Even though I had uttered those words, I flinched for a moment.

The words were too painful. However, I couldn’t pretend not to know even though I knew it was wrong. On the surface, Zachary seemed to respond well and express his own opinions, but.

Wanting to remain in the Serpentine family, which had inflicted terrible pain on him, was not normal.

‘If he had said he would stay and prepare to leave, I could understand. But the reason is strange.’

It was clear that he still hadn’t escaped the influence of the brainwashing spell.

“Leave this place while you still have some sense of self left.”

The current Zachary was twisted somewhere. I sighed as I looked at the new spell circle.

“Isn’t it terrible that this situation will keep repeating?”

“What’s wrong with it repeating?”

“What’s wrong, you ask…”

Look at this.

“Obviously, it’s painful for you.”

It felt like the conversation wasn’t progressing and kept going back to square one.

Moreover, I had felt a sense of discomfort in Zachary’s words for a while. It was ambiguous to pinpoint exactly what was strange. Just as I was about to grasp the identity of the discomfort, Zachary immediately retorted.

“I’m not in pain.”

“How can you say you’re not in pain when you look like this?”

I frowned as I looked at Zachary’s messy face.

“Don’t you think the spell needs to remain unbroken for me to stay here?”

“Why are you being like this? If the spell isn’t broken, of course…!”

I was about to raise my voice without realizing it, but I shut my mouth. Zachary waited for me to continue. In the silence, I stared at his face intently and tilted my head. Absurd thoughts kept coming to mind.

‘Why does he seem to dislike the idea of the spell being broken?’

Does that make sense? It’s strange.

“…That shouldn’t be the case. That’s why I’m telling you to leave now while you’re still sane, right?”

“No. Young Master, I can’t leave.”

If we keep repeating the same conversation, there’s no way it will progress.

For some reason, I also had a feeling that Zachary was intentionally guiding this flow.

Zachary was obsessed with the spell cast on him. However, he himself didn’t seem to be aware of that fact. That’s why his words didn’t make sense.

“Enough.”

I hear a ringing in my ears. Could it be due to the excessive stress I was under? My head, which had become complicated because of Zachary, kept aching, and I felt nauseous.

“No matter what you say, I’m going to send you out.”

I keep getting swept away by Zachary. Even though we don’t have time to waste like this, I feel like I’m being constantly pushed in the direction Zachary wants. With the determination that I should stop arguing and focus on sending him out, I pushed away the body that was pressed against me.

“Move.”

“…”

“Didn’t you hear me say mo-“

Plop, drip.

At that moment, Zachary started to shed tears while looking at me. I froze, forgetting what I was about to say. The image of him crying before came to mind.

Back then, he had just shed tears with his eyes wide open, consumed by brainwashing, but now it was different. Now, he clutched his head while not hiding his painful and distressed expression.

“Why do you keep telling me to leave?”

His way of speaking… changed.

The moment I saw Zachary speaking to me with tear-filled eyes, I was reminded of the first time I saw him. That small body clinging to me.

Zachary, who says he will never lose his absolute self to the brainwashing spell, yet speaks as if he needs to be under the spell.

Zachary, who says he won’t leave even though he knows it’s a dangerous situation, and even looks at me as if he’s disappointed.

“Young Master, Young Master…”

Zachary grips my hand. The interlocked hand trembles.

While I felt sorry for Zachary’s appearance, I also had an eerie feeling. It was as if each of his finger joints were moving like a machine following inputted commands, making me want to pull my hand away.

“I, who lived as a fool here, have no skills to survive outside. What do you think I know how to do? I don’t know anything except what I learned while serving you. All I’ve done my whole life is fetch water, brush your hair, guide you through the mansion, and bring you medicine…”

However, I couldn’t become so heartless as to shake off his trembling hand. When I couldn’t push him away, he gripped tighter and stared at me.

“Even if you let me go and tell me to run away, I can’t do anything. I’ll eventually come back. I will assist you with washing your face, brush your hair, stand in front and guide you, and bring you the medicine you need.”

He looked desperate.

I had never once imagined Zachary throwing a tantrum. Although there was a time when he was a fragile young child in my memory, Zachary was still the protagonist of the novel. As a being who could lead the world to destruction, I had felt he was endlessly strong.

But now, he looked like a child clinging and pleading not to be abandoned.

“Please don’t cast me away in my pitiful state.”

His confident attitude from earlier was gone, and now he was begging me, showing a weak and miserable appearance. As if he would die if I abandoned him.

His face, calling out to me, seemed to be moving with only half of his own will.

One eye looked endlessly sorrowful like a young child, while the other was as cold as if not a single tear would flow. With a face that evoked a strange feeling, Zachary spoke.

“Help me.”

He unclasps our hands and places his hand on top of the back of my hand. The overlapping hands were warm.

I couldn’t refuse Zachary, who was burrowing into my arms as if he was snuggling, with his face pale white. As I stroked his face with my trembling hand, Zachary rubs his injured face against my hand. Seeing him not letting go of my hand, I couldn’t tell him to leave anymore.

‘How can I… do this?’

Where did it go wrong? Was it when I tried to break Zachary’s brainwashing and go against the original work? Or was it when I… became Oscar?

While my mind turned blank, a large body completely enveloped me.

“I’m sorry.”

No answer came to mind. Only an apology escaped from my lips that had lost words. As my body trembled, Zachary hugged me even tighter.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

Even though he was already holding me, I hugged that large body that was trying to get even closer with all my strength. The only thing I could do for him was apologize.

“Young Master.”

Zachary’s voice returned. The low, neat voice that I was familiar with, where emotions didn’t easily show. His voice had returned, but the strength of his arms wrapped around me was still strong. He slowly stroked my back with his large hands, as if he would never let go again.

Zachary quickly found stability. He calmed down as if he had never trembled with anxiety and shed tears. In his embrace, I could only think of one thing.

‘Somehow…’

Zachary’s brainwashing spell.

‘I have to break it.’

It wasn’t completely broken yet.

It was my perfect mistake.

***

Oscar Serpentine made his appearance in high society after reaching his eighteenth birthday.

It was only natural for nobles from various families to knock on the Serpentine family’s door, drawn to his beautiful appearance that had finally unveiled its veil. Despite the years he had not shown himself, he readily sent kind replies to the pouring letters.

However, after briefly appearing at the Raven family’s banquet, he did not appear in high society again. It wasn’t a complete disappearance. He actively exchanged letters with those he had conversed with at that banquet.

Isn’t it strange that he doesn’t attend banquets or gatherings but diligently writes letters?

Some said that Oscar Serpentine’s face might have become ugly due to an illness. Others spread rumors, wondering what the reason could be for Oscar, who had never appeared before, to suddenly exchange letters with nobles, speculating that he might be aiming for the position of the crown prince. Perhaps conscious of these rumors, the kingdom sent the crown prince to high society more frequently to show the stability of the succession.

Erhan Serpentine, Oscar Serpentine’s stepbrother, often appeared at banquets unlike his younger brother, but he kept quiet about Oscar Serpentine.

The same went for their mother, Adelaide Serpentine. She engaged in active social activities as if nothing had happened and occasionally mentioned that Oscar was doing well, but she didn’t provide any detailed explanations.

However, the rumors only simmered for a while. Since he wasn’t showing himself, the endlessly exaggerated rumors were bound to die down eventually.

That is, until the subject of the rumors reappeared.

“…”

A man with his upper body fully exposed, casually brushing back his hair that slightly covered his neck with an indifferent face, stares blankly at his own face reflected in the window.

Beneath the tousled hair, his gaze moved from his hollow cheeks to his distinctly long and straight neck. His glass-like golden eyes, which had been staring intently outside where dawn was just beginning to break, rolled.

After intently looking at the black-haired man sleeping with his arm around his waist, he picked up the letter placed on the side table.

[Congratulations on becoming an adult.]

A fragrant scent emanates from the letter.

[Oscar.]

The straight back that had matured like an adult slowly rises.

Then, the sleeping black-haired man fumbles with his hand in the air and opens his eyes, staring straight at Oscar.

“It’s okay.”

Oscar immediately reaches out his hand upon seeing that face. The man’s exposed upper body was covered with numerous spell circles in shades of red, black, and gray.

Whether it was because of the spell circles or his build, the man had a threatening aura that made him feel like a huge beast. However, Oscar paid no mind and soothed the man, who was larger than him, as if dealing with a child.

While shielding the face that was staring at him intently with narrowed eyes from the sunlight, he blankly checked the calendar.

“Sleep more.”

A year had passed.

“It’s still dawn.”

For both Oscar and Zachary.