“Sorry.”

I apologized with an attitude that was not sorry at all.

“Step on me as much as you want. I can handle this much of a tantrum.”

“If you wish.”

Without hesitation, I stepped hard on his foot.

It must have hurt quite a bit, but the Crown Prince didn’t even flinch. Even then, my attention was focused on the mysterious gaze.

‘Is it my imagination?’

At some point, the gaze disappeared.

I kept feeling chills today, so it seemed my body hadn’t fully recovered yet.

Thinking I should go back and rest soon, I stepped on the Crown Prince’s other foot as well, for fairness.

***

Leon quietly watched the Crown Prince and Lou dancing. His golden eyes, hidden under the hood, shimmered.

The face of the woman, who had been smiling until a moment ago, was now stiff.

“Lou…”

Leon softly called her name.

It had a soft and sweet sound, like cotton candy.

Recently, a spy planted in Arcadia had reported that something unusual was happening in the empire.

There was news that monsters had appeared on Mount Acheron near the capital for the first time in a thousand years.

Although it was quickly suppressed, the situation seemed serious.

The fact that the arrogant Kebrenia imperial family had asked the Pope for help showed how desperate they were.

The movements of the Sephiroth Holy Knight Order were also suspicious.

It was unlikely that the elite force of the Holy See, the Sephiroth Holy Knights, would be tied up for so long by mere monsters. His instincts warned him that something unusual would happen soon.

Taking advantage of the crowd gathered for the festival, Leon had infiltrated the imperial palace himself.

It had been quite some time since there had been any substantial exchange between his homeland and the Kebrenia Empire.

Nevertheless, the empire still tried to act as their master, and there was growing resistance within the principality.

Leon intended to use this opportunity to see if it was worth maintaining their unfair relationship with the Kebrenia Empire.

The infiltration was ridiculously easy.

However, the curse that had tormented him for so long flared up again. The price for annihilating his bloodline was harsh and terrible.

With no strength to hide, he barely found a secluded place to wait for the pain to subside when someone approached him.

The moment her hand touched him, the pain disappeared completely.

It was the first peace that had come to his world, which was filled only with anger and despair.

He didn’t want to lose it. No, he couldn’t lose it.

After saying goodbye to Lou, Leon secretly followed her. Lou entered the ballroom without knowing he was following.

Leon watched Lou through the wide-open door.

A man approached her.

Leon recognized the man at a glance.

Pinion Dias Kebrenia.

He was the crown prince of the empire.

He too seemed to vaguely sense Leon’s presence and looked directly in his direction. Only then did Leon realize he had gotten too close to the imperial family.

He retreated far back and concealed his presence. Fortunately, the Crown Prince didn’t fully detect his hiding.

The Crown Prince kissed the back of Lou’s hand.

At that moment, Leon realized two things.

One, his greeting was unbearably clumsy, and two, the fiancé Lou had mentioned was the Crown Prince.

— He’s handsome, capable, rich, has a high status, and is every woman’s ideal.

The Crown Prince was perfect, just as Lou had described.

Something hot surged from deep within his chest. It was the emotion he had been suppressing all along.

It resembled anger but was more painful and aggressive.

Ever since he learned that Lou had a fiancé, he could hardly control that emotion.

Suddenly, he overheard the conversation of passersby.

“Lou Dronay must be incredibly lucky. Despite her misdeeds, the Crown Prince is so kind to her.”

“I heard that because of her, the Crown Prince has no close female companions. Are we going to have the first emperor in the empire without a mistress?”

‘That’s ridiculous.’

Leon could clearly see the cold relationship between the two.

Even though he had just met them today, Leon could tell.

Lou was a kind person.

She didn’t get angry at his rudeness and smiled at his clumsy actions.

But she wasn’t like that when she was with the Crown Prince.

‘Should I take her?’

As soon as he made up his mind, he was determined.

If Lou had looked happy, he might have hesitated, but knowing she wasn’t made him resolute. Even if she was the Crown Prince’s fiancée.

He heard the bell tolling at midnight.

Leon took one last look at Lou’s face and then left the imperial palace without hesitation.

As he threw off the cumbersome mask, his dark blue hair, like the early evening sky, tumbled down, revealing a face that still had a hint of youth. And in the next moment, he completely disappeared into the darkness.

***

Even though the night was deep, I couldn’t sleep.

I eventually sat up.

“Something’s definitely strange.”

Pinion’s fingers, Leon’s headache. And the pain I felt after touching them.

‘Is it really a coincidence?’

I couldn’t take lightly the fact that the original heroine, Lina, was a healer.

Healing power wasn’t a rare ability, but it usually manifested in priests who had lived a long time in seclusion or their descendants.

It was very rare for an ordinary person to be born with healing power, and even then, they usually became aware of it before puberty.

I had never heard of someone like me, who developed healing power as an adult.

Except for one person, Lina.

As the heroine, she possessed an unprecedented healing ability.

Not only could she heal wounds, but she could even revive a dragon that was practically dead.

Maybe now, as the heroine, I was starting to manifest a similar ability.

If so, I should be happy, but I felt annoyed.

‘Surely, I’m not supposed to bear other people’s pain with my body, right…?’

Although Lina needed physical contact to heal others, there was no mention of her experiencing their pain.

I had a bad feeling. Things had never gone well for me as a substitute heroine, and I was worried this time wouldn’t be different.

After struggling with my thoughts alone, I finally managed to fall asleep at dawn.

The next day.

Seren, who came to wake me up, had a bump on her forehead. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious, but the way it stuck out like a horn was quite funny.

“Seren, what’s that on your face?”

“It’s apricot season, you know. I was shaking the apricot tree, and an unripe apricot fell and hit me.”

“Let me see.”

Seren, with her lips pouting as if she was about to cry, brought her forehead to me. There was a swollen bump with a bruise forming over it.

I gently rubbed the bump.

‘Could it be this too?’

I didn’t like the idea of having a bump on my forehead, but if it was for Seren, I could bear this much pain for her.

“It hurts, Miss!”

Seren cried out resentfully, covering her forehead. I hadn’t touched it that hard, but she was being overly dramatic.

“Sorry.”

I apologized half-heartedly and looked at my forehead in the mirror. It was still fine.

But as time passed, Seren’s bump remained, and my forehead was still clean.

‘Was I being too sensitive?’

I needed to be sure.

I headed straight to the imperial palace.

As expected, the Crown Prince was the most convenient test subject.

“What brings you to see me?”

I thought I would have to wait a long time since I visited during such a busy time, but surprisingly, the Crown Prince quickly appeared before me. He seemed to be in a strangely good mood, as if he had heard some good news.

‘It has nothing to do with me.’

Facing his bright face, which contrasted with my gloomy one, only worsened my mood.

Not wanting to stay in the imperial palace for long, I got straight to the point.

“Your Highness. Are you in any pain anywhere?”

“No.”

“Any injuries?”

“No.”

“Don’t answer carelessly. Think carefully. Are you sure you don’t have any?”

“I don’t.”

‘Then can’t you go out and get hurt?’

I wanted to hit or bite him to make a wound.

But I restrained myself because no matter who I was, even a small scratch on the body of an imperial family member could lead to severe punishment.

“You’re still as spontaneous as ever. This is the you I know.”

The Crown Prince looked at me with an incredulous smile.

I also scrutinized the Crown Prince.

I was contemplating how much and where to injure him to receive only a light punishment.

While I was deep in thought, the Crown Prince took out a dagger and slashed his palm.

“Is this enough?”

‘Gosh, he’s really crazy.’

Since I had already noticed he wasn’t normal when he plucked roses with his bare hands, I wasn’t too surprised this time.

“It’s a bit excessive, but it’s fine.”

I placed my hand over his bleeding palm.

His blood-soaked hand twitched for a moment.

“What on earth are you trying to do?”

“You’ll see if you wait.”

‘What if I don’t have healing powers?’

I was worried, but only for a moment. Since I didn’t inflict the wound, the responsibility was on the Crown Prince.

After some time, I felt a stinging pain in my palm.

I slowly released the Crown Prince’s hand and checked my palm.

A vivid red line ran across it.