Arihn’s consciousness became hazy.

A menacing voice seeped from Viola’s lips.

Viola’s eyes tinged with a shade of red.

“Are you aiming a knife at me?”

Viola slapped Tundra’s cheek.

Thud!

The weakly fallen Tundra’s cheek swelled bright red.

Viola firmly pressed down on Tundra.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

“You hybrid dog.”

Then Viola knelt on Tundra’s back.

While pressing Tundra down from behind, she shoved a dagger into his mouth.

“Hmm. I wonder what will happen if I exert some pressure to the side?”

Arihn’s consciousness screamed ‘This isn’t right!’ as it kicked and fought back.

Her body was out of control.

It felt like the real Viola had taken over her body.

‘I need to take it back.’

Somehow, she had to reverse the situation.

‘If I leave it like this…’

Something big was bound to happen.

And Arihn knew.

‘Tundra is capable of resisting if he wants to.’

Right now, standing still wasn’t because he couldn’t resist.

Tundra’s talents and Viola’s talents were evenly matched.

If both were assumed to have received no training.

Being so helpless did not seem fitting for the male lead.

‘He’s not resisting.’

Arihn read Tundra’s mind.

‘Though filled with vengeful fire to come this far… in the end, he just wants to give up.’

It seemed as if he thought it was over.

Arihn understood that feeling well.

She had felt it in middle school.

Her mother had died long ago, and wasn’t there.

Her father abandoned her after promising to return, and those around her whispered about how she had no parents, leaving her with little reason to live.

“I’ll be by your side.”

If it weren’t for Kang Han-jun.

Arihn might have jumped off the roof that day.

She could see Tundra’s psychological state clearly.

He probably sensed that his sister was dead.

So he would be afraid to move forward.

He would have seen his father’s corpse.

He wouldn’t have the courage to face his sister’s body.

‘So, he might think it’s better to just die here.’

Her heart ached.

Thinking of the thoughts swirling in that face and body made her feel like her heart was breaking.

‘Huh? He’s moving.’

Her body moved.

Consciousness returned.

She glanced back.

Zeno stood there with a very pleased expression.

Bichen looked a bit dazed, as if he had just arrived.

His lips jutted out.

Bichen spoke.

“I-I can do at least that much too.”

“Really?”

Zeno said with a grin.

“That was quite a clean job, Princess.”

Viola felt her heart choke up.

She hadn’t expected this.

‘Is it a side effect of possession?’

Anyway, it seemed she had to sort out the current situation.

“I liked this one.”

She tucked the dagger away securely.

Thank goodness she regained her senses before really stabbing him.

Viola pointed at Tundra.

“I’m going to make him my toy.”

*

Inside the carriage returning to the Duke’s Mansion.

Bichen boasted of his strength.

“I defeated seven terrible villains!”

He was spinning tales that weren’t all that beautiful.

Viola listened with one ear and let it flow out the other.

“But Viola.”

“What?”

“Is there anyone else besides me who applied the ointment?”

“No.”

“So I was the first?”

“Yes.”

Bichen’s eyes narrowed.

He let out colorful breaths while staring out the window. It felt strange.

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You know, Viola.”

Bichen didn’t hold back his true thoughts.

“Don’t apply the ointment to anyone else but me.”

“Why?”

“Uh, um.”

Bichen himself didn’t quite know his own heart.

He just didn’t like it.

“Isn’t it a dangerous poison?”

Wait, the ointment is dangerous poison?

…Since when?

“My heart races, and I feel like I’m floating. I laugh and tears come out. The side effects are severe.”

Ah.

I see.

“If it were a normal person instead of Bellatu, it would have been very dangerous, right?”

“A normal person?”

“Bellatu was born with a blessed body and mana. It’s dangerous for me; how dangerous would it be for ordinary people?”

Viola sighed.

“Why the sigh?”

“Just.”

Her feelings were complicated in many ways.

She was worried about Tundra, who was being loaded into the carriage like a sack, and felt sorry for Bichen, who genuinely perceived the ointment as poison.

“Bichen.”

“I’m still your brother!”

“Sure, Brother Bichen.”

At those words, Bichen blossomed into a bright smile.

“Yes! Why?”

“The ointment isn’t poison. So it’s not dangerous.”

“It’s dangerous.”

Bichen insisted stubbornly.

“You know it’s unreasonable, right?”

Bichen’s face turned red.

Talking with Viola made him understand.

Why he didn’t like it.

“I don’t want others to feel it.”

Bichen wanted to monopolize that feeling.

“If you apply the ointment to me, others will feel that way too.”

Normally, applying ointment wouldn’t make one feel that much.

Viola hesitated before speaking.

Just then, Bichen clapped his hands together.

“Oh! I just had a great idea.”

He giggled.

What if Viola applied the ointment to someone else?

“Then we just get rid of them.”

“What?”

“Then there would be only Bichen left in the world to whom Viola has applied the ointment.”

With that realization, Bichen’s heart lightened.

A smile crept onto his lips. It felt like a toothache had finally been relieved.

*

Viola returned to her room.

Zeno laid Tundra down on the ground, having carried him over his shoulder.

Tundra remained unconscious.

Tundra’s wrists and ankles were bound with restraining devices that contained movement and mana, linked by chains.

Seeing him look like a slave, hands and feet restrained and mouth gagged, pained her heart.

Viola quietly stared at Tundra.

‘No. He’s not my brother.’

But still.

He looked just like him.

Only the gaze was different; the pupils were the same.

Viola moved to sit at a distance.

She deliberately flicked her toes in a haughty manner.

Her reflection in the distant mirror caught her eye.

There was no villain like this villain.

She still didn’t know whether it was good or sad.

“What shall we do with this toy, Princess?”

Viola answered in her unique way.

“Let’s display him nicely.”

“Understood.”

As Zeno infused a bit of mana, the magical chains rattled open on their own.

Tundra’s limbs spread wide to the sides.

He looked like he was nailed to a cross.

Viola chuckled.

“Not bad. Then you can leave.”

“What should I do?”

“Well, since you’re the door, I suppose some discipline is required?”

“If you need anything, please call me any time, Princess.”

“Sure.”

For now, she sent Zeno outside.

Once Zeno was out, Viola tore at her hair.

‘Ugh, what should I do?’

How do I even discipline him?

I had brought him here to save him.

The sound of chains rattling echoed.

Ughh.

A faint groan could be heard.

Before long, Tundra began to come to his senses.

“Muh, muah (what, what’s going on)?”

Tundra, regaining his senses, was bewildered.

He couldn’t pronounce properly due to the gag that barred his mouth.

Viola simply sat in her chair and watched Tundra for a moment.

Tundra glared at Viola.

“Dasher puoredo (Get me out of this)!”

Drool dribbled from his mouth.

Even after that harsh treatment, Tundra’s spirit wasn’t broken.

He was bewildered when he first met Viola.

He had seen such a young girl alive in that life-or-death situation.

But now the situation had changed.

In Tundra’s mind, Viola was the perfect enemy.

A monster that had immediately stuffed a knife in his mouth and radiated killing intent.

“I will kill you!!”

That made Viola snap out of her thoughts.

‘Right. He’s not my brother.’

He always smiled in front of Arihn.

He had stood by her side like a sturdy tree.

He hadn’t acted like an untamed beast.

It was only the appearance that was the same.

She steeled her resolve.

‘Right. It’s only the shell that’s the same.’

She steeled herself again.

Clang! Clang!

Tundra continued to struggle, causing the restraints to rattle violently.

Tundra, shouting excitedly, seemed like he could tear Viola apart with just his gaze.

“Uaaaaaaaaah!!”

Hoo.

Viola took a deep breath.

‘It’s okay. Everything will be fine.’

She knew better than anyone what kind of character Tundra was.

“What’s your name?”

“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Get me out of here!”

Viola waited in silence for Tundra to calm down.

‘Tundra is a rational and smart character.’

Except he’s too young right now.

He hadn’t received proper training.

And having lost his whole family, he seemed to have lost his sanity in this kidnapping situation.

First, she had to help him regain his senses.

“You charged into the mountain den alone…

What was the outcome? You barely killed a couple and ended up with a terrible injury.”

Viola purposely dug into Tundra’s chest.

“Besides, in the end, you did nothing and just hid in a corner trembling. You didn’t even witness your sister’s death with your own eyes. Isn’t that right?”

“Uuooor!”

Tundra howled in despair.

“You must have wanted to give up. Cowardly. You might have thought dying would be easier. I did too. I was an orphan.”

In that instant.

Tundra’s body froze.

“My mother died, and my father abandoned me. I’m adopted now.”

When she entered the orphanage.

Kang Han-jun had said this to her.

“My name is Kang Han-jun.”

“My name is Viola Bellatu.”

At one point.

He also said this.

“You’re abandoned.”

He didn’t always comfort her with warm words.

He faced the reality with gentle eyes.

Looking back, that might have been better.

Hearing that her father would come back someday.

Hearing that it would be okay.

The adults’ lies filled little Arihn with vain hopes, which made her suffer even more.

The taller the tower of hope, the more it hurt when it fell.

“Your father and sister are dead.”

There was another thing Kang Han-jun had told Arihn when she thought her world was crumbling.

‘It won’t be okay.’

‘But I’ll be by your side.’

Those words meant a lot.

Those words acted like magic to help Arihn stand up again.

“It won’t be okay.”

Though her situation had changed, the essence remained the same.

“But I’ll be by your side.”

Viola said to Tundra the very words Kang Han-jun had once said to Arihn.