The Villainous Family Loves Me Too Much!

‘A transparent crystalline structure… This is a fragment of essence.’

After venturing into another cave and discovering a fragment of essence there, Gebino had entered the maze cave with the last hope.

However, as soon as they entered, they encountered a witch who possessed evidence of the essence, which was proof that a demon had been there before.

“Conrad, take a look at this.”

A black exoskeleton seemed to be spread over a large creature that lay on a big rock.

‘This is…!’

The exoskeleton appeared to have been shed recently, but it did not crumble and retained its shape.

“Get out of here right now.”

It was a demon’s exoskeleton, and not just any demon – an A-class or higher demon that had never appeared before.

Gebino and his two knight colleagues, who had been sent with him for cave exploration, had no idea what they had found.

They had simply followed the Archduke’s orders and accompanied Conrad, who wasn’t even a knight yet. No matter how much he thought about it, they couldn’t leave a young colleague behind alone.

“You can’t say that. The Archduke ordered us to prioritize your safety-“

“Get out!”

The moment Gebino’s voice echoed through the cave-

“Grrrr…”

A beastly cry, as if something was about to tear apart, came from inside the cave.

“We won’t!”

“How are you going to deal with the monster alone!”

The knights drew their swords and rushed to his sides.

“…Just get out, please.”

A gruesome beast with a sinister aura was approaching them.

When Gebino spread his arms, a bright light emitted from his fingertips. Soon, the light turned into a whirlwind and swirled within Gebino’s hands.

“How did you use divine power…”

“Get out of here quickly!”

Instinctively sensing danger, the two knights finally understood Gebino’s warning and rushed out of the cave with all their might.

However, it was already too late to escape.

“Aaah!”

“Kuaaa!”

Sharp black claws pierced through their bodies, and in an instant, the two collapsed, their forms unrecognizable.

‘Darn it!’

Even the elite Felosite knights couldn’t counterattack and were crushed in a single blow.

Gebino had no confidence that he could survive against such a powerful being. But at this moment, any hesitation was a luxury for him.

The claws, once part of a human corpse, reached straight towards Gebino, aware that his hands were channels for divine power. Fortunately, he quickly leaped away to avoid the attack, but he couldn’t prevent the next attack, resulting in a twisted hand and a fatal injury. Whether the claws’ owner knew that Gebino’s hands were gateways for divine power or not, the claws were attacking his hands intensively.

A thought process impossible for ordinary monsters.

‘He is using the consciousness of the original human body.’

Once again, the claws attacked the other hand. Eventually, both hands were disarmed, and Gebino fell to the ground.

“Aaah!”

“Grooooaah!”

The owner of the claws roared threateningly, revealing its majesty in front of the fallen Gebino.

At the same time, Karena and Lucian stood with frozen expressions. Karena was the first to regain her senses.

“Aaah! What do we do! I’m sorry!”

Pushing Lucian aside, Karena, with a red face, quickly stood up and ran out of the office. 

‘Should I have just pushed him away as he was? No, then I would have been treated like a pervert.’

Karena, distracted by the skinship with Lucian, walked as far as she could.

She didn’t even realize that she had reached the entrance to the tower where the prophecy was.

‘Even though Sylonne trained alone to be able to come up, I’m not like that.’

Sitting in front of the desk where the prophecy was unfolded, Karena sighed deeply

 ‘So that’s why it took so long for the coupling in the original. Preventing destruction with a romantic ending might be more challenging than I thought.’

Normally, romance goes through a phase of denial. And it takes a long time.

In this life, Karena’s role had shortened that period between Gabriel and Beatrice.

‘I wonder what’s the state of me and the Archduke now?’

Curious about how Lucian felt after the kiss, whether he would be disgusted or even slightly excited.

‘I hope he felt excited like me.’

Blushing at her own thoughts, Karena muttered to herself embarrassedly.

“No, it’s not really excitement, but, but, it’s just to prevent destruction!”

At that moment, unconsciously opening the prophecy, Karena witnessed a surprising scene within a short time.

‘What’s this? Has the content of the prophecy changed?’

In front of her eyes, a new prophecy was unfolding.

* * *

It felt as if a storm had just swept through.

Even after quite some time since Karena had left, Lucian couldn’t get up from the floor.

‘Is this what a kiss feels like?’

It was his first kiss. Lucian’s entire body, still lying on the ground, remained flushed as he delicately touched his lips with his long fingers. The warmth that briefly touched Lucian’s lips, Karena’s lingering scent, made him feel dizzy.

“Hahaha….”

Perhaps it was something he had imagined alone since the day he first met her three years ago. However, he never expected her to be so assertive.

‘Could it be that the princess also…’

At that moment, a clamor echoed in the corridor.

“Lucian!”

It was Karena’s voice, the one that had left him a while ago. She had returned.

‘Why? Why now?’

As if nothing had happened, Lucian quickly got up, adjusted his clothes, and sat upright on the sofa.

“May I come in?”

“Com-“

Before the answer was complete, Karena quickly rushed to Lucian and sat in front of him.

“I didn’t say you could come in.”

“Where does the communication stone connect to?”

In a hurry, Karena’s eyes were filled with teary anxiety. Clearly, something had happened.

“Hurry!”

Unexpectedly irritated, Karena even gestured rudely. Lucian, noticing the drastic change in Karena’s attitude, calmly answered without asking anything.

“The communication stone can only be used within Felosite. There is no communication network outside.”

“Ah… Then what should we do? I need to know the location. Do you know?”

Karena’s pupils shook anxiously. Something significant must have occurred.

“Why should I know?”

Looking at Karena’s trembling lips, Lucian suddenly felt a foreboding sense of unease.

“…Today, in the cave, Priest Gebino is going to die.”

* * *

“Excuse me, are you okay?”

To the gentle voice that woke him up, Gebino slowly opened his eyes. A small girl with mint-colored hair was looking down at him with a worried expression.

‘The… princess? Then, where is this…’

The young princess with her maids and himself in the attire of a Felosite knight trainee.

‘I was supposed to have suffered a fatal injury from the demon…’

The two hands, which had been cut off earlier, were intact without a single wound.

“Are you feeling dizzy?”

The princess examined Gebino with a kind tone.

‘It’s a dream.’

As far as Gebino could recall, this day was an ordinary day during his time as a trainee in the Felosite knight academy. It was a day that had changed the course of his life, the day he had decided to reverse his life goals.

Even on that day, he was being bullied by other trainees as usual.

Unlike other trainees who were from high-ranking noble families in the Empire, Gebino, who was from Felosite and even an orphan, found each day in the imperial palace too unbearable.

However, the reason Gebino couldn’t quit was that he had the sponsorship of Count Kenoch.

‘It was to become a sword to protect Empress Helena and Princess Karena.’

Because of the persecution from the Empire towards Felosite, those who had completed their training couldn’t return to the Empire. However, a few selected trainees could become knights of the imperial palace guard.

And Gebino was the only Felosite trainee who had successfully passed through that challenging process.

But instead of protecting Empress Helena and Princess Karena, he found it difficult to even protect his own body.

‘You weakling.’

Belatedly going through puberty, Gebino, who until two years ago was as small and thin as a child, had grown unexpectedly tall and sturdy. To the extent that no one could have thought that he would grow so much in just a year.

‘That’s probably why the princess didn’t recognize me when we met again.’

Now, he was even taller than most adult men.

Gebino stood up from the ground and respectfully bowed his head towards the princess.

“I greet Her Highness, the Honorable Princess of Castien.”

“It’s an honor for me too, little knight.”