The Duke of Cassil and Richard were quiet now, but they’d utilize cheap tricks like in the original when the opportunity arrived.

If so, I had to keep at least one secret weapon for myself. If Richard knew I was a polyglot, he’d change his plans.

I hid the fact that I was a polyglot, and at the same time, I went to the secret room deep in the Emperor’s Palace to find a way to lift the Crown Prince’s curse.

There was no place as secure as the Phillion Palace where the Emperor lived.

It was only Blake and Collin, His Majesty’s assistant, who knew that I was a polyglot.

I pressed the device, closed the door, and looked at the innermost stone plate.

This stone was discovered when they filled the lake on the Crown Prince’s Palace and built a greenhouse.

I didn’t have the faintest idea when. The stone plate, which had been buried in the deep bottom of the lake for quite a while, was not in an excellent condition.

-hero… ine… 6… there is… sentence.

The letters were all engraved on the slate, but, this was all I could read because it was so worn out.

It seemed to be saying something about the Goddess of Light putting the curse for revenge. I thought it was something I already knew.

However, I kept thinking about the stone plate because it was an item that no one had ever found in the original story. There seemed to be an essential clue in this.

As I looked closely at the stone plate, the door that had been shut abruptly opened.

I was anxious for a second, but I naturally smiled when I saw the handsome man standing at the door.

“Father.”

“Ancia.”

Tenstheon entered with a gentle smile.

While Blake and I continued to grow up, Tenstheon did not change a bit.

Even when he slightly lowered his head, I could feel the aura of an untamed beast.

“Father, you look great today too.”

“Nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense, it’s true! I heard that you are the first love of all the women in the Empire.”

“Who told you that crap?”

“Everyone did.”

“Don’t believe it. That’s all nonsense.”

Tenstheon scowled. He looked and acted scary like a lion at first, but now I knew that he was just being shy.

He looked a lot like Blake when he received compliments.

“Have you been looking at the stone plate?”

He changed the subject.

“Yes. Has Father come to see the stone tablets, too?”

“I came to see your face. You should definitely tell me when you come next time.”

“I heard you had an important guest.”

“No one is more important than you.”

He said it sincerely. Whenever he did this, I felt as if he was really my father.

“It’s good to learn about the curse, but take it easy.”

“I’m taking it easy.”

“I know you never rest.”

“I do it because I like it.”

“You should rest once in a while.”

“You’re the one who should rest! You stayed up all night at the office yesterday, didn’t you? You’ll be in big trouble if you work so hard!”

“You’re nagging again.”

He lightly patted my hair.

***

Blake and Diana sparred using wooden swords. Even after the lesson, they fought to the end, but it was consistently a draw.

The two people eventually lay side by side in their armor, breathing heavily.

“Your Highness, why didn’t you stab me in the end? Do you think I’m weak because I’m a woman?”

Diana said indignantly. She was even more upset because he was going to win the game. She wouldn’t have been so upset if she had lost completely.

“You are Ancia’s sister. Why did you stop your sword? You could’ve won too if you swung at that time. Are you afraid because I am the Crown Prince?”

“You’re my sister’s husband. How can I hurt you?”

Diana spoke in a somewhat muted voice.

“…Why do you want to become a knight?”

“To be strong.”

“Why do you want to be strong?”

“I want to protect my sister.”

Diana had no choice but to look at her sister, who was constantly abused by their father. She would always cry again and again in helplessness because she couldn’t do anything for her sister. So, she wanted to become a knight.

She wanted to be a strong person, unlike her father.

“I’m glad my wife has a sister like you.”

“I didn’t do anything for her.”

“Diana, if I die, please take care of Ancia.”

Blake spoke in a leisurely manner.

He was cursed so it was highly likely that he would die before he became an adult. He knew that Ancia was trying hard for him, but she couldn’t lift the terrible curse.

When Blake smiled and asked her for that favor, Diana jumped up.

Anger flashed in her eyes, which had been tempered for a while. Diana pointed her sword at him angrily.

“Don’t say such ridiculous things! Who’s going to die? You’re not going to make my sister a widow!”

“Diana….”

Blake was astonished at her anger.

“You know how much my sister loves you and you’re telling me you’re going to die! My sister would be so sad if you died!”

“But, the curse…”

“You can break the curse! If you say that again, I won’t forgive you even if you are a prince! We’ll work together to protect her! Okay?”

“Yes.”

Blake nodded at Diana.

“Now! Promise me as a knight!”

Diana raised her sword to the sky. Blake also got up and overlapped his sword with hers.

“I promise.”

Blake chuckled. It was not a laugh of resignation, but an expression of hope.

***

It was said that the sentences of the curse engraved on the body would spread gradually, and eventually, it’d eat the heirs to the curse.

But Blake’s inscriptions looked the same as they did two years ago. The sentences did not shrink, but it did not spread further either.

I made a lot of efforts to lift his curse. I didn’t know if it was because the methods worked, or because he met Diana early or because of a completely different reason, but either way, it was fortunate.

Blake fell asleep while holding my hand tightly again today. I looked at the sentence engraved on his hand.

Why was it a sentence?

I had been devouring books about curses for the last two years.

As it was a country with magic, there were various kinds of curses.

There were countless kinds of curses, such as curses in which parts of the body were appallingly distorted, curses in which the body rotted, or ones that bound the body or soul, or turned humans into something like animals and monsters.

Among them, the curse of engraving sentences was relatively weak.

Of course, it spread throughout the body and they would eventually die, but it was still a mild curse.

Philip, the first Emperor betrayed the Goddess of Light. But why was it this way?

Wouldn’t it be possible to kill Philip or use a more severe method if she had hated him so much? There was no reason for it to be sentences. The Goddess couldn’t have lacked the ability to cast a more severe curse.

And why curse only one at a time and let the curse he inherited?

I was anxious because I felt like I kept missing something important.

I thought of the original novel. “The Beast and Lady” was an R-19 romance novel with a twist on “Beauty and the Beast.”

It depicted a love triangle between a prince under a curse, a beautiful woman with the power of light, and an attractive man trying to possess her.

Diana released Blake’s curse using the power of light. Upon hearing the news, Richard was intrigued by Diana and began to resort to terrible ruses to control her.

In the end, Diana chose Richard, who was obsessive and scheming, and not Blake, the beast under the curse.

The author twisted it too much to change even the main character. I didn’t like it, but it was an R-19 romance novel.

It ended with a very normal ending, with Diana and Richard getting married and having children. For a novel which was distorted by intense tragedy and obsession, the last scene was nothing special.

I looked at the inscriptions on Blake’s face. The lumps of ink and the spreading afterimage seemed to represent rose petals and thorns…

“Hmm.”

Blake tossed and turned. In the midst of all that, he held my hand tightly and didn’t let go. His figure was very adorable.

Since it was a romance novel, maybe the author just made the curses be in the form of sentences without thinking about it much…

If the second male lead was really an animal-like, half-human monster, his likes and dislikes would be significantly different from humans.

As I swept up Blake’s disheveled hair, he slowly opened his eyes. My face was reflected in his beautiful crimson eyes.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“No. I feel good.”

He smiled while holding my hands.

“Ancia’s hands are warm. I always have good dreams when you are next to me.”

“Have you had many bad dreams before?”

“Yes. I used to have a terrifying dream.”

“What kind of dream was it?”

“I don’t know. When I wake up, I’d forget it. But it was a terrifying and sad dream.”

It was my first time hearing about it. I thought I knew everything about Blake, but there were many things I didn’t know yet. It broke my heart to think that this child had been alone all this time.

“You should’ve told me if it had happened.”

“It’s alright now that I have Ancia.”

He smiled and there was slight drowsiness in his eyes. He had lessons tomorrow too, so I’d have to put him to sleep.

I patted him on the back.

“Good night, little child—“

“I’m not a child!”

Blake sprang to his feet in a fit of rage. I tried to sing him a lullaby, but I think I woke him up more instead.

“In my eyes, you’ll always be a cute child.”

“What?”