Niel’s green eyes that had gleamed menacingly at Yuria flashed through her mind along with that chilling murderous intent, making her body tremble.

There was not a shred of mercy in the hand that wielded the broken vase pieces.

It reminded her of five years ago, when he had slowly cornered her and choked the life out of her, as leisurely and cruel as if he were on a hunting expedition.

‘It’s exactly the same as back then.’

Niel hadn’t changed at all from five years ago when she had fled.

He had been the same back then too.

With that handsome face, that sweet voice, he had spoken and acted as if he truly loved her.

He had even drawn his sword, claiming he would protect her from that woman, Jella Shunaibel.

That’s why Yuria had fallen for his deception.

At some point, she had even become arrogant.

Thinking that even without God’s power, this man truly loved her.

She didn’t know it would be a mistake. By the time she realized that she was the one being deceived, not him, it was too late.

‘Ni-Niel. Did you really draw your sword before His Majesty?’

‘I’ll do anything to protect the woman I love, Yuria. So I hope you’ll always be sincere with me too.’

Niel, who had made her lower her guard by whispering sweet words of love when he no longer needed her,

‘I’ve been accommodating, but you keep crossing the line.’

‘Ni-Niel…? Why, why are you…?’

‘Now that you’ve served your purpose, there’s no need to keep you alive.’

That’s what he said as he tried to kill her.

Yuria barely managed to escape from Niel who was trying to kill her.

The problem was that she had fled to Yupheon Arne, a man even more insane than Niel Alpenhayer.

“Excuse me, are you alright?”

At that moment, a passerby approached her.

“You don’t look well…”

“Ah, I’m fine.”

Yuria answered with a slight smile.

“What? But, the blood…”

The passerby looked at the red bloodstains on Yuria’s white dress with a worried yet suspicious expression.

They seemed ready to call the capital’s guards if necessary.

“I’m fine, please go on your way.”

However, the moment the passerby’s eyes met Yuria’s, their eyes became cloudy, and they nodded obediently.

“Yes, pardon my intrusion.”

Then they quietly walked away.

It was enchantment, the gift given to her by God.

Five years ago, Yuria had been able to build powerful influence through the mind-controlling power of enchantment.

However, her enchantment had no effect on Niel at all.

‘Why? Why doesn’t it work?’

In the past, she had been so firmly convinced that he was completely in love with her, and in her misguided romanticism of wanting to return his sincere feelings, she had never used her power of enchantment on him.

So this time, thinking things might be different, she had gone to the imperial palace with half-hearted hope, only to flee with the knowledge that this power had absolutely no effect on him.

Was it possible for an ordinary human to resist God’s power through sheer willpower alone?

Moreover, if this power didn’t work on Niel…

‘It’ll be the same with Yupheon and Cail. It won’t work.’

Yuria clutched at her hair with a despairing expression.

She had approached Niel first thinking he was the most moderate of the three…

He was anything but moderate.

Yet she didn’t want to approach the other male leads either.

Yupheon Arne was a lunatic she didn’t even want to associate with. And Cail Aleret…

‘Ugh.’

Just thinking about him made her whole body shiver with goosebumps.

‘Absolutely not. Absolutely, don’t get anywhere near him.’

‘That person’ had told her she needed to seduce them and fulfill her duty, but how could she seduce men who were trying to kill her?

If she carelessly approached them, this time she might really have to give up her life.

‘But what should I do?’

She would either die by ‘that person’s’ hand for failing to seduce them, or die by their hands for making a clumsy attempt.

As Yuria walked down the street with a tearful face, she spotted a newspaper discarded on the ground.

A small advertisement on the back page caught her eye.

“Self-defense company…?”

***

The Emperor’s bedroom.

“I-I’m terribly sorry, Your Majesty. The poison is too powerful, and with my abilities, I cannot…”

The summoned holy official bowed his head while speaking anxiously.

He was the High Priest of the Yetrisha diocese in the capital and possessed the strongest holy power in the empire.

Thus, he was often summoned to tend to the Emperor’s illnesses that couldn’t be treated with normal medicine.

However, even his power wasn’t enough to heal the Emperor’s eyes and face which had been corroded by poison.

He had barely managed to stop the blood and pus from flowing from the exposed raw flesh.

“Since His Holiness Pope Yupheon is currently in the capital, if we request his help…”

“No. It’s fine.”

Unlike the flustered Grand Chamberlain, Niel spoke with a calm face.

“I know a skilled apothecary lady. I believe we can ask for her help.”

“Then I shall go and bring the apothecary, Your Majesty.”

The head butler stepped forward to speak, but Niel rose with a gentle smile.

“No. She is a precious person, so I must go personally.”

“But you haven’t slept all night…”

“Prepare the carriage.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Those in the room looked at Niel with worried faces, but he himself appeared more refreshed than ever.

All the urgent matters had been taken care of.

He had even issued an imperial order to his aide to search for Yuria. Of course, everyone seemed skeptical about the claim that Yuria had attempted to assassinate him.

Servants entered to help prepare him for his outing.

Even in that chaotic scene with Yuria, he had maintained his elegant appearance without the slightest dishevelment, though parts of his clothing had been corroded by the poison and weren’t in the best shape.

The servants couldn’t help but sigh repeatedly as they helped him change.

As the head butler had said, his body was stiff from not sleeping all night. However, worse than his stiff body were his right eye and face which had been struck by the poison.

Though the wounds on his face no longer bled or oozed pus, the exposed raw flesh looked quite painful.

Yet Niel’s expression remained indifferent as he examined himself in the mirror.

‘This is troublesome. Jella hates people who look like you.’

‘You look exactly like the epitome of nobility.’

‘That’s good.’

Niel, who had always despised his own face, thought absently.

‘Perhaps now I won’t look like those noble fellows she hates so much.’

Of course, that was just his own delusion.

Even with the wounds from the poison, he maintained a perfectly elegant and noble bearing.

His carriage stopped in front of the three-story building in the underworld where she stayed.

“G-G-G-Your M-Majesty…?”

“To think you would grace such a humble place with your presence again…!”

The organization members, who recognized the emperor from his previous visit, were startled as they welcomed him.

“I’m here to see Miss Jella.”

“J-Jella sis went out briefly to manage some clients.”

“Then I shall wait.”

When Niel gestured toward the stairs with his chin, the organization members quickly guided him to the second floor.

One member brought refreshments to Niel and carefully asked.

“Um, why do you need to see sis…?”

“I need medicine. As you can see, I injured my face.”

He answered calmly while lifting his teacup.

“….”

“….”

“….”

A cold silence suddenly hung among the organization members.

‘C-crazy. Did you hear? Sis’s medicine…’

‘Shouldn’t we stop this somehow?’

‘At this rate, we might become imperial assassins…’

‘Hey, you say something…’

‘No way. You do it…’

As intense glances were being exchanged among the organization members,

Pat pat pat.

Footsteps were heard from above the stairs.

Everyone gathered on the second floor naturally turned their gaze toward the sound.

The expression vanished instantly from Niel’s face where an elegant smile had been.

The man coming down from upstairs was none other than Cail Aleret.

His silver-white hair was disheveled as if he’d just woken up, and he wore only a single layer of shirt casually draped over him.

The shirt, which was particularly tight around the chest area due to poor fit, seemed to have been borrowed from someone else.

“…Lord Cail Aleret.”

Niel asked with an expressionless face as he looked at him.

“Why are you coming down from there?”

Cail also looked at Niel with a cold expression.

“What about you? Why are you here?”

‘You.’ It was quite an impertinent and disrespectful way to address the emperor.

However, it wasn’t the first time Cail Aleret had treated him this way.

From the beginning, he had been equally disrespectful to everyone except Jella. Even when he had been her servant.

Therefore, Niel ignored his irreverent speech and answered in a plain tone.

“I came to see Miss Jella.”

“Ah, Jella.”

Cail released a soft “ah” of feigned realization, then immediately curled his lips into a smirk.

“She left after putting me to bed.”

Pause.

Niel’s hand, which was lowering the teacup onto the table, flinched in mid-air.

Not missing that momentary reaction, Cail added provocatively in a languid voice.

“Thanks to her, I couldn’t sleep all night.”

“….”

At that moment, the veins on Niel’s hand holding the teacup bulged as if they might burst.

Niel raised his cold eyes to glare at Cail.

The sharp gazes between the two men became intensely entangled.