Chapter 9
“W-wait a second.”
I hurriedly stepped in front of him, trying to confirm the contents of the letter in detail.
Whoosh.
Before I could react, the letter in his hand was consumed by pitch-black flames and turned to ash, disappearing without a trace.
‘Did he just destroy that with his own hands?’
That letter—the decisive piece of evidence that would later be used to sentence me to death?
The fact that the evidence leading to my execution had vanished from this world was, in truth, a relief.
But—
‘What on earth could be worth sleeping with royalty?’
Surely I wouldn’t have been executed for just a “Let’s sleep together” proposal.
And it wasn’t like I could suddenly ask, “Why did I make such a perverted suggestion in the original story? And why did you accept it?”
Given Octavia’s personality, she wouldn’t have approached this as a marriage scheme or a physical transaction.
And that rigid, principled admiral wouldn’t have accepted such conditions so easily either.
‘There must be something not shown in the original.’
In the end… was I supposed to sleep with this man possessed by a cursed power to find out? Maybe there was something special about him.
A hand suddenly grasping my chin cut off my tangled thoughts.
I was lying on top of him on the sofa.
“Are you regretting it now?”
He lifted my face as he spoke.
His voice was menacing, but his fingers on my chin were relaxed.
I grabbed his tie and pulled him closer, meeting his gaze.
“By the way, Admiral… can you even do this with someone you dislike?”
It was pure curiosity.
His loosened fingers slowly pressed against my cheek, and the corner of his lips curled faintly.
“A man can sleep with a woman he doesn’t like.”
Men were creatures who sometimes followed not the mind, but the lower instinct—like a control tower switching command.
He noticed my gaze drift downward and added as he released my chin:
“Don’t expect any emotional courtesy from me.”
I let go of his tie and stared into his cold eyes, then smiled faintly.
That was exactly what I wanted.
“I’m not interested in such luxurious emotions either.”
I had lived through worse than war, air raids, and chaos combined. I wasn’t fragile enough to suffer over someone else’s feelings.
“But honestly, nothing actually happened that night anyway.”
“Then—”
His lips, pressed into a straight line again, parted as a rough voice escaped.
“Do it once more, and we’ll see. What you want is a purely physical relationship.”
To him, I must have looked like a shameless woman refusing responsibility.
As if trying to intimidate me further, he tightened one arm around my waist and pulled me closer.
“I’m not particularly gentle.”
How amusing. How harsh could he possibly be?
I placed a hand lightly on his chest.
“As long as you don’t hit, torture, imprison, dismember, or use me for human experimentation, I’m fine.”
The strange atmosphere between our breaths drifted slightly apart.
“…Just what kind of life have you lived?”
As if sighing, his hand that had been drifting away suddenly grabbed the back of my neck.
His large hand nearly wrapped around my entire throat.
He leaned in, his lips almost touching mine.
“I won’t force responsibility or marriage on you right away. I have my own moral obligations, after all.”
His cold voice continued.
“I’ll accept your disgusting proposal of a relationship that only wants my body. Considering we’ve already spent a night together, it’s not so difficult. But you must keep your promise—give me what I want.”
What I promised…?
What exactly did Octavia even offer him?
A man who lacked nothing—what could he possibly want?
Since I needed his protection and usefulness for now, I decided not to refuse.
We could figure things out gradually.
Even if he planned to betray me later, I could just run away before that happened.
“Alright. So… can I use you however I want from now on? Within reasonable limits, of course.”
“How exactly would you use me? Petty jealousy games? Revenge schemes to climb the social ladder?”
So he even knew about my past with Prince Dominic.
“No, I’m not interested in the prince. Just… stay like this. Honestly, even holding hands would make me happy.”
“You want me to act as your lover?”
“That works too? Not a real relationship—just acting?”
I asked with sparkling eyes. He immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Just… be on my side. I don’t really have anyone who does that for me.”
“Is that really all you want?”
Did he expect me to demand the position of Director of the Ability Management Bureau or something?
“To be precise, I want a no-emotion, physical-only partnership where we both get what we want. Eventually, we could even marry for appearances according to your principles, and then break up later due to personality differences. That’s already generous enough, isn’t it?”
I laid out the terms cleanly.
He looked at me with open contempt, as if I were trash.
“Why did you choose me specifically?”
“You’re my type.”
As soon as I said it, he covered his mouth with one hand, frowning.
[Dislike increased +300]
Yeah, he really hated that.
Smiling brightly, I added,
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of ever liking you—even if I die.”
Because I might actually die.
A man who believed he must marry the woman he spent his first night with… and yet had allowed Octavia to be executed.
I added gently,
“I can sleep with men I don’t like either.”
…We had clearly reached an agreement, yet for some reason, his expression darkened further.
He exhaled sharply and leaned back.
A fleeting look of disgust lingered in his eyes like an afterimage.
“You must have plenty of men who already hate you.”
He seemed convinced I was some kind of pervert.
“If you want to sleep with other men, feel free.”
His voice remained cold.
“But don’t expect to die peacefully. Neither you nor them.”
So he only cared about that?
“I’ll be leaving now.”
He stood up, clearly irritated.
A man who didn’t mind the woman he disliked—but couldn’t tolerate her being with another man… I really didn’t understand his psychology.
*****
After the admiral left, I wandered the hallway outside my father’s office, calculating my remaining “dislike points.”
He had raised it quite a bit, but I couldn’t estimate how much meeting my father would deduct.
Thud.
“Ah!”
Lost in thought, I bumped my nose into a hard, broad chest.
A tall man with a muscular build that strained his shirt stood before me—like a handsome gang boss.
My first older brother, Samuel Ludovici.
He oversees the family’s main business: weapon manufacturing for ability users.
“How pathetic. So you’ve come back after all?”
Under light brown hair resembling our father’s, his cold violet eyes held no expectations.
[Affection increased +15]
He was actually secretly glad I returned.
“Running out of money again, I suppose.”
My second brother, Vittore Ludovici, chimed in from behind.
He managed the biomedical engineering division, looking like a mad scientist version of our father.
With long hair and a monocle, both brothers resembled our father—tall, handsome, and stern. I alone inherited our mother’s sun-like platinum hair.
“You even tried to involve royalty to gain a prince’s favor. You must have come to clean up your mess.”
[Affection increased +15]
Unaware that the admiral had actually come to take responsibility, my second brother mentally drew heart shapes while worrying over me.
In truth, our father and brothers didn’t hate Octavia.
In the original story, they died trying to save her.
“Dad and my brothers died because of me? They… hated me, didn’t they?”
From another perspective, Octavia had been the only one who truly suffered.
Rejected by the male lead, abandoned by her allies, and only realizing her family’s love too late—when it was already irreversible.
‘I’m weak to family stories like this.’
Despite everything, I kept my composure.
“So what? You’re grown men still collecting toy cars and private jets. Anyone would think you were motivational speakers who rose from poverty.”
I mentally formed hearts while saying it.
But that was that—I needed to fix the dislike issue before any tearful reconciliation.
I left quickly after throwing my harsh words.
Even if I spoke cruelly, I knew my family loved me… and that alone might kill me.
[Dislike increased +1]
Compared to affection gains, even the tiny dislike increase felt dramatic.
“Miss.”
As I tried to leave, the butler Rotair approached, adjusting his glasses.
“The chairman has agreed to provide financial support.”
“Oh.”
“However, the conditions are improved relations with the Holy Assembly and royal diplomacy. Given your recent scandals, this is meant to help stabilize matters. Financial support only—you must handle the rest yourself.”
That cold, cocoa-like butler had worked hard for me.
My father must have heard about my miserable situation at my uncle’s estate.
In most novels, relationships with family only improve after proving extraordinary abilities.
I thought I’d at least need to build a self-destruct drone or something.
But it seemed a simple apology was enough.
‘So family really is unconditional affection, huh.’
Even if I had become emotionally numb, I still had something left.
Family love.
‘Seriously, they just can’t express it.’
And I, who can no longer express anything properly, was bound by a curse—I could not reveal that gaining affection meant death.
‘Even if I live hated forever, as long as I avoid the original crimes, they won’t die.’
In a world where I had no allies, weren’t they my most reliable ones?
Even if fragile, I didn’t want that bond to break.
As I shook off rising memories of my past life, I forced myself forward.
If I just avoided getting involved with the protagonists and used the admiral to manage my “dislike points,” I could live quietly.
But that optimism was short-lived.
“Prince Jeriel has recently shown early signs of Shadow Possession Syndrome. Since many already suspect you, you should be careful not to draw attention.”
The moment I heard Rotair’s report, my face went pale.
‘Why?’
In the original story, this was the first crime attributed to Octavia—the onset of the syndrome that killed Prince Jeriel, son of the crown princess.
And I hadn’t done anything at all.
