Yearning without properly knowing. Wanting to possess but unable to do so immediately for fear she might run away again. Wasn’t this the first time he had desperately wanted something like this? It was an unfamiliarly frightening emotion. 

 This must be an illness. She had insisted it absolutely wasn’t a curse. Whatever method she used, he was surely afflicted with severe lovesickness. 

 “What has become of me.” 

 His pride was hurt. 

 Why did she run away again? He wanted to run and ask her right away, but he feared the woman might go into hiding if she was determined. 

 To fear someone. Me? The more he thought about it, the more anger welled up. 

 Nicholas threw the rosary he had been using for prayer onto the desk as if tossing it aside. 

 Right, what use was there in asking Rarien? 

 Only Madam Rosalie herself would know whether she cast a curse or not. But this was even more impossible. Because Madam Rosalie was already dead. 

 “Can’t dig up a woman buried in a grave to ask if it was really a curse……” 

 Even when he meets Rarien, he needs to know the answer before meeting her. 

 Whatever it may be, his decision to possess Rarien Claude remained unchanged. 

 Once he decided to have her in his grasp, he absolutely didn’t want to let go. 

 What if Rarien couldn’t be by his side because of Madam Rosalie’s curse? 

 He needed to solve that problem first. 

 Just what had happened, if he could only know the answer…… 

 He felt like he could do anything, not just pray. 

 “Then why don’t you ask?” 

 Just then, a woman’s voice was heard from somewhere.

“The woman from the grave is right here.” 

 When Nicholas looked up, he saw a somewhat familiar woman’s face. 

 “How’s Her Highness?” 

 “Who are you?” 

 “Madam Rosalie. You saw me when you were young, and at the temple too. You remember me, right?” 

 Madam Rosalie greeted him cheerfully as if meeting an old friend after a long time. 

 “Madam Rosalie…? How did you get here……” 

 “You said you wanted to see me.” 

 He didn’t remember hearing any presence. Even if he hadn’t heard because he was concentrating, something felt off. 

 Just how did she know to come? 

 Nicholas looked Madam Rosalie up and down. 

 There was a reason he didn’t recognize her right away. The last time he saw her was when she entered the temple for treatment. Compared to then, she looked unrecognizably younger. 

 “No need to be so surprised. This is my original form. Back then, there were various circumstances.” 

 No, more than that… Why was a woman who should be in a grave here? 

 Because she greeted him so naturally, he had unconsciously accepted it as normal. 

 “You died at the temple back then. Are you perhaps a ghost or spirit?” 

 “I’m not a ghost.” 

 The corners of Madam Rosalie’s lips curved up. 

 “Though I’m not human either.” 

 “I don’t care what you are. Let me ask you directly. Was it true, the curse you cast?” 

 “You were like this when you were young too. You still only care about yourself, and quite unpleasant.” 

 When he skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point, Madam Rosalie responded sarcastically. 

 “Just answer the question.” 

 “Well, it could be a curse or it could be a blessing. Isn’t it your prejudice that defines it as a curse? Why do you think that? Because of the rumors that I’m a witch?” 

 “So you did do something anyway.” 

 “You know better than me whether my words were true or not. You experienced it firsthand. No need to ask me, right?” 

 “They were true. That’s exactly why I’m asking. Because what I’m curious about now isn’t about me, but someone else.” 

 Nicholas stared straight at her. 

 “Tell me the truth. Rarien Claude. What did you do to that woman?” 

 “This is unexpected. I thought you had zero interest in others’ affairs.” 

 “I’m asking because it’s not someone else’s affair.” 

 “How scary. You look ready to kill me right now if I don’t confess.” 

 Madam Rosalie chuckled at his sharp tone. 

 “Alright. I’ll tell you everything, so stop glaring.” 

 Madam Rosalie sat loosely on the desk and took out a cigar to light it. 

 Nicholas frowned deeply as acrid smoke rose with the sound of the cigar tip burning. 

 “Let me have this much. When I’m tense, I strangely crave cigars. Humans. They make these things well, don’t they?” 

 “Fine, just hurry up and talk.” 

 “So impatient.” 

 She took a long drag on the cigar until her cheeks hollowed, then exhaled the smoke through her nose. 

 How filthy. Smoking a cigar in the room. 

 Normally he would never tolerate such behavior, but since she had information he wanted to hear, he decided to forcefully endure it. 

 “Rarien Claude will die in 100 days.” 

 Madam Rosalie stubbed out the barely-smoked cigar on the bible on the desk and met Nicholas’s gaze. As Nicholas’s eyes wavered, her eyes curved deeply. 

 “This is the curse I put on her. She knows too. That she doesn’t have long to live. If she did things she normally wouldn’t do, it’s all because of that.” 

 “Is that all?” 

 “Yes. She dies in 100 days. Some time has passed. Is she not dead yet?” 

 She talked about someone’s death without any remorse and with such a clear face. Was her head full of flowers? 

 Nicholas felt anger surge at her irresponsible demeanor. 

 “Ah right, just so you don’t misunderstand. For reference, I never cast any filthy curses of lust or anything like that. I prefer natural s*x over using aphrodisiacs.” 

 “Just what are you trying to say?” 

 “So if you two had s*x, that wasn’t my doing but entirely because you two were attracted to each other.” 

 Even as she explained, his eyes narrowed sharply. 

 “Rarien Claude, that woman was good to you. What sin did she commit for you to make her only live a hundred days?” 

 “It’s my choice. It’s fun, isn’t it?” 

 “You find this fun?” 

 When Madam Rosalie snickered, Nicholas suddenly grabbed her neck. 

 Bang—! Her back hit the bookshelf from his intensely agitated force. Despite the loud noise, Madam Rosalie was still smiling playfully. 

 “Save her. Either break the curse. Or make it like it never happened. Do it however you want.” 

 “I told you I’m not human. You think this will kill me?” 

 “Shut up. Just save her.” 

 “Hey, you can’t kill me anyway. If you can’t kill me, you should persuade me. Not threaten me.” 

 A cold light flashed in Madam Rosalie’s eyes. 

 Hearing this seemed to make sense to him as the strength gradually left Nicholas’s tightly clenched hand. 

 “That’s right. Dear Nicki, good boy.” 

 “……F*ck.” 

 “Such foul language too. You’ve grown up wonderfully. I quite like it. You know, I made you that way. You? You used to talk so boringly as a six-year-old. It’s much more colorful now that you at least curse.”

When Madam Rosalie patted Nicholas’s cheek a couple of times, he rubbed his cheek vigorously as if something dirty had touched it. 

 Regardless, she sat back on the desk and stared at his face with interest. 

 “Tell me the way. If you don’t want to hear harsh words from my harsh mouth.” 

 “Sure, but one question. Why are you going this far? What’s so great about her? Do you like her that much?” 

 Whatever had happened, watching him growl like a lion who had his whiskers pulled was quite a sight. 

 “Human time is short and finite anyway. What difference does it make whether they die a bit sooner or later.” 

 She picked up Nicholas’s rosary and spun it around her finger. 

 “You talk so easily because it’s not your problem. Most humans want to live even a little longer.” 

 “Well, that might be true. But you know what? Would she have been happy living longer?” 

 Madam Rosalie asked abruptly. 

 “If I hadn’t cast that curse, she would have died doing nothing but being taken advantage of, without ever doing what she wanted in life.” 

 It wasn’t wrong. According to what the aide investigated, she was a woman who took on all the hard work and sent even her meager salary home. 

 “I helped her live a short but fulfilling life. It wasn’t a curse but a gift. Am I still bad?” 

 “Enough, just tell me the way.” 

 Nicholas lowered his eyelashes and let out a long sigh as if suppressing his agitated emotions. 

 “……Please.” 

 “First ‘f*ck,’ then ‘please.’ Which one is sincere?” 

 “Both are sincere, so apply the latter.” 

 “What was that again?” 

 She asked as if to confirm. 

 “Please.” 

 He answered reluctantly with a deep sigh. 

 Madam Rosalie, who had gained the upper hand in this childish fight, wore a satisfied expression. 

 To hear the word ‘please’ from those arrogant lips. She felt quite content having broken that lofty pride. 

 But this still wasn’t enough. 

 “Every curse has a premise that can break it. In other words, if you know that premise, you can break the curse.” 

 “What’s that premise?” 

 “Just like that? You need to pay a price. I’m not supposed to tell you this in the first place.” 

 The smile disappeared completely from Madam Rosalie’s face. 

 “Even if the price is going to hell. Does that matter?” 

 Hell, huh. Nicholas let out a hollow laugh at the rather extreme price for the information. 

 “Look, Nicholas Reinhart. There are many women in the world. I understand you’re attached because she’s your first, but you could find plenty of women like her as you live. Or it wouldn’t be bad to live like before, only caring about yourself.” 

 “It doesn’t matter.” 

 Nicholas answered firmly. 

 “What?” 

 “I said it doesn’t matter if I go to hell. I haven’t lived nicely enough to go to heaven anyway.” 

 She couldn’t understand at first because he didn’t even hesitate. 

 Wasn’t he the High Priest? For words coming from a clergy’s mouth, it was incredibly blasphemous. 

 Madam Rosalie wore a dumbfounded expression at his words. 

 “So save her.” 

 “Are you serious?” 

 “Do I look like I’m in the mood for jokes?” 

 He shot back in an agitated tone. 

 “Save her. Even if you’re Satan himself I’ll take your hand, and even if I fall into hellfire, that woman will be mine.”