Rexid, who brushed off the sweat flowing under his chin with one of his hands, slightly turned his gaze to me.

It seemed like he’s gazing at the hand of the man who was holding the back of my neck…

Even though his glaring gaze crumpled unpleasantly, the man behind me was not at his right mind, so he was unable to grasp the situation.

“Gasp!”

Rexid did not warn twice. Suddenly, he reached out towards the man and grabbed his head, then raised him.

“Argh!”

The man, who was caught only from his head and dangling in the air, screamed in pain and struggled.

Even when I managed to get up, I couldn’t take my eyes off the sight.

As expected, they said his strength was unparalleled…

No matter how small the man’s figure was, it’s an adult man’s body.

If it was an ordinary person, it would not have been possible to lift an adult man’s body with one arm as if he were dealing with a light stuffed toy.

“Argh! Argh!”

He must’ve felt like his scalp was falling off.

The man in the hands of the angry Rexid looked extremely distressed.

To the point where I could feel sorry for him and forget how he had tried to seduce me.

Soon, Rexid grabbed the man’s hand, which was floundering in the air.

It was the right hand that was stroking the back of my neck.

“Your Grace, Excuse me…”

Somehow I thought I knew what Rexid was going to do, so I tried to stop him in a hurry, but it was late.

Crack.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Inside Rexid’s big hand, the man’s hand was gripped tightly, and the intact sound of bone cracking was heard.

Perhaps it was too painful for him to handle, the man was knocked out unconsciously from the shock.

Only after throwing away the man’s body like trash, did Rexid’s gaze return to me.

Gulp.

I was intensely anxious.

“I…”

Rexid reached out and pointed to the ring, which was still on my fingertips.

“… told you there was no way I would lose that.”

Wearing this ring, he meant that I could never run away from him.

I smiled awkwardly and nodded.

“Yes, I thought so, but just in case. As expected, is it a spell?”

“…yes.”

Rexid paused for a while and answered obediently unlike before.

“Obviously you won’t release it, right?

“Why are you asking if you know it.”

“But still thank you for coming here so fast. I almost had to go through all this trouble.”

As he shook off his dusty clothes and raised himself, Rexid asked.

“Are you running away again?”

“No, no. Actually, I thought it was hopeless when I ran away. Now that I know there’s a spell, I won’t do such a thing. Don’t worry.”

To reassure Rexid as much as possible, I said it with a sweet smile.

Nevertheless, Rexid furrowed his eyebrows and remained silent for a long time as he wasn’t please.

“Ha ha, why are you looking like that? Let’s go, now… ahhh!”

My Gosh…!

I said I wouldn’t run away, but Rexid didn’t seem to believe it. This time, he lifted me up like a luggage on his shoulder and began to take quick steps.

“Excuse me, I’ll walk there myself! I’m sorry that I ran away!”

“No, your feet won’t touch the ground until you get to my castle. I’d really like you to stay well-behaved until then.”

Rexid’s voice was trembling as if he was trying to hold back his anger, so I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.

I could clearly see the two men’s bodies sprawling like corpses, but even if it’s me, it was impossible for me to be stubborn in this situation.

I was eventually carried on Rexid’s shoulder like precious luggage. This was the second kidnapping.

* * *

Rexid van Hessen.

I discovered the fact that he’s a man ‘who does as he says’ as the rumors said.

My feet really didn’t touch the ground until I arrived at the Grand Duke’s mansion.

It took him about 15 minutes to walk back to the dressing room, put me in the carriage, and then drove back for about 20 minutes to the Grand Duke’s mansion.

In front of Rexid, who was holding me on his shoulder with care after knocking on the mansion’s door, stood a man who was making an absurd expression.

“… what is it?”

He who came out to the entrance to greet us was dressed neatly. The well-ironed white shirt and black vest were a typical pattern for a butler’s uniform.

“Why did you come so late, Your Grace?”

“This foal was at such an unruly level. I had a hard time kidnapping her.”

“Can you drop me off now, please? I’m having a hard time since the blood is inclined to my head.”

Only then did Rexid put me down next to him.

With my stiff head finally loosened, I searched for a new face, the butler. Rexid’s butler, who had a rather sharp glance, also seemed to be looking at me, and he soon smiled curiously and opened the door to the Grand Duke’s mansion.

“Welcome to the mansion of Grand Duke Hessen, Genius swindler Viper.”

* * *

Owen Schbach, the butler of the Grand Duke who introduced himself, led me straight to a room. There, Rexid and Owen sat side by side in front of me. Sitting with his legs crossed, Rexid didn’t take his eyes off me for a moment, fearing I would run away again. That gaze really stung, so I couldn’t bring myself to look his way.

“Contract.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Owen responded steadily to Rexid’s orders back and forth.

A three-page contract was pushed in front of me.

“First of all, it’s a real pleasure to meet you. You can just comfortably call me Owen.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’m the butler to His Grace Grand Duke Hessen, but besides that, I’m also in charge of the overall duties of the mansion.”

“Well, by any chance …”

Deep-looking eyes and thorough facial management. Recognizing that Owen is no ordinary butler, I asked questions that I was curious about.

“…was it you who thought of casting a spell on me?”

“That’s right. I’m sorry. I’m quite capable, but I’m not good enough to stop the unexpected tricks of Miss Viper.”

When Owen replied with a grin, I nodded, expecting that was the case.

The first basic virtue for perfect fraud. Hide the facial expressions thoroughly but see through others with a keen eye.

His spirit, which was unlike that of typical butlers, and his gaze, which seemed to hide his innermost thoughts, let me know that the idea of casting a spell wasn’t from the mighty Grand Duke but him.

“You won’t answer me if I ask you for the solution, will you?”

“Solution? If there was something like that, aren’t you the type who would go find it?”

Owen tilted his head and added with a smile.

“An ancient poison spell which is used to keep slaves from escaping. There’s no solution for it and one of the two must die for the connection to end.”

“Ah…”

“Oh! Then you can just kill Rexid van Hessen!”

Owen just realized something.

“… in case you might be thinking of that, this spell is the principle of letting the master’s blood flow through the slave’s body. The moment the master dies, master’s blood flowing through the slave’s body hardens. Then I don’t have to explain what happens to slaves, right?”

“… what did you say?”

“What?!”

I was shocked, but Rexid seemed even more shocked. He, who was blinking his eyes, stood up and grabbed Owen by the collar.

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

Seeing Rexid more worked up than me, I could roughly understand his personality.

‘It’s already enough with his brain being empty, and now he’s even mushy.’

A job to secretly cast a spell on me.

Of course, it was frustrating from my perspective, but Rexid and Owen had all rights to do that. Furthermore, I was on death row in Drax prison camp, and my disposal was entirely up to my lord, Rexid.

It means, if he decides to grill or boil me, I’m in a position to follow as he says.

First of all, I’m a criminal.

Nevertheless, Rexid seemed to want to respect the human rights of criminals.

I corrected the wrong part of Rexid’s rumors that I had known so far in my head.

He’s not a person who would start killing after seeing living human beings or a tyrant who runs havoc on the battlefield.

“Ha ha… calm down.”

“This bastard, Are you crazy? Is that for real? You didn’t tell me it was that kind of magic.”

Owen, who didn’t bat an eye despite being held threateningly, replied.

“If I had spoken about that, you would have told me not to cast such spell, and you would not have been able to hold on to Miss Viper, and your grand plan would have failed before it even began.”

“No, does a crazy guy like you even exist?”

“I always strive for the safety of the Grand Duke and the prosperity of his territory.”

Owen, with his grey eyes squinted and a smile, looked back at me.

“You’re a criminal, Miss Viper.”

“Yes, well…”

He’s right.

I came to know the truth that I was tied up for life with Rexid van Hessen without a choice, but I nodded gently because I had nothing to say.

Owen added with a slight smile.

“Did you know that Count Rzugier committed suicide after wasting all his fortune on Miss Viper?”

“….”

“Did you know that Baron Fellon and Baron Schutten, who failed to invest after trusting the words of Miss Viper, sold their title to pay off their debts and became commoners only to be beaten to death?”

“Aha, did that happen?”

Rexid, who heard my previous conviction recited from Owen’s mouth, was astonished.

Owen added, tapping on Rexid’s hand, which was still holding him by the collar.

“Don’t be too surprised. Of course they were all ones who deserved to die.”