Leon Kreundel stared at the note on his desk.

 The gracefully written words seemed to reflect its owner’s personality.

Leon recalled the words spoken to him when she handed him the note.

“I’ll give you time to think. One week. No more than that.”

 “…….”

“Please make sure I don’t have to report you.”

Elodie Perdia’s smile, as she charmingly blackmailed, was quite angelic.

 It was like the first rays of sunshine on a spring day.

 Elodie Perdia was someone who could match all the pretty words in the world.

Of course, this was a story judged solely by appearances.

Leon Kreundel did not judge others recklessly before experiencing it himself. The same applied to Elodie.

As the rumored illegitimate child of Perdia, she was said to cause various incidents and accidents due to her turbulent personality, but Leon paid little attention to such rumors.

However, her recent change in reputation had piqued his interest.

Despite once being scorned, Elodie extinguished those gazes all at once.

 And so, Ishtar’s chosen savior is now called the Light of Wallentian.

 “I never thought I’d be threatened by the Light of Wallentian…….”

Who could have imagined such a thing? That she would in her father’s absence gleefully exploit his weaknesses while shaking them as if she were playing with a toy. They say you don’t judge a book until you’ve read it, so he did, and Elodie Perdia-.

 ‘I don’t want to be entangled with her.’

She was an unpleasant and uncomfortable presence.

Despite rumors of her acting selfishly and egocentrically, she was entirely different from what he had heard. Still, in a different sense, she was someone he didn’t want to be close to.

However, despite his reluctance, a single visit had led to engagement rumors between him and Elodie being prominently featured in the newspapers.

It was a revelation of how substantial Elodie’s presence and influence were in the social circles.

Even during the time, she was called Perdia’s troublemaker, Elodie’s jewelry and dress styles became trends.

Leon lifted the note.

There was still time before a week had passed.

He considered ignoring it, but Elodie’s words continued to bother him.

“Perhaps, I might be able to help with finding the person you’re looking for. It’s a part of the deal.”

She surely knew something.

During this time, Leon had been discreetly searching for his younger sister, Belissa.

Everyone else believed that Belissa Kreundel was dead.

Only a few trusted members of the family knew she was alive. To be caught after moving so stealthily, and by the young lady of House Perdia.

But he suspected she wouldn’t know who he was looking for.

 She was probably hoping to catch something about me.

 Lost in his thoughts, Leon was interrupted by a slow and eerie voice echoing in his mind.

[Shouldn’t we just kill that human……?]

 “…….”

 [Let’s kill. K*ll. K*ll…..]

Sloth.

One of the seven deadly sins contracted by Leon Kreundel was constantly urging him.

 A pact with a sin allowed them to both share their minds and abilities.

As a result, Leon’s every thought was read by Sloth.

 “Stop it, sloth.”

 [Why? Let’s kill…….]

 “Don’t casually talk about the life and death of humans when it is a sin.”

 [Human life, none of my business…….]

Leon tried his best to ignore the voice of sloth that kept muttering about k*lling someone.

 Sometimes it was enough to drive him insane.

 [Let’s kill. Let’s kill……. Isn’t it irritating? Let’s kill her].

 “Please, be quiet…….”

Leon, who was about to rub his throbbing head, abruptly stopped.

For a moment, his left shoulder didn’t move as he intended.

As the price of the contract, Leon handed over his body to Sloth.

 Starting from the heartbeat, gradually being consumed, and when every part of the body was perfectly dyed in darkness, the contract would end.

 ‘I’ve already lost the use of my left arm.’

He didn’t have much time. He had to find Belissa before this body was completely consumed.

 “……Belissa.”

Leon pushed through the pain, repeating the name of his only living blood relative out there somewhere.

 He had made a deal with Sloth for one reason only.

Sloth has the power of dreams.

Through that power, he could enter the dreams of his sister, who was still alive somewhere in the world, to confirm her well-being.

The scenes in Belissa’s dream were all dark and dirty underground cellars, but just being able to enter her dreams was proof that she was alive. Leon abandoned his beliefs solely for that and made a deal with the sin.

Today, once again, to confirm that Belissa was alive, Leon closed his eyes.

His heartbeat slowly. He felt like his body was dying.

***

“Where am I?

The landscape unfolding before Leon’s eyes was truly bizarre.

Despite having countless experiences entering other people’s dreams, this world was unlike anything he had ever seen.

It was densely packed with tall, square buildings that seemed to pierce the sky.

 Strange-looking gadgets passed him by, while people in peculiar clothing hurriedly walked by.

 Various noises flooded in, making it impossible for him to focus.

Even though it was a dream, the realism overflowed, making the world seem surreal. However, for a moment, the surroundings distorted and changed abruptly.

Of course, it was a new space, though.

‘Whose dream is this?’

It certainly wasn’t Belissa’s dream.

 Surveying the surroundings, Leon noticed a little girl crouched near the window.

About five years old, the child held a pendant as if it were a treasure, endlessly staring out the window. All that could be discerned was her light blonde hair as she sat with her back turned. Seeing her lonely and forlorn appearance, Leon instinctively reached out, then hesitated and withdrew his hand.

 ‘Get a grip. This is a dream.’

If that’s the case, the owner of this dream must be the little girl gazing out the window.

At that moment, someone passed through Leon’s body.

 “Miss. if you stay in the cold place for too long, you’ll catch a cold. Can you not tell that it’s cold near the window?”

 “Nanny.”

The child slowly turned her head, and for the first time, Leon could see her face.

The girl’s rosy pink eyes blinked blankly, and he realized who she was.

 It was Elodie Perdia.

 Young Elodie fiddled with the pendant while looking up at the nanny.

“Let’s go inside, miss.”

“Nanny. I have something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

Smiling kindly, the nanny sat down beside the child and adjusted her height to be eye level.

After hesitating for a moment, Elodie asked in a small, murmuring voice,

“Is it true that my birth mother abandoned me and ran away?”

As soon as the question ended, the color drained from the nanny’s face. She grasped Elodie’s shoulders with both hands, almost shouting,

“W-Who says such things!”

Whether she didn’t expect such a strong reaction or not, Elodie’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I just… heard it.”

“Never speak about stories regarding your birth mother. Your family will be upset! You might even be punished!”

“But-“

“You might end up being driven away. Please, miss… Okay?”

Despite Elodie’s face, eager to ask many questions, she eventually swallowed her questions.

“Got it, Nanny…”

Elodie bit her lip, holding the nanny’s hand, and they walked through the long corridor.

Leon watched the small figure moving away.

It was a story he had already heard through rumors. That her birth mother had delivered the child, wrapped in a blanket to Perdia, took the money, and left for a distant place.

However, hearing about it through rumors and seeing and hearing it directly through a dream felt different.

 Leon suddenly remembered the time when he had lost his entire family at a young age and had become a duke.

Why did the emotions of that time come back? Looking at Elodie, who was alone and gazing out the window, he saw his past self looking out of the office window.

***

Lately, my dreams have been very chaotic.

 ‘I feel like I’m just dreaming about the past. Am I mistaken?’

But when I woke up, I couldn’t remember what the dream was about.

 I was only vaguely aware that I had had a dream.

 It seemed like I couldn’t sleep well lately, probably due to the recent stressful events that occupied my mind day and night.

 The main culprit was none other than…. Leon Kreundel, the Duke.

“Really! Why isn’t he contacting me!”

Once again, there was no news from Duke Kreundel today.

Even though it was the exact day that marked the end of the one-week notice.

Not knowing when the contact would come, I lived wearing a communication magical device, and it made me feel like a pitiful person eagerly waiting for the contact of an unrequited love.

 “Is he just going to ignore me like this?”

For some reason, I felt uneasy.

In the first place, I had no intention of reporting Duke Kreundel to the temple.

 After all, I was using the power of Greed myself, so I didn’t deserve to report him for making a pact with sin, I just chose a somewhat coercive method to make a quick deal.

I turned to the pig, aka Sin, who was happily munching on my snacks.

“Pig. What happens if you use a different sin ability on someone who has contracted with a sin?”

 [I don’t know about that. Because I’ve never met someone with whom I didn’t have a contract before].

Chop-chop-chop.

 Greed gave a vague answer and continued eating snacks greedily.

 “Okay. Eat a lot.”

Chop.

I left Greed alone as it continued to feast on human food and was lost in my thoughts.

It seemed better to refrain from using Greed’s power on Duke Kreundel.

For now, it would be better for me to take advantage of his weaknesses.

 ‘Should I ask Duke Perdia to arrange another meeting?’

However, it was very awkward to meet in public because the news about our engagement broke out unintentionally. If things ended up like this, I guess I should have just used my beauty.

On the contrary, I didn’t know that I should have taken more time for a cautious person like Leon Kreundel. It’s because I´m in a hurry.

 ‘But there’s no way he’d fall for my charms in the first place, is there?’

Lost in thought, I sighed deeply, holding my chin with both hands. Just then, knock knock.

As soon as the knocking sound was heard, Greed jumped up and rushed into my arms.

 “Miss. It’s Martha.”

 “Come in.”

In Martha’s hand, as she entered the bedroom, there was a tray.

Certainly, all the letters that came in today had been replied to and dealt with. There was only one letter on the tray.

“What’s this letter?”

“It’s an invitation to a masquerade ball.”

“A masquerade? Who sent it?”

“No one sent it. Should I just throw it away?”

“Give it to me.”

Picking up the invitation, the first thing I did was check the sender on the front.

 Martha was right: it was a letter with no sender.

 With a puzzled expression, I broke the seal of the letter and examined its contents, and I was a bit surprised.

“…A masquerade ball?”

It was an invitation asking me to attend ‘Madame Montgomery’s Masquerade Ball’ as a partner. Below is my communication magical device code.

Coincidentally, today, there was only one person who would send a letter in such a way.

 ‘The Book of Human Morals, Duke of Kreundel.’

I was in confusion. Why would he request me as a partner for a masquerade ball when we have a convenient communication magical device? There was undoubtedly some important intention hidden behind this.

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