* * *

‘He wasn’t trying to comfort me… was he just saying what came to mind?’

The thought floated into my mind, and surprisingly, it seemed reasonable.

Still, it did feel like he said it with me in mind.

‘…But why?’

Why was he suddenly acting like this?

Uneasily, I checked the Affinity.

[Raizen Miel Pantheon / Affinity: -40]

Yep.

No change at all.

‘Wait a second.’

Even if his Affinity level was at -40, wasn’t it true that he said that for my sake?

Let’s not forget—Raizen’s scale for liking someone isn’t exactly normal.

‘Then what’s “0” on his scale supposed to feel like?’

For some reason, a chill ran down my spine.

Rubbing my arms to shake it off, I forced a smile.

“Thanks, Hyung.”

“…How long are you planning to call me that?”

“Huh? ‘Hyung’?”

Raizen nodded.

Feeling mischievous, I grinned widely.

“Because you’re my Hyung! Anyway, I’m heading out now~!”

Before he could call me back or stop me, I dashed out of the room.

I had no way of knowing that I’d end up bedridden with a sudden fever that night, unable to see Raizen for the next three days.

---

Raizen Miel Pantheon’s daily routine was tightly scheduled, with not a single minute left unaccounted for.

7 a.m., wake up. By 8 a.m., he’s fully awake after reading multiple newspapers.

Breakfast at 8:30. From 10 to 11, he discusses important issues regarding the duchy with his father, the Duke of Pantheon.

Swordsmanship training until 2 p.m., followed by a late lunch.

From 3 p.m. until dinner, he attends lessons.

After dinner, he trains in magic alone.

The reason Raizen practiced magic alone was simple: the Pantheon family was primarily a house of knights.

While there was a knight division composed of mages, it was just a single unit.

The family didn’t reject magic or force heirs to focus solely on swordsmanship.

Raizen knew that well.

Yet he insisted on practicing magic alone for one reason:

“I sense an ominous energy in the young master’s magic!”

He feared someone might detect the cursed energy within his magic.

Even the Duke was aware of Raizen’s nightly training.

Though Raizen had requested that the Crow tasked with his close protection be dismissed under the pretense of “guarding the heir,” the Crows still checked on him from a distance hourly.

This arrangement was the result of a compromise with his father.

Raizen’s schedule remained unchanged, even during the period when he was plagued by constant nightmares.

In fact, the more his nightmares worsened, the more he clung to his rigid routine.

Even when a mass of black energy suddenly emerged, his behavior stayed the same.

Perhaps it made Raizen a bit overconfident.

Even if the divine power he’d borrowed from Sean eventually faded, he believed he could simply return to how he was before.

He thought he wouldn’t falter.

But when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark, damp space.

Somewhere in the distance, the squelching sound of slow, shuffling footsteps grew louder.

Raizen instinctively took a step back, but the sticky black substance coating the floor clung to his feet, making even the slightest movement a struggle.

Yet he had no time to dwell on it.

“…Ah.”

From the darkness emerged figures he knew all too well—the servants who had once served him.

Their bodies were mutilated as if they’d been ravaged by beasts.

Faces pale, parts of their flesh decayed.

Though the space was shrouded in darkness, their appearances were horrifyingly vivid.

When they spotted Raizen, they began to weep and plead.

[Young Master… Why did you do this to us?]

[It’s so dark and cold here. Please, let us out…]

[It was all my fault! I swear I’ll never do it again, so please, let us go!]

[Sniff, sob… It’s so scary. This place is too scary…]

Their tearful pleas abruptly turned into blood-red tears streaming down their faces.

Their mouths gaped wide—so wide it looked as if their jaws might break—as they shrieked in high-pitched voices that clawed at his ears.

[It’s your fault! It’s because of your curse that I ended up like this!!]

[Screeech!! A demon! The demon is here to devour my soul!!]

[Why were you even born? If only you hadn’t existed, we could all have been happy!]

Raizen stood frozen in place, staring at the suffering figures before him.

They screamed and writhed in agony, their bodies slowly melting as if absorbed into the ground until they vanished completely.

And then… in front of Raizen, his parents appeared.

They stood together, oblivious to Raizen’s presence, their gazes fixed only on each other as they exchanged words.

[That child is horrifying. Is he really my child? Ah, how could I have given birth to such a cursed being! I deserve to die for this!]

[Calm yourself, my dear. You’ve done nothing wrong. The fault lies entirely… with the child who was born that way.]

[Sob… Every time that child looks at me, I feel chills. His red eyes seem to be soaked in blood. What did we do to deserve this torment?!]

“I’m sorry,” Raizen wanted to say.

“I’m sorry for causing you pain because of me.”

But his throat felt as if it were sealed shut, and no sound came out.

Soon, even the figures of his parents faded away, leaving nothing but darkness behind.

[Poor Raizen~ Poor Raizen~]

A low voice began to sing in a monotonous tone from within the darkness.

“Gasp… Huff…!”

When he opened his eyes, Raizen found himself lying in his bed.

He wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead, forcing a crooked smile.

Then, he gripped his opposite wrist with one hand and snapped it with a sickening crack.

Physical pain was the only way to shake off the remnants of the nightmare.

He stared at his twisted wrist, then brought his other hand to it.

“Heal.”

A dark red glow spread from his palm, and the wrist slowly returned to its normal state.

Checking the time, he realized it was already 11:30 p.m.

By now, he should have been home after completing his magic training.

But today, he had missed it.

Exhausted from the recurring nightmares, he had passed out right after dinner.

“Haha…”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

To suddenly have the nightmares return after a month without them… And to make matters worse, his body was trembling lightly.

Not even the pain had been enough to completely banish the remnants of the nightmare.

‘Should I just cut or stab it away?’

The thought brought a strong impulse, but he managed to suppress it.

Deep stab wounds or cuts left visible traces.

His healing magic wasn’t yet powerful enough to completely erase such injuries.

Concealing them would be difficult.

‘Maybe dunking my face in cold water will help.’

Raizen sat up slowly.

The moment he did, a wave of nausea hit him.

He bolted to the bathroom, vomiting everything he had eaten.

‘…This is the worst.’

For some reason, his eyes stung.

Squinting tightly, he muttered to himself:

‘It’s nothing.’

He told himself he was fine.

That nothing was wrong.

That he was…

[Hahaha HAHAHA!!]

A familiar voice erupted next to him.

Instead of turning his head, Raizen looked into the mirror in front of him.

Reflected there was only his pale, sweat-drenched face.

But when he glanced at the source of the voice, he saw a black mass.

[Raizen’s a fool. Raizen’s a fool! Daring to dream of hope!]

The black mass quivered violently.

[Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha HAHAHA!!]

The eerie, monotonous laughter grated against his mind, as though it were scraping away at his sanity.

Covering both ears, Raizen muttered to himself:

“No… It’s not true…”

[Not true? What’s not true? Not true? Not true?]

Even with his ears plugged, the voice echoed in his head.

The mirror showed nothing, but he could see it with his own eyes.

‘I am. I am…’

Raizen shot to his feet and ran straight ahead, focusing only on moving forward.

The third floor.

He had to get to the third floor.

He sprinted up the stairs in a single burst.

Unlike the palace, the black mass clung close behind him.

[Going to see him? But… what if he’s not there?]

Raizen’s steps stopped.

The black mass chuckled softly.

[I know everything. I know why Raizen did what he did. That’s why I kept quiet!]

Its words threw his mind into disarray.

Ever since starting the experiments with Sean, the nightmares had stopped.

The black mass hadn’t appeared.

He thought the experiments were working.

Yet, deep down, a doubt had lingered in his heart.

‘What if it was a trap from the start?’

The fact that the black mass had only shown itself to Sean and disappeared during the experiments—it was all too convenient.

What if it had all been a calculated plan to drag him into deeper despair?

And now, the black mass was confirming his suspicions.

[Poor Raizen, poor Raizen~]

The black mass hummed softly as it circled around Raizen, then spoke:

[Let’s just go back. Do you really need to check? Wouldn’t it be better to live with just a little more… hope?]

The words were almost impossible to refuse.

Raizen unconsciously began to turn halfway around.

* * *