In the past, he had indeed simply wanted the Divine Body and power of the Dark Maiden. Yet, as they spent their days and nights together, he found himself gradually falling in love with her, unable to stop the feeling ever since.
For the Dark Maiden, he even abandoned his empire. Even when she betrayed him time and again, he chose to forgive her. If it were anyone else, he would have destroyed them long ago; how could he ever have chosen forgiveness?
Precisely because he loved her so deeply, he even gave up the chance to break through and ascend to the Lesser World, all to suppress the Dark Maiden and demand the truth from her—only to learn that she had already discovered the reality of what happened.
Chapter 1526