The Extra's Regressor Wives

The Black Rose stronghold was located not far from the Magic Academy, built in a relatively isolated area to avoid attracting outside attention.

After bringing Lathel here, Catrina immediately sealed off the entire upper floor. Only a few maids and her most trusted guards were allowed to enter, while everyone else was forbidden from even approaching the corridor leading to his room.

She had barely walked any distance from Lathel’s room when a dark shape suddenly shot past the window.

BANG!

Catrina stopped instantly and turned her head just in time to see a small bird slam directly into the glass.

A streak of blood smeared across the window.

The bird’s body dropped onto the stone ledge outside, twitched several times, then went completely still.

The female knight standing guard nearby flinched and immediately stepped forward.

"Your Grace?"

Catrina did not answer at once.

She only stared at the bird outside.

The windows here were large, and the night sky was clear. There was no fog or rain obscuring visibility, which meant an ordinary bird had almost no reason to fly straight into the glass from such a short distance.

The notification that had appeared not long ago immediately resurfaced in her mind.

[DARK CURSE.]

Catrina remained silent for several seconds before looking away.

"It’s nothing. Clean it up."

"Yes."

The knight bowed.

Catrina continued toward her study.

She had not even gone ten meters when a startled cry suddenly came from ahead.

A maid carrying a tray of food lost her balance without warning.

Her entire body slipped forward, causing the tray to tilt sharply.

A bowl of hot soup flew into the air—

straight toward Catrina.

"Your Grace!"

Catrina merely shifted her body slightly.

The bowl brushed past her sleeve and smashed against the stone floor.

CRASH!

Porcelain shattered across the corridor as soup splashed everywhere.

Two nearby knights immediately moved forward.

The maid who had slipped went pale and hurriedly dropped to her knees.

"I’m sorry! Your Grace, I truly don’t know why my foot suddenly—"

"Stand up."

The maid froze and looked up.

Catrina did not scold her.

Instead, she lowered her gaze and examined the floor.

No water.

No oil.

Nothing that could have made the surface slippery.

The stone itself was undamaged.

The maid had worked at this stronghold for quite some time. Under normal circumstances, there was no reason for her to suddenly fall at the exact moment Catrina passed by.

First, a bird had flown into a window.

Now this.

If it had happened only once, Catrina might have dismissed it as coincidence.

But two incidents occurring almost immediately after the Dark Curse activated were enough that she could no longer ignore the possibility.

"Prepare another meal for Lathel."

Catrina looked at the maid.

"Once you bring it upstairs, wait outside his door. Do not enter without permission."

"Y-yes."

The maid looked as though she had just been pardoned from execution.

She quickly stood and hurried away.

Catrina continued toward her study, though her pace had become slightly slower than before.

She had never believed much in concepts like luck and misfortune.

At least, before regressing, she had never considered them forces capable of directly deciding whether someone lived or died.

But she had already witnessed too many strange things around Lathel to continue dismissing everything as coincidence.

Not long after, Catrina returned to her room.

She removed her cloak, placed her foil on its stand, then sat behind the large wooden desk.

Several reports from the Black Rose’s activities over the past two days had already been arranged across the surface.

The most important among them was a sealed letter from the intelligence network operating near the Magic Academy.

After confirming that no one else remained inside the room, Catrina removed her mask and placed it aside.

The curse-ravaged face beneath it was exposed under the lamplight.

She did not even glance at the mirror nearby.

Instead, she picked up the letter and prepared to read it.

At that moment, the door opened.

A young maid entered carrying a tea tray.

"Your Grace, your tea."

"Put it down."

"Yes."

The maid carefully placed the cup on the desk.

The instant the bottom touched the wood—

Crack.

Both of them stopped.

A fracture suddenly appeared along the rim of the cup and rapidly spread toward the bottom.

Hot tea immediately poured out.

It ran across the desk—

straight toward the letter Catrina had just opened.

"Ah!"

The maid hurriedly reached out to save it.

Too late.

The liquid soaked into the paper, causing the lines written in special ink to blur into black streaks.

"Your Grace!"

The maid immediately dropped to her knees.

Her voice trembled with fear.

"T-this was my fault. Please punish me!"

Catrina did not answer.

She only looked at the cup.

It had nearly split in half.

The Black Rose never used cheap equipment inside the stronghold.

The cup had clearly shown no damage before being brought into the room.

Combined with the bird crashing into the window and the maid slipping in the corridor, three incidents in succession were more than enough to eliminate coincidence as the simplest explanation.

Catrina slowly lowered her gaze to her own hand.

Lucky Star Halo.

In the past, she had personally witnessed many strange things happen around Lathel.

Sometimes he would casually choose a route and somehow find exactly what he needed.

Certain injuries healed faster than expected.

Situations that seemed certain to end in failure would suddenly produce another solution.

Back then, Catrina had merely assumed Lathel was somewhat luckier than ordinary people.

Only after the System explicitly named the Lucky Star Halo did she begin to realize that those things might never have been coincidences at all.

If Lathel’s affection granted protection and good fortune—

then what happened when that affection turned negative?

Catrina stared at the tea soaking through the intelligence report.

The maid remained kneeling nearby, her entire body tense as she waited for punishment.

"Your Grace, I—"

Catrina suddenly laughed.

The maid’s face immediately turned even paler.

The laugh was very faint.

But appearing on a face already ruined by a curse only made Catrina look more frightening.

"This has nothing to do with you."

The maid froze as though she could not believe what she had heard.

"Leave."

"But the letter—"

"I said leave."

"Yes!"

The maid bowed and nearly ran from the room.

The door quickly closed behind her.

Catrina sat alone before the desk covered in spilled tea.

She dipped one fingertip into the liquid and watched a drop slowly run down her skin.

"Dark Curse..."

Of course she could not afford to underestimate it.

A power capable of directly interfering with luck could be far more dangerous than ordinary offensive magic.

If its effect continued intensifying, a minor accident today could easily become something capable of taking a life tomorrow.

And yet—

the first thought that entered Catrina’s mind was still not to remove the chain from Lathel’s wrist.

She wanted to know the limits of this power.

If Lathel held positive feelings toward someone, the Lucky Star Halo protected them.

When those feelings turned negative, that protection immediately disappeared and was replaced by some kind of curse.

The real question was what determined its severity.

Was simple irritation enough?

Or did the misfortune worsen the more Lathel hated someone?

Catrina leaned back in her chair.

Her gaze slowly drifted toward the direction of the room where Lathel was being kept.

"I need to observe it longer."

The moment she said it, even she frowned.

Observing it meant continuing to make Lathel dislike her.

That thought did not please Catrina in the slightest.

She could tolerate the curse.

She did not particularly care what happened to herself.

But knowing that Lathel was genuinely upset with her weighed far more heavily on her chest than any misfortune could.

Catrina remained seated for a while longer.

Eventually, she stood.

She decided to return to Lathel’s room.

Not to remove the chain.

At least—

not yet.

She simply wanted to see what he was doing.

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