Katherine opened her eyes with a jolt and looked down at herself hoping she was out of that nightmare but she was faced with the same dark place again with the same merciless man sitting before her.

Her body was intact and so was her night gown, not a trace of any blood or anything else was there. It was as if she wasn’t hurt at all. But the pain and the overwhelming feeling of death was so strongly embedded in her memory that she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she had indeed gone through all that torture.

She gulped as she watched Ocean smile.

"Scary, wasn’t it?" Ocean asked and the tears welled up in Katherine’s eyes.

"I... I’ll do as you say. But please, please... spare me." She begged making Ocean sigh.

"But I haven’t done anything yet." Ocean said and her jaw dropped.

"Th-There’s more?" She gasped and Ocean smiled.

"It may sound sadistic but it’s kind of satisfying, Katherine. How do you feel? You murdered a lot of innocent people, I bet all of them must be enjoying your sight here?" Ocean said and Katherine gulped.

"P-Please... I know I was wrong... I was greedy and arrogant. I have signed a lot but please, please forgive me." She sniffled and Ocean sighed.

"Begging won’t make any difference, Katherine. You chose this option. I would have left you alone had you not pulled that stunt with the witch. This punishment is for snatching away your son’s only chance of redemption." Ocean spoke with a chilling intensity.

Katherine’s eyes widened and she shouted, "I didn’t mean to do it! It was her-"

Before Katherine could say anything, Katherine hurled and coughed out a mouthful of blood. Neither Ocean, nor Lyall showed any reaction to it as Katherine cried in pain feeling her heart clenching.

"Just so you know, that’s not me. That’s the curse on you." Ocean clarified making Katherine look up at him with bloodshot teary eyes.

"H-How do I..."

"I can free you of this curse but I don’t want to. You willingly became a puppet to the demons here so, you don’t deserve my mercy." Ocean spoke and Katherine leaned ahead.

"No, please. Please save me, I-I’ll do anything you tell me. But please!" She cried and Ocean gave her an impassive look.

"I already have people who would do anything for me and I couldn’t have a backstabbing woman like you anywhere around my people. So, the best that I could do is," Ocean rose from his seat and Katherine flinched before she saw Ocean walk towards her.

Ocean stopped right in front of her before he reached out and placed his finger over her chest. For a moment, Katherine didn’t feel anything but then she felt the strange pulling sensation as if Ocean’s finger was draining something from her body.

Her eyesight darkened and she felt as if the air in her body was slowly leaving her.

Ocean watched as her body slowly slumped forward. Mana manipulation was inherited by Reina from her mother’s side and considering her Dragon God’s authority it gave another skill to Reina/Ocean.

Extracting or purifying mana.

The curses were capable of tainting the mana that the humans were born with but the moment that mana was purified it would reduce the impact for some time. It wasn’t exactly a solution but it clearly made sure that the hold of the dark forces would weaken on the person.

It acted like dialysis for mana. Once Ocean purified Katherine’s mana he returned it to her body making sure to keep her heart’s rhythm at an even, slow pace.

Once that was done, Ocean saw Katherine open her eyes, she lifted her head and watched Ocean with dazed eyes.

"There’s one more thing," Ocean said and placed his hand over Katherine’s head.

"This way the Witch won’t be able to use you and you won’t be forced by your nature to go beyond yourself and try anything again."

The consciousness had slowly started to return to Katherine when she felt the stabbing pain in her head. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound escaped as her eyes slowly rolled back in her head and she slipped forward, unconscious.

Ocean sighed holding her head steady.

"I’ll drop her back. You should go get some sleep." Ocean said and Lyall bowed.

Ocean unchained Katherine before scoping her up in his arms and stepped out of the dungeon.

He had made sure that these walls were infused with the spells that wouldn’t allow any transportation mana so, he had to walk all the way out before he could teleport to the royal palace.

It was a long night and Ocean felt a tad bit of guilty gnawing at the corner of his mind for what he just did to Katherine, but he knew the damage was reversible and once everything was sorted out he could make her normal again.

Ocean dropped Katherine off at the royal palace before returning home.

He wondered how Eric and Carlos would be doing now, they must have reached their destinations safely the night earlier. He just hoped everything would go smoothly from hence on and nothing would go wrong for the time being.

Let us return to the evening of the day the Princes departed for their respective territories.

The Barony of Valmest was steeped in quiet disappointment.

The people there had been hoping—almost praying—for Prince Eric to arrive. Instead, fate had delivered Prince Carlos, a man they already viewed as little more than a reflection of their own incompetent heir.

Carlos sat by the carriage window, gazing out at the manor that loomed ahead across the dry stretch of land.

Valmest Mansion was a modest three-storey structure with barely thirty rooms. It had once been respectable, even comfortable, but the barony’s failing finances were evident. The building lacked ornamentation, its walls weathered, its grounds sparsely maintained—luxury was no longer something Valmest could afford.

Beyond the manor, the fields stretched wide. The crops were close to harvest, yet the land looked tired, strained. Carlos’s eyes shifted to the people lining the road—if they could be called that. There were no cheers. No greetings. Only hard stares and poorly concealed disdain.

He wasn’t welcome.

Before leaving the capital, he had taken care to gather what information he could. One of the representatives from the knights’ panel had been... talkative enough.

The Valmest family was fractured.

And Valmest itself was already on the brink.

Baron Valmest had passed away only two months ago leaving behind his rightful heir Matthis Valmest and an illegitimate daughter Nyx Valmest who was engaged to a wealthy, old merchant.

Carlos couldn’t get more information but only the facts that the Barony was in a lot of financial trouble and the blame lied with the illegitimate daughter who was said to be embezzling funds for herself.

The carriage rattled along the uneven road and entered the town proper. It had been quiet before, but as the wheels rolled through the streets, the town fell into a dead silence. Conversations stopped. Movements slowed. Every gaze followed the carriage.

Carlos reached out and drew the curtain shut.

"So openly insolent," a man’s voice echoed inside his mind, amused rather than displeased.

Carlos lowered his head, his fingers brushing over the pendant resting against his palm.

"It was expected," he replied calmly. "I wasn’t hoping for a festival. Given how poorly I’ve been performing, I’m surprised they haven’t tried to ambush me already."

The man laughed softly.

"That would be because you are being followed," the voice said. "Ocean placed his spies on you the moment you left the capital."

Carlos stiffened for a fraction of a second before recalling Ocean’s words—that both Princes would be protected throughout their time in the territories.

"...Of course," Carlos murmured.

"We need to make a proper strategy if we want to win this, son." The voice prompted and Carlos sighed.

"Why would they even listen to me?"

The man scoffed, "Has being defeating by your stepbrother completely broken your confidence? I thought you were a natural in commanding subservience."

"Was," Carlos said in a deflated tone, "If this were before the Trials then these people would be falling over each other to impress me."

"Nothing much has changed now, if you want I can help you take control."

Carlos’s interest piqued hearing that and he felt a little bit of hope blossoming, this was the first proper guiding that he would recieve from this man.

"How?"

The man chuckled, "We will need a puppet for that, a smart and valuable puppet."

Carlos blinked, he didn’t understand why he would need that.

"What good will this puppet do? And why will someone even agree to that?"

"Foolish boy, we have to manipulate someone into being our puppet so that we could have them do our work. I’ll explain who it could be once we meet everyone at the Valmest but until then, don’t overreact, don’t slip and don’t dare think we’ll fail."

The man’s voice was starting to build Carlos’s confidence and it wasn’t long till he realised one foolish thing.

"Hey, I forgot this before, but, what’s your name?"

There was no voice for a moment before the man guffawing away in his head. Carlos felt a little embarrassed for missing the important part but he didn’t say anything until the man stopped laughing.

"You, son, are so amusing! I haven’t laughed this much in ages."

Carlos gave an awkward chuckle too before the man seemed to clear his throat.

"You can call me Ruel." The man said.

"Ruel." Carlos repeated with a nod, happy that he had a genuine somebody by his side.

The carriages slowed as they turned onto the narrow pathway leading up to Valmest Mansion. By the time Carlos’s carriage came to a halt, the household personnel had already assembled outside. Members of the Baron’s family stood among them, their expressions carefully neutral, their bows stiff and restrained.

Carlos remained seated for a moment longer before he stepped out.