‘Oh no. Now that Ariel is at the age of puberty, I have to be careful when it comes to sensitive topics.’

Although my major was early childhood education, I recalled the compulsory teaching classes I took.

‘I can’t remember the contents of the romance novel I enjoyed reading, but I can remember the introduction to education class that I crammed for.’

Teens are sensitive!

When they’re becoming individuals, they need time to focus on themselves. We have to support them so that they can build their self-esteem.

‘But on the other hand, I’m proud.’

The twins will gradually learn how to fly and will soon leave the nest. When I enter the Academy, they’ll grow beyond my reach. It’s such a shame that I can’t watch them until the end.

I looked at Ariel’s empty seat as I sipped my cooled black tea.

“My Lady, the Duke is looking for you.”

“Me?”

While I was in a daze, Dane came in with a knock. At the Duke’s call, I headed to his office after a long time.

Knock, knock, knock.

“I’ve brought the Lady.”

“Come in.”

Even after 10 years, the scenery had not changed. Even the Duke sitting at his desk while looking at documents was the same.

“Did you have lunch?”

“I had a simple meal. Sit down.”

“Yes.”

I’ve never been told to sit down. He has changed a lot. It’s kind of funny to feel the flow of time from his attitude rather than his appearance.

“I’m going to the Imperial Palace tomorrow.”

It was a sentence that was cut off for a purpose. It was neither a question nor an order. He probably wanted to ask, ‘I’m going to the Imperial Palace tomorrow, what are you going to do?’ I responded skillfully to the Duke’s way of speaking that I had become accustomed to.

“Can I go too?”

“As you wish.”

I was actually given permission to go. Since Ariel said she wanted to go with me should I ask him?

I slowly opened my eyes and measured the timing.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

The Duke put down the papers and asked. I thought it was the right timing and opened my mouth, but without realizing it, the wrong words came out.

“By the way, what’s the difference between a formal thank you?”

Oh, no. This isn’t it. I was curious, but I was planning to ask Dane a little later! If you keep thinking about ‘A’ but you want to ask ‘B’, following the flow of conversation with the other person without thinking about it you’ll say ‘A!’

“You reward them materially with gratitude.”

The Duke replied indifferently.

Material? If something is given, wouldn’t the pure meaning of gratitude fade?

As if reading my expression, the duke said afterward.

“Besides, if you say he saved your life then you should pay the price of your life.”

TL/N: He is referring to Sirius

The price of my life? The scale suddenly grew.

I didn’t know how to pay for my life, so I looked at the Duke with my mouth wide open.

“Close your mouth. Dust is coming in.”

“Oh, yes.”

I thought he was about to speak, so I kept my mouth shut with a serious look.

‘Why do I feel like I have to pay $120 million in cash?’

No. I was reminded of a cartoon from the past! I tried to erase my thoughts.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

“If it’ll be given to Prince Sirius, can I prepare it myself?”

The Duke’s eyebrows wriggled. Did I make a mistake? It was a subtle reaction. His eyebrows looked good, but the corners of his mouth seemed to be filled with curiosity.

“Well, yes, I will prepare what I will give His Majesty, and you will prepare what you will give the Prince.”

Does he have to give something to the Emperor? What did he do? I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t in a position to comment, so I just agreed.

“All right, and can Ariel go with me?”

“Then Erial will also come. Even if he says no, he will have to listen.”

No, I think he’ll listen. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything back and smiled awkwardly. I expected Erial to follow me if I went.

“Then I’ll be on my way out.”

The Duke just nodded without answering. I closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Ariel’s request was granted, so my mission was accomplished!

I walked into the room with light steps. I had already decided on a gift for Sirius, but I had to find it because I couldn’t remember where I left it.

“I’m glad I didn’t throw it away.”

As a hoarder, the habit of collecting and not throwing away a single piece of junk shines through here! As soon as I entered my room, I looked through the desk drawer first.

I’m sure I put it somewhere in the corner. Where is it?

I couldn’t find it even after searching for a long time, so I finally asked the maid in charge of cleaning my room.

“Oh, if that’s it, I put it here!”

The maid searched through the small jewelry box on the dressing table, took out what I was looking for, and handed it to me. It was amazing. I was looking there too and couldn’t find it.

It was like when I was annoyed that I couldn’t find something that was missing in my room, but when my mother looked for it she would hit me on the back saying, ‘Here it is!’ when she found it once.

“Thank you!”

I thanked her by handing her the chocolate I had saved secretly to eat. The maid who received the chocolate said it was no big deal, so she left with a big smile, asking me to call her again if necessary.

‘This will help Sirius’ curse.’

It was the spirit stone that I searched so desperately for. The stone, about the size of a five hundred-won coin, swayed as if it contained the blue sea.

‘The Spirit of Water.’

Spirit power was literally the power of spirits. To explain the difference between spirits and magic, magic is an energy that exists in nature and can be accumulated in the human body, and the higher the mana affinity, the more magic that can be built up in the body. Most wizards are people with high magical affinity.

On the other hand, elementalists should have a high affinity for nature. The higher the affinity with nature, the stronger the spirits that can be contracted, but since the elementalists use the power of the spirits by contract, they do not have spirit power.

In other words, the spirit power in the spirit stone is created by the spirit. The number of these stones is very small, so it is rarer than a magic stone.

This rare spirit stone was given to the Duke as a birthday present, but as I was looking at it with sparkling eyes, he gave it to me if I wanted to have it.

‘I saw waves like it was a real sea, so I looked at it curiously.’

Daisy’s eyes were also described as blue, resembling the sea. When I was young, I would sometimes imagine her face and take it out. Daisy, who had eyes to see spirits, was loved by spirits and was always surrounded by them.

Daisy’s eyes were also described as blue, resembling the sea. When I was young, I would sometimes imagine her face and pull out the stone. Daisy, who had eyes to see spirits, was loved by the spirits and was always surrounded by them.

​​‘Sirius’ curse was also told by Elisha, Daisy’s spirit friend.’

Sirius’ curse was uniquely contracted not by magic but by spirits. There was no specific explanation for what kind of curse it was and how it was given because Elisha just mentioned it in a passing conversation.

In general, when the target of the curse dies, the contract is nullified, but as a side effect of being cursed before birth, the wizard’s price had to be taken care of.

That’s why Sirius, who had no emotions and was indifferent to the world, showed interest in Daisy. Since it was a curse caused by a spirit, the curse weakened where many pure spirits gathered.

The mark of Sirius’ curse is black. I had no reaction because it was a color I was tired of seeing in Korea, but people in this world particularly hated black. I understood why people felt reluctant because it’s a color that couldn’t be seen by ordinary people.

Anyway, Sirius becomes drawn to Daisy and gradually learns about his feelings. There is also a scene where Sirius, who became close with Daisy, reluctantly kisses Daisy, saying that he doesn’t know what love is, but he thinks he’ll find out if he kisses her.

‘The comments exploded because it was a kiss with the second male lead. I don’t think he should’ve forced her! Grendwin only held hands with her!!! I also left a comment.’

The exclamation marks contained anger. If it were Grandwin, I would’ve put up with it. I laughed as I recalled the vague memories. If you think about it, the writer must have used Sirius to act as a catalyst for Helios’ feelings. Helios jealousy inducer!

Sirius’ black eyes turned pink. When he realized his feelings, the curse lifted and his eyes turned back to normal.

In fact, I’ve been investigating the curse since the nanny incident. In order to deal with Ariel’s curse if she ever caught it.

‘Because the only characters related to the curse were Ariel and Sirius.’

Curses were a kind of magic made by contracts, as explained by the Duke. However, there was a distinct difference from ordinary magic.

‘If you pay the price, even a person without mana can easily curse someone.’

The cost of the curse was fair. To make someone lose their voice you had to pay with your voice and to make someone lose their sight you had to pay with your sight. Because of this, Ariel placed a curse on Daisy’s soul, at the expense of her own soul.

Therefore, even ordinary people who do not have mana pay a price, establishing the curse. In Sirius’ case, he paid the price through a spirit, and as a result, the curse was created with spirit power, making it more difficult to do than a normal curse. Of course, that was because he didn’t know how to do it, and since I’ve read the original story, I know that Sirius becomes able to feel emotions.

‘Even if I know that, I can’t release you.’

It was Daisy’s job to do. The only thing I could do, as I had nothing to do with the spirit, was to present the spirit stone as a temporary measure.

‘The spirit that cast the curse was either corrupted or perished. Ugh, what the hell was the Empress thinking when she used a spirit to create the curse?’

If you think about it, the Empress was the worst. If Ariel and Eriel were the main villains who blocked the main characters and gave them trials, then the Empress was controlling them from behind!

It was the Empress who taught Ariel how to cast curses. Daisy, who is low in status, entices Ariel, who is blinded by jealousy, to put a curse on her.

‘She must have cursed the Queen in a similar way.’

In conclusion, it was the Empress who benefited the most from Ariel and Sirius’ deaths, who were a thorn in her eyes, and the destruction of the Ardentines, when Erial rebelled.