The attendants carefully wrapped his head with fragrant flower-scented soap, gently forming bubbles. To nourish his hair’s luster, they applied a special nutrient produced in the imperial palace.

Karaf raised a hand to the chest where the curse was engraved.

“Come to think of it, Aisha used to say she prefers inner beauty over appearance…”

Now, his inner self was far from beautiful.

Could it be that’s why demons appeared in the empire?

A wrinkle formed between his eyebrows.

“Damn it…”

But at that moment, one of the attendants who was trimming his hair from behind was so surprised that he dropped the comb.

The fallen comb rolled on the grass.

Seeing Karaf looking extremely uncomfortable, the attendant, with a pale face, shivered and said, “I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty! I’ve committed an unforgivable sin…!”

Karaf spoke, facing only the front, “Dropping a comb won’t cost you your life.”

The attendant immediately bowed deeply and said, “Thank you! I’ll quickly fetch a new comb!”

She cleared away the fallen comb, brought a new one, and continued trimming his hair from behind.
The comb that was used to comb the Emperor’s hair was also a luxurious item adorned with jewels here and there.

However, while another attendant was combing his hair, a single strand of his black hair got caught in the comb and was pulled out.

The attendant, in despair, knelt down, clutching his head, and cried out, “Please kill me, Your Majesty! I dared to damage your sacred body….”

All the attendants, without a moment’s rest, knelt and pleaded for death. Karaf, feeling a sudden fatigue, let out a sigh.

In response, the attendants even began to shed tears.

He sensed that his mood was not very good.

But ironically, Karaf didn’t know how to accept this absurd situation.

Even though he said it was okay, they already seemed not to hear, as if their souls had left their bodies.

Karaf, in another sense, was momentarily frozen, shocked at the realization of how merciless of a tyrant he must have been.

From now on, he felt he needed to make a lot of effort to truly cultivate his inner self.

He decided to change one thing at a time.

Karaf awkwardly raised one corner of his mouth and spoke kindly to the attendants.

“It’s alright. A person doesn’t die for making a mistake once.”

How terrifying his smile and words sounded, the attendants trembled from head to toe.

There was a past incident where he didn’t easily kill someone for making a mistake in front of him but instead cut off a part of their body and expelled them.

It was a situation where one might think it would be better to die.

“This is not right…”

Seeing the attendants’ reactions, Karaf blinked in confusion.

Perhaps it felt awkward because people feel uneasy when doing something they’re not used to.

Karaf cleared his throat with a harrumph and corrected his words.

“In fact, I’m not particularly fond of killing.”

No one here believed his words straightforwardly.

His words seemed to sound like he preferred torturing rather than killing, and the attendants simultaneously begged for their lives, lying prostrate on the ground.

Karaf, greatly bewildered, glanced at the chief minister, but even the chief minister, who misunderstood his reddened eyes as madness, was lying prostrate on the ground.

“Sorry, Your Majesty. I’ve wrongly educated the attendants!”

Karaf was at a loss for words, witnessing this strange situation unfolding before him.

His image seemed irreparable by now…

In shock, he muttered to himself.

“Is my character really that trashy…?”

“No, Your Majesty! How could anyone dare to think of you like that!”

Karaf, giving up on making excuses or showing kindness, returned to his usual cold demeanor.

“Finish it sincerely. Then, I will forgive everyone.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! We are truly grateful for Your Majesty’s mercy!”

Only then did their hands speed up again.

Karaf, afraid that the attendants might tremble in fear again, sighed internally without exhaling audibly.
Once again, he didn’t know whether playing the villain consistently was what made people feel accustomed and calm.

To hide his fearsome face, he covered it with numerous flower petals.

Petals of various colors adhered to his face without leaving any uncovered areas.

Although it looked comical like a clown, he felt more at ease behind the petals.

After finishing the shower, Karaf put on a robe held by the chief minister and checked his appearance in a full-length mirror.

The skin, soaked with water and exposed to sunlight, seemed fresher than usual.

The patient-like face seen on the day of the curse was no longer visible.

Karaf, satisfied, touched his face from side to side, examining it.

He even carefully checked if pollen was flying from his wet hair.

Everything was perfect.

Seeing him in a good mood, the attendants finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Karaf, glimpsing himself through the mirror, said, “Since I’m satisfied with today’s bathing ritual, I will reward everyone. Chief minister, give double the usual salary in gold coins to the attendants here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When the chief minister politely bowed to express gratitude, the attendants were extremely surprised and once again prostrated themselves on the ground.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Karaf, who used to deal with wrongdoers harshly after becoming the emperor, had a slightly gentler look in his eyes at their reaction.

He wasn’t such a character before being cursed, but after being betrayed by a trusted friend, he felt disillusioned with humanity and discarded mercy.

It was a time when he thought he had to rule with fear to prevent attacks on himself.

Although the result was accidentally obtained while trying to impress Aesha, he was gradually changing.

Watching his transformation from the side, the chief minister looked at him with a slightly proud expression.

Without Karaf noticing, the chief minister hurriedly approached Aesha.

“Your Majesty, it’s the chief minister.”

Aesha, who was reading a book, opened the door.

“What’s the matter?”

Before he could speak, he coughed once with a reddened face.