The burning mansion no longer registered in my eyes. Only Zachary was clearly visible.

It had been just over a year, yet it felt like an eternity since I’d last seen him.

Zachary, dressed in an elegant white uniform with neatly groomed hair, had more defined features than before. He had become a full-fledged man in that time. His slightly gaunt cheeks made him look sensitive, and his dark blue eyes shone with an icy brilliance.

An overwhelming presence that exuded intimidation. He was the very picture of a perfect prince of the Holy Empire.

‘The spell has been completely broken.’

The spell’s effect had worn off. The princess must have kept her promise and broken his brainwashing.

It was truly fortunate. And I too could happily welcome him now that the spell was broken.

There was a time when I thought it might be nice to live together with him forever in the Serpentine cage. But because I was wary of my own twisted desires, today’s Zachary could exist.

‘I’m so relieved.’

Contrary to all my worries, the Zachary before me was dazzling to anyone who saw him. I was so grateful and relieved.

He was completely different from the original work’s description of a murderous ghost with piercing eyes who indulged in massacres.

However, there was something puzzling.

‘Why is he still wearing that?’

I wondered why he still had the spell tool wrapped around his hand. Of course, I had sent along the dark blue bandage containing the spell to suppress his holy power at that time. I sent it thinking it might help in breaking the spell. But why on earth…

As I stared at his hand with lowered eyes, he gripped my chin hard again.

“Was it not a welcome, but a cold reception?”

It was difficult to gauge the intention behind his cold tone. Zachary leaned in close to my forcibly lifted face. Up close, his eyes flickered fiercely like the blue flames consuming the mansion.

“Why, are you disappointed because I’m not who you were expecting?”

…Expecting? Disappointed?

I couldn’t understand even half of what he was saying, but I clearly felt his unrefined anger. Though his actions were restrained, even that seemed like an effort to suppress rage that might explode at any moment.

My body trembled at the sight of those eyes filled with blazing anger. Was this person before me really Zachary? Zachary had never looked at me with such eyes before. Despite all the time we spent together, this was a look I’d never seen. Fear welled up inside me. My legs felt weak, as if I might collapse at any moment.

“Ha.”

He let out a hollow laugh at my terrified appearance. For a moment, hurt flashed in his eyes instead of anger. But I couldn’t examine it closely. Zachary didn’t give me a chance to look into him.

“…Ugh.”

He roughly removed the hand gripping my chin. The force made my frail body stagger greatly.

Click. At that moment, Zachary locked the door. I unconsciously stepped back at Zachary’s imposing presence as he approached. Having become a violent intruder, he slowly surveyed my bedroom.

“It’s brighter, so I can see better.”

Along with these incomprehensible words, his eyes grew colder as he looked around the bedroom. In that chilling atmosphere, I kept retreating backward hesitantly.

Zachary seemed to pay no attention to me, leisurely examining the room. That’s when it happened. Suddenly hearing screams from outside, I ran to the window with wide eyes.

‘This can’t be. The fire has spread even more…’

The scene I saw again was devastating. The mansion that had been peaceful and beautiful just this morning was now a hellscape. No matter how much water the servants poured, the flames wouldn’t subside.

“Who are you looking for?”

I jumped and shuddered in surprise. I hadn’t noticed when he had approached, but Zachary was right next to me. He too was looking out the window. I hadn’t even realized when he had gotten so close. He stared out for a while before turning his gaze to me.

“There’s nothing you’re looking for out there. Even if you find it, it’s useless.”

He smiled. In contrast to his beautiful smile, like a painting, his words were incredibly cruel.

“Because I’m going to kill them all.”

Only then was the nail driven into the coffin of my suspicions. The culprit who set fire to this mansion was none other than Zachary.

No, perhaps I had known all along. I just believed that the Zachary I knew would never burn down my newlywed home. However, the current Zachary was an entity surrounded by unknowns to me.

“Zachary, why on earth. Ugh!”

“Marriage?”

At that moment, he grabbed my neck and slammed my head against the window. I struggled in surprise, but it was a futile movement.

I couldn’t breathe properly due to the strong force choking my neck. At the same time, I realized I had inhaled a lot of smoke as my chest ached.

“I… freed you, why…?”

I couldn’t speak properly due to the suffocation.

I had done my best. Although I was foolish and hadn’t accomplished anything great.

I almost ruined everything when my heart wavered upon realizing I liked Zachary… But in the end, I succeeded in achieving my goal without faltering. As a result, didn’t Zachary escape earlier than in the original work?

“Oscar.”

My eyes widened.

He had never called my name before. But I had often imagined it in my mind. The day when he would call my name in a situation without any obstacles, once the spell was broken.

But in none of those imaginings was there a situation like this.

He was now expressing raw anger towards me.

“…I’m sorry. I’ll apologize again on behalf of our family. Even though I received such an order, it was my fault for being inadequate… I should have, cough, fr… freed you earlier…”

Once freed from the spell, he must have recalled with a clear mind the time he spent with me. It must have been terribly awful. He probably didn’t even want it, but was forced to be with me…

“Fuck, you say you freed me?”

As expected, Zachary cursed and sneered at me.

“You must mean you abandoned me.”

However, the reason was somewhat perplexing.

‘…Abandon?’

I had never done such a thing. How could I dare to abandon him? With what feelings I had sent him off until the very end.

But Zachary spoke more fiercely, as if unable to contain his anger.

“Was it so horrible just having me by your side? I told you so many times that I wouldn’t leave, but how could you…! I said I wouldn’t interfere with what you were doing, that I just wanted to stay by your side!”

I must have lost my mind from inhaling the smoke. I couldn’t come to my senses amidst Zachary’s outpouring of resentment.

“Why, now that you’re getting married, did you really want to get rid of me because I felt like a burden? Speak, Oscar. Say it straight from your own mouth!”

Why… Why is he doing this to me?

This wasn’t right. The words that should have poured from his mouth were accusations of why I had treated him, a prince, like a servant, and why I had done such a thing to him when the spell was imperfectly broken. But now he… As if we were still living together in the mansion. Like that moment when we shared affection…

‘As if I had betrayed him.’

It was nonsensical. I barely managed to speak while struggling in his grip that was crushing me.

“I didn’t, didn’t abandon you, you found your freedom. Besides, from what I can see, your brainwashing isn’t fully…”

“Brainwashing?”

“Ugh!”

Zachary grabbed my hair with a fierce hand. Though the strength quickly faded, tears welled up involuntarily more from inexplicable sorrow than pain. Now it really felt like he wasn’t the Zachary I knew.

“Do you still think I’m under a spell?”

Zachary spoke mockingly. The more I saw his strange behavior, the more my doubts grew.

‘Is it because I suddenly made him wear the restraint?’

Of course, when the brainwashing spell wasn’t fully broken, he might have felt betrayed by me for using the painful restraint. But ultimately, he had returned to the empire, safely awakened, and found his place. So while anger might be understandable, betrayal didn’t fit.

‘Can’t breathe…’

But I couldn’t say anything. Zachary’s gaze on me was so intense that I could barely breathe. At some point, holy power began to flicker over his shoulders. The sacred light seemed to turn into darkness, as if it would swallow me whole. Was it fear? My heart ached sharply.

“Oscar!!! Oscar! Where are you!!”

At that moment, I heard a voice urgently calling for me. There was no doubt. It was Erhan, who I had heard had returned to the mansion.

“Br, brother… Cough, cough!”

I wanted to let him know I was here, but my voice wouldn’t come out properly. Zachary spoke to me with gritted teeth.

“You always did this. While wanting to get rid of me as soon as possible, you always stuck close to that bastard. Even though you’re not even real brothers, not realizing how he looks at you.”

Zachary berated me. With words I could never have imagined.

“…What?”

Why is he suddenly bringing up Erhan? After the initial shock, I felt a bit wronged. It seemed like Zachary was just angry at me as a person. I felt truly hurt because everything I had done was for Zachary’s sake.

‘How many choices did I have as the second young master of the Serpentine family? Moreover, the Duke isn’t even my real father.’

Should I have left Zachary to become like in the original work? Or should I have forcibly kept him by my side?

But I didn’t do that.

‘I did everything I could.’

After sending Zachary away, I wasn’t in my right mind for a while either. To make matters worse, all communication with the Holy Empire was cut off, and I broke down countless times a day with a yearning heart.

But Zachary was resenting me for that. Not resentment for why I hadn’t freed him earlier, but rather anger at why I had abandoned him. Something had gone terribly wrong.

‘Perhaps the spell wasn’t fully broken.’

But could it be incompletely broken if he had awakened?

Maybe some major side effect had occurred due to friction between the spell and his holy power.

My mind was in chaos. He had certainly awakened. The blue inferno sweeping through the mansion was proof of such enormous power. However, with my breath rising to the top of my throat, even thinking became difficult.

“Za, Zachary. Zachary. Please, save me. I can’t breathe…”

Ridiculously, the one I reached out to for help was Zachary, who might kill me. Only after reaching out did I think he might not accept me. But I was wrong. He embraced me.

As soon as I was enveloped in his large, familiar arms, I felt relief. How absurd to find comfort in the arms of Zachary, who had set fire to the mansion.

Before I could even berate myself, the door burst open with a loud noise. I think I heard someone shouting at the same time.

But my consciousness, unable to hold on any longer, snapped.

Everything was darkness.