When it comes to emotions that overwhelm the senses, anger and love stand out as the most intense.
Both have the power to numb the mind and cloud judgment, making one lose control over their actions.
Anger can drive a person to self-destruction, inflicting physical pain in a fit of rage without any awareness of the moment.
Love, on the other hand, can become so consuming that one might go to great lengths, even irrational extremes, to ensure their beloved's happiness.
The effects of these emotions are profoundly tied to their intensity.
But in both cases, there is a delay in the mental state of the one experiencing these emotions, making it impossible for everyone to feel them in the same way.
Not everyone can reach the extremes of anger in their daily life, nor does everyone fall into such deep love that they would do anything for their loved one.
So, what emotion truly reigns supreme and can overwhelm the human senses?
It's lust.
Many ancient stories and legends recount how lust has been the catalyst for history's most devastating wars and battles, altering the course of the future.
What is the embodiment of lust?
For anger, it's the human mind.
For love, it's the human heart.
And for lust?
It's human outer body.
Not treated merely as an object here, but as a universal truth: a hundred men could fight to the death for a single woman if left on an island.
What is often called love begins as lust.
Love at first sight is nothing more than lust at first sight.
You are drawn to someone's physical features, which ignite your internal desires, and only over time do you come to appreciate their personality—making it transition from lust to love.
Take, for example, a woman.
Women are not mere objects of lust, but they possess the power to ignite it within themselves and others with just a glance.
Though both possessed the same amount of lust within themselves, there is a saying: A fine bottle of wine doesn't get drunk due to its own alcohol, but the moment it pours into the glass, they stumble and clank together on the pretext of cheers.
Just as that simple wine makes the glasses stumble, a single spark of lust can intoxicate even the strongest and purest of souls, leading them to lose themselves in the ecstasy and heavenly feeling it brings.
Slightly offensive but undeniably true, this phenomenon is etched in history and evident even in the modern society of the Arinphiam Empire, which exists with a feudal system and government.
The Arinphiam Empire is known for the presence of noblemen who are viewed as the purest of blood among their respective positions, seeing others as inferior.
Even they break like shattered mirrors the moment lust drowns them in its clutches.
Thaloris, a kingdom made exclusively for noblemen to live and control their own territories with few laws made by the Royal family similar to a feudal system, keeps an eye on their businesses and all suspicious movements.
In past life, for Sertsuls, Unlike others who were hesitant to invest, he saw an opportunity and invested in the construction of pavilions prepared as pleasure rooms, aiming for business profit.
Yet, throughout all this, he always harbored prejudice about the Sertsuls.
Despite being a nobleman and harboring some prejudice against the Sustrel family in his past life due to their numerous pleasure houses, he had moved past his initial thoughts the moment entered the tower and saw real faces of these noblemen who acted inhumane towards the inferior citizens.
Though he had saved many such citizens and civilians in his way upto the tower but as a simple human and being alone, he was not strong enough to save everyone.
"I don't understand," Aecilia said, already panicked, knowing what he had ingested. Her knuckles tightened with the urge to punch this man who was prioritizing an apology over his own life.
It wasn't that she was angry about his love for Princess Katheria but because he had chosen to marry the weakest of all the princesses, one without any significant background after the death of her mother.
When Aecilia had fallen in love with this man, only she knew how much it hurt, believing he was cheating on her behind her back (*though technically it was one-sided love from her).
"How about I provide you with compensation as an apology?" Avendial directly addressed the second thing he wanted to secure after already dealing with Patrick's execution.
Indeed, it was not that he did all this just to have an apology accepted by a woman he could convince through other methods, but this was the best time for him to secure the second thing he needed—resources.
"C-compensation?" Aecilia couldn't understand his meaning, looking blankly while trying to fathom what form of compensation he was talking about.
'...' Princess Katheria, seated on her chair, was already observing the whole scene. Her eyes had already gestured to the servants not to let Patric Vrandin escape, and now her yellow pupils were set on the man who was more of a foundation for her.
To be exact, when this noble gathering was held the previous year, there was no one except Lady Margaret showing presence, with all the noblemen siding with other heirs instead of her.
But seeing the balance of power shifting, the present Emperor had announced her engagement to Marquess Avendial Croceaus.
And now, this year, at least 19 noble families had participated.
Even though they didn't have a clear alignment towards her, they did so to get into the good graces of Avendial Croceaus.
"Margaret, call the doctors....," Princess Katheria glanced towards the woman holding a mature aura. Margaret looked at both people in conversation with intrigue before nodding and leaving after hearing the princess's call.
After seeing how Avendial was poisoned in this gathering, it was clear that one of the heirs attempted to get rid of the support bestowed upon her by the emperor.
After all, she was well aware that Marquess Avendial's ideology aligned more with profit, and marrying her would only bring him losses when other princesses could always ready to choose him.
She also had doubts about why he easily accepted this marriage with her.
Avendial stood at the center wearing a slightly unique outfit—a white bathrobe and wet black pants beneath. He couldn't remove his pants as they kept his erect shaft inside, or else the loose fabric of the bathrobe would reveal everything.
'...Will you look at them?' He didn't missed noticing that the eyes of all these noblemen, which held disgust a moment ago, were transitioning to jealousy and greed as soon as he mentioned compensation.
Normally, when a man of such wealth utters the word 'compensation,' it usually means money is involved.
And this was exactly what Avendial wanted from these people, prompting him to turn towards Aecilia, a smile forming as he declared, "I, Marquess Avendial Croceaus, will invest 13.5 billion Imperial Crowns in Sertsuls' business."
"?!!!"
GASP
"Huh?"
"Ohh mah gawd?!"