“Have you thought about the investment I proposed?”

After boarding the carriage, Hayden asked Clea with a gentle expression.

Though there was no malice in his expression, the hidden intentions in his words had a darker side than expected.

Clea glanced at the man sitting across from her.

“Before that, I’m curious. Is there a reason for someone devoted to God to make investments?”

Clea was curious.

About why he was trying to invest in the business she was planning to pursue.

Then Hayden, still smiling, said:

“Even before devoting myself to God, I simply want to invest in you as an individual, young lady.”

Hayden didn’t care how much it would cost.

Though not as wealthy as Barwin, he thought it would be enough if he could maintain a relationship with her under this pretext.

Clea wasn’t the only one who was curious.

Hayden was also curious about her. More precisely, he was curious about the confidence she displayed.

What on earth made her decide to start a business?

The Clea Odoi he knew was infamous for being a villainous and incompetent woman. That she only used her family name to crush others, no matter what she did.

But the Clea before his eyes was very different from what he had heard in rumors.

So much so that he wanted to ask if she was really the same person.

Only after meeting her did Hayden think that the rumors surrounding her seemed artificial.

‘How could someone who remains dignified even without a family name to flaunt, and who seems too selfless to even take care of herself, be called that?’

As Clea said, Hayden was not interested in worldly affairs.

He had always been deeply disappointed whenever he took an interest, and found it uninteresting anyway.

He had no interest in others at all. That was the biggest reason.

Things written in text were quickly memorized when read.

By the time he had read almost all the books published before he turned fifteen, he naturally headed towards high society.

As a member of a noble family, he had to enter society and find a suitable match.

However, there were only tiresome and trivial beings in high society, too bothersome to take interest in.

After that, the only thing he somewhat took interest in was the existence of God, which people believed in despite having no substance.

In addition, at some point his holy power suddenly manifested, sparking his interest like never before.

While knowledge and talent could bloom through effort, holy power was not something that could be obtained through effort.

As it was a noble power bestowed by God to only a select few, Hayden had been focusing solely on doctrine until very recently.

But now, an entity even more intriguing than God had appeared before his eyes.

“I heard that you call what’s hanging over you a curse.”

Though it could be a sensitive topic for others, he spoke without hesitation.

As the topic of conversation shifted from investment to the curse, Clea felt slightly uncomfortable, but answered nonchalantly.

“Yes, that’s what I call it.”

Thanks to the medicine he had prepared after reading ancient books, she was able to avoid the worst-case scenario in the first place.

Before meeting Lloyd, it might have been different, but after meeting him and collapsing while coughing up blood, her condition was at its worst.

It would have been impossible to proceed with the repentance smoothly in such a state.

Thanks to the medicine Hayden had prepared, she was able to quickly regain stability, so she was rather grateful.

“I too have something I’m curious about. You seem to know where the end of that curse points, but why can you remain so calm?”

This was what he had been most curious about from the beginning.

He felt a great sense of discomfort from her attitude.

While some would struggle desperately, showing ugly sides of themselves to prolong their lives somehow, this person was very calm.

Of course, in Hayden’s opinion, the former was normal.

Anyone whose life was fading would struggle to live somehow.

Such was the fleeting greed of humans. Striving to live even one more day.

Even great monarchs wandered in search of non-existent elixirs of immortality to gain eternal life.

‘But you seem different.’

It felt different.

She did show efforts to live as well.

At least when she was by Admund’s side, she seemed more lively. Sometimes she even smiled as if happy.

But compared to Aria’s appearance, it was completely different.

“The bishop discerned whose it originally was, what’s inside me?”

When he first saw the energy Clea harbored, he couldn’t discern it exactly.

It had been too long since he met Aria, and there was a possibility that she could feel the same symptoms as Aria.

But since the day Aria herself visited the repentance hall, he could be sure.

From whom the curse inside her had originated.

“Yes, that’s right. I was a bit confused then, but now I think I know for sure.”

Satisfied with Hayden’s answer, Clea continued.

“If even a curse has an original owner, wouldn’t it be able to return anytime?”

Just as fallen objects have original owners, this curse that had moved to her body also had an original owner.

It was merely transferred for now.

Clea thought.

‘Couldn’t I send it back to you anytime?’

Unlike the days when she only waited for her death, her blue eyes now shone coldly.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – it was clear that if she learned even a little about the curse or was liberated from it, it would return as her karma.

‘I’ll take everything. All that you tried to have.’

And she intended to give her that trash she almost had.

“Is that related to where we’re going now?”

“Yes. I’m going to tidy up some old traces a bit.”

“I wonder if they will welcome your entry.”

The story of her voluntarily leaving the family was already famous in the capital.

The duke’s daughter leaving was enough to become gossip, but what really added fuel to the fire was the Percy Grand Duchy.

The Grand Duchy had cut off all material support they had been providing to the Odoi Duchy until now. In the end, even their relationship became completely hostile.

It became a topic of conversation when it was revealed that all this severance was due to none other than the Odoi family’s daughter.

“If they don’t welcome me, will they turn me away at the door?”

“Depending on the situation, that could happen.”

It could certainly happen as Hayden said.

Since she had already received the emperor’s approval, she was no longer a member of that family.

Moreover, since they hadn’t parted on good terms, they would likely frown just upon seeing each other.

But Clea was confident that they wouldn’t dare block her path.

“Do you still not understand why I earnestly asked you, not Barwin or Rupia?”

There was only one easy way to enter not just the Odoi family, but all noble families.

That was to be accompanied by a believer.

More precisely, it would be if a believer directly stated they would give a blessing or conduct an inspection.

“You were planning to use me.”

“Isn’t that much already expected? I thought you would have known from the moment I asked.”

It was as Clea said.

Hayden knew well why she had chosen him.

When a high-ranking believer like Hayden requested to stay at a noble house, they had to accept unless there was a valid reason for refusal.

It had been a principle that must be observed since the emperor granted them separate inspection rights to keep the nobles in check when their power was stronger than now.

That’s why she chose Hayden among others.

“And if you really find something wrong, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for Hayden either.”

“That sounds like you’re saying there’s something fishy in the Odoi family.”

“Well. I mean exactly what I said – we might find something if we look.”

Although it was possession, she had lived as a member of the Odoi family for several years.

She had sufficiently grasped what kind of things happened inside.

Though he didn’t know about the possession, Hayden thought that the woman before him would at least know the family’s secrets.

“Don’t you intend to show any familial affection?”

Hayden knew it was a poor question even as he asked it.

No matter how indifferent they were to high society, there were things that came to their ears on their own.

He wasn’t unaware of what the Odoi family had done to her.

Nevertheless, he was curious.

How she would react to his words.

Hearing Hayden’s question, Clea smiled.

“Hayden, wouldn’t calling them family make the meaning of family too petty?”

They weren’t even worth calling family.

If they were called family, the innocent word’s meaning would change negatively.

A father who only sought to benefit the family by using her, and an elder brother who not only didn’t try to protect his younger sister but didn’t hesitate to cut her heart along with the perpetrators.

They were such terrible people that she thought it might have been better not to have had a family from the start.

“We’ve arrived.”

The coachman stopped the horses and announced their arrival.

Clea drew back the curtain by the window and looked outside.

She saw the familiar mansion gradually exuding a dark atmosphere.

And she noticed the Duchy’s people approaching with puzzled looks as they arrived.

“Yet if I must call them family, I wish your faith could somehow fix them.”

Of course, there’s no way to fix worthless trash even if you try.

Swallowing the last words completely, Clea smiled as Hayden silently watched her before stepping out first to escort her.

As Clea fully exited the carriage, the Duchy’s people glared at her with distorted expressions.

“What brings you here?”

Seeing their unwelcoming gazes, Hayden whispered to her.

“I too do not wish to engage in such futile efforts.”

Hearing those words, Clea was satisfied.