Felyn panicked.
He hadn’t wanted Dorothy to know he was in the Royal Capital.
Because on this trip, his relationship with Daiyi was publicly acknowledged, they were officially lovers. And this was Princess Dorothy’s territory. If she decided to investigate, she could easily uncover the truth.
Keeping clients from discovering each other’s existence was a basic rule of the business.
That was why, even in the letter she received today, Felyn had made up the weather in the Mist District, pretending he was still there.
But now Dorothy knew.
Which meant he had lied to her.
Felyn didn’t have time to wonder how Dorothy had gotten his divine affinity report. Right now, he needed to explain.
“Brother Felyn… didn’t you promise? You said you’d tell me in advance if you ever came to the Royal Capital.”
Dorothy wrapped her arms around him, much tighter than usual.
“I’m sorry, Dorothy.”
Felyn placed his hands on her shoulders, his eyes showing carefully constructed regret.
“I wanted to sneak into the capital and test my divine affinity. Just this once. I couldn’t tell you. I had to lie.”
“Eh? Why?”
Felyn gave her a bitter smile.
“Because I wanted to leave the best possible impression on you. But if my test result turned out bad, I’d feel so ashamed. And as you’ve seen… the gods actually hate me. There was no way I could admit that to you.”
He scratched his head and continued, “I should’ve known better. Even if the rest of my report was great, it can’t compare to you. Wanting to act perfect and omnipotent in front of you… it all sounds so ridiculous now.”
Dorothy slowly looked up at him, her eyes glimmering with tenderness.
Beneath that tenderness, however, were flickers of joy—and a dangerous madness.
Just as I thought! she beamed inside.
Brother Felyn only kept it from me because he wanted to leave a good impression. He wanted to get closer to me.
He’s working so hard for my sake… he’s adorable.
“Brother Felyn, I don’t mind. No matter what happens, I don’t care. As long as… as long as we’re always together. I just want us to stay together forever.”
Felyn responded instinctively, not noticing the weight hidden behind her words. “Thank you, Dorothy. I want to be with you, too.”
Crisis averted?
It seemed Dorothy had taken his explanation well.
Thank goodness.
“You really want to stay with me forever, Brother Felyn?”
Her grip on him tightened. Felyn started having trouble breathing.
“Y-Yeah, of course. Dorothy’s so sweet. I’d love to always be with you.”
But then, Felyn saw something off.
A thick, purple mist clouded her eyes—like a chaotic storm.
“…Dorothy?”
His instincts screamed that something was wrong.
“Brother Felyn, having a –1 divine affinity really isn’t so bad.”
Dorothy let go and walked to her vanity once again. This time, she crouched and reached into the hidden compartment.
“You could open a shop right next to the palace, Brother Felyn. Sell anything you like. In the capital, everything sells well. You’d make a lot of money—more than enough.”
“I’ll handle the location, inventory, negotiations with trade guilds—everything. You wouldn’t need to lift a finger. Just sit in the store every day and easily make seven or eight thousand crowns.”
She took out a beautiful little box and opened it—revealing a glittering pair of handcuffs.
She really did want to help him with everything.
That way, his entire income, his housing, his lifestyle… would all be under my control.
And then, Brother Felyn would truly never be able to leave me.
She remembered how he once mentioned wanting to get into the Royal Capital Academy.
That had made Dorothy sulk for days.
Because once he entered the academy, he would meet young noblewomen from all over the world—some of whom might be even higher in status than her.
Worse yet, he might join a god’s church and leave the Siveshus Empire forever.
He might abandon her.
But when Dorothy saw the divine affinity report: Felyn
Score -1.
She had never been so happy.
Now, Felyn had no future at all.
Dorothy wasn’t some naïve princess.
She knew how men thought. And she wasn’t foolish enough to believe that a line like “we’ll be together forever” meant anything on its own.
Now, she just had to take control of his entire life—piece by piece.
Until the day he couldn’t function without her.
That’s the version of Brother Felyn she loved most.
Her precious little failure—who could only rely on her.
Felyn noticed Dorothy hiding something behind her back and instinctively took a step back.
Her expression blurred before his eyes. A faint violet aura of magic began seeping from her body.
“D-Dorothy… are you still mad?”
Felyn backed up until the back of his head hit the wall. No more room to retreat.
What’s going on?! I wrote 300,000 words analyzing her—this wasn’t in any of it!
“Mad? Brother Felyn, I’m not mad at all. In fact, I’m really happy. Now we can be together forever.”
Dorothy stepped closer, until their noses touched.
At this distance, Felyn could see the madness swirling in her eyes.
“But Brother Felyn… you still broke your promise. You said you’d never lie to me. Could it be… because there’s another girl with you?”
“Haha, no way, Dorothy. Why would there be another girl with me?”
Dorothy gave a gentle smile. One hand hidden behind her back, the other softly caressing his cheek.
“But still, a promise is a promise. And you did break it… So I think a little punishment is in order.”
Felyn watched her pull out the handcuffs. He swallowed hard.
What the hell is this…?!
Handcuffs?!
Was this really the same Dorothy he knew?!
Before he could react, click—the cuffs snapped shut. One end locked around his wrist, the other around Dorothy’s.
She was so fast, Felyn didn’t even see it happen.
She pushed him onto the bed, climbing on top of him, her hands planted on his chest.
“Brother Felyn…”
Her voice had changed—no longer sweet and innocent, but tinged with something darker.
“You look even cuter when you’re cuffed to me.”
From Dorothy’s perspective, seeing Felyn helpless, locked to her wrist… it made her heart race.
His wrist was tightly bound to hers—like their fates had been sealed together.
In that moment, she felt utterly fulfilled.
“Dorothy? Haha… This is just a game, right? Could you take these off?”
Felyn tugged, but the cuffs didn’t budge. They were strong.
“Do you want to leave me, Brother Felyn? Abandon me?”
“How could I? How could I ever leave someone as adorable as you?”
Felyn smiled awkwardly as he twisted and struggled to get free. His foot knocked over the box the cuffs came in, sending it crashing to the floor.
“Brother Felyn, don’t be noisy. The guards might hear. I don’t want anyone ruining our time together.”
Dorothy rested her head on his chest, listening to his breathing.
She had never felt this close to him before.
She could hear his heartbeat, smell his scent, feel the warmth of his skin.
And most importantly.
Brother Felyn now completely, utterly belonged to her.
There was no escaping anymore.
(End of Chapter)