TPECIAD 08

8. As Long and As Often As Possible 

Elise woke up in the Grand Duke’s residence. Demon was beside her as if it were only natural. Her hand was tightly held in his.

“W-what happened to me…?”

Am I… alive?

Ugh—Elise frowned at the unfamiliar pain she felt in her mouth and throat. Both her lips and the inside of her mouth felt sore and painful.

“While I was breaking the curse by absorbing it, the strong magic caused your lips and mouth to swell.”

“W-wasn’t it because you kissed me rather intensely?”

Demon explained so calmly, as if it had nothing to do with the passionate kiss they had shared, which made Elise’s face grow even redder. The moment came rushing back to her—the heat, the sensation—so vivid it felt like it was happening all over again. Even while she had been struggling in pain due to the curse, that kiss had been so intense that it pushed the curse’s agony aside and completely overwhelmed her body and mind. The kiss had involved both of them, yet—

“Why am I the only one feeling embarrassed?”

Her face burned. In contrast, Demon looked completely unaffected. There was no sign of agitation on his expression. Somehow, that made her feel unfairly wronged.

“Please forgive me. In order to reduce your suffering even slightly, I acted without your permission…”

“I-it’s fine.”

She couldn’t bear to hear the rest—it was too embarrassing. If she heard Demon himself say, “I kissed you,” her heart felt like it might burst out of her chest.

“What’s wrong with me?”

Her heart wouldn’t calm down and was pounding wildly. Just hearing his voice and looking at his lips made her feel fluttery and heated, like a girl experiencing love for the first time.

“Ah… have my preferences changed?”

Though she kept a blank expression outwardly, his gentle words and actions made her even more flustered.

“No, it must be because of that ‘red taste’ I experienced for the first time.”

Whether in terms of her real age or Elise’s body, she had long been an adult, but this was the first time she had experienced such an intense and deep kiss. She tried to rationalize it that way.

“Something harmful to the body must also be harmful to the mind!”

She absentmindedly touched her sore lips with her fingers, thinking about the “bad taste” that had hurt them. As thoughts of the kiss kept lingering in her mind, she shook her head to clear them.

“Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

Demon asked with concern.

“Ah, n-no. But…”

Do I have to keep holding this hand?

Elise tried to lift the tightly held hand, putting some strength into it.

“I was just about to ask you that.”

What was he going to say? Elise swallowed nervously.

Surely he wasn’t going to say they had to stay together and hold hands wherever they went?

That can’t be it. It must not be. Even standing here talking like this is already making my heart race—I feel like I’m going to faint.

“It’s better than nothing, but holding hands alone is actually not very effective. The curse placed on you was not cast with simple magic, but with a much stronger force.”

“Pardon? A stronger force…?”

“Black magic.”

“Bl-black magic?”

Was black magic even in this novel? While Elise tried to recall, Demon kindly continued his explanation.

“Black magic is far more difficult to manifest than ordinary magic. Its conditions are strict, and it requires far greater sacrifice. There are very few in the Empire who can use black magic.”

And yet, someone had placed such difficult black magic on Elise. Moreover, it was so powerful that holding hands alone wouldn’t even suppress it, let alone break it.

“I did not anticipate that black magic would be used. What happened to you yesterday is my failure.”

Demon slightly bowed his head before her. His sincerity was evident. He truly seemed more kind-hearted than he appeared.

“Ordinary curses cannot summon someone into water and relocate the cursed person. If you had stepped into the fountain yesterday, you likely would not have drowned—you would have been transported elsewhere.”

“W-what??”

Was that even possible? Elise had refused the voice’s command out of fear of drowning. But instead of falling in, she would have been transported elsewhere?

Once again, she deeply felt like a character inside a novel. She belatedly remembered that stories sometimes featured magic portals that allowed spatial travel. It seemed that in the novel Empress Psyche, black magic could also enable spatial movement.

“So, simply holding hands is not enough to keep you safe. The one who cast the curse will likely attempt more aggressive attacks and defenses next time.”

“Then… what should we do?”

“Please allow me to kiss you.”

“P-pardon? Now?”

“If possible, the longer and the more frequently, the better.”

Good heavens! Did he mean they had to do something that stimulating more often—and for longer? Elise felt like she might faint.

That night, everything that had happened at the Grand Duke’s residence was reported to Rohan. Rohan had sent Elise to the Grand Duke’s estate, assigning Reina a special mission, and had also dispatched guards to protect her. Among them, two individuals were tasked with reporting everything back to him at all times. Concerned that the Grand Duke’s household might be bribed, he had deliberately assigned separate orders to the two.

Early in the morning, receiving the same report from both subordinates, Rohan crushed the paper in his hand and clenched his fist tightly.

Both reports contained the same key points:

1. Elise’s curse had been activated twice during the day.
2. Due to the second activation, Elise had attempted to walk into the fountain herself.
3. To stop her, the Grand Duke had ultimately broken the curse with a kiss.

“How could this happen right after sending her there!”

He was furious and anxious beyond control. Elise—whom he wanted to keep in his arms, whom he alone wanted to cherish—had suffered the curse twice and even been kissed by another man within less than a day of leaving him. Worse, she had tried to walk into the fountain herself!

He wanted to find the person who cast the curse and destroy them immediately.

“What on earth is Reina doing?!”

He unfairly blamed Reina. Before sending Elise to the Grand Duke’s residence, he had given Reina special instructions: to ensure that any physical contact between Elise and the Grand Duke remained minimal and to monitor the situation. He had expected that the Grand Duke would only approach Elise with her consent. If Elise didn’t desire intense physical contact, things should have been fine.

But his plan had failed within a day.

“Ha… I shouldn’t have sent her after all…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence. He knew the truth—because Elise had been at the Grand Duke’s residence, Demon had been able to break her curse. If the curse had activated in the imperial palace instead, she might have walked into the massive fountain there and submerged herself.

Just imagining it made Rohan’s nerves tighten. The thought of losing her filled him with despair and fear.

“There’s no time.”

He had to act quickly. To ensure Elise’s safety even upon returning to the palace, he needed to resolve two issues: identify the person who cast the curse and uncover the traitor who aided them. He also wanted to know why Elise and the Grand Duke had been together late into the night on the day the curse first activated.

Why had those two been together that night?

Was it merely coincidence that the Grand Duke—the only one capable of breaking the curse—had been nearby at the exact time the curse activated? Or had someone deliberately orchestrated events so that the curse would trigger when the Grand Duke was present, forcing Elise to go to his estate?

He needed answers.

“Hold on just a little longer, Elise.”

Knock, knock.

The palace steward entered Rohan’s room holding a rolled letter.

“A message has arrived from the Grand Duke of Cremian.”

“Bring it here immediately!”

Demon’s letter contained the same information Rohan already knew, written clearly and concisely, but with far more detail and precision.

“So he’s carrying out his duties without personal feelings, is he?”

It felt as though Demon was proving he was faithfully following the emperor’s orders.

“So he’s telling me not to worry… and not to interfere.”

Demon seemed to anticipate Rohan’s surveillance of the Grand Duchy, always staying one step ahead. That only deepened Rohan’s sense of humiliation.

If Demon simply disobeyed him, it would be easier to punish the Grand Duchy. But Demon was always one step ahead.

“Damn it!”

Rohan slammed his fist on the desk, the lifelong inferiority he had felt spilling out as anger.

At the end of the letter, however, one line made his blue eyes tremble:

“The one who cast the curse appears to be a black mage. Please locate the spy within the palace as soon as possible.”

Elise was truly in danger. Black magic was not limited to killing its victim—it could consume body, mind, and soul, turning the person into a puppet by destroying their very spirit.

Meanwhile, Demon was in his office with Haim. Elise had asked to be alone for a while to think, so she had sent Demon out of the guest room.

Haim, welcoming the returning Grand Duke, was busy reporting matters. The monopolization issue in Cremian territory remained troublesome.

But something about Demon was different today. While listening to Haim’s report, he appeared unusually calm, as if the monopolization issue didn’t matter at all.

“Why is he acting like that? Does he already have a solution?”

Haim, who knew his lord well, found it strange. Demon was not the type to be distracted or preoccupied with unrelated thoughts.

At that moment, Demon quietly called his aide.

“Haim.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“You said you married your wife after dating her, correct?”

The sudden question left Haim stunned.

“Y-yes, of course… but… what does that have to do with the monopolization issue?”

“Then…”

Was he finally considering meeting someone?

“Do you remember what your first kiss with her tasted like?”

“Pardon??”

“…”

“Not where it happened, not how it felt—but the taste?”

Haim couldn’t believe his ears.

“Your Grace, if you are asking seriously about the taste of a kiss…”

He had to answer honestly.

“The taste isn’t fixed—it depends on what you had eaten…”

He trailed off, flustered and sweating.

“Then what about the scent?”

“The scent as well??”

Haim suddenly realized something.

Meanwhile, Demon’s eyes sharpened.

“It was sweet… and smelled like roses.”

Haim’s mouth fell open.

It was clear—his Grand Duke had fallen in love.

“But… that won’t do. She’s the emperor’s consort!”

“Your Grace, I’ve heard that people can have natural scents…”

He tried to discourage the thought.

“Regardless, ordinary kisses don’t have a specific taste or scent, correct?”

Demon had only asked to confirm. He did not expect kisses to have any particular taste or fragrance. However, when he kissed Elise, he had distinctly sensed something sweet and rose-like flowing into him.

This reminded him of a secret passed down within his family.

If his suspicion was correct, this was something significant.

Yet no one—neither Elise, the emperor, nor anyone in the palace—seemed aware of it.

He might be mistaken… but if not?

“I’ll need to verify this.”

He needed evidence to support his conclusion. Another kiss with Elise would confirm it—but for now, he had to find another way.

Demon’s eyes glowed red as he left the office.