When Violet faltered under Cadel’s question, his gaze dropped to her feet.

“Look closely at the feet of the human you brought.”

“Her feet?”

“Yes. It seems a black mage has made contact with her.”

What Elysion had told him outside was true.

At Violet’s feet, faint black grains of sand flickered in and out of sight. When they had arrived through the teleportation stone, there had been no trace of black magic on her. This could mean only one thing: she must have come into contact with it here, inside the palace.

He did not know when or how this had happened. But the dark magic was concealed at her feet, as though someone had tried to hide it. This felt like an insult, an attempt to deceive someone who could see black magic.

It was true that he had not noticed it at first. But that was only because he had not been paying close attention to Violet.

Cadel watched the faint swirl of dark sand shifting at her feet and raised an eyebrow slowly.

“L-Lord Cadel…!”

Startled that he had appeared just in time to hear her lie, Violet called his name.

At once, his voice cut sharply across the room.

“Did I not tell you to mind your form of address?”

“I—I’m sorry.”

Violet bowed her head quickly.

“You don’t seem to have much eye for necklaces.”

Jaina spoke lightly, looking at Cadel.

His gaze shifted to her.

Rising from her seat, she continued calmly.

“The next time you choose to give Violet a gift, perhaps you should consult someone with better taste.”

“I didn’t choose it.”

Cadel frowned.

Violet’s face drained even further of color, while puzzlement flickered across Jaina’s expression.

“To begin with, I have never personally given Violet a piece of jewelry.”

“You did!”

Violet’s composure cracked. She raised her voice, her face tense.

“When you brought the jewelry designer to the palace to prepare Her Grace’s ornaments, you told him to give me a necklace as a gift!”

At Violet’s words, Cadel looked at her as if to ask what she was talking about. Then, as though recalling the memory, he let out a quiet.

“Ah. That time—you kept pestering me, so I told him to give you any ready-made piece.”

“See? I told you I was right, didn’t I?”

“But there was no grand intention behind it. It wasn’t a gift. It was merely something bestowed upon you because you suffer due to the curse.”

Cadel’s tone was indifferent yet decisive. This caused Violet’s face to flush crimson immediately.

She had indeed received the necklace. When he denied it, she reacted instinctively in self-defense — but, in doing so, she revealed the full truth to Jaina.

In trying to make the story more appealing, she had only exposed herself.

“If you don’t like the design of a ready-made piece, you might not like a bespoke design either. Since we’re in the capital, I’ll make time to look for ornaments that suit your taste.”

Jaina’s expression stiffened slightly at this.

She hadn’t meant to criticize the design of the necklace. Somehow, she seemed to have given Cadel the wrong impression.

“I wondered if you disliked the jewelry at the ducal castle, since you never wear any of it. Take this opportunity to choose what you prefer.”

She had stopped wearing jewelry because she did not want to compare it with the pieces Cadel had once given to Violet.

Over time, she became accustomed to the freedom of wearing nothing and the heavy, elaborate pieces started to feel cumbersome. Over time, she simply grew comfortable without them.

However, Cadel had assumed that she disliked everything about the castle.

Jaina shook her head.

“I simply find it more comfortable not to wear any.”

She added that she was not used to cumbersome, elaborate ornaments.

Cadel studied her quietly for a moment, then nodded.

“You’re far more beautiful in simplicity.”

He murmured the words almost to himself, meeting her eyes.

Jaina’s face flushed instantly.

“As if you wouldn’t be beautiful no matter what.”

Elysion’s brow furrowed slightly with irritation.

Violet’s face drained of color as she stared at Cadel. She had taken great care with her appearance, from head to toe, before coming to the Imperial Palace. Now, she felt painfully self-conscious about it.

She had never realized that Cadel preferred simplicity. Had she been making a fool of herself all this time?

From the very beginning, she had never resembled Jaina. Her deep chocolate-brown hair and sharply defined features were often described as sensual.

Perhaps she should have understood Cadel’s preferences and adapted accordingly. Instead, she had stubbornly emphasized only her own charms and pushed forward.

From Cadel’s point of view, that might be why he had never been truly drawn to her.

‘How foolish I’ve been.’

Violet realized that she had never grown closer to him because she did not share his tastes.

Having come to this realization, albeit rather late, she resolved to change to suit his preferences and win his love.

She was unaware that this resolution was utterly foolish.

“Setting that aside, Violet.”

“…Yes?”

Startled at being called so suddenly, Violet looked at Cadel.

“Have you encountered anyone here?”

“…W-who?”

Her already widened eyes grew even larger at the abrupt question.

“Since arriving here, have you come into contact with anyone—or anything?”

“……”

He must be asking about the unidentified being who had promised to make Jaina disappear.

‘How does he know…?’

Flustered, Violet blinked rapidly. She couldn’t possibly tell him that she had heard a mysterious voice offering to grant her a wish if she took its hand.

Unable to answer, she stood frozen to the spot.

Cadel glanced at Elysion. When their gazes met, Elysion nodded once and said to Jaina.

“This human must be purified.”

At once, both Jaina’s and Violet’s eyes widened in shock.

Jaina turned urgently to Violet.

“Did you meet a black mage?”

“What? N-no!”

Violet shook her head frantically in denial. Without hesitation, Jaina stepped closer and unleashed a wave of holy power, engulfing Violet’s entire body.

As the purification process began, Violet’s eyes darted around nervously.

‘What? That unknown being was a black mage? If I’m purified now… does that mean I won’t be able to contact him again?’

Jaina’s expression hardened slightly when she noticed the flicker of unease that crossed Violet’s face. Elysion had taken Cadel aside earlier for a reason — he must have sensed that something was amiss.

This meant that Violet’s contact with a black mage was probably genuine. But why would a black mage — someone who was already plunging the Grand Temple, the Imperial Palace, and even the entire Empire into chaos — approach Violet at a time when she and Elysion were purifying the palace?

Elysion had said that scattering invisible evil spirits within the shrine was no ordinary act. Surely the one who summoned them would have sensed the presence of a spirit of light within the palace?

As this thought took hold, a new suspicion began to form in Jaina’s mind.

Could the black mage be connected to Cadel’s curse?

She slowly began piecing her thoughts together. Perhaps the reason Cadel’s curse was so deeply intertwined with Violet was related to the black mage. If so, then the curse itself might not be what it appeared to be.

She decided that she needed to hear the full truth about the curse Adil had once mentioned in passing, directly from Cadel.

At that moment, Shar returned to the dining hall.

“Have you all finished eating?”

“What happened?”

Cadel asked.

Shar shrugged lightly.

“It’s about Tama—the one I brought from Hejiravi.”

“Ah. The half-beast.”

“Yes, Tama. He refuses to be tamed. When the palace was overwhelmed by demonic energy this time, he became so violent that I had no choice but to confine him. I was told that he hasn’t drunk any water for days, and he finally collapsed today.”

Shar let out a long, weary sigh.

“Fortunately, his life isn’t in danger. But I paid a considerable sum for him and even endured a reprimand from Her Majesty the Empress to bring him here, only for him to remain completely uncontrollable…”

“Attempting to tame a half-beast in the first place is foolish.”

Cadel clicked his tongue, cutting him off.

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have brought him.”

“Send him back.”

“That’s the problem. I can’t. Tama has already been handled by humans from other countries won’t be able to survive in Hejiravi. If he returns, he will probably be killed immediately by a Tamed.”

As Jaina continued to purify Violet and listen to their conversation, something she had once heard in passing suddenly resurfaced in her mind. Without realizing it, she turned to look at Cadel.

Children born to the human-shaped demonic beasts known as the Tamed and humans were called Tama.

They were neither fully human nor fully beast — beings that existed along the boundary between the two. Their homeland was Hejiravi, a land where Tamed and humans coexisted.

Occasionally, royal families from other nations, such as Shar, would purchase young Tama to keep as pets. Yet none of them lived long. One after another, they died.

Cadel, having travelled back in time, would surely be aware of this. Tama that Shar had brought would eventually become just another cold body in the palace.

Jaina had never seen the child herself, but the thought of an eight-year-old boy dying so young filled her with sorrow.

Before she even realized what she was doing, she had turned to Shar and asked—

“Then… could you give that child to me?”