Onean was standing with the clothes on her upper body in a completely disheveled state, and she was gripping onto her Everlife Chinaberry Staff with all her might.

The other end of the staff had been plunged into Lucidy's body, but even so, Lucidy was still reaching for Onean like a rabid beast, seemingly paying no heed to the wound on his body.

Erwin was furious to see this, and the flames of rage in his eyes mirrored the flames that were ravaging the villa up above.

He immediately arrived in front Lucidy with his space split technique before slitting his throat with an instant-release ice shard spell.

Blood immediately came spurting out of Lucidy's neck, spraying onto Erwin's face.

He turned to Onean, who had collapsed to the ground with fear and alarm in her golden eyes, and he was overcome with sympathy.

"I'm sorry for coming so late," Erwin said as he draped his outer garment over Onean's body before scooping her up off the ground, and his heart was throbbing incessantly at the sight of the tear streaks on her face.

"I thought you were never going to come," Onean said with a wry smile, then buried her face against his chest.

Erwin could feel her tears falling onto his chest, and he had never seen Onean look so distraught and vulnerable.

"They're not going to get away with this," Erwin said in a murderous voice as a furious look surfaced in his eyes.

Right as he was about to leave the secret room with Onean, someone else jumped down from the opening in the floorboards.

Erwin cast a wary gaze toward the new arrival. He was holding Onean with both arms, so even with the Everlife Chinaberry Staff in his grasp, he wouldn't be able to use it to its full potential.

The person who had entered the secret room turned out to be the woman that Erwin had met at the Dreambind Pavilion.

"Why are you here?" Erwin asked with tightly furrowed brows.

"I'm sorry for getting here so late," the woman said with an apologetic expression as she took in the expressions on the faces of Onean and Erwin.

"The enemy has made a move, so we had to respond," she continued.

Erwin was rather perplexed to hear this, and he asked, "Who are you?"

"I already told you last time that we would meet again very soon," the woman said. "See? I came here just to take care of this mess for you."

"What do you mean?" Erwin was still quite confused.

"Take a look," she said as she pointed at Lucidy, who had already bled out at this point.

"He's already dead," Erwin reminded in an expressionless manner.

"That's exactly what I want. Dead people are far easier to control than the living," the woman said, and even though the tone of her voice was very light and neutral, for some reason, Erwin felt a chill run down his spine.

"Their objective for setting this trap is exactly so that you'll kill this man in a fit of rage. You fell right into their trap without even thinking about it," the woman said in a gentle voice, but she wasn't reprimanding Erwin for what he did.

"They all say you're a cold and calculating schemer, but I don't think that's the case," she continued with a faint smile. "Were you really the one responsible for doing something so foolish, or do you simply completely lose the plot whenever it comes to someone close to you?"

The woman took a subtle glance at Onean as she spoke.

"I didn't think you were the type of man who would risk it all for a woman," the woman said as a hint of admiration surfaced in her eyes. This was different from a romantic interest, she was purely admiring Erwin for his personality. She had seen far too many men who were cold-blooded machines that saw everyone around them as useable pieces of different value, and they were far less reliable than a man like Erwin, who was so genuine in his emotions. When it came to choosing political allies, reliability was the most important factor to consider. Alternatively, it could be said that people like Erwin, who were more brash and impulsive, posed less of a threat than other potential allies.

Erwin was in no mood to be chatting with her, and at this point, he already had a good guess of who she was. "How are you related to Prime Minister Henry?"

"My name is Emma, and Prime Minister Henry is my father," the woman replied.

Erwin faltered slightly upon hearing this. He was quite surprised to hear that Prime Minister Henry was willing to send his own daughter into a potentially dangerous situation like this.

"How are you related to Aglea?" Erwin asked.

Emma was very much taken aback by this question, and a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes as she thought to herself, He shouldn't know about my connection to Aglea. Could it be that Lana told him about this?

"Looking at your eyes, it's clear as day that you're related by blood," Erwin said.

"You're that certain in your assumption just because of my eyes?" Emma asked with an incredulous expression.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Erwin countered in a confident voice.

Emma was quite taken aback by just how certain Erwin was, but she quickly changed the subject. "Now's not the time to talk. Get out of here and I'll take care of the rest."

Erwin didn't know what Emma was going to do to Lucidy's body, but it was clear that she had the situation under control. Thus, he departed with Onean in his arms. At this point, the entire villa had already been burned down.

...

By the time they returned to the hotel, it was already nighttime.

As soon as Theresa caught sight of Erwin's grim expression, she knew that something had gone wrong, and seeing as he was carrying Onean in his arms, what had gone wrong most likely had something to do with Onean.

However, before she had a chance to ask any questions, Erwin locked himself and Onean in his room, not allowing anyone to disturb them.

"What kind of magic drug did they use on you?" Erwin asked with a concerned expression.

"Some skyfall southstar was most likely mixed into the coloring materials used in the painting," Onean replied. Her voice was still quite feeble, and the flush on her face still hadn't receded.

"What about your mask? What did they put on it?" Erwin asked.

"Oh? Have you already figured out their plan?" Onean asked with a smile.

"Of course. How else would I have saved you?" Erwin replied.

"I still have no idea what they put on my mask, but whatever it is, as soon as it came into contact with the skyfall south star, I was completely unable to move," Onean said.

"What's wrong with your face? Why has it been so red this entire time?" Erwin asked.

At the same time, a hint of remorse and resentment flashed through his eyes.

Onean was naturally immediately able to tell what he was thinking, and she asked in a displeased voice, "Are you blaming me or blaming yourself?"

"I'm just blaming myself for not seeing through this ploy," Erwin said with a dark expression. "Looks like I underestimated that evil hag, after all."

"That magic drug was able to completely shut off my magic power, but in addition to that, they also fed me another drug," Onean said.

"What was it? Don't tell me..." Erwin's eyes widened with shock as he stared at Onean, and he finally understood why her face was so red.

"Damn it!" He slammed his fist down onto the tea table, instantly smashing it into pieces.

"You think those drugs are enough to bring me down?" Onean asked as she turned to Erwin with a calm expression. "Let me tell you this: my heart belongs to you, so my body naturally only belongs to you as well. I would've rather died back there than let him have me, do you understand?"

Her words pierced deep into Erwin's heart, and he collapsed onto the bed as he caught Onean in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault..."

Onean could feel Erwin's tears falling onto her shoulders, and she grumbled, "I'm not like you, I'm not constantly looking for the next soulmate to add to my collection."

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault..." Erwin repeated over and over again as he patted Onean's back.

"Who's consoling who here?" Onean complained.

However, as she felt the heat from Erwin's body, the lust that she had been forcibly suppressing this entire time began to rear its ugly head once again.

"This drug was extracted from a moonleap snake during mating season, and I'm really struggling to hold back its effects," Onean whispered into Erwin's ear.

Erwin released her from his embrace before taking a close look at her.

There were tears swimming in her eyes, and she was looking extremely seductive.

Erwin leaned down gently and pressed his lips against hers. He wound his arms tightly around her waist while she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, and the two bodies intertwined passionately as if they were trying to fuse as one.

"Take me..." Onean whispered into Erwin's ear in her lustful state.

However, on this occasion, Erwin was able to suppress his urges. He knew that Onean was only doing this because of the effects of the potent aphrodisiac.

Hence, even though it would've been far too easy to give in to his primal instincts, he wanted to do the right thing by her.

He had often taken advantage of her in the past, but this time was different, and he didn't want to exploit her current condition for self-gratification.

Even though they had never done the deed, in Erwin's heart, he had always seen her as his future wife.

The only reason why he hadn't proposed to her yet was because he didn't feel like he was good enough for her. Once he felt like he was worthy of having Onean as his wife, he was definitely going to marry her.

Hence, he had never insisted on going all the way with her as he wanted to save the best experience with her for the day of their marriage.

His heart was full of sympathy as he looked into Onean's dazed and imploring eyes, and even though he had always allowed the thing between his legs to take over from his brain in situations like this, all he did on this occasion was hold her in silence while telling himself over and over again that he had to exercise restraint.

At the same time, his resentment toward Sanfesa only grew more intense.

If Sanfesa were present, she would've definitely been mocking Erwin for his foolishness. She had unintentionally created the perfect opportunity for him to take Onean for herself, yet he was wasting the opportunity by allowing it to slip through his fingers.

"Onean, you know I want you, but I don't want it to happen like this," Erwin said as he drew back slightly and looked into her eyes with an earnest expression.

A faint smile appeared on Onean's face as she said, "Isn't this what you wanted all along? I didn't think you would hold back. Looks like I chose the right man for myself, after all. The fact that you're able to hold yourself back at a time like this shows that you at least have some true feelings for me."

"You are the only one I would do this for," Erwin sighed.

Onean took a glance down at Erwin's lower body as she chuckled, "It seems like holding back is putting quite a strain on you."