, Aria fell into contemplation.

Whether it would be better to make herself a little prettier, or if it would be better to go quickly to see Admund whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

The maid spoke to resolve Aria’s dilemma.

“You are pretty enough to make His Highness the Crown Prince fall for you. So why don’t you go to the reception room to meet His Highness now?”

“Then I’ll do that. Thank you so much.”

“You flatter me.”

Aria thanked the maid with her usual bright smile.

The maid smiled at Aria’s bright smile, bowed her head, and opened the door for her.

Aria’s mood was soaring as she headed to the reception room through the opened door.

For her, who had thought Lloyd would come, the person she really wanted to see had arrived.

But thinking she shouldn’t appear too excited, she took a deep breath in front of the reception room door.

‘Poor Admund. I’ll comfort you who has been abandoned by Clea.’

She was certain that if it were Clea, she would have chosen Lloyd over Admund.

After all, she loved Lloyd enough to be branded a villainess for tormenting Aria.

From the beginning, she must have tried to use the naive Admund to gain Lloyd’s attention.

Aria thought about what to say to comfort Admund before slowly opening the door and entering.

Imagining Admund’s face, lost in despair with a dumbfounded expression.

“It’s been a while, Lady Hersher.”

“Admund…?”

But when she opened the door and entered, his expression was very bright.

Faced with Admund greeting her with a smile, Aria momentarily revealed a blank expression.

On the other hand, Admund felt a bitter taste in his mouth seeing Aria’s expression.

“I heard you were ill and came to check on you, but perhaps I’ve come to a place I shouldn’t have?”

“Th-That’s not true! I’m really happy that you came, Admund!”

“Is that so? I’m also very glad to see your face after so long.”

Hearing Admund’s words, Aria smiled brightly while inwardly feeling flustered.

Surely Lloyd would have had time to visit Clea at the temple. Yet his expression was still bright.

“It’s been a while, Lord Oberon. Have you been well?”

“…Yes, I have.”

Oberon’s expression was awkward as he still had uncomfortable feelings remaining.

It wasn’t easy to forget the incident of barging into the palace and disrupting the office.

Moreover, from the moment Oberon accepted Clea becoming the Crown Princess, he became very reluctant to meet Aria like this.

However, Aria didn’t pay any attention to Oberon’s expression at all.

The only thing important to her right now was that Admund had come to see her.

She chose to sit beside Admund rather than across from him.

Admund’s smile gradually faded as he watched Aria.

“You look healthier than I expected.”

“Yes. I wasn’t that seriously ill.”

In fact, Admund knew that she had never been ill at all.

Others might not have noticed properly because they wanted to curry favor with her.

Clea was so sick that she couldn’t even get up from her bed.

Yet Aria, who according to rumors should have been seriously ill because of Clea, showed no signs of illness on her face.

Looking at her appearing very healthy, Admund felt relieved and asked.

“Lady Hersher, why did you do it?”

“Admund?”

“Why did you send Lloyd to the temple?”

“Admund, what are you talking about?”

Aria tried to evade, but Admund knew.

Lloyd had no reason to visit the temple.

Even if he had come to reclaim his fiancée for the sake of his honor, it was likely due to someone else’s influence.

From the beginning, Lloyd never loved Clea at all.

He was the one who valued love over honor, chasing after another woman despite having a fiancée.

It might be a bit frustrating, but Lloyd might even welcome Clea’s disappearance from his side.

Thanks to that, Lloyd could now court Aria.

With Clea gone, the only family matching the Grand Duke’s status was now the Hersher family.

The Grand Duke and Duchess would never send him out of guilt towards Clea.

So if he had come personally, there was only one reason.

“I’m asking why you did it.”

It was because Aria had personally requested it.

That’s why Lloyd came all the way to the temple and caused such a commotion.