* * *
‘Seriously.’
I’ve been through all sorts of things in my life.
The crown prince flashed a grin at me before walking away, and I shook my head as I watched the crowd surge toward him like they’d been waiting for the opportunity.
‘That was exhausting.’
It felt like a storm had just passed.
Swallowing back a sigh, I turned my gaze to Raizen.
He must have been watching me for a while, because our eyes met immediately.
His crimson eyes were no different from usual.
Just a little deeper, more intense than when we were younger.
I still couldn’t tell what lay within them.
Was it that I simply couldn’t see, or was there truly nothing there?
And yet, why did he…
‘Hah…’
It was truly maddening.
Even though I knew it was an empty possessiveness, my heart still raced at Raizen’s actions.
The expectations I had painstakingly kept sealed away kept slipping through the cracks.
Raizen, who never once paid attention to the princess from the start.
Raizen, who could casually ask if he was prettier than the crown prince.
To anyone else, it would almost seem like jealousy.
Prettier than the crown prince?
What kind of nonsense is that?
To begin with, comparing Raizen to the crown prince held no meaning for me.
Because the answer was obvious. It was always Raizen.
‘Of course, it’s you.’
I conveyed the words I couldn’t say aloud through my gaze.
I knew it was pointless.
Trying to express something with just a look—at best, it was an act of self-indulgence.
Raizen continued to meet my gaze in silence.
In this vast hall filled with people, his eyes were fixed solely on me.
I liked that.
So much so that I wished this moment would last forever.
“Um, Lord Pantheon?”
But of course, it wouldn’t.
At the sound of the voice, Raizen’s gaze finally shifted elsewhere.
‘We were standing too close.’
Just as I was about to step away, the orchestra in the hall began tuning their instruments.
“I already have a partner.”
At the same time, Raizen’s quiet voice reached my ears, and I felt a gentle grip on my hand.
He wasn’t holding on tightly—just lightly grasping the tips of my fingers.
Even that small touch sent my heart into turmoil.
“Sei, where are you going?”
“…”
“It’s time to dance.”
Halfway through turning away, I stopped and faced him again.
“But I only learned in a rush, so I’ll be terrible at it. Are you sure?”
“It’s fine.”
How could he answer so easily when he hadn’t even seen me dance?
And yet, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.
Since everyone in the empire manifested as either an Alpha or Omega past the age of fourteen, ballroom dances were also structured around that distinction rather than traditional gender roles.
Even if a woman was an Alpha, she would learn and perform the Alpha’s steps.
‘That’s why I learned the Omega’s part.’
Of course, part of me still had the ingrained mindset of a Korean, so it felt a little awkward.
Wouldn’t two men dancing together look strange?
I glanced around.
People were pairing up, some in male-female pairs, others in same-gender pairs.
‘But… how do women… reproduce?’
No, let’s not go down that rabbit hole.
Just the fact that I, a man, was an Omega was already enough to make my head spin.
The announcement rang through the hall, signaling the start of the ball.
“Sei.”
I pulled my gaze away from the crowd and looked back at Raizen.
He gave a sly smile before kneeling halfway in front of me.
Then, he placed a light kiss on the back of my hand.
“…!”
A tingling sensation spread from where his lips had touched, flooding through my entire body.
Soft yet moist.
Of course, everyone knew what lips felt like, but the fact that Raizen Pantheon was doing this made it feel entirely different.
It was just an empty, meaningless gesture of etiquette.
And yet, my heart pounded fiercely.
“May I have the honor of your first dance?”
My mind blanked. My heart exploded.
“…Yes.”
At my response, the music began as if it had been waiting.
Raizen smoothly led me, guiding my dazed movements.
Even though I had only learned in a rush, my body moved instinctively, keeping up.
His graceful movements, his gaze fixed solely on me—this wasn’t just a dream.
It was a breathtaking reality.
Before I knew it, the first dance had ended.
Now, we were supposed to exchange partners.
‘I don’t want to let go.’
But I had no choice.
I loosened my grip and tried to pull away.
“…?”
Only to have him hold onto me again.
And then, we danced two more songs together.
Dancing three songs in a row completely drained me.
Lacking the energy for another round, I slipped quietly to the edge of the hall, grabbed a glass of water, and sat down.
‘My stamina has improved, but…’
It had to be because it was Raizen I was dancing with.
Honestly, I barely even remembered the second and third dances.
My mind had gone blank from the moment he held onto me after the first.
After emptying my glass, I looked back toward the dance floor.
Despite the large crowd, I found Raizen immediately.
I wasn’t sure if it was because he stood out so much or because my heart was drawn to him.
Maybe both. The thought made me chuckle quietly.
‘He looks amazing.’
Even though the entire ballroom wasn’t lit solely for him, he still seemed to shine.
Did he look that confident and composed when he was dancing with me too?
I had been too overwhelmed to remember if I even danced properly.
A sudden wave of irritation bubbled up.
‘…He’s confusing me again.’
I had no idea what was going on in his head.
If I could, I would peer inside his mind.
‘Maybe… his Affinity increased.’
There hadn’t been a quest completion message.
But still, who knows?
Maybe there was some kind of glitch preventing it from appearing.
With that excuse in mind, I checked the affection list.
[Raizen Miel Pantheon / Affinity: –3]
“…”
Of course.
His Affinity hadn’t changed.
‘Then why the hell is it still –3?’
Anyone with eyes could see his actions.
Did that seem like something someone with negative affection would do?
Sure, Raizen was twisted.
He’d do anything to achieve his goals.
But if this was all just an act…
‘Then he’s overdoing it.’
I knew there was no need to go this far, and there was no way Raizen, the person involved, didn’t know either.
I had been cooperative in resolving Raizen’s curse all along, and even if I had no choice but to return to the Marquis Kreveta, our ties wouldn’t be easily severed.
Our families were quite close, after all.
‘Is this thing actually broken?’
If it were a physical machine, I would have hit it a few times. Seriously.
[Noah.]
[Noah!!]
The chat messages were being sent just fine.
‘The problem is that there’s no reply.’
Even though a mere human like me dared to call upon the name of an ancient god, there was no reaction whatsoever.
I let out a series of deep sighs in frustration when I sensed someone’s presence nearby.
Turning my head, I saw a boy standing there, his red hair and olive-colored eyes unmistakable.
“Hello, Young Master Pantheon.”
“…….”
“My name is Karon Luavis.”
I was so shocked that all I could do was blink.
I already knew someone from the Luavis Ducal House would be attending.
I had caught glimpses of people with fiery red hair throughout the party.
However, just as the Luavis people hadn’t bothered to approach us first, Raizen, the main host of the party, hadn’t gone out of his way to acknowledge them either.
But why, of all people, did Karon Luavis come looking for me?
“Prince?”
At his call, I forced a smile and opened my mouth.
“Oh, yes. Hello, Prince Luavis.”
“I seem to have startled you by approaching so suddenly.”
“Well… I suppose so?”
Karon smiled wordlessly and took a seat beside me.
I clenched my fists tightly on my lap.
‘This is bad.’
His expression, his tone, his demeanor, and even the overall atmosphere around him—everything about Karon Luavis had changed from four years ago, when I met him in Shailot Village.
This wasn’t something that could simply be explained by maturity.
Either he had died and come back to life, or…
‘Someone else has possessed him.’
According to the flow of the novel, it wasn’t time for Kim Minsoo to possess him yet.
That was supposed to happen after Karon Luavis’s birthday next year.
Noah had said Kim Minsoo wouldn’t possess anyone, but honestly, I never really trusted that.
‘If they were going to make him possess someone, they should at least follow the novel’s timeline!’
They told me to rest assured because they had Kim Minsoo’s soul in their possession.
But as always, they were completely useless in critical moments.
“So… what brings you here?”
“Ah, well… I was wondering if you remember what happened in Shailot Village four years ago?”
‘What?’
In the novel ‘From Transmigration to Hero’, Kim Minsoo didn’t inherit Karon Luavis’s memories before possession.
The ancient gods deemed them unnecessary, expecting him to gradually learn whatever he needed to know in time.
But if the Karon in front of me had truly been possessed by Kim Minsoo, then this Kim Minsoo would be somewhat different from the one in the novel.
‘But the events in Shailot Village only happened because of me—Sean Kreveta.’
Which meant Kim Minsoo shouldn’t have any memories of me as a variable.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Just who exactly was this Karon Luavis standing in front of me?
* * *
