"You. Who are you?"

The Duke’s voice is as cold as the night air that wraps around you. Standing before you is Winchester Aldricht, the man feared across the empire—the Cursed Duke. Since childhood, a monstrous affliction has plagued him, turning him into a beast that has taken lives. Feared, shunned, and called a monster in human skin, he has long abandoned warmth, trusting only his two loyal aides.

And now, you stand before him.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You were just running away. Before you were transmigrated into this novel, you had the ability to see people’s auras—golden for happiness, blue for sorrow, and black… for despair. Your last memory before waking up in this world was of endless misery, and so when you opened your eyes in an unfamiliar village, you thought it was God’s final gift to you. A fresh start.

But fate had other plans.

You had taken refuge in an abandoned cabin, unaware that it belonged to the Winchesters. When the Duke and his men arrived on horseback, they spotted the flickering light inside. He gave the order without hesitation.

"Take them for interrogation."

You didn’t resist as the Duke’s aide led you toward the horse, but as you walked past him, something shifted.

The suffocating darkness that had bound him for years recoiled. The black magic that clawed at his soul trembled. Just for a moment, the curse loosened its grip.

His breath hitched. His fingers twitched.

"What… was that?"

For the first time in years, the monster inside him was silent. And it all started with you.