“Is it because the lady has lost her memory?”

“No.”

The aide knew everything about his madness. As he was the most trustworthy confidant, Derick could speak honestly.

“That woman suppressed my madness.”

Kevin couldn’t hide his surprise at his words. However, without any further comment, he bowed his head and accepted Derick’s order.

“…Understood.”

“Where are the servants?”

“I’ve gathered them in the banquet hall. Ah, what about the lady?”

“Leave that woman be.”

“Yes.”

Kevin headed toward the mansion at Derick’s command.

Derick sank back into thought.

The fruits that suppress madness are difficult to obtain, and the poison no longer works due to his developed tolerance.

It was certain that another magical power outburst would occur soon.

‘As much as I hate to admit it, she’s a woman with definite value.’

He intended to thoroughly use Elisia.

He planned to verify soon whether physical contact was necessary for the calming effect, or if merely being in the same space would suffice.

Even though she was a woman he hated so much he didn’t want even their clothes to brush against each other.

“Hm.”

As Derick exhaled briefly, a strange light flickered in his eyes. He opened the door to the banquet hall on the first floor of the annex.

Inside were all the mansion servants gathered by Kevin. As soon as Derick entered, Kevin closed the banquet hall door from outside.

Perhaps because of the recent commotion, the servants’ eyes were filled with fear as they looked at Derick.

Looking down at them, Derick stood on the platform and placed his palm flat in the air.

“There is only one reason I called you here.”

At that moment, purple smoke suddenly rose from Derick’s palm. Simultaneously, his eyes darkened.

Whoosh-

As Derick blew out a breath, the banquet hall instantly filled with purple smoke. Soon after, the servants’ eyes became hazy.

Hypnosis.

This was Derick’s power.

After a moment, he snapped his fingers. The purple smoke disappeared instantly. Just then, the banquet hall doors slowly opened.

“Forget what you saw earlier.”

“…Yes.”

The servants answered in unison and left the banquet hall. Shortly after, they resumed their duties as if nothing had happened.

Despite the mansion being in ruins, not a single person questioned it.

***

The next day, 2 PM.

Today again, Elisia habitually headed to the annex library.

‘Today I’ll definitely find something useful.’

She couldn’t remember how many times she had made this resolution.

Following yesterday’s efforts, she carefully examined the books one by one. However, before long, Elisia stopped.

Yesterday’s events came to mind.

‘Would it be wrong to flee the mansion right now?’

Elisia’s hand touched her heart. The blood mark engraved on her chest, identical to Derick’s.

Because of this, Derick couldn’t kill her right now. Although it was the cause of his hatred toward her, ironically, this terrible mark was protecting her life.

Of course, this was assuming he didn’t know how to terminate the contract yet.

‘Should I just run away?’

If she hid in a quiet place, wouldn’t he be unable to find her?

“No, that won’t work.”

Eventually, Elisia shook her head. She hated the idea of running away with such unresolved matters.

‘As long as the mark remains, I’m still connected to Derick. I don’t want that.’

It was right to remove the mark before divorcing. It would be better to start anew without any entanglements between them.

She didn’t know how to safely terminate the contract. That’s why she had been frantically searching through the library of the Grand Duke’s residence, which was the second largest in the empire after the Imperial Palace.

With a slight sigh, she resumed her work. However, once again, she had to close the book shortly after. This time because of a knock on the library door.

“Who is it?”

Elisia walked toward the library door with the book in her hand. Through the open crack of the door, she saw Derick’s aide, Kevin.

‘Why is he here?’

Blinking her eyes, Elisia tilted her head.

“Hello?”

Her greeting still seemed unfamiliar to him. Kevin awkwardly bowed his head.

“Good afternoon, my lady. His Grace would like to see you for a moment.”

“…What?”

Elisia couldn’t hide her surprise.

Fidgeting with her long, flowing silver hair, she hesitantly opened her mouth.

“His Grace wants to see me?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He only told me to bring you.”

“Hmm.”

She pondered for a moment.

‘He’s not trying to trick me, is he?’

The aide, who resembled his master, also disliked Elisia. Although he didn’t show it outwardly, she could easily sense the hostility toward her in his cold gaze.

However, perhaps feeling sorry for her after she lost her memory, he had softened his attitude at some point.

‘Unlike Derick, he’s quite transparent.’

The innocent aide who fell for her act seemed almost cute compared to the murderous Derick.

Still, she couldn’t let her guard down.

“Alright. Just a moment.”

Elisia decided to trust her intuition. At least the aide was better than Derick.

Even while she was putting the book back in its place, Kevin stood motionless.

“I’ll escort you.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Kevin stammered, flustered by her expression of gratitude. It was quite amusing to see such a rigid person get embarrassed. Elisia followed him with a smile on her lips.

The mansion that Derick had destroyed was slowly being restored through repairs. Elisia stopped in front of Derick’s office on the second floor.

Suddenly, she recalled Derick’s rampage yesterday.

The sight of him, usually cold and rational, becoming a beast consumed only by the instinct for destruction.

Yesterday was so terrifying she thought she might die helplessly at his hands.

Though she had acted nonchalant when embracing him, in truth…

‘It was the first time in my life I felt such fear.’

Perhaps that’s why she hesitated even to enter his office. As she wavered in fear, she looked up at Kevin’s voice.

“Your Grace. I’ve brought the lady.”

“Come in.”

The short, deep voice was monotone. Eventually, she entered through the door that Kevin had opened for her.

Derick appeared busy reading documents, his gaze fixed. His attitude toward her was so indifferent it was hard to believe he had called for her.

‘If he’s busy with paperwork, why did he call me here?’

She heard the door closing behind her. Even if Derick went berserk again, there was no escape route. Nervously biting her lip, she noticed Derick raising his head.

Elegant yet beautiful facial features. Indeed, Derick’s good looks befitted the male protagonist. His clean jawline and firm muscles, impossible to hide even under his uniform, captured her attention.

Perhaps due to his mixed demon blood, he possessed striking looks that could captivate anyone’s gaze.

Even so, Elisia felt no excitement because of yesterday’s incident.

“Sit.”

“Ah, yes.”

An authoritative command. Elisia, now accustomed to it, sat on the edge of the sofa furthest from him.

But today, strangely, he didn’t get to the point.

“Your Grace. You need to speak. Or should I come back later?”

‘You hate seeing me terribly. You even despise breathing the same air in the same space.’

At that moment, Derick finally moved his lips.

“No.”

“…”

Then he closed his mouth again, seeming lost in thought. Elisia frowned in frustration.

He was still a man whose thoughts were impossible to read. A face that revealed nothing of what he was thinking.

Elisia exercised patience and waited for Derick to speak.

“Although I don’t believe it, I’ll speak assuming your claim of memory loss is true.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“You must know that I’m a half-demon. You couldn’t be unaware of that much.”

Elisia nodded carefully at his words.

As Derick said, there was no one in this empire who didn’t know he was a half-demon.

Even she herself was famous for being a half-demon.

“Unlike you who luckily avoided it, my demon blood often rages within me.”

“…”

“Yesterday as well, my magical power went berserk, and I almost lost myself.”

Pausing briefly, Derick took a deep sigh, his shoulders rising.

“But.”

Derick rubbed his face as if tired.

“The blood that was rampaging suddenly became docile.”

His voice sharpened, as if speaking about it himself was horrifying.

“The moment I touched you.”

At these unexpected words, Elisia froze, her face filled with astonishment.