When Count Bellacian was questioned by the Emperor, the Duke of Cassil was terrified. He feared that Count Bellacian would expose him.

"That pathetic guy! How are you going to take responsibility for this!"

Richard was dumbfounded. It was Richard who proposed using Count Bellacian.

But as soon as he saw that Count Bellacian was being ignored by Ancia, he judged that he was not worth using, and insisted that they should keep their distance from him.

But the Duke of Cassil ignored Richard's words. Then things got to the worst point, he put all the blame on Richard.

"You have a slave's blood, but you're still so arrogant."

The eldest son Frank, unaware of the seriousness of the situation, simply laughed at the sight of Richard being scolded.

"I thought you were smart, but I'm disappointed."

The youngest Neon also laughed.

"I guess he's at the end of his wit now. Arnold, isn't it time to throw him away? When it comes to resourcefulness, Neon is second to none."

The Duchess, who didn't even treat Richard as a human being, tried to drive him away.

Richard clenched his teeth.

This was what he has been hearing for ever since he was born to the point that he felt no anger now. Rather, it was more important to shut Count Bellacian's mouth.

The Duke of Cassil mocked Tenstheon because he didn't even notice the spy he had planted in the Imperial Palace. His temperament was no different from Frank's. He was nervous for a moment when Ancia kicked many people out of the Palace, but when the Emperor did not pursue it further, he was relieved again.

But Richard knew. The Emperor was not ignorant. He was just turning into a blind eye. He also supported his son while feigning indifference.

Even after Blake married Ancia, Tenstheon maintained the position of a bystander.

But things were developing badly.

Count Bellacian was frivolous and he was angry with the Duke because Frank had been betrothed to someone other than his daughter. There was a risk that he would betray them.

Of course, it was bullshit and he could easily be suppressed with power, but this time it was unlikely that the Emperor would side with Duke Cassil.

Richard tried to silence Count Bellacian before the investigation began in earnest. But the security was tight. He was nervous because he couldn't find a way to get into the prison and failed to hire investigators.

In the end, Gilbert Bellacian was exiled to an island and he didn't say anything about the Duke of Cassil. It was rumored that he had completely gone crazy.

The Duke of Cassil was relieved, and the tension surrounding them disappeared. But Richard was rather anxious.

'Count Bellacian became crazy? So suddenly?'

The Duke of Cassil had no intentions of marrying Frank to Diana, regardless of whether or not Count Bellacian carried out his orders. He planned to use Count Bellacian as much as he could.

But Count Bellacian was more incompetent than they imagined.

He had never done well, yet, he urged the Duke to set an engagement date.

The Duke of Cassil's pride was second to none, and he was tongue tied at Gilbert's impudence. So was Richard.

He had observed the Count of Bellacian for three years, and safe to say, the Count was someone that could drive others insane, but he was not a man who would suddenly go crazy himself.

Of course, he was a man of pride, so he might've been shocked to the point of losing his mind when he was exiled, but somehow, it didn't feel right.

Richard went to the island in the West where Count Bellacian had been exiled.

The nameless island was notorious for being a place of exile for aristocrats.

Richard looked at the old mansion that was left open on the deserted island. In front of him, there were soldiers guarding with bored faces.

"Domiram."

Richard called the man behind him. Domiram quietly bowed his head and used a spell to put them to sleep.

The soldiers, who already seemed bored, fell asleep. Richard slipped into the mansion with the Black Mage, Domiram.

The interior of the mansion was much shabbier than it seemed from the outside, and it didn't seem to be managed well. But it was so big that he was greeted by a row of doors when he entered the hall.

But he was still able to find the room where Count Bellacian was.

"Ahhhhhhh! Save me!"

He heard the voice of Count Bellacian coming from a room.

"That madman is starting again."

"My ears are stinging."

The soldiers standing guard at the door were shuddering.

"The rumors that he's crazy must be true."

When Richard glanced at Domiram, Domiram quickly cast a sleep spell again. The soldiers soon fell asleep, and Richard slowly entered the room.

"Hot! Hot! Save me! Please save me!"

As soon as he opened the door, a scream rang out. He said it was hot, yet he had a blanket wrapped around him from head to toe.

Did the Emperor seriously torture him while investigating? But no matter how guilty he is, he's still the father of the Crown Princess. There's no way Emperor Tenstheon would do such a thing,...'

However, his condition was too serious to say that he had simply gone crazy from being exiled.

Richard pulled Gilbert's blanket, and Gilbert curled up in great fright.

"No! No! Curse! The curse's sentence! You have to erase it! Unless you get rid of the curse! No! Argh!"

He scratched his body as he screamed.

"The sentences are spreading! I have to erase them! I have to get rid of it! Hot! Let go of the curse! Come on! Gross! I'm going to become a monster! No! No!"

Count Bellacian bit his fingernails in his fit as he tried to erase the sentences of the curse which were gradually eroding his body. But Richard's expression hardened as he looked at his figure.

Count Bellacian said he had the sentences of the curse on his body, but his body was clean.

Rather, the expression 'clean' was not correct. His body was a mess because of the wounds from scratching himself all over. However, although there were a lot of cuts and blood covering his body, there was no sign of any sentences of the curse.

Instead, there was an ointment and a clean now bandage on the side table, while bloody bandages were scattered on the floor.

Even if his wounds were treated, he'd reopen the bandages and scratched his wounds open again before they could heal.

Aside from the wounds, his appearance had changed a lot too.

Count Bellacian was incompetent and brazen, but he had a pretty good appearance. But now his face was full of scratches and blood. His hair was so white that he looked like a gray-haired old man who was an inch away from death's door.

'It seems very serious. Does he believe he's cursed? He's gone crazy.'

Count Bellacian could never be under a curse because he didn't have the blood of the Imperial family

He was so arrogant. Did he think he was from the Royal family?

At that moment, the events from three years ago passed through Richard's mind.

When Richard went to the Crown Prince's Palace to seduce Ancia, he met the Crown Prince.

And the moment when he caught his hand, a faint sensation had penetrated Richard's body.

Richard thought Blake might have used his power, but he soon dismissed the thought. The curse couldn't be transferred. He was just a weak and worthless creature.

Richard had thought so. But when he saw Count Bellacian scratching his body like a madman, it reminded him of that time again.

He heard that Count Bellacian had invaded the Crown Prince's Palace before being questioned by the Emperor. If anything had happened to the Crown Prince there...Maybe the Crown Prince did that to Count Bellacian?

"Argh! No! No!"

As he was pondering over it deeply, Gilbert squirmed and reached for the quilt. He didn't want to see his body. Richard threw the quilt on his hand.

At that moment, Gilbert suddenly screamed at Richard and took his hand

"Release me! Release me now!"

Richard was irritated and tried to brush off his hands, but Gilbert was unexpectedly strong. Gilbert looked at Richard as if he was the enemy who made him this way.

"Release me! Release me!"

Then, Gilbert bent down and took Richard to the floor with him.

"Sir, are you all right?"

Domiram overpowered Gilbert with black magic and examined Richard's condition.

"I'm okay."

Richard roughly unfolded his crumpled sleeves and looked at Gilbert, who was sprawled on the floor.

"Is he dead?"

"He only passed out. Should I kill him?"

"No need."

He wouldn't live long anyway. There was no chance that he would return to his senses and make any useless remarks. There was no need to kill him and make a fuss.

"Let's go back."

He did not find out the reason why Count Bellacian went crazy. Whether he went crazy naturally, whether there was a special cause, or whether he was aware of the power of the Crown Prince, Richard did not know anything for certain.

But there was a 1% chance that the Crown Prince used his power, so he decided that he had to be careful.

As he turned and went out, a sudden chilling sensation covered his whole body.

[Don't go!]

The sudden voice of a woman surprised Richard and he looked back. He asked Domiram, "Did you hear a woman's voice just now?"

"Pardon?"

Domiram was confused.

'Was it a hallucination? I've been dealing with a madman, so I must've been influenced by it.'

Richard hurried along, ignoring the strange sensation.