* * *

“Ah, our poor Raizen. The duke is so heartless! Bringing in some street rat of a common orphan to join the family, and without even consulting you!”

Raizen regarded the trembling tutor with a look of disdain.

Perhaps the tutor’s absurd behavior stemmed from delusions of grandeur, being from the capital.

‘Or maybe… it’s deliberate.’

Raizen recalled what his spies, the Crows, had reported.

The tutor communicated secretly with someone every night, using a soundproofing spell for their conversations.

‘If that’s the case, then his behavior is even more foolish.’

If you’re infiltrating enemy territory, shouldn’t you assess the atmosphere first?

The duchy of Pantheon was different from other houses.

Since its founding, it had guarded the harsh western front, earning unyielding loyalty from its vassal families.

No matter what schemes they harbored, those families had yet to stray. For now, at least.

The decision to adopt Sean had followed all proper procedures.

Raizen had agreed, the family council had approved, and the matter was settled.

And yet, here was a mere tutor daring to object.

‘Maybe I’ve been too lenient.’

Raizen had tolerated him because his father had hired the man from the capital.

His lessons weren’t bad, either.

But his arrogance, especially toward other tutors, was becoming tiresome.

“Young master, you must steel yourself. Perhaps the duke has brought in a replacement out of disappointment in you. Of course, that commoner can’t compare to your noble blood—surely he’s just a temporary provocation.”

For a moment, Raizen felt a flicker of doubt.

Then he dismissed it as pathetic.

“But worry not! Just trust me, and only me.”

“…Is that so?”

Raizen smiled faintly, then casually slammed his palm on the desk.

The sound reverberated sharply, startling the tutor.

“Young master…?”

“I think that will be all.”

“Pardon…?”

Feigning ignorance now, are we?

With his usual gentle expression, Raizen spoke again.

“Come in.”

From the empty air, a figure cloaked in black robes emerged.

“W-what?!”

The Crows, the Pantheon family’s secret organization, known for their mastery of espionage and assassination.

“H-how could you…?! This is an outrage!”

“Is that so? I suppose it could be.”

The Crow handed a faintly glowing orb to Raizen.

The tutor’s eyes widened upon seeing it.

“That’s…!”

Raizen gave a slight smile.

“Yes, Master. It’s a recording orb.”

A recording orb—an artifact capable of capturing images.

While Raizen had believed that the crow’s testimony alone could be overturned with his rhetoric and the trust he’d built over the years, the presence of a recording orb changed the game entirely.

The tutor hurriedly approached Raizen, but the crow stepped in his way.

“P-Please, just wait a moment, Young Master!”

Raizen rose from his seat, his face indifferent.

“The truth will come to light before the Duke. I acknowledge that my methods weren’t entirely upright, and I will humbly accept any punishment for that.”

It was a clear implication that the tutor, too, should be prepared to face the consequences for the sins committed with his own tongue.

“Young Master!!”

Ignoring the tutor’s desperate cries, Raizen left the room.

Strangely, the heaviness that had weighed on his heart for so long seemed to have lifted, if only slightly.

‘I made the right decision for once.’

Raizen coolly evaluated his actions.

Ever since the age of ten, when that black mass first appeared, he had been plagued by nightmares.

In those dreams, he was abandoned by his parents, scorned by everyone, and ridiculed.

At the end of each nightmare, his deceased grandmother—the former Duchess—would appear, laughing cruelly at him.

[That’s right, you spawn of the devil! Did you think you could devour my grandson and get away with it?!]

She would raise her clasped hands to the heavens, shouting,

[Oh, wise and benevolent Sinoa, deliver us!]

Upon waking, her venomous words would linger in his mind.

At first, he thought he could brush them off.

His mother was always kind and loving, and while his father was stern, he respected and listened to Raizen’s opinions.

But as the words of the black mass and the dark whispers in his dreams piled up, Raizen felt himself sinking into an abyss.

Unbeknownst to him, those words had begun to consume him.

And then…

‘Mother, I’d like to visit the shrine.’

His mother’s face had gone pale at his tentative request.

‘Raizen, oh my dear child. Forget that idea. It’s just… meaningless nonsense.’

‘But—’

His father’s response had been even harsher.

‘Absolutely not.’

That was when the cracks began to form in Raizen’s heart.

It was also why he had initially found Sean’s sudden appearance so irritating.

The boy was the sole heir of the Marquis Kreveta, yet he was so frail he looked as if a single touch would shatter him.

His big blue eyes seemed on the verge of tears at the slightest provocation.

‘What should we do? Sean has lost all his memories.’

And of all things, he’d lost his memory, which only made Raizen’s mother more sorrowful.

Even with no memory, Sean should have retained some knowledge, yet he behaved like a cheerful, clueless colt, constantly wearing a sunny smile.

He didn’t even seem to understand that his parents were dead.

Raizen was curious—did Sean even know what death was? Probably not.

‘Hello, hyung!’

But why was it, then, that the boy who greeted him with such a bright smile would tremble like a leaf whenever they encountered each other during his mother’s tea times?

Even as he smiled, his hands would shake so violently that he’d drop his teacup.

“Oh my, Young Master, where are you off to?”

One of the maids spotted Raizen and called out.

He responded with a faint smile.

“I’m heading to the garden for a bit.”

“Ah, I see. Please take care!”

Knowing that one of the crows would undoubtedly be watching over Raizen, the maid didn’t insist on accompanying him.

After all, in the Duchy of Pantheon, the heir was rarely followed by a personal attendant.

They believed relying on others too much would make one helpless on the battlefield.

Raizen watched the maid leave before descending to the first floor of the mansion.

His crimson eyes darkened once more.

‘It annoyed me.’

The boy who had smiled so innocently at him had suddenly changed his demeanor overnight.

Looking back now, Raizen would describe the feeling as mild irritation.

But in truth, at that moment, his heart had dropped.

It was as if a scene from his nightly nightmares had come to life, dragging with it a flood of grim memories.

Sean’s reaction to seeing Raizen mirrored how the household staff had treated him three years ago, during the time strange rumors spread about the duchy.

They would recoil in fear, trembling at the thought that even a brush of his hand might curse them into oblivion.

That image remained etched in Raizen’s mind, even after all these years.

Yet strangely, on nights after encountering Sean, the nightmares didn’t come.

At first, he didn’t believe it, but when it kept happening, he couldn’t deny it any longer.

Just being near Sean seemed to subdue the curse that gnawed at him.

‘And I proved it.’

As Raizen stepped out of the mansion, the warm sunlight poured over him.

Shielding his eyes with one hand, he recalled the moment.

He had never been fond of the crown prince.

As the emperor’s only son and a dominant alpha to boot, Hamuel had been treated like royalty long before he officially became the crown prince.

Everyone adored him.

Raizen also knew the crown prince harbored a naive crush on his mother, which only fueled his jealousy toward Raizen.

After Raizen turned ten, Hamuel began calling him “that cursed wretch” and openly derided him.

‘It must’ve been the Duke of Luavis or his son who fed him those tales.’

The Luavis family had always been desperate to undermine the Pantheons.

This was why Raizen hated going to the palace.

The memories he wanted to bury kept being dredged up.

Nightmares alone were bad enough—he didn’t need them brought to life.

And every time he met the crown prince, the black mass would inevitably appear.

That day had been no different. Feeling the ominous air, Raizen had made a scene to escape to a guest room, only to have…

‘Raizen!’

The boy who had always called him “hyung,” who seemed so fragile he might cry at any moment, suddenly grabbed his hand and ran.

Startled, Raizen followed.

He thought it was pointless—the black mass would surely follow, spitting its curses as it always did.

* * *