But Leah consistently rejected him.

“You’re not important.”

The Imperial Prince Archaik couldn’t understand.

“Why you, who belongs to me.”

When I want you this much.

The rage of rejection further fueled his twisted desires.

He wanted to hurt her. To harm her. To ruin her and make her beg.

When Leah bled at his fingertips, he felt his throat tighten yet couldn’t help but smile.

“P-please spare me!”

Miserable, servile pleading. Flesh-tearing pain. The hopeless despair of not knowing when this torture would end.

Compared to such suffering, she merely got scratched and shed a few drops of blood.

“Yet you glare at me like you want to kill me.”

Her face remained clear even in that moment of glaring.

An expression that had never harbored hatred enough to hang him alive and slice his flesh piece by piece. Blue eyes that had never begged for life.

It was incredibly beautiful, yet he wanted to break and destroy it. He wanted to drag her, who was merely his subject, down to the hell he had experienced.

“But.”

If Leah experienced the same pain he had suffered, would her unique, brilliant light continue to shine? Or would it fade?

Every time, fearing this, he withdrew his strength when about to destroy her.

“I’ve never seen anything shine like you do.”

Such a you belongs to me. My subject created with my mana. My mage.

“My mage.”

Amid the whirlwind of emotions, that was the one undeniable truth. The prince repeated it once more, seeming to have found his path.

“My mage.”

He muttered.

In the midst of trying to destroy the Empire and humans, what did it matter to acquire and break just one more human mage? The prince let out a hollow laugh.

“Right. If she resists being taken, I have no choice but to destroy her.”

A smile spread across Archaik’s face.

At his slight gesture, a waiting Snake Knight approached. The prince spoke.

“Deliver an order to Count Trow.”

***

Count Trow was in a panic.

The imperial noble who had entrusted him with experiments had suddenly barged in.

“Tsk…”

The imperial noble clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“Count Trow, I’ve been impressed by your diligent and unscrupulous work. Yet you betray me like this?”

“What? B-betray?”

Count Trow was shocked.

He had backstabbed countless Peiren nobles and commoners, but he had never even thought of doing the same to the Oken Empire.

Yet the imperial noble looked at him and snorted.

“A distinguished person who cannot be named has doubts about your actions.”

“This is unfair. I’ve shown more loyalty to the Oken Empire than to my homeland of Peiren, taking on dangerous tasks all this time…”

“That person said your recent work has been too… safety-oriented. Fake medicine, really?”

A jolt.

Count Trow felt his insides go cold, but outwardly tried to maintain composure. The imperial noble’s eyes sharpened.

“That person seemed to have ordered you to take more bold action. Surely you weren’t planning to disregard such an order?”

The count bowed obsequiously, feigning an innocent expression.

“How could I possibly disregard an order from such an authority?”

“Indeed. Never forget that the Oken Empire stands behind us.”

The imperial noble crossed his legs arrogantly.

“Isn’t it thanks to our Oken Empire that the Kingdom of Peiren enjoys such peace and stability now?”

“You speak the truth.”

“Considering your past efforts, I’ll let it slide this time… but remember that there are always plenty of people eager to work for the Oken Empire.”

At this implicit threat that he could be discarded at any time, Count Trow’s face paled.

“I’ll work diligently on anything. You know how my family has handled matters until now? Please trust me and leave it to us!”

“Trust you and leave it to you.”

The imperial noble repeated Count Trow’s words and asked.

“Really? Can I trust you with anything?”

“How could there be any doubt?”

“Then.”

The imperial noble took out a small bottle from his br*ast pocket. He handed the bottle to Count Trow.

“Try using this.”

***

Winter had arrived in the capital of the Kingdom of Peiren.

With the sudden cold weather, ice formed on the rivers, and the hearts of the capital’s people grew cold due to the fake medicine incident.

“It wasn’t long ago that we couldn’t get medicines from the Piert Trading Company, and now even though they’re right in front of us, we can’t buy them.”

“My elderly relative gets better with just one spoon of Piert’s red cold medicine when coughing, but I don’t know what to do now. Honey and warm tea can only do so much.”

“Why don’t you go to a reliable pharmacy and buy a few bottles?”

“What? I’ll save my adventures for something else. What if I’m unlucky and get fake medicine with poison?”

Cold medicine was particularly important to people’s daily lives.

The Kingdom of Peiren especially had more widespread medicine than neighboring countries. Thanks to the pharmaceutical business passionately promoted by the Piert ducal family, the entire nation had become accustomed to buying medicine.

Now that even cold medicine couldn’t be trusted as winter deepened, many people were anxious. Capital residents whispered whenever they gathered.

“I heard the Trow Trading Company also stopped selling medicine?”

“I heard that too. They say there’s no point selling medicine now when it only raises suspicion.”

“Anyone with ears already suspects the Trow family… isn’t it just a matter of time before they’re caught?”

“That’s right. The Piert knights have been searching non-stop.”

Among the people nodding with confident faces, someone made a fuss.

“Speaking of which, last night before bed, I saw blue light rising from afar! They say that’s sword energy!”

“Gasp! Looks like Ruyan Piert made another move.”

“I saw that too. I don’t know how far Ruyan Piert will go. His sword energy keeps getting stronger…”

Everyone firmly believed:

‘It’s obvious the Trow family is behind the fake medicine incident.’

‘They’ll soon be caught and exposed to the world!’

‘Will they finally be crushed by the Piert ducal family this time?’

However, reality was unfolding differently from public opinion. Despite the strong suspicions against the Trow family, evidence was hard to come by. Everyone at the Piert ducal household was racking their brains.

“The case has become so notorious, yet catching the culprits is making little progress…”

“There must be something about the Trow family.”

Rikeil said with a dark expression.

“Even considering the Trow family’s peak capabilities, they shouldn’t be able to evade our pursuit at this rate.”

“That’s right. I take my men and move like lightning, you know? But I’ve never seen anyone still breathing when we get there.”

At Ruyan’s words, the Duke groaned.

“Hmm. Unless the Oken prince has lent them the Snake Knights… how could this be happening?”

Listening, Leah bit her lip.

It was a perfectly plausible assumption.

She had forgotten after waking from that dream last time, but to think that lizard would make such a move.

“…Are the Snake Knights that capable?”

“They’re a mysterious group. They’re the Imperial Guard, but their numbers aren’t even known.”

“Still, they can’t be stronger than little brother who’s a Sword Master.”

Ruyan nodded and stroked his chin.

“They must have some other secret weapon. Maybe they’re former assassins, or skilled with poisons…”

“They seemed like magic users.”

Helix, who had been quiet, spoke. The ducal family members turned to him in surprise.

“If the prince’s close associates who were mobilized during the last kidnapping incident were Snake Knights… they’re magic users. Like Karai.”

“…Are you saying they’re magic users who survived by taking the elixir?”

“I’m certain.”

The faces of the ducal family members filled with horror.

Children with magical abilities who survived the cruel experiments of feeding elixirs to young children. Was he saying they gathered those children to create the Imperial Guard?

Who knew the Oken Imperial family was such a deranged group?

“Then we should give up the pursuit.”

Leah, who regained her composure first, summarized coldly.

“Everyone in the capital already knows there are people distributing fake medicine.”

“They all think the Trow family is behind it.”

“Exactly.”

Leah emphasized in response to Rikeil’s remark.

“We’ve already proven our innocence, and rumors have spread that the culprit is someone else. But it’s been a while since we couldn’t catch the culprit and had to stop selling medicine. People must be getting tired of this. They’ll soon start thinking that while there’s a culprit out there, we’re incompetent.”

Leah stressed each word.

“If this continues, the credibility of the Piert Trading Company will hit rock bottom.”

“Hmm.”

Duke Piert groaned.

“You’re suggesting we end this situation?”

“Yes. Decisively, so we don’t appear incompetent.”

A few days later, the Piert Trading Company made a difficult decision.

They banned the sale of red cold medicine currently on the market. The royal family cooperated as well.

“Anyone caught selling fake medicine will be arrested immediately, regardless of status! Criminals will await trial in the royal underground prison!”

The royal underground prison.

It was called a prison, but there was no waiting for trial there. As soon as the palm-sized cells filled up, prisoners were quickly dragged to the gallows.

People were terrified by the royal family’s stern declaration. The Herbalist Guild felt the same.

‘I’m not risking selling medicine in these times!’

While everyone was frozen in fear, unable to sell or buy medicine, just watching cautiously, heavy snow fell across Peiren. And then a cold wave hit.

“Cough!”

Coughing sounds spread frighteningly everywhere, and the flu became an epidemic.

“Cough! Cough!”

“Cough! Ack!”

In the slums, coughing sounds continued endlessly. The flu’s destructive power was especially merciless to the poor.

Patients from small cave-like hovels would stagger out, unable to bear high fevers, only to slip on the frozen ground.

“Oh my, my hip… oh my!”

The flu that instantly swept through the slums soon began to spread to commoners as well.