From the moment Seirn first laid eyes on Erenia as she entered the banquet hall, he had felt an overwhelming pull toward her.

It was as though he had been swept away by a wave, drawn to her at first sight.

Even he could not explain why.

Whenever he looked into her eyes, clear as a refreshing lake, it felt as though a burning thirst were being quenched.

And yet, at the same time, he could not suppress his desire for her.

‘If the emperor of Hyen hadn’t arrived when he did, I might have done something reckless.’

Without even realizing it, Seirn had nearly approached Erenia in full view of everyone.

He had come to the Hyen Empire to conduct preliminary reconnaissance for a war of conquest that was being prepared in secret.

For that reason, he had deliberately spread the false rumor that Grand Duke Devlin had come in search of a bride.

It was nothing more than a smokescreen, so he needed to avoid becoming unnecessarily entangled with a princess of Hyen.

But then—

In the middle of the banquet, when Erenia left the hall, Seirn found himself following her without even realizing it.

‘D*mn it. What exactly am I doing?’

Following a lady around, of all things.

Even Seirn found the behavior disturbingly furtive, and he was just about to turn back when—

“Ah!”

Of all people, he collided with Erenia as she was returning from the garden.

And then, in that very instant—

The moment their bodies touched, an electrifying sensation like a bolt of lightning raced down his spine and spread throughout his entire body.

Then the magical power that had seemed tangled around his heart all his life, constricting his breath, suddenly began to flow as though it had finally returned to its proper course.

The breath that had been trapped inside him burst free all at once.

The salvation he experienced for the first time in his life was as sweet as rain falling upon a parched desert.

Closer.

He wanted to touch her just a little more.

It felt as though, if he did, this thirst would finally be quenched completely.

“You. Who are you?”

Seirn asked, forcing himself to suppress the impulse.

But in truth, he already knew the answer to his own question.

Long ago, Seirn’s ancestors had discovered a way to retain the power of House Devlin while purifying only the curse that condemned them to an early death.

The method was simple.

They had to remain in continuous physical contact throughout their lives with a bloodline that inherited divinity through the maternal line, allowing that sacred power to purify the curse.

“For generations, our ancestors kept the sacred bloodline by their side. But the last remaining descendant rejected their fate and fled with the one they loved, disappearing without a trace. Since then, we have searched for them generation after generation, but never found them. I leave this record in the hope that someone among our descendants who reads it may one day recover the sacred bloodline.”

It was a record preserved in the family’s secret archive.

And the sensation described there was exactly what Seirn had just experienced.

Overcome by the exhilaration of finally being able to end the tragedy that had plagued his family for generations, along with an instinctive hunger for Erenia, Seirn barely managed to regain control of himself.

‘She is a princess of an enemy nation. I cannot reveal a weakness. If they use this against us to undermine the Troka Empire, it could become disastrous.’

Summoning almost superhuman restraint, he took a step back from Erenia.

But perhaps because tasting the power of purification for the first time in his life had disrupted the flow of his magic—

“Urgh.”

The magical power he had failed to control surged violently through him, swallowing his body in excruciating pain.

* * *

“Grand Duke! What’s wrong? Please, wake up!”

Meanwhile, the moment Seirn lost consciousness and collapsed, Erenia instinctively realized that something was seriously wrong.

Without even having time to think, she hurriedly examined him.

Branches bent nearly in half by the violent gusts swirling around Seirn flew in every direction.

‘Is this because of me?’

She could not be certain, but one thing was clear.

Seirn’s condition had changed immediately after colliding with her.

She could even see an ominous red haze flickering around him.

Perhaps because she still remembered how desperately he had tried to save her in her previous life, Erenia felt that she had to help him somehow.

So despite her small frame, she recklessly tried to haul Seirn upright and support his weight.

‘He’s burning up. Like he’s trapped inside a furnace.’

Seirn’s body was so hot that it hardly seemed human.

Even Erenia felt a painful, searing heat where their bodies touched.

But then—

Little by little, the red haze swirling around Seirn began to subside.

Starting from the places where Erenia’s hands touched him.

Erenia instinctively understood.

She was capable of controlling his suffering.

Only now did the pieces of the mystery left unresolved in her previous life begin to fall into place.

‘I’ve never heard of anyone being able to suppress the curse of House Devlin.’

But if this was the reason, then she could understand why Seirn had been so desperate to stop her from dying.

Now that Erenia finally held the key to negotiation, she poured all her strength into easing Seirn’s condition.

No one had ever taught her how, yet somehow, she knew instinctively what to do.

Several minutes passed.

Just as cold sweat began trickling down Erenia’s back from the strain of barely holding on, the red haze enveloping Seirn disappeared completely.

“Ha…”

Only then did Erenia let out a long breath of relief and draw away from him.

She looked down at his face, his eyes peacefully closed.

Her previous life came back to her.

The day Seirn had led the Troka imperial army at the vanguard and marched into the Imperial Palace.

‘I remember now. Back then, when the Grand Duke helped me up after I surrendered, he touched me for a moment… and suddenly went completely still.’

It seemed that in her previous life, Seirn had first experienced this sensation at that moment.

‘Either way, this is fortunate. I found my bargaining chip early.’

Just then, she heard someone approaching.

“Erenia!”

Unfortunately, the uninvited guest was someone who could recognize her far too easily even in the darkness.

Her former lover, Lucius.

“Wait! I need to talk to you!”

Fortunately, Lucius seemed so focused on Erenia that he failed to notice Seirn’s presence.

“There is nothing more for us to discuss, Sir Lucius.”

“Please, just hear me out!”

Erenia deliberately answered coldly as she lured Lucius farther away from Seirn.

“Erenia! You know how I feel, don’t you? You know you’re the only person I truly love!”

“…….”

“This engagement really was… unavoidable. You know I had no choice because of my family. Please, don’t be angry. His Majesty was so adamant about it that I had no choice…”

Lucius began clinging to her pathetically.

‘Ha. I remember now. He did this in my previous life too.’

“In any case, my engagement to Joanna is loveless. You’re the only one I love, and I’ll never take another mistress besides you.”

Under imperial law, a mistress was a dishonorable existence that could never be officially recognized.

Although the imperial family had a system of imperial consorts, ordinary nobles were not permitted the same arrangement.

And yet Lucius acted as though he were making some grand declaration even while reducing Erenia to such a humiliating position.

“Erenia. Someday, when I become a proper man, I’ll save you. I’ll take you as my wife and get you out of this Imperial Palace.”

As though he had completely forgotten the promise they had made long ago as children, he spouted one absurd statement after another.

But now, there was no reason for Erenia to be shaken.

“Sir Lucius von Dmitri. I have no idea what my younger sister’s fiancé is talking about. Please return to the banquet.”

Even so—

“I can’t do that, Erenia! My love, please!”

As though unable to comprehend Erenia’s change at all, Lucius stubbornly grabbed her wrist.

And then—

“What do you think you’re doing?”

A chilling voice rang through the darkness, cold enough to make every hair on Erenia’s body stand on end.

“G-Grand Duke Devlin…?”

Seirn approached with a murderous glint in his eyes and seized the wrist of the hand Lucius had wrapped around Erenia.

“Aagh! What the hell are you doing?!”

Then, with merciless strength, he twisted Lucius’s wrist and forced him to let go of Erenia.

He did not forget to carefully pull Erenia behind his back afterward.

“G-Grand Duke Devlin! What is the meaning of this outrage?!”

“Outrage? Isn’t forcing yourself on a woman who has already told you no the real outrage?”

“Ha! You and Princess Erenia have nothing to do with each other! This is a matter between the two of us, so I suggest you pretend you saw nothing and move along!”

“Nothing to do with each other? What a hurtful thing to say.”

“Isn’t it true?!”

Perhaps emboldened by the fact that he had officially become the emperor’s prospective son-in-law, Lucius—a mere second son of a count—raised his voice at Seirn, a grand duke.

But the shocking declaration that followed left him completely speechless.

“She is the woman who will become my grand duchess.”

“…Pardon?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said she is going to be my wife.”