“…Is this aura of evil something that only appears when you do bad things? If that’s the case, well…”

Magnus recalled the things Serena had done so far.

Of course, it wasn’t really Serena who did them, but ‘someone’ who had entered Serena’s body, but everyone except him considers those crimes to be Serena’s.

It’s a pity that she has to pay the price for actions she didn’t commit, but as long as everyone claims it to be the truth, there’s no way to prove Serena’s innocence.

‘Or else, we should reveal the current situation and clear up the misunderstanding…’

Objectively, her words were too far-fetched.

It’s not that she was lying. It’s just that it’s the kind of story that’s hard for anyone to easily accept.

In fact, he could believe it because he had known Serena for a long time, but if that wasn’t the case, it was a story he would never have believed.

Such an outlandish story is too much to overturn public opinion.

“Of course, there’s that too, but to put it simply, it’s more about… dark emotions regarding what might happen rather than what has already happened.”

“Dark emotions?”

“Like wanting to take revenge on someone, or wanting to kill them, or wanting to die, or wishing someone would get seriously hurt…”

Drukan explained with the easiest examples possible for Magnus to understand.

“It refers to emotions like despair or sadness that ordinary people usually have.”

Magnus’s expression became subtle as he listened to Drukan’s story.

It wasn’t because he didn’t understand Drukan’s words. Rather, it was because he understood them too well.

Because…

“Isn’t that an emotion everyone has? It seems unnecessary to talk about the aura of evil or whatnot for something so obvious.”

Because what Drukan was talking about was something commonly seen in daily life.

“I’ve been questioning that recently too…”

Drukan furrowed his brow.

Everything that emitted an aura of evil invariably went mad.

Killing people, or trying to kill, or if not that, killing themselves.

“Anyway, thanks to Your Grace at that time, the aura of evil didn’t go on a rampage…”

Drukan took a deep breath.

He had a rough idea of how angry the other party would be when he said this.

But he also had a duty to maintain his position as a hero.

For his wife and child who would live a life close to immortality.

“…If the aura of evil that Serena harbors goes on a rampage, I will have no choice but to kill her.”

Kuung–!

As soon as Drukan finished speaking, a chilling murderous intent and pressure bore down on him.

“……”

It was somewhat expected, but the intensity was fiercer than he thought.

Drukan gritted his teeth as cold sweat ran down his cheek, but he didn’t bend or bow his waist.

“It seems you found my words somewhat amusing.”

“Not at all.”

“Then are you deceiving me?”

“No, I told you beforehand. I didn’t kill my wife whom I was supposed to kill.”

Magnus narrowed his eyes at Drukan’s words.

Drukan clenched his fist at the eerie killing intent that settled over Magnus’s expressionless face.

He thought Magnus’s usual treatment of Serena was quite light.

His words were much more casual than expected, and he rarely interfered no matter what Serena did, which seemed generous at a glance but also somewhat indifferent in some aspects.

‘…I must be getting old too.’

In the past, he would have felt competitive first, but now his first thought was that he doesn’t want to confront such an opponent.

Thinking this, Drukan rubbed his face with his palm a couple of times.

“I don’t want to kill Serena either.”

Drukan first expressed his thoughts.

Magnus’s eyes narrowed slightly. Seeing that the pressure hadn’t lessened at all, Drukan clenched and unclenched his fist.

“What I want to say is that even though it’s a revelation, things can change as long as the situation doesn’t take the worst turn.”

“And?”

“My wife… that is, the evil dragon, Tiavias, was originally destined to go on a rampage and destroy this empire.”

Magnus’s pupils dilated slightly.

After pondering for a moment, Magnus slowly reduced his pressure and nodded.

“Go on.”

“But I stopped her, and in the end, the empire is still intact to this day.”

Drukan spoke slowly, feeling somewhat easier to breathe.

Magnus nodded. There was indeed a time not long ago when he felt quite a massive aura from the mansion.

If Drukan hadn’t come in advance to ask for understanding, he might have killed him without hesitation.

“Isn’t that what the contract is for and what a hero does?”

Magnus asked.

“I thought dealing with crises that befall the world was the job of heroes and saintesses.”

“That’s right.”

Drukan nodded.

“The important thing is that even though I disobeyed the revelation, the contract wasn’t broken and my power didn’t disappear.”

“Hmm.”

“My wife was suffering from the rampage at that time. During the battle, I realized this and changed my approach from killing to subduing her.”

Magnus quietly listened to Drukan’s story. Drukan continued speaking with a serious expression.

“When my wife regained her senses, she said she didn’t know why she acted that way. She just felt resentful towards the world and annoyed with humans, wanting to kill them all. She later told me it felt like she was being controlled by something, which was a terribly unpleasant feeling.”

“…She felt like she was being controlled?”

Magnus recalled Serena muttering in panic.

Considering that Serena wasn’t usually the type to have such dark and deep thoughts, there was certainly something strange about it.

“Yes, to be precise, she said it felt like she couldn’t control her emotions. Even for things that weren’t worth getting so angry about, she got angrier than usual.”

“Hmm……”

Magnus tilted his head slightly.

“The reason I’m telling Your Grace this story is because you stopped Serena’s rampage.”

Magnus quietly rolled his eyes to look at Drukan.

“Are you saying I can stop it?”

“It’s clear that only Your Grace can hold Serena’s reins now.”

Drukan said.

“But even the same method has its limits… we need to find a fundamental solution.”

Magnus nodded at Drukan’s words. He agreed with what Drukan was saying.

Continuing the situation as it is isn’t what Magnus wants either.

“Even so, what should we look for?”

“My wife said that something that wasn’t there before appeared. She said there must be something stimulating her from the side…”

Drukan trailed off, unable to hide his puzzlement.

That’s because there was really nothing around Serena.

She doesn’t keep maids or servants close, nor is she close with her family members.

The only one Serena is familiar with is Magnus, and if anything, Magnus wouldn’t do anything to harm Serena.

Drukan felt the same way.

“Something that wasn’t there appeared?”

“Yes, it seems we need to find something that keeps stimulating Serena.”

Drukan said vaguely.

Although he said they needed to find it, he too had no idea what exactly they should be looking for.

“Could it be family?”

Magnus recalled Nocturne Lavernia, who had pushed Serena to her limits several times.

“I don’t know what it is, and neither does my wife. She hasn’t heard anything related to it.”

“I see, so we just need to remove everything around her.”

Drukan made a strange expression but nodded at Magnus’s words, which made it seem that it was not difficult at all.

“I understand, thank you for telling me.”

Magnus nodded slightly.

“So in short, we just need to prevent Serena from being consumed by such dark emotions?”

“That seems to be the most important thing. She said that once negative emotions arise, it becomes difficult to handle them.”

Drukan spoke, recalling what his wife had told him.

“Above all, it’s not my intention to kill innocent people.”

“Right, keep saying that often.”

Magnus nodded and then pointed at Drukan with his index finger.

Drukan, who was about to turn around to leave the office, blinked and looked back at Magnus.

“Pardon?”

“I mean, give Serena lots of compliments like that.”

“Um… is there a reason?”

Drukan said, slightly furrowing his brow.

“Serena is weak to such words.”

Drukan finally realized that Magnus was talking about ‘how not to be consumed by dark emotions’.

He thought it was something serious because Magnus looked so grave and serious.

“Come to think of it, I should order the servants in the mansion to give one compliment each day.”

“…What?”

“On your way out, please call Pamel for me.”

“Wait, you’re not… going to give such an order to the entire mansion, are you?”

Drukan recalled his employer who would be utterly horrified at such a situation.

“Is there a problem?”

“Well, I don’t think Serena would like it very much.”

“It’s fine, she won’t know.”

Magnus replied nonchalantly.

Drukan rolled his eyes at that confidence that the other party would never notice.

But he quietly closed his mouth.

“Yes. I understand.”

Because he knew well that there was an employer above his employer.

“Ah, and…”

Magnus smiled faintly as he watched Drukan turn the doorknob.

“If you carelessly run your mouth again in front of me about killing Serena or whatnot…”

A sharp killing intent slashed across Drukan’s back.

Drukan’s lips turned pale blue at the thought of showing his back to a beast.

“Your head will be rolling on the floor.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

The air suddenly relaxed at his response. Magnus nodded with a much more comfortable expression.

“I’m sorry for threatening you, I just wanted you to know that just as family is important to you, I have things that shouldn’t be touched. You can go rest with your daughter now.”

“Yes, then.”

Drukan, who slightly bowed his head at Magnus’s brief apology, left his seat.

‘…It’s amazing what the previous Duke was thinking and how he educated him to create something like that.’

It was also surprising to Drukan that such a monster had such a high level of self-control.

“Ah, I want to quit being a hero.”

Drukan thought that if it weren’t for the contract with the World Tree that promised a life close to immortality, he would have already quit, and he immediately headed towards the lodging where his daughter would be.