“Give up? What do you mean?”

Aria asked Duke Hersher if she had heard him correctly.

They had disbelieving expressions on their faces, unable to believe their cherished daughter’s words. The two felt like their hearts were rotting and falling apart.

But since the decision had already been made, Duke Hersher steeled his resolve and said,

“Didn’t you see it too? Where the Crown Prince’s heart leans.”

Duke Hersher half-believed the rumors.

He thought it was true that Admund was interested in Clea.

Otherwise, such rumors couldn’t have circulated.

Especially when he thought about how Admund had recently rejected all the duke’s proposals.

However, the duke still didn’t think Admund had completely fallen for her.

Admund was more rational than anyone and didn’t show his emotions to others.

The wise Admund wouldn’t believe he could love Clea, who was notorious for being a villainess.

So Duke Hersher thought Aria still had a chance.

If his heart hadn’t completely leaned towards one side yet, he believed they at least had a chance.

‘It’s already too late. They couldn’t possibly have had that kind of relationship with the Crown Prince.’

However, anyone could see that Admund and Clea’s appearance just now was that of a couple in love.

Although their conversation couldn’t be heard from a distance, after hearing what those in front had said, they were stunned.

As the content was passed from the front row to where the duke and his wife were, there may have been some exaggeration mixed in, but even stripping that away, it was clear that their relationship was unusual.

In the end, only two paths remained for Duke Hersher.

The path of refusing to acknowledge Clea, the woman directly chosen by the Crown Prince, and pushing Aria to the end, or the path of giving up now and planning anew.

There, Duke Hersher chose the latter over the former.

No matter how precious Aria was to them as their child, she wasn’t more important than the family.

“Father! You said it yourself! That I would be the future empress!”

Aria shouted at Duke Hersher in agitation, not caring at all about the gazes around them.

Duke Hersher looked around.

Thanks to the attention being focused on Admund inside, there was no one to be seen around them.

Confirming this, the duke sighed and looked at Aria.

“But what can we do now that things have turned out this way.”

“You can’t do this to me, Father. You have to help me.”

“Aria, the three of us have already done enough.”

They had directly appealed to Odin and Elina for her to be the crown princess, gathered the nobles following him to make demands like a protest, and lastly, they had tried to negotiate.

If it were a time when the imperial power was weak and the nobles’ power was strong, they could have somehow pressured and seized it.

But now the times were different.

The power of the nobles that had been at its peak was a thing of the past.

Those who weren’t chosen by the emperor found it difficult to exert power in the capital, even if they were nobles.

Just look at the Percy Grand Duchy. In the past, they wanted independence.

But times had changed, and now they were trying to look good to the emperor somehow.

If that was the case for a grand duchy, how would it be any different for dukes, marquises, and counts?

This was the reason they hadn’t strongly expressed their will to Odin until now.

They thought they might look presumptuous if they went about it the wrong way.

“What have you even done?”

“Aria.”

“What were you and Mother doing while I was going through all that hardship!”

Even as Aria glared at them with a resentful expression, the two couldn’t bring themselves to scold her sharply.

They may have felt dissatisfied with the hardships the two of them had gone through, but they pitied Aria.

“I tried so hard to win Admund’s heart, but you and Mother did nothing to help me.”

“Aria, that’s enough.”

But Aria didn’t stop and blamed the two of them.

No matter if they were her parents, they were both human, so their hearts ached more and more as they listened to Aria’s words.

Tears began to fall from the duchess’ eyes.

Seeing this, Aria pushed past the two of them and left first.

Duke Hersher stared into the void, wiping his dry face.

“Dear, even if Aria wants it, don’t give her everything.”

“But, darling.”

Judging by Aria’s current state, it seemed like she would cause some big incident sooner or later.

Sensing this, Duke Hersher chose to stay quiet for the time being.

On the other hand, the duchess, who cherished Aria the most in the world, was giving him a look asking how he could do that.

But the duke spoke firmly.

“If we walk the right path even now, Aria and our future will become smoother.”

The situation had already gone awry.

The vassals who should have been loyal had committed acts that would incur not loyalty but ill will.

It was something they had done, believing there were no clear rivals, and it was a boldness they had acted with, believing they could sufficiently crush any rivals even if there were.

But looking at it now, what they had been doing was like trying to break a rock with an egg.

Meanwhile, the duchess swallowed her words upon hearing about Aria’s future.

“If you care for that child even a little, please listen to me.”

“I’ll try.”

She couldn’t say it with confidence, but the duke felt grateful that she would at least try, and held the duchess’ hand.

* * *

“This can’t be!”

“Ah, Young Lady!”

Aria, who had ridden the carriage alone back to the mansion, entered her room and was breaking everything in sight.

Sensing something was wrong, the maid who had remained in the room with Aria tried to stop her somehow.

“Don’t get in my way, move!”

“Aaah!”

But Aria, now angry at the thought that even the maid was interfering with her, threw an object she had in her hand at the maid.

The maid was hit on the forehead by the object Aria threw.

As the hit area tore, bright red blood flowed out.

“Young Lady! What’s going on inside!”

At the maid’s scream, even those waiting anxiously outside the door came inside.

Until now, she had generally been kind to the servants, so the scream reaching their ears was completely unexpected.

Those who opened the door and entered were greatly shocked.

They saw the completely messy state of the room and the maid sitting on the floor, bleeding.

Aria frowned upon seeing those who had entered without her permission.

Calming down a bit after seeing the maid’s blood, she sighed and told them,

“Take her and all of you get out of my room right now.”

“Young Lady.”

“What, do you find me ridiculous too now?”

Far from finding her ridiculous, they were all worried about Aria.

But Aria found their concern rather unpleasant and shouted at them to get out quickly.

The servants had no choice but to all leave. Left alone in the room, Aria’s anger rose again at the recurring scene.

Clea’s face, who had humiliated her to her face, flashed before her eyes.

‘What makes you so great that you’re smiling?’

She was going to die from the curse soon anyway, so she had stayed still to show mercy.

But Clea, not knowing that, was constantly going against Aria’s temper.

Seeing her completely take Admund away too, Aria thought she couldn’t just sit still any longer.

She thought her plan would be completely disrupted at this rate.

Even Duke and Duchess Hersher were already advising Aria to give up the position of crown princess.

But Aria still had no intention of giving up that position.

She took out an ancient book hidden in her room.

“Let’s see how long you can stay at ease.”

Looking at the contents written inside, Aria smiled.

The one who had firmly blocked Clea’s curse from being lifted, which should have been lifted long ago, was none other than her.

As Clea knew, the curse was indeed lifted by true love.

But she didn’t know the specific details yet.

Who was the root of this curse.

She smiled slyly and calculated how much life Clea had left.

Looking at the time still remaining a bit, she pondered what to do.

“I’ll make you clearly realize who holds your life.”

Even now, if she wanted to, she could completely drive her to death.

But Aria had no intention of taking on any penalties.

To cut the other person’s life, she had to cut her own lifespan as well.

Above all, as someone who valued her own life, it was something she would never choose.

Instead, Aria’s eyes shone as she thought of another way.

“If the pain becomes even worse than now, how will you act?”

Aria had directly experienced the pain of the curse.

She knew how severe the pain the curse bestowed was.

If it got even worse, could a human endure it?

Every day being too painful and miserable, she imagined Clea eventually making a pathetic expression and kneeling before her.

Suffering in pain and choosing to kneel at her feet and run away, or eventually dying and leaving his side, one of the two would be the future she would face.

She wouldn’t be able to win his heart right after she left, but emotions were bound to change over time anyway, so getting rid of Clea was the priority for now.

Just imagining it brought satisfaction, and she moved in a hurry.

The thought of somehow returning the humiliation she had suffered filled her mind.