‘Haha, a newlywed, you say!’

The horned half-demon laughed without pretense along with the laughter of the surrounding elders.

“I appreciate the warm welcome.”

I also bowed politely while scanning the nameplates of each elder.

● Horned Half-Demon, Elder Council Chair Setian

Starting with the horned half-demon who had concealed his horns.

● Hornless Half-Demon, Elder Council Member Hyul

● Hornless Half-Demon, Elder Council Member Bedasong

● Hornless Half-Demon, Elder Council Member Kiproth

● Hornless Half-Demon, Elder Council Member Pierre

Four elders were demons. Most likely placed here to assist Chair Setian.

‘These bastards are insane.’

In this world’s lore, there are only three horned half-demons in existence.

Eve is an exception, so setting her aside—one of those three is standing right before my eyes.

For a moment, revulsion surged violently within me.

But only for a moment.

Because my head was instantly flooded with waves of information.

Starting with Ezekiel’s request to support the “Cain Tree,” which had been opposed.

To the rapid deterioration of King Hiaka III’s health in recent years.

To how they supported Rebecca becoming a priest (since it blocked her from joining the Hero Party as a mage)...

...yet opposed her advancing to bishop (because high-ranking clergy can pierce through a demon’s disguise), and so on.

“I’m afraid I must object to this engagement.”

While we were exchanging opinions on the engagement, Ezekiel swept aside his long hair and began to speak in his dignified old-fashioned tone.

He and I had planned this in advance.

“What are you saying, Ezekiel?”

“Exactly as I said. Nothing burdens the young more than a forced union. I hear that even among the capital's nobility, arranged marriages are becoming rare. Let them meet first. Then let the rest be up to them.”

Good.

Very good.

My true goal is to extract Rebecca from the Church.

And if I can do that without this engagement? Even better.

“But still...”

“Some relationships deepen only after a formal union...”

“There are bonds that begin as contracts, at times...”

As the elders and Ezekiel chatted on, I turned my gaze to the horned half-demon.

He was staring at me with disturbingly clear eyes.

Chk—

He raised his hand and cut off the elder’s words.

“What about you, Professor? What do you think of our princess?”

What a ridiculous question.

This is the royal court. In front of the royal elders. No lunatic would say the princess isn’t worth it.

“She is a beautiful and splendid person.”

“Do you wish to be engaged?”

“It would be the greatest fortune of my life.”

One beat. Then—

“...However, I believe it would be unforgivable for me to bring even the smallest misfortune upon Her Highness, out of selfish desire.”

The elder narrowed his eyes.

“Her Highness will be happy. I’ve watched over her like a granddaughter since she was little, but never once have I seen a man so devoted to her as you.”

“......”

“I agree with you. Your selfishness must not bring her unhappiness. Which is why I believe you should be joined...”

He paused.

“...through a 『Contract of Life♥』.”

Shit.

That sly bastard.

“Oh! How wonderful. I like it.”

“Yes, truly wonderful.”

The elders began banging the drum and playing along.

The horned half-demon knew. He knew full well that my phrasing had been a gentle rejection. And now he was flipping that to slap a massive shackle on me.

The 『Contract of Life♥』 is the strongest of engagement-type stigma contracts, one that prohibits separation. It guarantees even the reproduction of future descendants.

‘I don’t even want to imagine it.’

They’re not just stopping at engagement. They’re telling me to marry and bear children.

“Come now. That’s excessive.”

Ezekiel cut in.

“What’s so excessive about it?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? A relationship between professor and student is entirely different from romance. What if they don’t get along when they meet? That’d be a disaster!”

Our Department of Magic Chair was holding the line like a battalion of °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° heavenly generals, but—

“What would you know? You ran off from the palace at a young age and hardly spent any time with the princess.”

“You rejected royal marriages in your youth—now you’re trying to block others’ too?”

“That stubbornness is exactly why you’re still single at your age. People need to learn how to adapt.”

The elders began bombarding him with their nagging.

Yes. Exactly.

Archmage Ezekiel. 88 years old. Male. Unmarried......!!

“Professor.”

At the end of it all, the horned half-demon smiled.

“Let’s seal it. The 『Contract of Life♥』. If you truly respect the royal family and Her Highness.”

This was bad.

It was getting harder and harder to reject.

Truth be told—

As a commoner, I didn’t have a solid justification to refuse marriage into royalty.

“How many times must I say no?!”

“You, keep your mouth shut!”

As Ezekiel the Royal Rebel and the elder both raised their voices—

“Who dares raise their voice in my house―!!”

A thunderous roar erupted from beyond the curtains.

In that instant, every elder, Ezekiel, and all the attendants stood up, dropped to the floor, and bowed low.

I followed suit, catching on quickly.

And then the curtain parted—and a man entered with a group of knights.

● King Hiaka III Hiakium von Hiaka

“Professor, raise your head.”

When I looked up, pink eyes met mine. An intense gaze. Eyes like a tiger. The masculine aura radiating from him overflowed, unfitting for his age.

“I heard my daughter’s marriage was being discussed in depth, so I came personally.”

Once everyone was seated again, the king asked for a summary of what had transpired so far, then twisted his lips.

“Will you be engaged, Professor?”

That tone carried pressure. As if to say, Of course you will.

But...

There was a hidden truth here.

Hiaka III is a blunt and direct man. He has no use for pomp and formality. And he likes when others are honest with him as well.

His only complaint is that his own overwhelming authority often prevents that.

That’s part of his official character profile.

“I don’t wish to.”

At my words, the elders’ eyes widened in shock.

“What??”

“He—he dares...!”

Even Ezekiel was startled and called out “Professor Dante” in a scolding tone, but I made a point of ignoring it.

“Your reason?”

“As someone who has observed Princess Rebecca for a long time in my role as professor, I believe she is far too remarkable a person to waste her life on something like an engagement. She is—”

At last, I reached my core point.

This was the only opportunity I’d ever get.

If anyone could flip this entire situation and let things unfold the way I wanted, it was this extreme results-based monarch.

“She is......”

I opened my mouth under the weight of all the stares pressing on me.

“...She must become a mage.”

In that moment, I didn’t miss the way the Elder Council Chair—the horned half-demon Setian—twisted his face like a demon.

“A mage?”

The king furrowed his brow.

A man raised his hand. It was the horned half-demon Setian.

“The Chair may speak.”

“That is utter nonsense, Your Majesty.”

“What is?”

“Princess Rebecca has no talent for magic. Your Majesty knows this as well, does he not?”

The king crossed his arms and fell into thought.

Then he turned to me.

“Professor, why do you believe this?”

I gave a rough explanation—half-truths laced with lies—about the magical talent I had seen in Rebecca and the basis for my belief.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Professor!”

The horned half-demon erupted.

“What kind of outrageous excuse is that to bring up at a marriage discussion?”

“My apologies, Chair. I did not come here for the sake of a marriage discussion. I came out of a sense of duty—I believe Princess Rebecca must be taken out of the Church.”

That’s what I said, but my eyes never left the king.

“Enough! If you keep reporting such absurdities to His Majesty in the royal court—”

“Chair.”

At the king’s word, the sputtering chair fell silent.

“...Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Let’s wait and see. Do you not know where you are? Do you not know this professor’s achievements? He doesn’t strike me as the sort of man who would spout nonsense to my face.”

The two were old friends.

The absolute monarch Hiaka III—this was the one man with whom he exchanged opinions.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please listen. The princess had a relationship with a mage in her youth—”

He meant her foster father.

“—and we were aware of that background. So we tested her for magical aptitude, did we not? But she had no talent whatsoever.”

“That’s correct.”

“I remember that too.”

The elders added their voices.

“Professor Dante has become drunk on his own reputation.”

The arrows turned back toward me.

“Having achieved so much both inside and outside the kingdom, he now thinks he’s untouchable.”

“You believe the world moves according to your will? Don’t put too much stock in your narrow judgment.”

“And you claim to see talent that even Archmage Ezekiel missed? From the Department of Assassination, no less?”

As Ezekiel furrowed his brow, the elders all fell silent again—because the king’s gaze was now fixed clearly on me.

This is how it worked. Hiaka III didn’t need gestures or a raised voice to handle his elders. His authority was absolute.

“Professor. Are you certain?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I am.”

“You are telling me you plan to use royal marriage to extract Rebecca from the Church. Can you bear the consequences?”

A loaded question.

No matter how highly my achievements stacked, if I failed to deliver, there would be no avoiding punishment.

Even now—the horned half-demon glared at me like he wanted to tear me to pieces. And from that gaze, I caught one hint.

You...

You already knew.

That Rebecca was a mage.

“I am certain.”

The king dismissed the engagement discussion. His only order was:

“Bring Rebecca.”

No one objected. No one tried to convince him further. In this small kingdom, he was a god in human flesh.

***

By the time the engagement discussion ended, evening had fallen.

Since I had already discussed Rebecca’s magical talent with Ezekiel beforehand, he wasn’t surprised.

Still, I took Ezekiel with me to a remote corner of the royal palace. To the Palace of the Royal Scions. Even after the princess had left, Rebecca’s room had been maintained.

“This way.”

Guided by attendants, we made our way to Rebecca’s room.

“What do you think?”

I asked as we arrived.

Could it be...

Does the Stigma of Grim Reaper Ω linger here?

At my question, the archmage released his mana in all directions and narrowed his eyes.

“...You were right, sewer rat.”

Ezekiel curled the corner of his mouth.

“It’s powerful, but spread subtly. Mana that breaks down amplification and sustained thought. It’s here in the form of a curse. But what kind of curse is this...?”

As Ezekiel—who likely knew every curse in the world—tilted his head in confusion, I realized what it was from his description.

Insane.

It was Curse Number 92:

『Curse of Dismantling』

A curse in the 90s tier. It dismantles all forms of magical function: mana, spellcasting, supernatural abilities, bodily enhancements, illusion arts—any magical structure, undone at the root.

Only two beings in Hiaka could handle a curse like this—the Black Darkness Constellation⚉, or the horned half-demons.

The 90s-level curses were in the domain of [Constellations]. But there’s no way the Black Darkness Constellation⚉ had come here.

Which meant—it could only have been Elder Council Chair Setian’s doing.

“Has Chair Setian known Rebecca for long?”

“What kind of question is that? They’ve been together since she was ten. That was when His Majesty still cherished her.”

“......”

“Setian is more than just an elder. He’s the cornerstone of royal connections. The only friend His Majesty shares drinks with.”

Chair Setian had sealed away Rebecca’s talent since she was a child.

And—though it was only a theory—I now had a strong guess as to where Rebecca had acquired Curse No.75, 『Soul Devouring Curse』—that powerful curse of hers.

“...Did you say Curse of Dismantling?”

Ezekiel’s expression turned grim.

“That curse affects all magical function and willpower. That’s what I’ve heard.”

“Yes. It has a significant impact on one’s personality.”

Mana is the manifestation of will.

And the 『Curse of Dismantling』 relentlessly erodes that will.

I had no interest in excusing Rebecca’s actions—but it was obvious that this curse had affected her personality.

It’s something often mentioned in neuroscience.

A person’s character is just a program influenced by hormonal homeostasis.

For example—

A kind father suffers frontal lobe damage in a car crash, then begins clubbing, drinking, using drugs, getting into fights, committing crimes, divorcing, and eventually taking his own life. Everyone’s heard a story like that.

That didn’t mean I wanted to whitewash Rebecca’s misdeeds.

Still.

“Let’s go. I don’t like this feeling.”

“Yeah.”

I opened the door first and stepped outside—

And immediately froze.

The horned half-demon Setian was standing in front of me.

His bulging, round eyes were fixed on me.

“What are you doing here?”

“I simply wanted to stop by. The room of someone who may become my future granddaughter-in-law.”

The demon’s pupils were misaligned.

I could feel the killing intent coming off him.

He wanted me dead so badly, he couldn’t even keep up the human act.

Because I had just undone what he’d spent over a decade suppressing.

“...Leave.”

I bowed my head and walked past him.

But I could still feel Setian’s gaze on my back. It didn’t lift until I was completely out of sight in the hallway.

“...Ah. Nanny.”

Then Ezekiel spotted an old woman down the hall and smiled brightly.

She looked well past ninety—wrinkled and stooped.

The moment she saw Ezekiel, she lit up.

“...Young master?”

“You’ve been well? Still holding strong. Has it been nearly half a century since I left the palace?”

“...It’s truly good to see you again. I’m so happy you’re still young and healthy.”

Nanny?

That’s right. Ezekiel might look like he’s in his 40s or 50s, but he’s close to 90. So his nanny had to be over 100.

Time passes so differently for ordinary folk and martial or magical beings.

Then the old woman, who had been smiling with tears in her eyes—turned her gaze to me.

“......”

And in that moment, the smile vanished from her lips.