Keinen pinned Prelia’s hands down beside her shoulders.

His long, firm fingers intertwined with her slender, soft ones.

“I don’t need this!”

Her reason tried to escape from him, but her instinct unconsciously absorbed Keinen’s magical power as the hot energy surged in again.

‘Just a little more! Ugh!’

As the absorbed magical power circulated through her body and entered her heart, a sharp pain pierced her heart.

*

Meanwhile, Keinen’s magical power instinctively flowed into her as if it had detected its target.

‘No! She won’t be able to handle it with such a frail body!’

When Keinen forcibly tried to stop it, his magical power squeezed his heart, causing extreme pain.

Even worse, all his muscles became excited and heated up toward her.

“Ahh!”

As Prelia’s heart began to beat, she couldn’t bear the pain and let out a m*an, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Ugh!”

At the same time, Keinen also groaned in pain and frowned from the unbearable heat.

“Your Highness?”

Startled by Keinen’s groan, Prelia opened her eyes and looked up at him.

Their eyes reflected each other’s surprised expressions.

‘I think it’s because I took his magical power.’

Feeling sorry, she lightly bit her lower lip.

As she gathered her ragged breath, she stopped accepting his magical power.

Seeing Prelia bite her lip, Keinen untangled his fingers from hers, putting aside his disappointment.

‘She’s having trouble handling it just from holding hands.’

She must have been struggling greatly; her breathing was rough, and small beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.

Keinen unconsciously tapped her lips.

As if to say, don’t bite your lip, I won’t do it anymore.

“So stiff. How could you possibly seduce me like this?”

Keinen released Prelia and sat back deeply on the sofa.

His highly excited muscles sent unfulfilled disappointment to his heart, but the pattern didn’t darken.

‘Even this brief contact had an effect.’

To pour magical power into this frail body…

The thought that he might truly be a demon brought a bitter smile to Keinen’s lips.

“I will never seduce Your Highness.”

After regulating her panting breath, Prelia also sat up and took a seat next to Keinen.

Though her entire body was trembling and she lacked the energy to go to the opposite sofa, her heart was beating faintly.

‘My heart beat. It’s still beating very weakly!’

Prelia discreetly pressed her palm against the left side of her chest.

Her heart was beating so faintly that she could barely feel it even with intense focus.

‘Jane! Butler! My heart is beating! Now we can live together even after a year!’

Once the heart started beating, it would continue by inertia.

‘I’ve resolved this without needing to carry out the deed with a man possessing magical power! I’m free now!’

Just as Prelia was secretly rejoicing and clenching her fists without Keinen noticing—

‘Oh no! D*mn it!’

Her faintly beating heart stopped again.

* * *

The next afternoon, when Prelia opened her eyes, she was lying alone in bed.

“Gasp! Could it be!”

After quickly sitting up to check her body’s condition, Prelia sighed with relief.

Her nightgown was intact with no torn or removed parts, and even the pearls in her hair were still there.

‘Did I come to bed while half-asleep?’

Given that she had no memory after her heart stopped again, she must have fallen asleep right then.

The maids, hearing Prelia stirring, entered with even warmer expressions than yesterday.

“Countess, His Highness the Grand Duke has summoned you and the young ladies to Diamond Palace.”

“I understand. I’ll prepare right away.”

At the Grand Duke’s sudden summons, Prelia hurriedly put on the dress provided by the royal family and entered the grand reception hall of Diamond Palace.

“Countess Prelia Transk.”

As Prelia entered the reception hall, the 10 women who had arrived earlier approached and curtsied to her.

“I’m glad to see everyone looking well.”

“Countess, we heard about last night. Thanks to you, we spent the night safely.”

The women held Prelia’s hands with tears in their eyes, expressing their gratitude.
Prelia patted the backs of their hands and looked them in the eyes as she spoke.

“Everyone, steel yourselves. We are going as fiancées to the officers of the Mukro Knights, the strongest in the continent. And we’ll be in equal positions where we can request to break off the engagement after a year. Remember, we also hold one handle of the sword.”

Prelia knew her words were nonsense.

‘Handle of the sword, my foot.’

She only hoped it would help somewhat in restoring their shattered self-esteem and relieving their feelings of betrayal by their homeland.

“Yes, Countess. If we rely on each other, we can endure even there.”

“We will never break down, Countess.”

When Sophia Mar, a young lady with bright blonde hair, gathered her spirits and answered first, everyone nodded and dried their tears.

United by their shared experience, they exchanged encouraging glances before taking their seats.

A few minutes later, the Grand Duke entered, continuously smiling as if something greatly pleased him.

“The reason I called you here is because of the role you must play from now on.”

The Grand Duke moved his lips with hearty laughter, seemingly oblivious to their bitter expressions.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, what do you mean by ‘role’? We are merely going as fiancées to the officers.”

When the Grand Duke looked at Prelia with a full smile, she finally spoke up, unable to stand his face.

“Haha, that’s a big role too. Make sure to proceed all the way to marriage.”

“Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

Prelia tried to interrupt, but the Grand Duke ignored their resentful gazes and continued.

“Countess, yesterday, ahem, I laid out the red carpet for you, but you rejected it? Many things can happen in a year. His Highness the Crown Prince might find another woman. So…”

“Your Highness the Grand Duke!”

Prelia hastily stopped the Grand Duke’s words, anticipating what he would say next.

She sent him a desperate look, begging him not to say it.

“Haha. Countess, don’t get excited and listen carefully. This applies to the other young ladies as well. While you have the men’s attention, you should try to get pregnant.”

But the Grand Duke said it anyway.

“P-pregnant…”

The women gritted their teeth, their self-esteem, which Prelia had barely managed to restore, wounded once again.

Their tears fell into the clear red tea.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, we clearly heard it was an engagement. Please don’t demand anything else from us.”

Prelia spoke in a low voice to the incredibly shameless Grand Duke, exercising maximum patience.

“Countess, you’re so naive. This is good for you too. And for the royal family.”

But the Grand Duke’s continued shameless remarks exhausted Prelia’s patience.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke has already sold us twice. The first time we were sold, we could at least feel we were sacrificing for our country.”

“Countess.”

“But the second time we were sold last night, we couldn’t even have that feeling. Please don’t demand anything more from us. Such demands might become daggers threatening the royal family.”

“Prelia Transk.”

The Grand Duke glared fiercely at Prelia, unlike his previous jovial demeanor.

As she struggled to meet his gaze directly, Sophia Mar, who was sitting beside her, spoke up.

“We will be sold to the Aslan Empire as Your Highness the Grand Duke wishes. So please don’t force anything more on us.”

Though her hands trembled under the Grand Duke’s angry gaze, Sophia said what needed to be said and looked at Prelia.

They exchanged glances and smiled sadly at each other.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, I feel the same.”

The other women also voiced this sentiment, swallowing dry saliva in fear.

“What insolence is this!”

The Grand Duke’s shoulders trembled with uncontrollable anger as he glared at them murderously.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, if you have nothing more to say, we will take our leave now. We need to prepare for tomorrow’s engagement ceremony as you wish, and also prepare to capture our fiancés’ hearts tonight.”

Prelia rose from her seat, trying not to mock the Grand Duke.

Despite her defiance, he was still her king in her heart.

At Prelia’s words, the other women also tightened their jaws and stood up.

Behind them as they left the reception hall, they heard the loud sound of porcelain cups breaking.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke! It’s dangerous!”

They heard the Grand Duke’s servants and maids rushing over, but the women never looked back.

* * *

‘Ah, this is exhausting. To face such difficult situations right after waking up after a thousand days.’

Back in Keinen’s bedroom, Prelia collapsed on the bed without eating.

‘How can I extract Keinen’s magical power without carrying out the deed?’

As she deliberately focused on this crucial question to lift her spirits instead of becoming depressed, evening arrived.

‘I need to hold his hand soon. Why is he pretending to be busy in someone else’s country?’

Keinen, who had been nowhere to be seen all day, finally entered the bedroom after finishing dinner with his knights.

Prelia, who had been sitting on the sofa, stood up to greet him.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, I’ve been waiting for you.”

It was just something to say since she couldn’t think of anything else, but Keinen paused momentarily.

“Countess, wait a moment. I’ll be right out.”

Keinen went into the bathroom and started showering.

Prelia tilted her head, puzzled by Keinen’s seemingly flustered appearance.

‘He must have showered before dinner, so why is he washing again? Being so meticulous must be exhausting for women around him. Could it be! Obsessive-compulsive disorder?’

He must be extremely clean by nature.

Well, she planned to make it none of her business, but it still bothered her.

‘Should I shower again too?’

She had already finished bathing right after dinner, but since Keinen was doing it, she wondered if she should too, and scanned her body.

“Did you wait long?”

While Prelia was wasting brain cells on such trivial matters, Keinen emerged from the bathroom, having just finished showering.

He wore only a loosely tied shower robe while drying his hair with a towel.

Prelia snorted and crossed her arms at his half-n*ked appearance.

‘Hey, even if you came out completely n*ked, I wouldn’t bat an eye.’

She was a former soldier.

Having seen many half-n*ked men during military training at the academy, this level of exposure shouldn’t give her any reaction…

‘Either close your robe properly or just take it off.’

Prelia approached Keinen while glancing at his chest, which was more than half exposed.

‘Let me think. If I carry out the deed and drain this guy’s magical power enough to kill him, would I become a hero of my country?’

It seemed quite possible. Though, of course, the method wouldn’t be one to be recorded in history books.

‘No. I’m a knight too, and that method is a bit… And if I kill him, war would break out again.’

“What are you pondering so deeply? Thinking about how to kill me, perhaps?”

Oh no, Prelia must have been lost in thought too long, as Keinen twisted his lips and wrapped the towel he had been using to dry his hair around her waist.

‘Wow, can you read minds too?’

She was amazed at his remarkable abilities, but that wasn’t important right now.

As Keinen pulled the towel, her face came close to his upper body, visible through the shower robe.

“Your Highness, this is inappropriate!”

“Inappropriate, you say. Looking for manners from me. Are you truly an ignorant fool, or just pretending to be innocent?”