* * *
Raizen is dangerous.
As long as the curse remains unresolved, he will continue to be so, and even if it’s lifted, there’s no telling what will happen.
The curse disappearing doesn’t mean everything will magically be fine.
The things Raizen has endured because of the curse will stay with him forever.
The misunderstanding may have been cleared, but just like how his relationship with the Duke and Duchess never turned into the picture-perfect loving family you’d see in a drama or novel, things won’t simply return to how they should be.
‘But it’s not like there’s no way.’
The ancient gods, led by Noah, possessed me in order to break Raizen’s curse.
So things can change. They already have—significantly.
Have I ever been this certain about something before?
As I gazed at Raizen, I hoped he could somehow understand my thoughts and feelings.
‘Nothing is ever the same.’
At least, not for you, Raizen.
Raizen, who had been silently meeting my gaze, slowly let his eyes soften.
Then, ever so gently, he leaned in and rested his head on my shoulder.
“…I’m a little scared.”
Hearing his faintly trembling voice, my eyes inexplicably stung.
What was this feeling?
Was it relief, knowing that the danger of dying by Raizen’s hands had significantly decreased?
‘No, that’s not it.’
It was just that—just that in that moment, for the first time, I felt like I had seen into Raizen’s heart.
That was all.
It didn’t matter what his true feelings were—I simply felt it that way.
Suppressing the emotions rising within me, I spoke.
“It’s okay.”
“……”
“It will be okay.”
The sun was setting.
The light that stained the world red streamed in through the window.
[Raizen Miel Pantheon / Favorability –7.5]
A new number appeared before my eyes—the highest favorability score I had seen in recent times.
And yet, it had dropped straight into the –7 range.
So, Raizen, you really meant it, huh?
Even as I thought that, a strange bitterness spread through my chest.
It wasn’t just now.
Every time I looked at the favorability window, every time I saw that unchanging negative sign before the number, it felt like my heart was being pricked by needles.
In the quiet room, Raizen’s steady breaths reached my ears.
Each time his breath brushed against my shoulder, my heart trembled involuntarily.
‘Hah… I’m screwed.’
I don’t think I can deny it anymore.
I… like Raizen.
∗ ∗ ∗
I don’t know how this feeling even came to be.
Before I knew it, my heart had drifted, and the memories I had left were fragmented.
At first, I was drawn to him because of his identical face to my the hyung that I know’s.
Even though I knew he wasn’t that hyung, my heart still wavered whenever I faced him.
But when did it start?
At some point, Raizen’s presence lingered in my sight longer than it should have.
Even when I doubted his intentions, I still liked it whenever he showed me kindness.
So, without realizing it, I pushed the favorability window out of my mind.
When Noah pointed it out, I was flustered.
And yet, I was scared to check the favorability score.
I kept telling myself that if I just ignored it, buried it, it would go away.
But in the end, here I am.
‘What a shitty life…’
Now that I’ve admitted it, I feel even shittier—but I can’t even let it show.
Because there was someone I had to meet.
“They should be coming in soon. We’ll step out for a bit and come back later, Sean.”
At the Duchess’s words, I nodded obediently.
After what happened at the manifestation ceremony, she must have had a lot on her mind, yet she was trying not to show it in front of me.
She stroked my cheek once before leaving the room.
Not long after, the door opened, and someone entered.
The first thing that caught my eye was hair—silvery-white, almost pure white.
Then, a strikingly dignified presence that didn’t quite fit the title of “grandfather.”
And finally, a pair of deep blue eyes met mine.
‘…Huh?’
For a moment, my mind went blank.
‘Am I imagining this? No… this is too much to be just a coincidence.’
This was a terrible joke. I rubbed my eyes hard and looked again.
The former Marquis of Kreveta—the real Sean’s grandfather—was coming closer and closer.
I clenched my fists tightly.
My palms, damp with sweat, felt clammy.
‘This… this isn’t just my imagination, is it?’
Ever since I was little, there was something people always said to me at family gatherings.
“This kid is really pretty, but who does he take after?”
“How do you keep looking more like some courtesan the older you get? Tsk, the men in our family are all supposed to have strong, rugged features—what’s going on with you?”
“I thought you’d change as you grew up, but you don’t look like your mom or dad at all.”
I didn’t resemble either of my parents.
And it wasn’t like I looked like anyone from my father’s side or my mother’s side either.
Normally, even if you don’t notice it day to day, when the family is all together, you can at least tell that you share similarities.
But among them, I was the only one who looked different.
‘Tell me the truth. Who the hell is that kid’s father? He’s not mine, is he?!’
That was why my so-called father always resented me.
‘But then why…?’
Why did I see my own face in the former Marquis of Kreveta?
And then—
A ridiculous thought, one so absurd that I never even considered it, suddenly surfaced in my mind.
‘Could it be? No way. There’s no way… right?’
Is this… where I was meant to be all along?
At that moment, a sorrowful voice called out to me.
“My child.”
It felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over me.
Before I knew it, the former Marquis of Kreveta had settled in front of me.
Though he was smiling, it looked as if he were on the verge of tears.
Layers upon layers of sorrow, longing, and despair filled his gaze.
‘What the hell am I thinking right now?’
I needed to pull myself together.
I scraped my nails against the back of my hand and bowed my head toward him.
“…Hello.”
My awkward greeting made the former Marquis let out a deep sigh.
He ran his hands over his face before nodding slightly.
“Yes… I am your grandfather, child.”
“…Yes, sir.”
A heavy silence followed.
Watching the former Marquis hesitate to speak only made my chest feel even heavier.
“…I’m sorry. I lost my memories…”
“No, no, my dear. You have nothing to apologize for. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember. We can build new memories… together.”
His voice trembled slightly.
He was only half right.
Memories with him could be rebuilt.
But the memories with my parents, who had already passed, could never be restored.
I swallowed hard.
The former Marquis downed his tea in one go and spoke.
“I’m so glad we met again, Sean.”
“…Me too. Grandfather.”
As I smiled and spoke, his expression softened just a little.
After that, we talked about the time I had spent at the Pantheon duchy.
The former Marquis asked endless questions, as if he had never been at ease leaving his grandson in another household.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when a soft knock sounded at the door—three times.
I thought it might be the Duchess, but instead of asking who it was, the former Marquis checked his pocket watch.
“…It’s already this late.”
Regret was written all over his face.
“Right now, we can’t meet for long. That’s also why you can’t return to the Marquisate.”
I knew it was because they still hadn’t found the mastermind behind the carriage accident, but I didn’t bother acknowledging it.
At least for now, staying silent felt like the right thing to do.
“Still… seeing that you seem to be doing well puts my mind at ease. You’ve grown so much again in that short time.”
Deep blue eyes stared intently at my face.
“Did you know? Your eyes resemble your father’s exactly, but from below them, you take after your mother. After you were born, the two of them argued endlessly over which one of them you looked like more. But to me, it was clear—you inherited them both, perfectly split in half.”
The former Marquis of Kreveta placed both hands on the table and reached out toward me.
Instinctively, I lifted my hands from beneath the table and took his.
His hands, firm and warm, tightly wrapped around mine—like he was holding the most fragile and precious thing in the world.
“If only they could have seen you smiling and speaking like this… They pretended to be fine, but I know it must have eaten them up inside.”
It was almost like he was talking to himself, but I couldn’t just let it pass.
“What… do you mean by that?”
“Ah, look at me.”
The former Marquis muttered as if troubled, then let out a long sigh through his nose.
“To tell you the truth, child, you were… different. How should I put it… You rarely smiled or cried. You hardly spoke at all. And yet, you weren’t slow to learn. It was strange, really.”
I kept telling myself to get a grip, but the words slipped out before I could stop them.
“…Like I had no soul?”
At my words, the former Marquis let out a quiet chuckle.
“That’s exactly how it felt to me.”
My heart felt like it was about to burst.
∗ ∗ ∗
With the arrival of the Duchess and Mila, my meeting with the former Marquis of Kreveta came to an end.
Just before I stepped out of the room, he ruffled my hair without restraint before pulling me into a firm embrace. He patted my back gently, as if to soothe me, and whispered softly into my ear.
“Child, just like your parents, I, too… want you to live freely. So before you come of age, I hope you see, learn, and feel as much as you can—so that you can decide what kind of life you truly want. No matter what you choose… we will accept it.”
To me, those words sounded like permission—not to return as the heir of Kreveta.
[You look completely out of it.]
“……”
The message that suddenly appeared snapped me out of my thoughts.
And as if it had been waiting for the right moment, the anger I had set aside surged back up.
* * *
