Episode 25

Due to her father’s gambling, Sonia’s family falls apart. To earn money, she starts working at Lunatia Mansion, the central residence of the grand duke’s estate.

However, within a few months of starting, Sonia is instructed to transfer to Pontus Mansion.

Frightened by the terrifying rumors of the monstrous grand duke, Sonia heads to Pontus Mansion.

But the monstrous grand duke isn’t as horrifying as she imagined.

Despite his face being covered with spots and pus, he was just an ordinary person wearing a mask, no different from anyone else.

Then, an event occurs that makes Apollion fall for Sonia.

While Apollion is training in the training yard, he doesn’t notice his mask’s strap loosening.

Eventually, due to his swift movements, the mask falls off, and Sonia, who happens to be passing by, witnesses this.

Contrary to Apollion’s expectation that Sonia would run away after seeing his face, she picks up the mask from the ground and hands it back to him.

Apollion feels an indescribable emotion due to her not avoiding contact with him.

And that emotion is called love.

“Ew.”

As soon as the thought reached that point, I couldn’t help but gag.

Summarizing it like this made my stomach churn.

It was fun reading it without knowing anything. But imagining Apollion blushing in front of Sonia made my brow furrow.

No matter how romantic the relationship is, watching a friend in love naturally makes one want to curse.

No matter the eternal love, the moment the protagonist becomes someone I know, it becomes unbearable.

Before possessing this body, these characters were merely fictional to me. But now, in this world, they were just ordinary people living under the same sky as me.

Moreover, the male lead, Apollion, was my husband. Imagining my husband’s first and last love made my stomach churn.

… First and last love.

Feeling a queasy sensation in my chest, I gulped down my black tea. The bitter taste of the tea slowly went down my throat.

A world-famous romance between my husband and another woman…

Crack.

Unable to withstand the momentary force, the flagpole broke helplessly.

Without hesitation, I threw the bent quill into the trash can.

“This is totally like a trashy drama, isn’t it?”

Thinking about it, it’s funny. He almost fainted when I acted a bit cute. So why does he act all shy in front of Sonia?

I remembered Apollion’s proclamation, forbidding anyone from touching his mask.

Yet, why is he so lenient with Sonia? Is it because she’s the female lead?

My gradually rising anger reached its peak and started to rage. It had been a while since I felt this kind of irritation.

“If seeing his real face without being shocked and picking up his mask means true love, huh?”

I barely resisted the urge to grab Apollion by the collar and shake him.

In truth, there was one fact that Apollion in the original story didn’t know. Sonia wasn’t unaffected by seeing his real face. She was shocked but hid it well.

If it was that level of acting, I could do it too. After all, I had pretended to be the count’s daughter for two months.

If Apollion fell for Sonia’s unreserved contact, he should have already spent the night with me five times.

What unreserved contact? I even leaned against his chest!

Moreover, didn’t he act all shy and unfamiliar with me on our first meeting?

How could such a conservative and shy person let a maid sleep in his bed before marriage?

Did they welcome the morning sunlight through the window together, exchanging honey-sweet glances and tucking her hair behind her ear?

“Whoo…”

I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

This was, after all, just the story in the original novel.

It was something that hadn’t happened yet, and since I was firmly by his side, it wouldn’t happen.

Yes. Being a romance novel, the fated attraction between the protagonists was an essential element. Of course, it was.

Besides, when Sonia handed Apollion the mask, a warm spring breeze blew, scattering cherry blossoms.

Didn’t they say first impressions are everything?

In a season where love blooms, spring, the combination of a beauty and cherry blossoms made it inevitable for him to fall for her.

It was definitely the atmosphere, the air, the temperature, and the humidity.

As I imagined the iconic scene from the original novel, I naturally recalled my first meeting with Apollion.

The memory of our sharp forehead kiss and the first night that was like a war…

No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t a romantic encounter.

It was an arranged marriage, and didn’t I practically pounce on him like capturing prey? It might have been intense, but it couldn’t be called a beautiful meeting by any means.

“I acted too hastily…”

I quickly returned my straying thoughts to their proper place. How did I end up thinking about all this, anyway?

I gathered my tangled thoughts and organized the clutter in my mind. Then, I began to prepare a plan to break Apollion’s curse, or more precisely, to unbutton his collar.

＊＊＊

I don’t know much about the story before the original novel begins.

All I know is that Apollion was cursed by his stepmother, and his biological parents died early. Because of this, he developed a very reclusive personality. That was the rough information about the male protagonist Apollion.

Other than the growth backgrounds of the two main characters, the only useful information was about the world of the Ignite Empire, which is the main stage of this novel.

Such as wizards being rare in the country, the Quinton Duke family being a branch from the imperial family, and the bad relationship between the Theabrite Grand Duke family and the Quinton Duke family.

These were all minor foreshadowings necessary for the story’s development.

In the original story, Sonode started clashing with Apollion in earnest only after the story began, but the situation has changed now.

I married Apollion instead of Sonode, making the original story unpredictable.

Moreover, Sonode was very displeased at the moment.

I wanted to argue about why he had the right to be displeased, but given his personality, it wasn’t surprising.

He wasn’t the kind of guy who would back down easily. He might even pick a fight with Apollion right away.

In the original story, Apollion could defeat Sonode not only because of his innate skills but also because the curse was lifted.

Sonode always used the curse to disturb Apollion’s mind. Although Apollion had gotten used to the pain, it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt when he was hit.

But after falling in love with Sonia and breaking the curse, Apollion no longer wavered at Sonode’s words.

Thanks to that, he easily dealt with Sonode, and the two of them lived happily ever after.

But what if Sonode caused trouble in this situation?

Apollion was in a mess right now.

Leaving aside the trauma from the curse, he was inherently timid and reclusive. He was much more immature than in the original story and wouldn’t be able to handle Sonode.

So there were two options.

Either break the curse quickly before Sonode causes trouble, or send Sonode to God’s side so he couldn’t cause trouble at all.

Considering the future events, the latter was better, but I had no reason to kill Sonode right now. He had no clear evidence against him, only shady rumors.

Even if I found evidence, his crimes were minor, and as the heir of a duke’s family, he would get off with a light punishment.

I didn’t have the great strength to beat Sonode either.

So, only one method remained…

“How do I break the curse?”

The thought of taking him to bed gave me a headache.

How? How on earth?

It would have been better if I hadn’t seen anything at all.

His firm chest visible through his shirt and the extraordinary figure I’d only read about in text… If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have felt this longing.

Just like a dog that, after tasting the finest food, would push away the cheap food with its paw… Knowing all the flavors, pretending otherwise was too… too regretful.

Even so, we’re a married couple, and I boldly stepped up to break his curse! Ending it without even kissing once is too much of a pity!

The dam of desire he broke was not just flowing; it was on the verge of overflowing.

They say you can’t pick up spilled water or rice, and that’s exactly how I felt right now.

Sealing the millennial desire that had been unsealed was too difficult for me.

The most annoying thing was finding myself thinking that the overly cautious, near-impenetrable Apollion was cute.

His earnest responses to my trivial questions were frustrating, yet quite adorable.

Why were his reddened ears and nape so cute?

Seeing his fluttering eyelashes and his massive frame awkwardly hunched over made me want to tease him endlessly.

“I must have awakened a new taste…”

I rubbed my eyelids with my hand.

In my life before this possession, I’d never dated someone younger. I didn’t have much dating experience, but I preferred reliable men who I could lean on, so I usually dated older men.

Of course, there were more than a few times when I almost fell backward while relying on them. Naturally, my expectations for younger men faded away.

But Apollion…

“He’s so cute…”

I slammed my fist on the desk. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I had to.

“I like cute guys, don’t I?”

Cute yet sexy men. Sexy yet reserved men.

The paper I was writing the original story’s events on was now filled with unrecognizable scribbles.

I had been organizing the major events of the original story. But thinking about dealing with Sonode and breaking the curse at the same time led my thoughts here.

At the edge of the paper, there were the shaky words “cute…” written, clearly by my trembling hand.

The condition to break the curse didn’t only include physical love. The curse could only be lifted when both mental and physical love were fulfilled.

And it wouldn’t just disappear with a pop. The deeper the love grew, the more the curse would gradually fade away.

For that, Apollion had to love me a bit first.

“Why does this suddenly feel so pathetic?”

Who knew asking for some love could sound so sad? I felt like a beggar on the streets pleading with Apollion for a bit of love.

The most important thing seemed to be forming a mental connection with him first.

Once the emotion called love sprouted, physical love would naturally follow.

Tl/N: Locked chapters posted