My head was spinning.

I thought Ideana had killed them all.

Yet his brother was alive and well before my eyes, in the form of a heretic.

‘Then what was I angry at?’

Sched pressed his throbbing head.

A sharp ringing echoed in his ears.

‘Louise, did you already know this too?’

Sched recalled her face.

She had never honestly told him anything.

She kept all the truths tightly packed in that small body and never showed them.

She would smile and say she was fine even after crying all night while coughing up blood.

It was the same after they met again.

She always seemed to be hiding something, afraid of something like someone wanting to run away.

At first, I thought it was simply because of Ideana’s treason.

But thinking about it now, there was something odd about her behavior.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that the most important piece was missing from the center of all the events related to her.

‘What are you hiding?’

As Sched was confused, Parmen, who had been gasping in pain, plunged a black blade into his abdomen.

Sched’s body swayed greatly.

Parmen, who had risen like a ghost even with his heart pierced, pulled the sword from his chest.

Bright red blood spattered as he let out a beastly, grotesque sound.

Sched stood frozen before the monster in Parmen’s form.

And on Parmen’s chest, gushing with blood, a familiar mark was visible.

A familiar black crescent shape…

“My lord!”

“Duke Lester!”

At that moment, new voices echoed in the cave.

Light spread from afar.

Parmen turned his blood-covered face towards the approaching people.

“Cough, ack…!”

He clutched his bleeding chest and staggered, beginning to flee deeper into the cave.

Sched instinctively chased after the fleeing Parmen.

But as soon as he took a step, his body tipped forward and collapsed.

The wound inflicted by Parmen burned as if on fire.

“My lord…!”

Carlyle’s voice was heard through the muffled ears.

No. I have to follow Parmen.

I can’t let him get away here.

I need to hear the story. How he became like this…

Sched desperately tried to get up, but his body wouldn’t listen.

The wound inflicted by Parmen was turning pitch black.

It wasn’t an ordinary wound.

“This is, it’s a curse…!”

A priest who had followed examined Sched’s wound and said.

Dark energy was eating into his internal organs.

“Pl-please take care of Duke Lester’s treatment. I-I’ll chase after the heretic!”

Dietrich left Sched to one of the priests and chased after the heretic.

‘No, he mustn’t be killed. There’s so much to hear…’

Sched tried to get up by pushing against the ground, but blood gushed from the wound.

“Duke Lester, please calm down. If you move more, the curse will spread and it’s dangerous…!”

The priest said while trying to block the wound that was turning pitch black with holy power.

It was a wound deliberately cursed, different from when the heretic stabbed Riana.

Along with the holy power, indescribable pain struck from the wound.

Blood vessels bulged on Sched’s neck.

Sched trembled more from the feeling of helplessness than the pain.

He was furious at being unable to do anything at this crucial moment.

Even as the holy power restrained it, the curse was slowly eating away at his body.

The cursed blood vessels began to climb up his skin, turning it black.

“Duke Lester…! The curse…!”

‘Damn it…’

In his fading consciousness, Sched recalled scattered memories of the past.

Parmen and Louise.

All those things that made his present.

“Duke Lester was attacked by a heretic?”

Eclas frowned at the information brought by the birds.

“Yes, he’s fallen into a coma due to the curse and can’t wake up.”

Eclas pressed his fingertips to his temples and sighed.

“It seems Grand Priestess Giselle is doing her best for His Grace, but the black magic curse appears more serious than expected. Even for a Grand Priestess, she likely has no direct experience in undoing such a curse.”

According to reports, black energy was spreading from where the heretic had stabbed, engulfing Sched’s entire body.

His blood vessels had turned pitch black, polluting him like a monster.

“An ordinary person would have died already. It’s uncertain how long Duke Lester can hold out.”

The curse left by the heretic seemed serious.

Yet the beastly Sched Lester was stubbornly clinging to life.

Even in unconsciousness, he was enduring the curse, for now at least.

“…We should prepare for the worst on our end as well.”

Eclas muttered, fidgeting with his fingertips.

The death of a heavyweight like Sched Lester would greatly impact the market.

The joint ventures would also take a big hit.

His head throbbed.

“So what about the heretic?”

Eclas asked, turning to the next page of the report.

“Grand Priest Dietrich Lester dealt with him. The heretic was badly wounded from the battle with Duke Lester, so the priests subdued him quickly. The atmosphere at the Grand Temple seems to favor giving more credit to Grand Priest Dietrich.”

The attendant Banen reported the details of what happened in Paradel.

It seemed Sched had faced the heretic alone for quite some time, even at the cost of being cursed himself.

However, since Grand Priest Dietrich finished things at the end, the temple side apparently intended to claim this as their own achievement.

‘A dying man has no voice.’

Sched, lying in bed, wouldn’t be able to protest against this feeble scheme.

‘Those temple bastards…’

While someone is dying from fighting with their life on the line, they’re scrambling to secure their own interests, disregarding his merits.

Eclas was never very devout to begin with, but today he felt even more disillusioned than yesterday.

Always going on about God’s grace, mercy, and judgment, yet in the end, they’re no different from merchants like himself.

‘Hypocrites…’

They might as well drop the pretense of being noble.

As Eclas was examining the report, there was a knock.

“Viscount Eclas.”

At the small, refined voice, Eclas lifted his gaze from the documents.

Eclas nodded to Banen and casually covered and put away the documents in front of him.

“Come in, Miss Rea.”

At his permission, the door opened and Rea entered.

Banen naturally excused himself through the door Rea had just entered.

Eclas erased the previous conversation and greeted Rea with his usual gentle smile.

Rea glanced at the person who had just left before turning her eyes to Eclas.

After leaving Paradel, they had sailed for days, changing ships, and finally arrived at the territory of the Bitel earldom, the Sizzlon Islands.

Eclas had her rest secretly at the Bitel family castle, both to recuperate from the long journey and for other reasons.

“Did you rest well? You must have been tired from being on ships for days.”

Eclas, who had been sitting at his desk, stood up and moved towards the reception sofa.

As he offered her a seat, Rea awkwardly settled onto the sofa.

She sat uncomfortably and looked around Viscount Eclas Bitel’s office.

Though she had once been a young lady of a renowned noble family, and as a maid had cleaned the rooms of countless nobles, she had never seen such a sophisticated office.

A restrained yet not ostentatious elegance.

It wasn’t an interior created by randomly collecting expensive items.

Moreover, the efficiency of his movement lines for working, resting, receiving guests…

It was a space meticulously planned down to the smallest detail.

This is why Eclas creates and sells trends, she thought.

Anyone who visits this place would have no choice but to trust Eclas’s taste.

Eclas offered her a small biscuit and began to speak.

“We’ll set sail again tomorrow. We’ll arrive at your final destination.”

Throughout the process of changing ships multiple times, Eclas had thoroughly concealed her destination.

He had also planted decoys disguised as Riana in various places to avoid tracking.

Sched Lester would never be able to find her.

Of course… in his comatose state, he wouldn’t even be able to try.

“Is it far from here?”

Rea, unaware of Sched’s condition, asked cautiously.

“No. It’s a small island called Zanna, about three hours away by ship.”

Eclas smiled.

A place not too far from civilization.

But the vast sea provided a natural veil.

Among the numerous islands of the Sizzlon archipelago, it was particularly difficult to find due to its geographical features.

A peaceful island surrounded by high islands, barely visible during navigation and free from strong winds.

“I can guarantee that only I and those I’ve permitted know its location. It’s mainly a paradise where my retired birds build their nests.”

The chances of finding Zanna Island during navigation were close to zero.

“There’s no need to flee far to find paradise.”

Eclas was a reliable ally.

But Rea still found it hard to understand why he was helping her.

He said it was to repay an old debt, but was that all?

Eclas’s red eyes were impossible to read.

As Rea stared at him intently, Eclas’s eyebrows rose gently.

“You seem to have something you want to say.”

Eclas asked, as if he had seen right through Rea.

She felt a pang of guilt.

Rea fidgeted with her hands on her lap before carefully parting her lips.

“Um, have you heard any news about Ideana?”

As soon as Rea finished speaking, Eclas smiled gently.

As if he had known exactly what she would ask.

“I hear the heretic hunt was successful.”

“Ah…!”

Rea’s face brightened at the good news.

She had been worried about the heretic’s situation ever since leaving Ideana.

Perhaps because it was a trace of the sins left by the Ideana family.

Does ‘successful’ mean everyone is safe?

Rea wanted to ask more details about Sched.

At that moment, as if perceiving her thoughts, Eclas spoke first.

“It seems Duke Sched Lester also contributed greatly. With the heretic issue resolved, he’ll likely focus on rebuilding Ideana for the time being.”

Eclas smiled gently.

As if implying that Sched Lester was safe.