* * *

The black mass didn’t follow.

Not that night, not the next, and not even today.

‘Sean.’

There was no doubt something was going on with him—no, Shane Pantheon, as he was now called.

The boy strolled through the duchy’s gardens, bathed in the bright autumn sunlight.

Passing servants greeted him kindly, their smiles warm.

Raizen responded with a cheerful grin of his own, exchanging pleasantries.

The staff thought to themselves, ‘The young master seems in an unusually good mood today!’

His smile was brighter and more radiant than usual, after all.

Unaware of their thoughts, Raizen walked leisurely until he suddenly paused and glanced back.

The gardens, filled with meticulously groomed trees under the golden sun, stretched out behind him, bustling with the lively movements of the staff.

Taking a deep breath, he filled his lungs with the crisp, clean air.

‘It’s peaceful.’

As that thought passed through his mind, a single tear slipped from his crimson eyes, falling with a quiet splash.

He quickly wiped it away, frowning deeply.

‘Damn it.’

He had tasted a peace he thought he would never experience again.

And now, he could never return to those times filled only with nightmares.

Raizen found himself resenting the gods all over again.

If they meant to plunge him into despair, why hadn’t they stripped him of even the smallest glimmer of hope?

Why subject him to such torment?

Yet, another thought began to surface.

If the gods exist… perhaps they’re the reason this cursed life of mine holds even a shred of hope.

‘I won’t lose it.’

Raizen swore to himself. He would never let go of the hope that had come to him.

---

In the office of Duke Luavis.

The duke sat in his chair, listening to a voice through the communicator, his expression darkening.

“Pathetic.”

He had put his faith in them, even investing considerable time and money to craft a flawless identity that the Duke of Pantheon couldn’t trace back to the Luavis family.

Yet, they hadn’t lasted a single year without causing trouble.

“What exactly happened?”

“We intended to further destabilize the little dog’s psyche by using the Pantheon duke’s adopted child against him. But it seems we miscalculated. Our words and actions may have been too extreme.”

“Ha…”

He’d known they were vain, but he hadn’t realized they were this foolish.

Massaging his temples, Duke Luavis shook his head.

Suddenly, a crashing sound echoed through the communicator.

“D-Duke! Please, spare me! If this continues, that savage mutt will have my head!”

The duke clicked his tongue.

“Dispose of them.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

A scream and the sound of liquid splashing followed immediately after.

“Apologies, Your Grace. I swear I knocked them unconscious earlier…”

“It’s fine. They needed to be dealt with anyway.”

“Understood. I’ll arrange a body to make it look like suicide.”

“Good. That should keep the Pantheon duke from growing suspicious.”

Duke Luavis tapped the communicator lightly until its glow faded and it powered down.

“Haa…”

‘Nothing ever goes right.’

He exhaled slowly, grinding his teeth in frustration.

His clenched fist slammed onto the desk.

“Damn it! Idiotic fool!”

They’d been sent to break Raizen Pantheon’s spirit, yet all they’d done was run their mouth and ruin the plan.

If they’d been caught due to a mistake, he wouldn’t be this angry.

Breaking Raizen’s resolve shouldn’t even have been difficult.

‘The curse.’

Exploiting that alone would’ve been enough to turn Raizen into his puppet.

But why was it so hard to find competent underlings?

His children were no better.

Of the three sons, only the eldest showed promise.

The youngest, though… he was such a disappointment that Duke Luavis often wondered how someone like him could have been born into their family.

Even when sent to befriend the crown prince as a playmate, he failed miserably, returning after a massive argument.

The emperor had brushed it off, attributing it to the nature of young boys.

But the youngest had thrown a tantrum, refusing to return.

‘At least he managed to spread the rumors about the little dog to the crown prince.’

If not, he might have been disowned by now.

The terms “savage mutt” and “little dog” were derogatory nicknames exclusively used by the Luavis family to refer to the Pantheons, whose symbol was the wolf.

How could he annihilate that pack of dogs from the empire once and for all?

Duke Luavis pondered the question repeatedly.

Eliminating them would make his ascent to the pinnacle far easier.

That peak—he believed he was born to stand there.

“Huuu…”

He exhaled, calming himself, and gazed at the empire’s map spread across his desk.

On it, the crests of noble houses marked their territories.

His eyes landed on the western borderlands, a region marked by a red X over the insignia of a white fox.

‘The Marquis of Kreveta.’

Looking at it, Duke Luavis smirked darkly.

No need to rush.’

The first step was already perfect.

Although the heir to the Kreveta had gone missing, the news that the Pantheon family had adopted a black-haired, blue-eyed commoner made him certain.

‘They haven’t found Kreveta’s heir.’

The spy he’d planted in the guise of Raizen Pantheon’s tutor had relayed detailed information before their death.

The duchess had personally admitted, tearfully, that she’d adopted the orphan after being reminded of the Kreveta heir.

If they’d survived the accident, they must have either lost their memory or perished by now.

Duke Luavis believed this without a shred of doubt.

And that blind certainty would be his greatest downfall.

---

The day after Raizen confessed he didn’t know what to do, he called me in.

Curious, I went to see him, and he proposed an experiment.

“We’ll hold hands at regular intervals. Let’s start by holding hands once a day for a week.”

Maybe it was because he’d already revealed his greatest vulnerability, but Raizen’s attitude toward me was a little more genuine.

That serious gaze of his, though, was a bit much.

‘If he finds out I don’t have divine power or anything, will he kill me for being a fraud?’

I gave an awkward laugh.

“Rai, but… do you really think I have… divine power? Or whatever you call it?”

“Divine power.”

“Ah, yeah, divine power… Do you think I have that?”

“We’ll find out.”

His unwavering tone made me groan softly.

Then, Raizen asked,

“Why? Do you not want to?”

“Huh?”

“Do you not want to hold hands with me and do this?”

He looked a little upset, maybe even hurt.

It was a side of Raizen I’d never seen before.

What was he playing at?

Why was he suddenly so open about his emotions?

‘This guy isn’t the type to act on a whim.’

But I wasn’t about to back down.

“No, it’s not that! Really, it’s not!”

When I raised my voice, a bit teary, Raizen frowned and nodded.

“Fine, I get it. Stop yelling. It’s noisy.”

What a sensitive jerk.

“I just… I’m worried you’ll be disappointed in me.”

“Disappointed in you?”

I nodded.

“What if I try, but it turns out I don’t have any divine power? Would you… drift away from me again?”

“That’s something to think about when the time comes.”

“…”

‘You seriously… you’ll never manage to be in a proper relationship.’

I swallowed those words and reluctantly held out my hand.

Arguing further wouldn’t get me anywhere anyway.

‘Even if you don’t have divine power, it’s fine.’

It was foolish of me to expect him to say something like that.

Raizen hesitated for a moment before carefully taking the tips of my fingers.

‘Is this a joke?’

I grabbed his hand firmly in frustration.

“Hey, you—!”

“Hyung, holding hands like that won’t mean anything.”

Raizen went quiet, probably realizing I had a point.

‘Ha… seriously. Explaining everything to this guy, step by step, is exhausting.’

If you were born in Korea, your MBTI would definitely have a T in it.

‘Ah, right.’

There was something I needed to do right now.

I muttered under my breath, “Affinity Window.”

A translucent window appeared in front of me, completely blank.

‘Damn ancient gods.’

They claimed to have applied an affinity system, but it wasn’t the one I knew.

A proper affinity system would automatically list key targets and let you check their affinity levels immediately, right?

But the one these ancient gods had given me required me to register targets manually.

[Please select the person you wish to add to the Affinity List.]

A message appeared, and a cursor followed my gaze.

When I glanced toward Raizen, the cursor hovered over him, blinking, before another message popped up:

[Would you like to register Raizen Miel Pantheon in the Affinity List?]

I nodded slightly.

[Registration of Raizen Miel Pantheon is complete. You can now monitor the registered individual’s affinity level in real-time. Reaching a certain affinity level will allow you to view the individual’s inner thoughts.]

Finally, it worked. I held back a smirk and opened the Affinity List again.

‘Alright, let’s see what our future villain-in-the-making thinks of me.’

[Raizen Miel Pantheon / Affinity: –44]

“…”

You b*stard.

* * *