* * *
“You’re here, brother?”
I wanted to greet him brightly, but Kim Minsoo was standing right there.
No good would come from showing how pleased I was at Reisen’s arrival.
Reisen gave a faint smile and nodded at my words.
“Ah, Young Lord Pantheon,”
Kim Minsoo also greeted Reisen with a calm expression.
But his eyes—his eyes were burning with unhidden hatred.
“You’re late to greet your guest. Oh, and you’re leaving already?”
“Yes. Seems so.”
The exchange was polite, but completely hollow.
Still, I could feel the tension—both of them silently sizing each other up.
Reisen was the first to break eye contact.
Casually, he slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me toward him.
Startled by the sudden touch, I flinched.
Reisen, on the other hand, was calm.
Kim Minsoo’s eyes… shifted just slightly.
“…You two seem unusually close, just as I’ve heard.”
“Close, huh…”
Reisen smiled with a slight grimace.
“I’m simply protecting my family. You called him a friend, but the way you’re glaring at Sean says otherwise.”
“Ah…”
Kim Minsoo scoffed lightly.
“That’s not something Young Lord Reisen needs to concern himself with. It’s between just the two of us.”
The moment those words left his mouth, I felt it—a shiver ran through me, sticky and ominous.
Reisen’s arm around my waist tightened, faintly trembling.
“He’s agitated.”
That last remark had pushed Reisen’s buttons.
I carefully reached for Reisen’s hand.
There were too many eyes watching to use divine power.
So I just held his hand gently, hoping to calm him.
Then, on impulse, I laced our fingers together.
Reisen’s grip tightened.
The creepy, unsettling pressure that had filled the air… faded.
“…I need to make my stance clear.”
Facing Reisen, that thought became more certain.
Yes, Kim Minsoo could go tell Duke Luavis that Sean Kreveta was alive—that I was Sean.
But letting fear of that lead me around by the nose?
No. I didn’t trust Kim Minsoo.
“He might’ve already told him.”
Or he might be holding the info as leverage, ready to use it however it suits him.
“Yeah. Letting Kim Minsoo control me with threats won’t get me anywhere.”
My mind cleared a little.
The fear that I might ruin everything had paralyzed me for a moment, made me forget to think rationally.
Taking a slow breath, I met Kim Minsoo’s gaze.
Something in his eyes had shifted, a nuance I didn’t like.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to make time. Then, I’ll see you out, Young Lord Luavis.”
Kim Minsoo’s eyes narrowed.
“Ah…”
Now, let’s see what he does.
“Perhaps today isn’t the best time for a conversation. I’ll be in touch soon.”
With that, Kim Minsoo turned and walked away.
But even as he left, his eyes stayed fixed on me far longer than they should have.
That stare sent another chill down my spine.
“…Are you okay?”
As Kim Minsoo stepped back, Raizen spoke.
His voice was a little calmer now.
There was a kind of restlessness in those red eyes that were fixed on me.
‘Is he… anxious?’
I didn’t want Raizen to keep misunderstanding that there was something between Kim Minsoo and me.
Especially not when Kim Minsoo was actively using that to his advantage.
“Yeah. Thanks, hyung.”
And to make that clear… I’d have to tell him everything.
At least, everything I could tell.
∗ ∗ ∗
I wanted to gouge out the eyes that dared look at Sean like that.
Wanted to rip apart the mouth that spoke as if there was something only between the two of them.
No—what I really wanted was to utterly destroy the very existence of Karon Luavis.
To erase him from this world might be the only way to quiet this raging storm inside me.
‘Then just kill him.’
Someone whispered inside Raizen.
The voice was both unfamiliar and strangely familiar—like it could be someone else’s… or his own.
‘Why are you hesitating? Killing a monster or killing a man—is there really that much difference? If something’s in your way, remove it.’
From Raizen’s perspective, there wasn’t much difference between monsters and humans.
As long as they didn’t harm him, he just chose not to act first.
But Karon Luavis kept gnawing at Raizen’s nerves.
He was already on the brink, driven nearly mad by the thought of the man he saw in his dream—someone he could never reach.
And now, Karon Luavis, who he suspected might be another possessed soul, was brazenly approaching Sean?
Raizen’s patience was wearing thin.
Even so, he barely held onto his reason.
‘You can’t kill. Murder is… wrong.’
Then the voice returned, calm and persistent.
‘Why not?’
The answer was simple.
‘Because… Sean would be sad.’
Even though the prophecy named Raizen himself as the seed of disaster, Sean still chose to trust him.
If he were to commit murder, wouldn’t that be the ultimate betrayal of that trust?
‘It’s just one person. Haven’t you endured enough already?’
That wasn’t wrong. Raizen had endured plenty.
From the moment Karon Luavis started getting close to Sean.
Even when he was out on a mission and heard afterward that Karon had visited the ducal estate to meet Sean—he had barely managed to suppress the murderous rage that surged up in him.
But then…
‘This isn’t something the young duke needs to concern himself with. It’s just between the two of us.’
He had the audacity to say that.
Right in front of me.
As Raizen sat in his room trying to collect his thoughts, shadows flickered in his crimson eyes.
‘Let’s kill him. Yeah? Just kill him. It’s only one. Once he’s gone, everything will be okay.’
Yeah. Karon Luavis. Just one man.
All he had to do was eliminate him. It could be disguised as an accident or an unexpected attack.
Of course, he couldn’t order the crows or use external forces—those still answered to his father, not to him.
It’d be a hassle, but in the end, Raizen would have to move personally.
And anyway, he wanted to be the one to kill Karon with his own hands.
Either way, it had to be him.
The only real issue was the cleanup.
‘I need something… only I can control.’
But it couldn’t be a person.
Humans couldn’t be trusted.
Not unless they were brainwashed or mentally dominated.
‘Then just create it. Learning black magic isn’t even hard.’
Raizen was being pulled more and more toward that seductive, secret voice.
And yet, he hadn’t fully crossed the line.
Something was still holding him back, gripping him tightly.
Meanwhile, the curse that wished for Raizen Paniteon’s downfall was watching all of this closely.
Sean Kreveta.
A truly troublesome and annoying boy.
But also… the perfect tool.
After all, it was Raizen’s obsession with Sean that allowed the curse to worm its way so deep inside him.
This soul can never truly love.
He can feel love, but he will never be able to fully realize that what he feels is love.
When he dared pierce the god of love and light with a mistletoe spear, a fracture had formed in his soul.
And so, Raizen could never accept that his emotions were truly love.
He would question and deny them endlessly.
That was the very nature of the curse—and ironically, the condition that defined real love as well.
‘Not much further now,’ thought the curse.
The moment Raizen kills for his own desire, he will crumble.
Just like he always has before.
‘Black magic…’
‘You can’t trust humans. They’re flawed, fickle, and they’ll betray you the moment you let your guard down. Brainwash them, use them like spare parts. Or summon dark beings or monsters. All of it is possible with black magic.’
The curse, wearing the mask of Raizen’s inner voice, whispered sweetly—then drove in the final nail.
‘You need to have Sean. Completely.’
Just then, someone knocked on Raizen’s door.
But lost in the thoughts the curse had spun, he didn’t hear it.
The knocking grew more insistent.
And when there was still no answer, the visitor flung the door open and entered.
“Hyung.”
That single word pulled Raizen’s gaze.
His eyes moved, and finally, Sean came into focus.
His blurred vision sharpened in an instant.
“Hyung, I have something to tell you.”
Sean spoke with a face full of determination.
* * *
