“Felix. You’re quite late. We’ve been waiting all this time.”

“What’s the reason for suddenly asking to eat together?”

“My younger brother has finally opened his eyes to love, so shouldn’t I confirm this historic moment?”

Along with those words, Kervic looked at her with sharp eyes. She somehow got goosebumps and shrank her body. Then Felix naturally held her hand as if to protect her.

Thanks to that, the power of the sun flowed into her. In an instant, far from being tense, she looked up at Felix with a pleasant feeling. Felix also seemed to look at her affectionately, but……

“This is the first time I’m seeing you today, Lady Marina?”

The air instantly froze at Kervic’s voice. Our acting that had tried to create the atmosphere of a loving couple was cut off. In the intonation that emphasized the word ‘today’, she felt the threat meaning to keep quiet about their meeting a few days ago.

She didn’t want to act familiar anyway.

“This is the first time I’m meeting you. It’s an honor to be able to meet both Your Highness the First Prince and Your Highness the Princess Consort together.”

She greeted with a demonstratively elegant and polite attitude. While being conscious of Laila beside Kervic.

“Lady Marina is quite well-mannered. Laila was very curious about you, so I deliberately made time.”

“It must have been sudden, I’m sorry. But I heard you’re a lady that His Highness the Second Prince shows great interest in, so I wanted to meet you together too.”

Kervic extending his hand to her using wealth as bait. And Felix who would execute her in the not-too-distant future……

In this situation where tension flowed, the only one who seemed detached was Laila alone.

With her frail appearance that seemed unable to properly catch even a single insect, light purple hair, elegant and calm speech and behavior……

‘Perhaps she could be called Kervic’s only weakness.’

The final boss of the original work, Kervic, surprisingly had the aspect of a lover. He had pledged his love to Laila, whom he fell for at first sight in childhood. However, Laila contracted an unknown illness and gradually lost her sight.

After the current emperor’s irresponsible declaration that he would pass the crown prince position to whichever outstanding son, regardless of means, Kervic’s supporters sometimes made an issue of his fiancée Laila.

However, Kervic didn’t bend his decision and even rushed the marriage. It was pitiful that this fragile and beautiful person didn’t know Kervic’s inner thoughts at all. She recalled the content from when Felix killed Kervic and completely took over the Solium imperial family in the original work.

‘She willingly gave up her life saying she would pay for the sins of her husband Kervic, who had committed cruel acts.’

What sin could Laila have? She only had the sin of marrying the wrong man.

She slowly lowered her guard while looking at Laila and took her seat. As he said, it seemed they had arrived late, so the attendants immediately prepared the meal.

Though a feast was laid out before their eyes, she and Felix, who couldn’t let their guard down, only pretended to pick up their utensils. Meanwhile, Kervic and Laila elegantly began their meal.

Even Kervic, who had been emanating an intimidating aura like a leopard, carefully reached for Laila’s plate and personally removed fish bones for her.

‘Did he really just call us to have one meal together?’

Having been unable to properly take even one spoonful while gauging the atmosphere, she finally picked up her utensil and ate the soup. At that moment, was it her imagination? She felt Kervic’s gaze looking toward her.

And she began to feel something stuffy. What…… was her stomach upset? But she had only taken about one spoonful of soup?

“Ugh……!”

A groan flowed from her mouth without her knowing. It was strange. Suddenly, it felt like the world was spinning round and round.

“……Marina?”

Felix was surprised by her unusual reaction and examined her. She held her chest where she felt stabbing pain and looked at Kervic across the dining table. He, holding a glass, glanced toward her. Though he tilted his glass pretending not to notice, he was definitely smiling. Only then did her mind work.

‘Could it be……?!’

She suddenly felt her whole body growing cold. The power of water inside her body that she could only feel when meeting Felix was forcefully growing stronger. She instinctively suppressed the merciless force that seemed ready to burst out at any moment, but…… the pain didn’t easily subside.

‘I mustn’t go berserk!’

It was a place where not only Kervic and Felix, but other people were all watching. She only thought that nothing should happen here.

“I, I’m sorry……!”

She stood up trying to escape the situation. Though the whole world seemed to be spinning, she tried to move her steps with difficulty……

“Marina!”

Felix stood up to help her, but.

“Where are you going, Felix?”

A low voice grabbed his nape.

‘Is it because of the food?’

Seeing Marina’s reaction, Felix recalled the wine he had drunk at the Founding Day banquet.

If the same drug was used, it wouldn’t be impossible to put it in food either. However, he had only thought it would cause the sun power to go berserk, never even considering that it would also affect Marina’s water power.

Perhaps having lost strength, Marina swayed while standing, sweating cold sweat with a grimacing face. Thanks to that, all the tableware placed in front fell to the floor at once.

— Crash!

“Kyah!”

The plates and glass cups completely shattered into pieces and rolled on the floor. Laila, who couldn’t grasp the situation with her eyes, screamed in surprise. Kervic stood up from his seat to protect his wife, embraced Laila, and commanded the attendants.

“Clear away all the broken tableware.”

“Honey…… Lady Marina is……”

“I’ll call for people, so you don’t need to worry greatly, Laila. Stay in your seat, you might get hurt by the glass shards.”

At those words, Laila’s expression hardened. However, unable to disobey Kervic’s words, she sat back down. As if he had anticipated this situation, no sign of panic could be felt from him. Felix frowned.

‘To deliberately put drugs in Marina’s tableware. Could it be that he knows about her power……?’

Felix panicked and chased after Marina, but she had already quickly left the scene.

“Don’t forget the contract. You must…… definitely protect me.”

The voice of her whispering to him just moments ago, as if receiving a pledge, brushed past him. Felix clenched his fist.

‘Marina, I must help her……!’

He stood up to chase after her.

“Felix.”

Kervic called him to a halt with a warning low voice. He looked coldly at the tableware and food that Marina had dropped on the floor and opened his mouth.

“Are you going to Lady Marina?”

“……Before coming here, I heard she wasn’t feeling well. I should check if she’s alright.”

“Ridiculous. To be so protective of a woman you’ve barely known.”

Felix suppressed his emotions tightly. Since Kervic’s answer wasn’t worth listening to, he tried to head straight to the corridor. However, Kervic’s words caught his ankle.

“Had she been unwell from before? Do you really think so?”

“……”

“Well, when I met her last time, she looked healthy. Did she become unable to even swallow food in just a few days? How interesting……”

At those words, Felix finally turned his body to look at Kervic. Kervic was elegantly cutting the food in front of him with a knife as if nothing had happened.

“You said you met a few days ago? How did the two of you…… What on earth did you discuss with Lady Marina?”

“Well, why should I tell you that?”

Felix glared at Kervic. However, Kervic, who calmly held his glass, shrugged his shoulders toward him.

He felt like he was being toyed with. He wanted to grab his collar right away, but there wasn’t much he could do in this place full of Kervic’s people. If he caused a commotion here, it was obvious he would be in trouble later.

Above all, he was worried about Marina.

Felix, who had come out to the corridor, moved his steps quickly. However, the thoughts that kept circling in his head held back his steps.

‘……Before the meal started, the two of them definitely said they were meeting ‘for the first time’. But Marina Enchester met with Kervic……?’

It was full of incomprehensible things. Well, even the moment Felix first met Marina was nothing but incomprehensible things. No one had ever been able to calm a rampage until now. But Marina had accomplished that. At that banquet where Kervic and Felix attended. At the moment when drugs were put in his wine to cause a rampage.

‘……As I suspected, she approached me under Kervic’s orders?’

However, there was something he couldn’t understand. Why did Kervic try to make Marina go berserk?

Felix had never erased his suspicion toward Marina from the beginning. While it was true that he coveted her ability, it was to keep her by his side and watch her. To catch clues related to Kervic and use them in reverse……

Today’s dinner gathering where the two of them went together was for the same reason.

But……

“No matter what happens, you must trust me and take responsibility for guaranteeing my life.”

‘Could it be that she’s also being threatened by Kervic like me?’

Felix roughly ran his hand through his hair in confusion.

The moment he learned that Marina had taken the rampage drug, he felt his heart sink. He knew the pain of rampage all too well. Felix found himself worrying about Marina’s safety without realizing it.

‘In such a situation…… Ha! I’ve become soft……’

Felix soon found Marina crouched and huddled on the stairs.

“Marina!”

“Ugh, urgh…… sob.”

Marina was trembling while crouched with all her strength. Deadly cold air flowed around her. Sharp cold air flowed from her with the momentum to freeze everything that approached.

Felix grabbed her hand without thinking twice. The power of the sun that had been quietly staying inside his body began to move at a rapid pace.

As soon as she felt Felix’s energy, Marina breathed roughly and strongly pulled his hand.

“……Hic, I feel like I’m dying……”

“Marina?”

Marina was crying. She was genuinely in pain. Unable to refuse her painful touch, Felix leaned his body as she led.