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Chapter 04
When I opened my eyes again, the sun was already leaning toward the west.
Mia, who had been staying by my side, firmly stopped me from getting up and made me eat food and medicine first.
She even scolded me strictly at my discomfort, saying,
“Teenagers and patients must eat!”
Because of that, by the time I stepped out of the room to meet Carlos, it was already evening.
Knock, knock.
When I opened the office door, I saw Carlos lazily lifting his head.
“Did I interrupt you?”
“Good that you know.”
A cold wind seemed to blow through the room.
Since he had given me a guest room, I thought he might have softened a little.
But if it were me, I also wouldn’t speak kindly to someone who had threatened my life.
“I’ll skip the unnecessary hospitality.”
Carlos removed his glasses and gestured with his chin for me to sit across from him.
“…You didn’t kick me out.”
“Unfortunately.”
He answered indifferently and lowered his gaze.
On the desk lay the dark‑red mineral I had given him.
Under bright light, it was clearly different from ordinary refined stones—vivid, deep, and disturbingly red.
If the refined stones distributed in the market were made by mixing my blood with rock,
then this mineral was pure condensed blood itself.
It had been my final safeguard, hidden even from the emperor in case the imperial family abandoned me someday.
And now I was showing it to the royal family’s greatest enemy.
A strange feeling rose in my chest.
Then Carlos’s voice came from above my head.
“Where did you get it?”
“Is the source important?”
“What matters is what you’re planning.”
“If you’re asking about plans… it seems you’ve already felt the effect in the past two days.”
Carlos’s brow narrowed.
It was true.
After two full days, his complexion had clearly improved.
His sharp and sensitive impression remained,
but the deep shadows under his eyes had noticeably faded.
I took a tense breath and spoke.
Calmly… just speak calmly.
I repeated the words I had practiced dozens of times on my way here.
“I heard you recently paid a huge price to buy up all the refined stones on the market again.”
“Are you asking because you don’t know the reason?”
“I’m asking because I know it well.”
Because it was all the emperor’s intention.
The imperial family released only a small amount of refined stones—just enough so magic users wouldn’t die—
forcing them to constantly struggle for more.
They competed among themselves, fought each other,
and never dared to rebel against the throne.
Among them, the House of Carter was the empire’s first target.
“The price of refined stones will keep rising, and the amount you can secure will keep shrinking.
Because the imperial family is making it that way.
Even if you pour out the Duke’s enormous wealth… how long can you last?”
I paused, then said quietly,
“In the end, you will have no choice but to submit to the emperor… or choose death.”
I already knew the result.
In the past, Carlos Carter chose death—
enduring a magical rampage until he died as neither man nor beast, rather than kneeling to the imperial family.
I still remembered how happy the emperor was when he heard that news.
Carlos, who had been listening with one hand on his temple, let out a short laugh.
“…I wondered what kind of absurd trick this was this time.”
He stood and slowly approached me.
His half‑lowered crimson eyes scanned me coldly.
“Have people praising you as the greatest villain in history made you lose your fear?
Or are you so bored with life that you want to gamble it with a toy like this refined stone?”
In an instant, he was right in front of me.
He grabbed my chin hard with one hand.
Pain tightened deep into the bone.
“Do you think killing you here would be a big deal?”
He smirked.
“This is the Grand Duke’s territory.
Even imperial troops cannot interfere here.”
There was not a trace of hesitation in his murderous voice.
The same killing intent from two days ago suffocated me.
“I could tear you apart right now and throw your body to the beasts outside.”
My mouth went dry.
I clenched my fists as my body trembled under the pressure.
Carlos was truly capable of doing exactly what he said.
No one knew that better than I did.
“How ridiculous.”
After staring at me closely, he clicked his tongue and released my chin.
A deep ache remained in my bones.
“Go back. You won’t need an escort.”
He was dismissing this as nothing more than a childish prank from a young princess.
But I did not move.
If I were going to give up so easily,
I would never have risked my life to come here.
“I’m the only one who knows.”
Carlos, who had been walking back to his desk, stopped and turned slightly.
I took a trembling breath and spoke clearly.
“Not the imperial family, not their aides—
not even His Majesty the Emperor knows this mineral exists.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I can give it to you.”
“….”
“As much as you want. All of it.”
For the first time, Carlos’s dry expression changed slightly.
I quickly continued.
“I told you. I came to make a deal.”
The Grand Duke’s territory—beyond imperial law.
That was exactly what I had aimed for.
“In return… you must become my guardian.”
Silence froze the office.
Carlos frowned as if he couldn’t understand at first,
then let out a hollow, mocking laugh.
“…Guardian? You’ve lost your mind.”
“I came here because I’m sane.”
Guardianship.
The only way for an underage noble girl to change her protector.
A guardian had the duty to protect their ward,
and once the relationship was established,
even family members could not take the ward away without consent.
Usually it was used for engagements or family disasters.
For me, it was the best and only protection left.
“Just four years.
Only until I become an adult.”
If the Grand Duke’s extraterritorial authority combined with guardianship,
even the emperor would not be able to touch me.
And when I became an adult,
I planned to give Carlos all the refined stones I could make—
and then disappear.
That is… only if he accepts the red refined stone and my offer.
I grabbed my still‑unhealed left arm.
If one stone was not enough,
I was willing to give ten… twenty.
Just a few drops of blood.
Compared to the price of my life,
it was nothing.
* * *
Carlos Carter stared persistently at Princess Loreia Frieze.
She’s trembling.
The rumors he knew about the young imperial princess were simple:
A cruel little demon.
A violent villainess.
They said she had killed everything she disliked since the age of ten.
Her mere existence irritated him—
the half‑blood princess with red eyes unlike the emperor’s line,
and white hair like silver threads,
reminding him of the most painful loss of his life.
Watching her commit cruelty with a face resembling his painful past
felt like his insides were twisting.
So when she first stepped into his mansion,
he intended to kill her immediately and send only her head back to the palace.
But something was strange.
Despite her fierce reputation,
the princess before him was afraid.
She tried to hide it with boldness,
but her small round shoulders trembled slightly.
She’s thirteen… was it?
Brave for her age—
but nothing more.
She was small, young, and fragile.
It was hard to believe she had dared to come here.
And most of all—
Those eyes.
Each time he looked at the princess’s red eyes,
an indescribable strange feeling rose inside him.
He suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Mia earlier that day.
“She just fell asleep again… but…”
“Speak.”
“Her body has many wounds.
Like cuts from something sharp…”
“Sharp?”
“I’m not sure, but the bandaged left arm hasn’t healed yet.
Could something have happened to her?”
He had no interest in imperial secrets.
To him, the emperor’s favored half‑blood princess was only a nuisance choking his life.
It shouldn’t have bothered him at all.
“…Still, she’s only thirteen.”
“….”
“She’s the same age as the young lady.”
That should have been the end of it.
Annoying.
Why did Mia have to mention that child?
Carlos lowered his gaze to the red refined stone on the desk.
Even without the proposal,
this stone was undeniably special.
Just one piece had driven away his terrible insomnia
and calmed his magical rampage.
With the imperial family raising prices every day,
it was something he undeniably needed.
If the princess could truly provide this mineral continuously,
then whatever scheme she had—
it might be worth being deceived.
“…Before that.”
Just once.
“We’ll make the conditions clear.”
He decided to be deceived only one time.
