“That’s not true, is it, Peiron?”

Erina said, lightly placing her palm on her face and wiggling her fingers.

“Even if you have it, someday you’ll be struggling financially and sell that building. Then I can buy it at a cheap price.”

“I said I could give it to you. Just for a moment, just a very brief moment, if you’d only talk with me.”

“I think the building would be cheaper than the time I’d have to spare for you?”

Peiron couldn’t deny her words that sounded cruel.

As the owner of a mana stone mine, Erina accumulated wealth just by breathing, and countless businesses lined up wanting to work with her.

This building, which would eventually end up at auction, might depreciate in value to the point of being incomparable to the businesses starting in her hands.

“Go back. Don’t make a disgraceful scene.”

“Disgraceful…”

“You look extremely ugly right now. You know that?”

Peiron staggered in place, shocked by Erina’s words spoken deliberately as if to imprint them on him.

He couldn’t help but know how ugly he looked right now.

Pitiful, vile, and filthy.

Because he stood here only to take action for the sake of his loved one.

“I hope we never see each other again.”

Erina left those words and turned away.

Peiron’s heart sank at her unfamiliar back view.

If he let her return to the mansion like this, it was clear that everything would fall apart.

He would be left stuck in the mess Rose had clumsily created, and his child with Rose would be born without blessing.

The person he loved would slowly wither away because of it, and in the end, everything would come to a miserable end.

As his thoughts reached that point, Peiron crumpled the building deed in his hand.

Peiron, coming to his senses, quietly called out to Erina.

“Erina.”

But Erina didn’t turn around.

Peiron dropped the crumpled paper on the ground and put his hand inside his clothes.

At that moment, he saw someone running out of the mansion.

It was Terik, Erina’s cousin who worked as her aide.

He could see Terik looking anxiously at Erina and himself.

Peiron slowly pulled out a small poisoned dagger that he had carefully hidden in his clothes.

Seeing this, Terik urgently shouted towards Erina.

“Erina, danger!”

Erina was about to call out in confusion at the sight of Terik rushing over urgently, but she couldn’t open her mouth at the voice coming from behind.

“I’m sorry, Erina. I’ll beg for your forgiveness for the rest of my life.”

Startled by Peiron’s ominous voice thick with resignation, Erina turned around.

Then she saw Peiron already drawing a dagger from the sheath he had taken out from his clothes.

“No!”

Terik’s voice, running with all his might, and the sight of Peiron throwing the dagger through the thick iron pillars of the gate flowed slowly as if in slow motion.

For a moment, Erina met Peiron’s eyes, sunken in dark emotions.

They were distorted with greed, consumed by selfish desire.

His heart, stained sticky and dirty, was strangely twisted and marked with hatred towards Erina and the world.

Erina couldn’t understand at all why Peiron, not Rose, was looking at her with such eyes.

Peiron swung his arm, throwing the dagger that glinted in the sunlight straight at Erina.

Being not too far away, the dagger Peiron threw flew quickly towards Erina.

Though she needed to dodge the dagger flying towards her glinting in the light, her body froze stiff, feeling the terrible killing intent hidden behind its sharpness.

At that moment, in Terik’s embrace enveloping her, the necklace around her neck suddenly felt heavy.

It was an artifact that activated the shield magic that Sandes had given her in case of danger.

Erina hurriedly cried out, worried that the dagger might graze Terik.

“Shield!”

A shimmering light purple enveloped Erina and Terik who was holding her.

‘Ting-!’

The blade fell to the ground with a sound as if bouncing off a wall.

“My lady!”

Barun saw Peiron standing blankly outside the gate, holding the sheath and staring at Erina wrapped in light.

“Open the gate now!”

Barun ordered the knight who had followed him out.

The knight quickly ran to open the gate.

But to Barun, it seemed insufficient to catch Peiron who would try to turn and run away once the gate opened.

Barun hurriedly took out the knife hidden in his boot and threw it towards Peiron’s ankle.

“Ugh!”

The finger-length knife mercilessly pierced Peiron’s ankle, and in that time, the knight hurriedly opened the gate wide.

Barun ran over and grabbed Peiron’s arm, who had fallen to the ground, twisting it behind his back and pressing down on his back with his knee to subdue him.

Knights and servants, startled by the sudden noise, came out of the mansion.

The knight who opened the gate quickly found a rope and held it out to Barun.

“Tie him up.”

Barun ordered the knight to tie up Peiron.

At that, the knights who had come out of the mansion rushed over to help the knight tying up Peiron.

Barun looked down coldly at Peiron being tied up by the knights.

“How much lower are you trying to go?”

Peiron didn’t look at Barun.

His blank gaze was fixed on Erina standing unharmed at the end of his line of sight.

Then Barun hurriedly ran to where Erina was.

“My lady!”

“Sir Barun.”

“Are you alright!”

“Yes, I’m fine. But more importantly…”

Erina stared at Terik, who had been holding her tightly but was now awkwardly distancing himself.

Clearly, Terik had tried to take the potentially poisoned dagger in her place.

“Why did you do that, elder brother Terik?”

Terik avoided Erina’s gaze, unable to look at her.

In fact, Terik had moved instinctively.

Early in the morning, as soon as he heard from Bertrel that Peiron had come to the mansion without warning, he also received news from an informant in the Asila estate that Rose was moving with poison.

Terik noticed that it was Peiron, not Rose, who was moving to use the poison.

As soon as he rushed out of the mansion, what he saw was Peiron taking out a sharp dagger towards Erina, who had her back turned.

He ran towards Erina without time to think.

He embraced Erina without even thinking that he might be poisoned himself.

When he thought he might die, the dagger bounced off with a flash of light.

The shield artifact that Erina always wore around her neck had activated.

“Why on earth did you do that! You could have been in danger!”

Erina raised her voice to scold Terik.

To Terik, there was only one thing that came to mind in response to Erina’s angry questioning.

“Because we’re family.”

Erina looked up at Terik with wide eyes, surprised by the unexpected answer.

Terik couldn’t help but smile as he answered.

The family he spent his childhood with was always lonely even when they were together.

Because he was always one step behind in their interests, no one understood even when he cried out with his whole body that he was lonely.

Those who were more like sponsors than family never gave even a little of the affection he so desperately craved.

So he gave up on gaining familial love.

But unexpectedly, Erina, who he came to be with belatedly, embraced him.

She handed him a compass when he was wandering without direction.

Does she know that her small interest became an oasis for him, who was wandering the desert thirsting for love in his heart?

“Still, don’t do that again in the future.”

Terik just smiled without answering Erina’s restraint.

He wasn’t confident he could keep her words if such a situation came again.

If the same thing were to happen again, his actions would be the same.

Relieved to see Terik unharmed, Erina grabbed and released the necklace that had activated the shield magic as she turned her gaze.

Erina saw Peiron, bound and surrounded by knights.

With his arms and legs tied with rope, he was blankly staring at the unharmed Erina.

Erina, looking at Peiron, picked up the fallen dagger from the ground and examined it.

The blade, which should have been silver, was dyed black as if dipped in ink.

It was undoubtedly coated with the deadly poison that Rose had prepared.

Erina approached Peiron, holding the dagger.

“Have you finally gone mad?”

“Ha, haha.”

Peiron laughed like a deranged person at the sight of Erina looking at him with eyes full of anger.

He had failed.

He had thrown everything away to dirty his hands in Rose’s place, but it was all over.

Erina didn’t die, and he was caught without even being able to escape.

Peiron spoke, laughing like a madman.

“I just did it because I resented that this all happened because of you.”

Now that everything had failed, there was only one thing he had to do.

Rose and the child must not be involved in this.

To save her and the child, he had to bear everything himself.

“My family is ruined, my honor is destroyed, but you’re happy now, Erina.”

Peiron raised his face, which had been pressed to the ground by the knights as he was tied up, and snarled.

“That’s why I tried to kill you, me!”

Erina immediately realized that his actions were to protect Rose.

He was trying to take everything on himself and disappear alone.

Erina twisted up the corners of her mouth as if to show him and said.

“Do you think that will protect Rose?”

“What…?”

Erina crouched down in front of him, turning the dagger in her hand and smiling at the darkly stained blade.

“Funny enough, do you think I’ll just leave Rose alone when you’re trying so desperately to protect her?”

At Erina’s words, Peiron, growing anxious, bulged his eyes and shook his whole body in a frenzy.

“It was me, just me who did it!”

At Peiron’s behavior, Erina suddenly wiped the expression from her face and moved the dagger in her hand to point at his chin.