"I didn't think we'd get married. I didn't even dare to dream of it. You know, I've got the curse. I won't live that long, but until then, I want to protect you. This place will be a strong fence for you until you become an adult. You'll be free once I die."

Blake hoped that Ancia wouldn't be frustrated by their marriage, so he prepared what he would say to her and practiced hard.

But the reality was not as he thought. When he came back to his room after the wedding, he took off his mask, and Ancia came in.

When Ancia saw his face, she closed the door and ran out. Blake didn't get a chance to say what he had prepared beforehand.

That day, Ancia fell into the lake. He thought she was so shocked to see his face that she tried to kill herself.

Blake saved Ancia from drowning in the lake.

"If-if you truly hate me...! "

She didn't have to think of them as a couple. No, he couldn't even dream of that in the first place. He was cursed and didn't have very long to live. He only wanted to protect her until then.

The words that he had practiced so diligently every day refused to come out. Ancia lost consciousness while Blake panicked and cried.

He forgot that he was a monster. A soul cursed by the goddess. He was the most terrible being in the world.

'Right, there's no benefit in being next to me. What if Ancia dies because of me?'

Blake blamed himself. Ancia might want to divorce him as soon as she wakes up.

He really had an impossible dream. The servants all despised him. She must've hated it when she got married to him.

'What if she blames me for saving her? What if she says she's better off dead?'

He was afraid.

Then a few days later, Ancia came to his room.

"Don't-don't look!"

Blake hid under the blankets hurriedly in panic. If she saw his face again, Ancia would surely hate him. But Ancia took Blake's blanket away, and she even took off his mask.

Ancia looked at Blake's face as she said, "You're not hideous."

It was an unexpected remark. She also said that she fell by mistake and thanked him for saving her.

"I like you."

She said something that he thought he'd never hear again.

"Me too. I like you too."

Blake confessed his feelings shyly. He professed his true feelings, and not the false remarks that he had prepared in advance.

Ancia held Blake's hand as they fell asleep together.

Ever since Blake was cursed, he had always been plagued by nightmares every night.

He couldn't remember the contents very well. All he could recall was a hot flame and a woman's piercing scream.

When he opened his eyes, his body ached all over, and when he fell asleep, he had nightmares. There wasn't a single moment when he felt at peace.

But strangely, he didn't have any nightmares that night. He felt as if he was enveloped by a warm light. The next day too, he fell into a deep, comfortable sleep. Ever since he started sleeping with Ancia, his nightmares disappeared.

It wasn't just that. His pain had also reduced a fair bit.

Blake was happy. But it wasn't just because of that,

He was always with Ancia; when he read books, ate, slept and woke up.

Even after seeing the curses tainting Blake's face and body, she wasn't agitated at all. There was no sign of dislike on her face.

Blake had always been holed up in the dark, but when he met Ancia, light entered his world for the first time.

He enjoyed living every day. However, even in the midst of such happiness, his anxiety did not disappear.

Ancia lied to him sometimes.

"Ancia, are you leaving?"

She said she liked Blake, and he could feel that her words were sincere. But when asked if she was going to leave, she would hesitate.

"No, where would I go leaving my cute husband?"

Blake smiled broadly when she said that. However, he knew that it was a lie.

Blake was afraid.

She didn't have to like him, she could even despise him, but he still hoped that she wouldn't leave.

Blake asked her often to quell his fears. He begged her not to leave. Every time Ancia said she wouldn't leave, he knew she would.

She was always getting ready to leave Blake.

'Did she hate me?'

No. Ancia said she likes him. That wasn't a lie.

Besides, he could feel it even if she didn't say it.

The way Ancia looked at him, her expression, her way of speaking, her behavior, it was obvious. She wasn't faking it.

And he finally figured out why.

"Your curse will surely be lifted! The heir to the light can definitely lift your curse."

"Your Highness, if the heir to the light appears, you will marry her..."

Ancia was trying to leave his side to free him from his curse. Blake was relieved to hear that.

'It wasn't because she hates me.'

He was relieved yet angry at the same time.

"I told you. Ancia is my only wife."

"But to lift the curse..."

"I don't care about the curse if I can stay with Ancia."

The curse didn't have to be lifted. He wanted to be with Ancia. His time with Ancia was much more precious than his life.

He would rather die in Ancia's arms than break up with her.

Ancia tried to lift Blake's curse. Blake wanted it too. If the curse was lifted, he'd be able to stay with Ancia for a lifetime.

Ever since Ancia had been by his side, he hadn't had any nightmares, and the sentences of the curse didn't spread either. However, he didn't think that the curse would be lifted. He promised he wouldn't die, but he knew it would be difficult.

He felt strange. Though the cursed sentences did not spread, his body was often feverish and a woman's screams would echo in his ears.

On the day Diana was punished and Count Bellacian came to the Crown Prince's palace, a strange force exploded inside him. Blake poured out his inner strength into Count Bellacian.

Gilbert Bellacian ended up going mad.

He knew that there was a power of the curse inside him, but he didn't expect to pass the curse onto someone else.

Of course, the sentences of the curse didn't engrave themselves on Gilbert Bellacian's body, but it was as if he had been cursed mentally.

The curse of the goddess was getting strong enough to swallow Blake and his body was deteriorating gradually.

He still had many things to give to Ancia. He also wanted to do many things with her.

However, his body didn't cooperate, and even after many days passed, his fever continued to remain. One day, when was outside the palace, he fainted.

When Blake fainted, Ancia blamed herself and tried to leave him again.

Blake woke up in ten days. He felt that his end was finally coming. He wasn't sad because he expected it.

'I want to stay with Ancia until the end.'

That was his only thought at that time.

But Ancia said she was the heir of the light. She said she could lift the curse. To be honest, he didn't expect much.

He wished her words were true, but the power inside him was getting stronger.

'I hope Ancia isn't disappointed if the curse doesn't go away.'

A festival of light was held in the kingdom. However, Ancia didn't attend the festival yet again.

There were many people who invited her to the festival. There were even many men who asked her to go together with them. But Ancia declined all invitations.

Even when the famed homme fatale, Richard Cassil, visited Amoria Palace in person, she still refused him.

She said it was because of her trauma of getting lost in the square before, but Blake knew that she was actually saying it out of consideration for him. Blake felt sorry for her.

A royal ball was held on the last day of the festival, but Ancia didn't go. Blake worried that it was because of him again, but the fact that he could be with her made him smile.

He couldn't help it.

Blake and Ancia sat in the attic side by side, and watched the fireworks together. But even the fireworks he saw that day weren't as pretty as Ancia.

Blake plucked up his courage and kissed Ancia.

"Ancia, I love you."

It was unclear whether the curse would be lifted or not. But whatever happens, he really wanted to say this. He thought that he would leave no regrets.

"Me too. I'm happy I met you, Blake."

Ancia smiled as she met his gaze. Just her smile was enough to fill Blake's heart with joy.