Could this voice be…!

Irene turned around in surprise. The shoes she had been clutching tightly to her chest tumbled down the stairs.

Then she saw Kalos, slightly bent at the waist, holding out a candlestick to her.

Though she had guessed from the voice, Irene was even more shocked to confirm it was truly Kalos. She leaned back from her seated position.

However, as the stairs were right behind her, she didn’t get far before tipping backwards.

“Ah…!”

Irene let out a short scream and stretched her hands forward. It wasn’t in hope that Kalos would catch her, but a reflexive action to try to regain her balance.

Kalos firmly grasped her hand and pulled her strongly towards him.

Thanks to this, she avoided the misfortune of tumbling down the stairs, but Irene’s eyes trembled greatly as her hand was caught by him.

The large hand that held hers felt uncomfortable and frightening, like a sturdy noose.

Irene tried to pull her hand free, but he wouldn’t let go. Rather, he gripped even tighter as if he would never release her.

“Let, let go of me.”

“Don’t you have something to say first?”

What is there to say? Reading the question in Irene’s eyes, Kalos added an explanation.

“In this situation, shouldn’t you say thank you for saving you?”

It was true, but it felt a bit strange coming from him.

“Thank… you.”

When Irene reluctantly expressed her gratitude, Kalos finally released her hand.

Irene clutched her throbbing hand as she awkwardly stood up.

“What were you doing here?”

No, she was about to stand, but hearing the following question, her legs gave out and she sat back down.

“There’s a bathroom in the guest room, so you weren’t going to the bathroom.”

The indifferent yet calm voice continued from above her.

“Are you hungry? Or if not that…”

The eyes looking down at Irene narrowed for a moment.

“Were you trying to escape?”

Thump-.

The sound of her heart dropping echoed loudly in her ears. Seeing her blue eyes wavering anxiously, Kalos twisted the corner of his lips.

“So you were trying to escape.”

“N-no, I just wanted to know where this place was…”

It was a pathetic excuse. There was no way Kalos would believe such an implausible explanation.

Indeed, he was looking down at her as if dumbfounded.

Irene avoided his gaze, clasping her hands together.

‘He’s going to be angry.’

A harsh slap or kick might come flying, or in the worst case, he might even kill her.

The plea to spare her life rose to her throat, but Irene ultimately didn’t let it pass her lips.

No matter what she said, even if she shed tears and begged, he wouldn’t listen anyway.

Though she didn’t know much about how the world worked, having been confined to her home all her life, she knew well how frightening and cold a person the Grand Duke Esper was.

Her mother, feeling sorry for Irene who had to stay home alone all day while they went to work, had brought her all sorts of reading materials. Among them, she had often seen stories about the Grand Duke Esper in gossip newspapers.

They were all chilling stories – that the Grand Duke Esper actually had the blood of demons, that he had an eccentric personality, that he would kill even a child without hesitation if displeased.

One way or another, if she was destined to die, she wanted to maintain what little dignity she had left.

Once she resigned herself to everything, her mind felt somewhat more at ease.

As she closed her eyes, waiting for whatever punishment would come, hoping it would end quickly, a cool voice was heard from above.

“Take it.”

At those words, Irene gently opened her eyes. She saw Kalos reaching out his hand towards her.

“How long are you going to sit there?”

So now, is he telling her to take his hand and stand up?

Expecting to be hit, Irene stared blankly at Kalos, confused that it wasn’t the case.

Despite her attitude that should have been irritating, Kalos didn’t click his tongue or hurry her, but waited silently.

Belatedly coming to her senses, Irene stood up without taking the hand he offered.

That seemed to make him uncomfortable as Kalos slightly furrowed his brow and withdrew his outstretched hand.

“I’ll escort you to the guest room.”

Why isn’t he getting angry?

Could it be that implausible excuse actually worked?

She had many questions, like why he had brought her here or where they were going next, but she couldn’t bring herself to voice any of them.

She was still afraid of him.

Especially when meeting his purple eyes, said to be the symbol of demons, her knees would go weak and goosebumps would rise.

‘But I need to know.’

She couldn’t keep being dragged along without knowing anything.

By the time they reached the guest room, Irene gathered her courage and asked.

“Why… did you bring me here?”

Kalos, who was personally opening the guest room door, turned to look at her in response to Irene’s question.

The courage she had scraped together from the bottom shattered and scattered the moment she met his eyes.

Her face, pale as a sheet, drooped weakly.

Kalos stared down at Irene for a moment before finishing opening the door.

“Because I need you.”

With his other hand, he gently pushed her back.

Entering the room in a daze, Irene turned to look at him, momentarily forgetting her fear in surprise.

“So it’s best not to think about escaping.”

Kalos spoke in a rare voice filled with emotion.

“Next time, it won’t end like this.”

“…”

“Now, rest well.”

Thud-.

With those final words, the door closed.

*

Though Kalos had told her to rest well, there was no way she could.

Irene tried to force herself to sleep, but ended up spending the night with her eyes wide open. She came out of bed, rubbing her bloodshot eyes.

There were several factors that kept her from sleeping, but the biggest reason was Kalos’s answer to her question.

Those words that he had brought her because he needed her.

If he had brought her for entertainment or such reasons, he wouldn’t have said he needed her.

That meant there was another reason, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“My head hurts.”

Her head throbbed after pondering all night. It was also because she hadn’t slept properly.

Irene entered the bathroom intending to wash her face with cold water to wake herself up, but ended up taking a thorough bath while she was at it.

It felt good to clean her grimy body that had been rolling around in prison, but another problem arose.

She had no change of clothes.

As she was debating whether she’d have to put on her dirty clothes again, there was a knock at the door.

Is it that man? Her blue eyes trembled anxiously as they fixed on the door.

“My lady, are you awake?”

The voice from outside the door was not Kalos’s.

This voice was surely… Dewey’s, was it?

“My lady?”

“Just a moment.”

Irene quickly put on her dirty clothes and opened the door.

Outside stood Dewey, smiling as brightly as sunshine.

“You’re awake.”

Irene nodded and looked around. Fortunately, he was alone. Kalos was nowhere to be seen.

“What… brings you here?”

“I’ve brought breakfast.”

Only then did Irene notice the tray Dewey was holding, and she reached out her hands.

However, Dewey just shook his head and didn’t hand over the tray.

“I’ll set it up for you.”

“But…”

“I insist.”

Dewey spoke so firmly that Irene had no choice but to nod.

Humming a tune, Dewey entered the room and quickly set the table before gesturing for her to take a seat.

“Please, sit here.”

As Irene sat down hesitantly, he poured water into a clean glass for her.

Then he placed freshly baked bread from a basket onto her plate.

Dumbfounded by this luxury she had never experienced in her life, Irene just blinked, not thinking to eat.

“If my presence is making you uncomfortable, I’ll take my leave.”

“Ah, no, that’s not it.”

Irene shook her head in surprise.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t uncomfortable at all, but compared to being with Kalos, this was heaven.

“I’m just not used to being treated like this, so don’t worry about it.”

“I see.”

Dewey smiled, his eyes forming pretty crescents.

“Still, you’ll be staying at Esper Castle from now on, so it would be good for you to get used to it.”

So Esper Castle is where I’ll be staying.

Since Kalos was the Grand Duke Esper, she had vaguely guessed she would be going to Esper territory, but she didn’t expect to be going to the castle.

“Why… why did His Grace bring me here?”

Though Kalos had answered that it was because he needed her, that wasn’t enough.

She wanted to hear a clearer reason.

“For that, I think it’s best you hear directly from His Grace.”

Unfortunately, Dewey didn’t provide a clear reason either.

Irene was about to reply that she had already asked Kalos, but decided against it.

“I see…”

It seemed he wouldn’t tell her even if she asked.

Then he probably wouldn’t answer other questions either.

Giving up on asking further, Irene picked up the bread on her plate.

Dewey set down a jar of jam next to the plate as he spoke.

“Please let me know if you need anything at all.”

Something she needed. Irene’s gaze naturally went to the worn clothes she was wearing.

“Oh my!”

Dewey also noticed her clothes and let out a deep sigh before hurrying out.

A moment later, he returned holding out a clean set of clothes and apologized.

“I should have thought of this earlier, I’m sorry.”

Irene shook her head.

“No, thank you for getting me clothes.”

“Not at all. It’s only natural.”

Dewey smiled faintly as he set the clothes down on the bed.

“I’ll take my leave now. My room is right next door, so please call for me anytime if you need anything else.”

*

After Dewey left, Irene was about to change clothes right away but decided to finish her meal first.

She didn’t want the food to get cold while she changed.

And she was hungry. She hadn’t realized it before seeing the food, but once she did, a forgotten hunger came rushing back.

All she had eaten while locked up in prison was a fist-sized piece of bread. Even that had grown moldy, so she couldn’t eat even half before having to throw it away.

The delicious food and the feeling of fullness she hadn’t experienced in a long time improved her mood that had hit rock bottom. The tightly wound tension loosened slightly.

Humming a tune, Irene checked the clothes Dewey had left.

Only then did she realize there was also underwear among the clothes. The fact that Dewey had brought her underwear made Irene’s cheeks flush red with embarrassment.

As she hurriedly took off her shabby clothes and underwear and put on the new underwear…

Slam-.

Without even knocking, the door flew open and Kalos entered.

“…!”

Startled, Irene quickly covered herself with the clothes and turned around. Goosebumps rose on her fully exposed back.

“G-get out!”

Irene cried out desperately, but instead of receding, the footsteps drew steadily closer.

At this, Irene’s face turned bright red. Right now, she felt more embarrassed and ashamed than afraid of him.

With her back still turned to Kalos, she waved her arms to signal him not to come closer, but it was useless.

Closing the distance in a few large strides, Kalos grabbed her shoulder and traced his fingertips down her back.