Chapter 9

That night, Dia developed a high fever. Her ankle, which was bruised, felt as if it were on fire. In her hazy consciousness, memories of Arnold's past began to flow through her mind, fragmented and disjointed, like an old film being forced to play.

Arnold's mother was a princess from a pagan country that remained in the southern region. Though the alliance was nominal, she was married to the current king as a hostage and hated everything about this country. When Arnold was twelve, she said, "I will give you the power to destroy this country," and then passed away due to illness.

After that, only Arnold could see the monsters. They would appear whenever he was alone, asking him, "What do you want?" every time.

"Nothing," Arnold always replied. Having grown up in this environment, he did not hate this country like his mother did, nor did he wish to destroy it.

A turning point came when he turned fourteen, at a duke's birthday party he attended with the other princes. As usual, he had been left behind after being beaten by his brother, when he met a girl.

The moment he saw her, Arnold somehow felt that she was like him. Perhaps it was because her eyes were as cloudy as his own reflection in the mirror. When he heard her say, "My brother kept me locked up so I couldn't go outside," he felt even more connected to her.

Before he knew it, he had invited her, "Do you want to read a book together?" It was the first time Arnold had ever invited someone, but the girl nodded. They talked a lot, and it was the first time he had ever had such a normal conversation with someone.

He wasn't treated poorly because he was a prince or because he was the son of a pagan princess. Just being able to talk normally made Arnold happy.

That's why he wanted her.

That night, the monster appeared again and asked, "What do you want?" Arnold replied,

"I want the girl with silver hair I met today."

The monster said, "We have a deal," and smiled thinly before merging into Arnold's shadow.

The scene in Dia's vision changed.

Arnold had become the golden-haired, blue-eyed prince that Dia knew from the past. Using the monster's power, he had made the engagement with Dia official and was very happy. Determined to win Dia's affection, he worked hard to become a popular prince.

When he met Dia again after a year, Arnold was so nervous he could hardly breathe. She had become so beautiful. He couldn't look into her eyes or even talk to her properly. His hands shook, and he couldn't even escort her properly. It was embarrassing. He couldn't do with Dia what he could easily do with other women.

Dia said nothing to Arnold, who was in such a state.

Even when Arnold was friendly with other women in front of Dia, she just stood a little away, silent.

At first, he had been friendly with other women to show Dia that he was a beloved prince, but eventually, he became angry with Dia's indifference.

He wanted her to care. He wanted to have fun conversations with her like before. However, Arnold had never been loved, so he didn't know how to love.

As time passed, the wedding day arrived, and the tragedy began.

The scene in Dia's vision changed again. Unlike before, the image was very clear. It appeared to be a room in the castle, and the red-haired Arnold was sitting on the bed alone.

Compared to a commoner's room, it was luxurious, but it was a shabby room for a prince of a country. Arnold was holding the green book he had with him when he met Dia earlier.

(Could this be... the current Arnold?)

A monster appeared from the corner of the room.

—What do you want?

(No, Arnold, don't answer!)

Dia wished desperately, but her voice didn't reach Arnold. The monster asked again when Arnold didn't respond.

—What do you want?

Arnold lay down on the bed, still holding the book. It seemed as if he couldn't hear the monster's voice at all. He sighed deeply.

"Dia..."

He clutched the green book tightly.

"...I could almost see it, but I couldn't."

As he murmured this, Arnold's face turned red, and he sighed again. The monster, completely ignored, said, "I'll ask again later," and quietly disappeared into the corner of the room.

(The power of my panties... is amazing.)

At that moment, Dia woke up.