Young master Lycaon’s neck was clean.

With wide-open eyes, trying hard to hide her startled expression, Rosha turned sharply to Youngsik, who straightforwardly asked her:

“So, is the letter sent by the Count true? He said that you want to break off the engagement?”

Of course, it was true. However, due to unexpected circumstances, there was a delay in her reply. Taking advantage of that moment, her uncle began persuading her.

“Well, think again. Wouldn’t the second son of the Marquis family of Lycaon, who has close ties with the imperial family, be a good fiancé?”

“…”

“Furthermore, we owe a great debt to the Marquis’s  family. They offered to reduce the debt and even give us the diamond mine. Why are you against it?”

“Uncle, you’re still here?”

“…”

She only needed three seconds to gather her thoughts.

Rosha, who silenced her uncle with just one sentence, promptly replied to the young master’s question.

“Yes. It’s true.”

“Why?”

Because, after all, your family brainwashed me with the necklace of suggestion. Even if I’m fully conscious, I wouldn’t get engaged to a thug like you.

‘By the way, how are they trying to persuade me without the necklace of suggestion?’

No, why are they so obsessed with this engagement? It would be nice to find out.

“I am…”

Just as she was choosing her words, the bird Koko, hidden in her pocket, tapped her leg gently.

The reason was clear. Behind the young master, a guard was slowly raising his hand to his chest.

The red gem glimpsed from the knight’s uniform had a much more radiant light than the replica owned by her uncle.

‘The necklace of suggestion. Why does a mere knight have it instead of Heres Lycaon?’

Although she felt slightly suspicious, that wasn’t the pressing issue.

The third reason she agreed to meet the young master from Marquisate was for magical power.

‘Anyway, good timing. I should feed Koko and recharge my new sacred relic with magic.’

With Koko, she wasn’t afraid of suggestion magic.

Rosha, who treated the sacred relic like a backup battery, secretly waited to use the power of the necklace along with the eagerly shaking Koko.

And finally, a faint light began to leak from the ‘Necklace of Suggestion’.

Suddenly-

The tension, which had been escalating, dispersed in an instant as the reception room door abruptly opened.

The knight also seemed to decide that now wasn’t the time and quickly took his hand away from the necklace.

Under normal circumstances, Rosha would have been annoyed by the interruption. However, knowing that not many could barge into this reception room, she looked at the opening door with a sense of foreboding.

Two men were entering.

One was her eldest brother, Cedric. The other one was…

‘…What? How is that man in our house?’

How could she forget the face of the man who tried to kill her in the cave just a few days ago!

Unlike the previous all-black attire, the man in a flashy formal suit swept the room with his purple eyes.

His uniquely indifferent yet refined atmosphere was captivating, but there was no time to appreciate it.

Then, young master Lycaon, who suddenly stood up, muttered with a very puzzled face:

“Why is Duke Echerzen here…?”

…What did he say?

Surely he’s talking about Duke Froy Echerzen?

She had never seen the Duke’s face, so she couldn’t be sure.

However, if we assume it’s Duke Echerzen, everything makes sense.

Recalling the note about the Duke’s intrusion into the family’s territory to obtain the sacred relic, it explained why they encountered each other in the cave.

In other words…

‘He noticed I took the sacred artifact and came to capture me.’

No other explanation made sense.

At the same time, she felt very resentful towards Cedric.

Cedric, who seemed relieved as he looked around the reception room, was taken aback by her glare, but that didn’t matter.

Rosha nervously stared at the Duke.

He seemed to perfectly understand the situation just by glancing around the reception room. His mysterious purple eyes briefly lingered on her, then moved to young master Lycaon.

And then he dropped a bombshell.

“I heard you’re breaking off your engagement.”

With a casual tone as if talking about the weather, young master Lycaon, who had been tense all along, was flustered.

“What… Where did you hear such a thing? And why are you here?”

“I don’t really want to answer such a ridiculous question, but if I were to tell you who is about to break off his engagement the reason…”

“…”

“It’s because I’m interested. In her.”

His expression was dry, contrary to his proclamation that he had set his sights on Rosha, but Lycaon glanced sharply at Rosha as if questioning their relationship.

‘Hey, it’s not what you think!’

Rosha felt unfairly accused and almost went mad at the misunderstanding.

Suspiciously, young master Lycaon asked:

“Could it be… that the Duke is involved in this matter?”

‘This matter’ undoubtedly referred to Rosha’s engagement, and ‘involved’ implied that he might have solved the curse cast on her.

Of course, the Duke hadn’t been involved until today, but he nonchalantly shrugged it off without denying it.

Then, at that moment.

‘The timing couldn’t be worse.’

Rosha, noticing a knight of the Lycaon family secretly holding the magical necklace, sensed a considerable amount of magic discreetly approaching. Apparently, the appearance of the Duke had made them impatient.

Fortunately, with Koko around, she wasn’t worried about getting cursed, but the situation was tricky.

‘If I absorb the magic here, it’ll be extremely suspicious…’

She couldn’t just let it happen, so with the feeling of a cow being led to the slaughterhouse, she tapped her pocket.

Responding with excited movements, Koko, who never considered her feelings, especially when it came to food, reacted.

Then, the Duke approached her gracefully and reached out.

“…Huh?”

From his elongated hand blocking her way, she felt a new energy.

It was entirely different from magic. If it was an intrinsic aura, she should have sensed something, but it felt utterly void.

Yet, it swiftly consumed the magic of suggestion, erasing it completely. It was almost as if he was destroying evidence.

‘…What kind of ability does he have?’

While abilities were said to be infinite and constantly evolving, facing someone of this caliber made her uneasy.

After confirming Rosha’s safety with a brief glance, the Duke spoke with indifference:

“…Didn’t I clearly say I had an interest in you?”

The emotionless statement was a clear warning.

Staring at him, young master Lycaon thought there was nothing more to gain here and left the reception room. Her uncle hesitated for a moment, looking around, and then followed him.

Regardless.

Duke Echerzen, standing close to Rosha, leaned down and whispered. It was so soft that it seemed inaudible to Cedric.

“You might already suspect.”

“…”

“I have a question about the incident last time. About the night we encountered each other in the cave.”

His purple eyes, half-filled with certainty, scrutinized Rosha’s face.

The time had come. But she couldn’t just blurt out that she had taken the sacred relic from the cave. Moreover-

‘Come to think of it, there’s no concrete evidence that it was me, right?’

No choice. This was the best strategy.

Rosha, who completed all calculations in a split second, maintained a smiling expression and ventriloquized:

“What are you talking about? We’ve never met before.”

“…”

There was a brief silence.

With a sigh, he muttered:

“…So, you’re going this route?”