Evelyn’s punch was very clean and sharp. Although she wasn’t skilled in martial arts, it was 

enough to make Lyla exclaim

 in surprise, 

“Did you teach her how to do that?”

“Of course. Even if Evelyn is angry, she

’

s the type to settle things with just a slap. 

However,

 that would be too 

disappointing

, and I can’t force her to kick him continuously. So, if she was going to hit him once, 

I wanted her to do it properly

.”

“Well, I definitely feel

 more refreshed

.”

Lyla burst into laughter as she looked at Albus crawling on the ground.   

“Evelyn never learned any martial arts before though. How c

an 

she 

throw

 a punch like that? Even 

from

 a glance, it was quite a punch.”

“Albus’ manipulation

 caused

 Evelyn’s physical ability 

to rise

 to another level. Plus, 

her 

innate ability is 

very 

high, and when I added my genius teaching skills on top of that, it’s no wonder she c

an throw such a good punch

.”

In the end, Zich 

bragged

 about himself. Lyla knew that the rest of the conversation would be 

fruitless

 and 

shifted

 her attention 

away 

from Zich. Evelyn 

scowled

 while clenching her fists. Even if Evelyn received some special training and was manipulated, she was a lady who had never fought before.

“Urgh!” Albus groaned. Evelyn looked down at Albus with mixed feelings, but she soon turned her back.

“What do you want to do? Should I kill him?” Zich asked.

Evelyn shook her head

.

 “…I don’t want to have anything to do with this person anymore.”

Evelyn went inside the shack, and Zich 

moved

 toward Albus.

“You’re incredibly lucky that your ex-fiancée’s heart is so kind. What possible fault 

did you find

 in 

your

 fiancée that 

made you

 manipulate

and thr

ow

 her away?”

“…” Albus didn’t answer

, b

ut it wasn’t because of his consciousness or guilt. He was simply afraid that Zich might kill him if he said the wrong words.

“Don’t worry and tell me. Why would I kill you for just blabbering your mouth off after everything you

’

ve done? If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it ages ago.”

“…I already told you everything.”

Albus spat out the blood collecting 

in the corner of

 his mouth and said in a low voice, “I want more 

power

 than what I ha

ve

 right now.”

“You love 

power

 that much?”

Albus laughed, “Those who look down on 

power

 are just fools or people who have never grasped 

power

 in their hands. In reality, none of you can even approach the 

King or Crown Prince

 to free yourself of your charges. 

E

ven if you manage to do so, who do you think they would believe: nobodies like you guys or me—the heir to a Marquess family? That is also an example of 

power

.”

“Do you really think that’s the case?” Zich smiled.

Albus smiled along with him. “Try it if you can, 

please

.”

Albus thought if Zich really tried 

to do as

 he said, 

he

 would be able to pay back all the humiliation he felt to Zich. But that was impossible. 

Of course, if 

Evelyn 

received 

some help from her father, it 

w

ould be a bit troublesome for 

him

, but the overall situation wouldn’t change. There was no evidence that she 

had been

 manipulated, and there was a high chance that the Marquess would abandon Evelyn.

‘

S

he won’t even be able to go to her father.’

Evelyn 

would be

 captured by the robed figures and probably be offered as a sacrifice to their plans.

‘Whatever happens, I

’

ve kept the contract.’

He recalled how Evelyn’s face had fallen into despair

 when she learned the

 truth and smirked.

Punch!

“Kuh!”

Zich kicked his face.

“Don’t smile. It’s annoying.”

Then Zich turned his body again, and Lyla glar

ed

 at 

Albus as

 she followed 

behind Zich

. With his bloody face, Albus glared at the spot where they left

, but he soon started laughing

 like a madman. Although the situation had played out quite differently from his expectations, this was what he wanted in the end. Albus wondered for a moment if they might kill him 

on the

 spot, but he recalled Evelyn’s weak demeanor and erased the worry from his thoughts.

‘That’s why she won’t amount to anything!’

Albus smiled for a while

, thinking that he could go back to his rose-colored future.

*    *    *

They went

 down the mountain

. A

fter 

throwing

 a good punch 

at

 Albus, Evelyn felt slightly relieved, but the pain she felt was still

 immense

. Lyla covered Evelyn’s shaking shoulders, and Zich slowly walked behind them. By the time they arrived at their lodging at the capital, the sun was making hesitant preparations to set from the mountain ridge. 

C

onsidering Lyla and Evelyn’s physical abilities, it was surprising that they came down the moun

tain in a short amount of time, 

but Lyla’s 

teleportation

 abilities 

did most

 of the 

work

. However, since mana consumption exponentially rose if another person was included in the 

teleportation

 spell, Zich had to run diligently.

As soon as they arrived at their room, Lyla sat on a chair and asked, “What are you going to do now? You

 don’t plan

 to just

 let

 that guy go like this, right?”

By ‘that guy

,’ Lyla obviously meant

 Albus Windpool. Sitting next to her, Evelyn’s pupils shook; 

it

 seemed 

as if her emotions hadn’t settled yet

.

Zich replied, 

“Of course

.”

Lyla asked, 

“Then why did you make a request like that to Evelyn?” 

It wasn’t actually Evelyn’s will to not kill Albus; she had simply acted upon what Zich had asked her to do.

“Before that…” Zich turned his attention to Evelyn

.

 “

Have you calmed your heart

?”

“…Not yet.”

“Well, I understand

.

” Zich shrugged

.

 “

You

 loved him very deeply

, b

ut that probably also means your sense of betrayal was just as big, if not bigger.”

It was hard to 

understand her feelings

 after 

the man she loved so much betrayed her

.

 In a way

, the greater her love, the greater sense of betrayal she must have felt.

‘So that’s why this event became her first step towards becoming Succubus.’

“Moreover, this is not just a betrayal between lovers. It’s a conspiracy directed towards you and your close family and the entire Rouge family.”

Anger began to rise up in Evelyn’s soft eyes. Even if she was a young woman deeply in love, she also had a deep love for her family members and the Rouge family. 

Zich met her eyes. “You were cool today. I felt refreshed when I saw you make that last punch.”

Lyla also nodded and agreed with his words.

“How about it, Lady Rouge? Why don’t you serve a nice punch against that traitor again? Of course, this punch would be incomparably stronger than the one you just made. After we are done, you will be completely vindicated from all the things he framed you for.”

Evelyn did not ponder on it any longer. This was no longer a conflict between lovers, but a conflict between noble families. “What do I have to do?”

Zich brightly smiled.

“You don’t have to do anything difficult. I will be there to help you out. All you have to do is help me out a bit, a very tiny bit.”

When Lyla explained this story later on, she described Zich’s smile at this moment as extremely chilling.

*   *   *

Albus returned to his mansion. His servants were curious as to why he suddenly went out, but nobody asked him any questions. There were no servants who had the guts to ask him about his strange behavior; but most of all, Albus’ personality was known to be awful. Albus went back into his room and sat down on his chair. Then he stared at his window.

‘Everything turned out well, right?’

Even though he suffered from Evelyn and those two mysterious strangers, Albus was happy that he fulfilled his mission. Now that he was back in his room, he suddenly felt anxious. What if their plans went awry again because of that strange variable? Or what would happen if they were not pleased by his performance?

‘…Anyhow, I have to wait until they come to me again.’

From that time on, Albus’ nervous waiting began. During the day, he carried on like usual but it was hard for him to focus—he anxiously awaited each night for the ‘robed figure’ to come back. Fortunately, Albus did not have to wait long.

“Albus Windpool.”

The voice he had been waiting for finally appeared. Just as before, the ‘robed figure’ easily avoided the guards and came to his room. His voice was cold and indifferent like usual. Albus wondered what he had to say. Due to his nervousness, his lips became parched. However, the next words that the ‘robed figure’ said sounded like bells ringing in heaven.

“We were able to secure Evelyn Rouge.”

“Yes!!”

Without realizing it, Albus jumped out of his chair and pumped his fist in the air. Then he stopped. He became worried that some of his servants might come in after hearing his voice. Fortunately, he couldn’t sense any presence outside his door, and the only witness to his excited shout was the robed figure who maintained his silence.

“C-cough!” He cleared his voice. “Then is the contract between us over?”

“Yeah.”

“What if Evelyn comes back to the capital?”

“She will not be able to come back.”

This also meant that all the cumbersome details had been dealt with. Albus felt relieved. He sat back down on the chair again and felt all the pressure pressing down on him leave his body.

“That’s good.”

After the pressure left his body, Albus felt much more at ease.

“Then this will be my last time seeing you.”

“No.”

“…Is there another thing I have to do?”

The robed figure threw something at him. Albus caught it in the air.

It was a book with an expensive-looking cover. Albus opened it and saw nothing written inside the book—its white pages were blank.

“What is this?”

“Write down how you controlled Evelyn Rouge, and what your thoughts were after Evelyn Rouge found out about our plan. Just write down everything that comes to mind.”

Albus scrunched up his face.

“What do you mean?”

“The reason why the plan went off course was because of the two variables next to Evelyn Rouge, but the biggest reason is that your manipulation didn’t properly work on her. We have to find out what went wrong.”

“Ah, I guess that’s true.”

Albus nodded his head at the robed figure’s words, but he didn’t plan to accept his request.

“But I think this isn’t included in our contract conditions.”

Even though Albus said this with ease, he was actually very nervous about how the robed figure would react. If the robed figure threatened him again, he had to do something to fight him off. He couldn’t be dragged by robed figures for the rest of his life. However, Albus’ apprehension came to an end.

“Open the last pages of the book.”

Albus flipped through the pages of the book. Unlike the completely blank pages in the rest of the book, there were a few words on the last page.

—People You Need to Kill

With a surprised face, Albus stared at the robed figure.

“Five people.”

He went on and said, “Write their names and statuses, where they live, and exact descriptions of them. Whoever you write down, I will kill five people for you.”

Albus closed the book. There was a satisfied smile on his face.

“Let’s make a new contract.”

*   *   *

With the King’s birthday coming up soon, big and small events continuously occurred in Westillburd. However, even then, time passed by and the King’s birthday finally arrived. The citizens of Cronon raised their glass and wished for the prosperity of the Kingdom, and the nobles rode on their carriages to attend the party hosted by the King. 

Another carriage was being prepared nearby.

Neatly dressed, Zich asked the two people in front of him, “Did you finish getting ready?”

Lyla and Evelyn nodded their heads. Zich hit the wall of the carriage.

“Start!”

“Yes, sir!”

Hans sat in the coachman’s seat, and he started the carriage. Their destination was no other than the palace where all the nobles were gathering.