"To be clear, I am not happy with this arrangement."

Getting on the carriage, I made sure to express my disappointment and outrage toward the situation as Leon sat beside me, his expression a lot more relaxed than it had been a few

moments ago.

".....That's fine."

He said, crossing his arms and leaning his head against the wooden back of the carriage.

"You'll understand once we get there. It'll be something that you'll thank me for later."

At that, I didn't say anything.

He was probably right. No, he was right. It was just that... I was exhausted. I wanted to spend the following two months just focusing on myself.

As Atlas said, I had been neglecting my [Curse] magic a lot.

...I couldn't afford to waste time not improving it.

Although I had won the tournament and was the best, the enemies that I had to deal with were a lot more powerful than the opponents that I faced.

I was still nothing but a weak 'ant' in their eyes.

In fact, in the grand scheme of things, I was probably not even in their radar which was good for me.

'Yeah, I guess this is a good thing. I still have time.'

For now, I could use this opportunity to find out more about the previous Julien. What sort of person was he, and to find a way to get rid of him.

He was...

Still alive, living within my body.

I needed to get rid of him.

"We'll be there for a couple of days at most. You can get your vacation afterward." "Hm."

I guess that made sense.

"We're not going to be fighting either. It may be a little stressful, but you should be a lot more relaxed than the tournament."

"Um."

He was right as well in that regard.

'Well, thinking about it, I guess things aren't as bad as I think they are.'

A little bit of an inconvenience but nothing that would mentally break me.

Or so I hoped.

"Oh, right."

As if recalling something, Leon turned his head to look at me.

"Regarding the Curse Chamber. You don't have to go to the Royal Family specifically to go." "Hm?"

What is he on about...?

"...You can just ask them to set one up wherever you want. If you wanted to, you could have them build it at the family estate. Either way, by the time two months pass, the runes will have run out. It won't make much of a difference and can save you time."

"You can do that?"

"Yes."

Leon nodded faintly.

"...I won't be able to since the Royal Guards are here, but yours is a lot easier to set up since all

it requires are 'Curse' users to inscribe certain runes that slowly release elemental 'Curse' mana in the air for you to absorb."

"Um."

Yeah, he had a point.

"This is actually good...'

Thinking about it, this was actually what I was looking for. In case I didn't want to deal with the problems within the household I could just hide in the chamber.

I had to have this built.

...I was just about to voice this out to Leon but he cut me off.

"I've already messaged them. They're already setting up the chamber."

"Uh?"

Dumbfounded, I blinked my eyes repeatedly in order to make sure I had heard correctly. Then, seeing how his expression remained nonchalant, my jaw dropped.

"... You knew in advance I was going to agree?"

"Yes."

Leon replied, briefly opening his eyes to glance at me as the corner of his lips pulled up.

"....I'm your knight."

***

At the same time.

"How much did he pay you?"

"....Hmm, not that much honestly."

Aoife pocketed the cash that Leon had handed to her. It was about ten thousand Rend which

could be considered a meager amount for someone like her.

She did help however because she thought the idea of stopping Julien entertaining.

Kiera was probably the same.

"Oh? Ten thousand?"

Kiera's expression turned strange.

Aoife's brows furrowed as she sensed something amiss from her gaze.

"What?"

"What? What...?"

Kiera innocently blinked her eyes.

But the more she acted like that, the more Aoife felt that the situation wasn't wrong.

"You, you're hiding something from me."

"I'm not."

Kiera kept her face straight, but Aoife didn't buy it.

In the end, her eyes fell towards Kiera's pocket.

"How much did he pay you?"

"Ah...?"

Kiera blinked her eyes, looking surprised.

"Ten thousand. The same as you."

"So he paid you more...."

It finally dawned on Aoife why Kiera was acting the way that she was.

Kiera's expression twitched when Aoife correctly guessed the situation. This bitch... Could she

read minds?

"No, I can't read your mind."

"Uh?"

"....I can just tell it from your face."

Kiera blinked her eyes and then looked at Aoife who looked back at her. Suddenly they both

frowned as they realized they were acting like a certain duo.

"Ukeh...!"

"Akh!"

Their expressions twisted as they both started to gag.

"Ah, fuck...!"

"Uekh!"

Aoife bit her lips as her expression crumbled.

This lasted for several seconds before she took a deep breath and asked.

"How much?"

"Fifty..."

"Ah."

"...He did initially offer ten but I bargained my way up."

"Yeah, it makes sense."

Aoife was more interested in the entertainment part than the money part. She was a Princess

after all. The loss didn't really trouble her too much.

Furthermore, she had other reasons to stop Julien from going to the Royal Palace.

'Ah, right.'

Just thinking about it gave Aoife a headache.

"...I have to go back."

"Um. Is there something important going on inside?"

More than important, it was troublesome...

Within the Palace were the delegates of the other Empires. While she didn't know exactly

what was going on, the situation seemed extremely important.

Especially with how somber the atmosphere appeared.

"You can say so."

Aoife didn't elaborate further.

Nor was Kiera interested in what she had to say.

"I see. Then I'll take my leave." Fiddling with her pockets, Kiera scratched the back of her head before leaving. Just as she was

about to leave, Aoife's voice echoed.

"Are you going to train?"

"....Um."

"Did you have a breakthrough?"

"No."

Kiera shook her head

That was the problem. She didn't have a breakthrough. She planned on using the two months

she had at her disposal to have such a breakthrough.

Witnessing all of the matches in the Summit, Kiera understood that she was lagging

compared to the others.

....She needed to develop a 'Concept'.

Only then would she have a chance at catching up to the others.

But more than anything, she needed to grow stronger because a certain person was alive.

she...

Needed to die.

With such thoughts, Kiera left the Royal Garden.

Aoife watched her departing back with a lost look before shaking her head.

'Whatever, it is none of my business.'

She had more important matters to attend to.

***

The Evenus Barony was modest in size, overseeing two territories. Their most important and

prized territory was Westernborn.

It was where the Evenus estate was located and where a majority of their yearly income came

from.

A gold mine lay beneath their territory, supplying them with a significant amount of resources that fueled their rapid growth. Though they remained a Barony in the title, their power and influence rivaled that of mid-ranked noble houses.

I was given a brief rundown of the situation by Leon as we headed for the estate.

It took a total of two days to arrive in the territory, and the moment we crossed the borders of Westernborn, it was as though we had entered an entirely different place than Bremmer. The roads weren't as developed but they were all well-maintained and everyone parted way for us as we crossed the numerous towns and cities that lead to the Estate.

"We're about to enter Valemount."

Leon spoke, leaning out of the carriage and narrowing his eyes to look into the distance.

There, the faint outline of a city appeared.

"...The estate is only an hour away from the city. We should be arriving soon."

"Oh."

Well, that was good news.

I was getting tired of waiting all day in the carriage.

"Ah, right."

As if recalling something, Leon came back into the carriage and looked at me with a weird

look. His expression was strange, and just as I was wondering what he was about to say, he spoke before I could ask.

"Whatever you do... Don't show your face."

"What?"

I blinked my eyes, unable to understand as Leon closed the curtains to stop anyone from

seeing the insides of the carriage.

....I was confused at first, but noticing the strange silence that took over the surroundings, I

came to a sudden realization.

"I'm not popular, am I?"

"Nope." Leon answered flatly.

"Your father is, but you're not. If the citizens end up seeing you I'm afraid that—"

Leon suddenly paused. As if realizing something, he reached out for the curtains and tried to

pull them apart but I stopped him.

"Don't you dare." "....Tsk."

"Did you just click your tongue?"

"You're imagining things." "Scooch over. I'm taking over this side."

Though I said that, I practically shoved Leon to the side and hogged the window seat.

Whatever the situation was, I wasn't going to let him open the curtains.

It was clearly not a good idea.

Thankfully, everything passed without a hitch. Hogging the window, nobody stopped the

carriage and within an hour we were finally able to reach the estate.

"We're here."

After listening to the coachman's words, I finally let out a relieved sigh. I opened the door,

allowing the warmth to seep into the carriage.

Stretching my body, I finally stepped out of the carriage where a large estate appeared.

Enclosed by tall iron fences, the estate loomed grandly, with a large fountain at its entrance, the water gently splashing below. A sprawling, meticulously maintained garden stretched out beside it, adding to the estate's grandeur.

Although it wasn't anything like the Royal Palace, it was still rather impressive.

A lot better than I expected.

"Hm?"

I could see several people standing by the entrance of the estate.

In particular, another large carriage stood out to me as I narrowed my eyes to get a better

look.

'I can see Julien's father. He seems to be talking to someone...'

I couldn't quite see who they were standing behind the carriage, but it didn't take long for me

to finally see who it was as my steps paused.

"The hell..?"

I turned to look at Leon who handed the servants our luggage.

"You knew?"

"Yes."

Leon nodded, issuing some orders to the servants who had come directly to greet us.

"She told me before coming. She was invited directly by your father."

"...."

And only now you were planning on telling me?

I pursed my lips while shifting my attention back toward the entrance where a girl with long

purple hair appeared.

As if noticing our presence, she turned her head and our eyes locked.

Evelyn nodded her head at us.