‘Raina nee chan…How could this happen to her?’

Second Princess, Erisia ‘Eris’ Levina Kizilalem, was still horrified about the fate of the Knight of Combat.

When Eris was just a little child, she was assigned a guard who at that time was still a Holy Knight, Raina Nockser, who was currently known as the hero, Knight of Combat.

Since she was a member of royal family, Eris was isolated from the others due to her status, but having Raina’s presence in her life was one of the few things she grew to love.

Raina was something akin to an elder sister Eris always desired to have.

While the First Princess was technically her older sister, the five princesses were born as quintuplets, so, they all were of exact the same age.

Strangely enough, while their appearance was similar to each other, none of them was alike, Eris was the third tallest among them, and their eye colors and hair colors were not the same either.

They might have been born to the same parents, but they were nothing alike, which was one of the reasons none of the princesses were particularly close to each other.

With their father perpetually busy with his tasks as the king, the princesses only had their mother to rely on, but five years after giving birth to them, she had passed away due to an unknown disease.

Now, all five of them were more like strangers than family.

Raina’s presence in her life was what made Eris look forward to each new day.

When she became a hero and was assigned to front lines, Raina repeatedly assured Eris that everything was going to be fine.

But turns out, the fate was rather cruel, with a cruel sense of irony.

Now Raina was crippled, her most prized possession, her right arm stolen; which rendered her unable to carry out her duties as a hero any longer.

Currently, Raina was still recovering in the temple, but from what Eris could tell, the biggest damage that was done to her was not physical but psychological.

It was rather understandable.

The one thing that allowed her to master countless weapons and the source of her magnificent skills had been snatched away just like that.

And now, all the bravado and confidence was gone, leaving only a weak sobbing woman. Eris sincerely hoped that Raina could regain her confidence, even if it is piece by piece.

Every day, Eris would disguise herself as a commoner and pay a visit to Raina, bringing along a basket full of food.

Before the tragedy occurred, Raina was quite the glutton, but now she would barely touch the food.

Eris was not sure how to heal the wound on Raina’s heart, the damage was truly devastating. Not willing to give up, Eris kept visiting her friend, despite how risky it was for a member of royal family to travel without an escort.

Eventually, Eris’s luck had run out.

As she was coming back from yet another visit to Raina, someone snuck from behind, covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming, put a bag over her head and forcefully teleported her away to a place that resembled a dungeon.

That’s when she knew she was now a prisoner to these kidnappers.

She never was scared as she was now.

* * *

‘My life, I hate you. With all my heart, I really do’

Runfar thought on the inside.

When he was being the Dark Lord, he could kill without thinking of the consequences, but when he was in his human persona, the Lord Runfar Sevilles, he could not afford to risk exposing himself.

If he killed the Second Princess right now, Leona would surely piece the two and two together, and without his curse to loop him back, he would be doomed.

Unlike the Curse of the Past, Curse of the Present makes the user very easy to deal with.

Off the top of his head, Runfar could think of at least a few ways someone could incapacitate him.

They could tie his legs to an anchor and let him sink to the bottom of the ocean. With the high water pressure, he would never be able to escape.

Or they could put him inside of an iron suit that would seal away his movements forever.

Along those lines, there were countless ways he could be stuck in one place, unable to ever make a change.

He could not afford to be incapacitated, not when he was this close to achieving his goals.

So, the only viable option was the one that disgusted him the most.

Playing the part of a hero.

‘What the hell am I doing?’

Runfar barely managed to hold himself back from cringing.

‘This is humiliating on so many levels’

* * *

When he arrived, Eris thought he was yet another assassin.

Wearing a half mask on the right side of his face, shoulder-length golden hair covered his head.

He wore a fashionable suit befitting a nobleman, but now covered from head to toe in crimson blood.

Strangely, he wore a glove only on his right hand. His sole left eye was full of valiant determination.

The two assassins that were guarding her were easily bested by him.

“My name is Runfar Sevilles. I have come save you, milady”

That was when she realized that this man was not an assassin, but a hero that had come to save her.

Not just any hero.

He was her hero.

Even though he was covered head to toe in blood, he couldn’t have looked more majestic or heroic in Eris’s eyes than he did now.

Eris’s chest felt hot and her heart kept beating so fast.

‘Is this what Calicia meant by falling in love at first sight?’