The underground world was largely divided into four territories, each ruled by a monarch.

The northern territory ruled by Kalos, one of the monarchs, was called ‘Esper’, just like the territory he ruled in the human world.

The western territory was named ‘Pero’, and while most of the territory was desert, it had abundant underground resources.

The eastern territory was called ‘Nomos’ and had the largest and lushest forest in the underground world.

Lastly, the southern territory was ‘Hvidor’, consisting of dozens of islands separated from the continent.

On the white sand beach of ‘Paralia’, the most beautiful island, a blue-haired young man with hair resembling the emerald sea was lying on a beach chair, enjoying sunbathing with seductively dressed women on either side.

At that moment, a man in a black uniform approached, leaving deep footprints in the pristine white sand as he walked with large strides.

The man’s face was terribly distorted. The women noticed his apparently angry appearance, but the young man didn’t even glance in his direction.

“My Lord.”

Only when the man who had approached his feet called out did the young man look at him.

“Oh, Hugo. What’s the matter?”

“Are you really asking why I’m here and what’s wrong because you don’t know?”

“Yes. I really don’t know.”

Hugo’s eyes flashed with fire at the young man’s nonchalant tone and answer.

“Do you really not know that it’s wrong to enjoy sunbathing instead of working during work hours?”

“Work is important, but so is rest. Proper rest improves work efficiency, you know?”

As Abel retorted without backing down, Hugo twisted his lips and folded his arms.

“Is not touching work for a week and just resting considered proper rest that improves work efficiency?”

“Hmm.”

At a loss for words, Abel just rolled his eyes to look at the sea in the distance.

Hugo snapped sharply.

“A week seems like enough rest, so let’s go and work now. There’s a mountain of work piled up that you need to handle, My Lord.”

“The wounds in my heart haven’t fully healed yet to work…”

As Abel mumbled, Hugo raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Don’t tell me you’re like this because the plan to build a new villa fell through?”

Abel didn’t answer, but Hugo, taking it as affirmation, let out a deep sigh.

“Why do you keep being greedy when you already have so many villas?”

“The more of anything, the better.”

“Then, you must be happy that there’s a lot of work too.”

“Oh, work is an exception.”

Really, this guy. Hugo tried to swallow his boiling frustration as he held his head.

He was so annoying that if Abel wasn’t the underground monarch, and if he wasn’t the lord Hugo served, he would have given him a good punch.

“Anyway, I think you’ve rested enough now, so let’s go back to the castle…”

Caw-!

At the sudden sound of a crow, Hugo looked up at the sky.

In the clear sky without a single cloud, a black dot was visible.

The black dot, which was smaller than a pinky nail, gradually grew larger and soon revealed its form.

“Angeleia?”

Hugo’s eyes widened slightly as he recognized the identity of the dot.

Abel, who had been lying lazily, also stood up when he spotted Angeleia.

As Abel stretched out his arm, Angeleia circled above his head a few times before settling on his arm.

Sharp claws dug mercilessly into his clothes. Even with a monster bird as big as his upper body perched on it, Abel’s arm didn’t shake at all.

“Finally, it’s here.”

His face was overflowing with leisure as he muttered to himself.

Abel hummed a tune as he took out the letter tied to Angeleia’s leg.

Caw, having completed its task, Angeleia flew away with a cry heavier than a crow’s.

Hugo looked at Angeleia perched on the parasol. If his memory served him right, that monster bird belonged to Kalos, the monarch of the northern territory.

Which meant that the sender of the letter was Kalos.

“You can all leave now.”

Hugo waited for Abel to finish reading the letter after dismissing the women who had been attending to him.

After a short wait, when Abel put the letter back in the envelope, he asked.

“Did something happen to the northern monarch?”

“Huh? No. There’s no problem with Kalos.”

“That’s a relief.”

If there had been a problem with Kalos, Abel would have rushed over immediately.

Hugo sincerely felt relieved and added what he hadn’t been able to say earlier.

“Then let’s return to the castle now, My Lord. Everyone is waiting for you.”

“Hmm, I’d like to, but there’s somewhere I must go.”

“Somewhere you must go?”

“Yes. A dear friend is asking for help.”

Abel smiled brightly.

His toes were turning into water droplets and breaking apart.

“So I’ll be gone for a bit, Hugo. Take good care of Hvidor while I’m away.”

“Wait, what about the work…!”

Before Hugo could finish speaking, Abel turned into water droplets and dispersed into the air.

“Damn it, he’s really doing whatever he wants!”

Left alone, Hugo screamed and tore at his hair.

*

Irene was generally a heavy sleeper in the morning, but that didn’t mean her sleep duration was long.

At most 8 hours, on average around 6 hours of sleep, and she almost never took naps.

However, after the incense incident, when she woke up after a week, she had become a slave to sleep.

Not only did she sleep for more than half the day, but she also nodded off while reading books and even while eating, which was a serious problem.

‘There must be something wrong with my body.’

There wasn’t any particular place that hurt, but seeing how she kept dozing off like a sick chicken, it was certain.

Rather, the lack of pain made her more anxious. After all, diseases without symptoms were often the scariest.

What if it’s a serious illness? Irene, suddenly frightened, asked Jessie to call for a doctor.

Jessie worriedly asked.

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere, miss?”

“It’s not that I’m particularly sick, but there’s something I want to ask about.”

Irene didn’t say anything since it seemed like she might be ill, but she wasn’t sure yet.

Jessie immediately brought a doctor.

Originally, there was no doctor in Esper Castle, but after Irene had fallen seriously ill, one was kept on standby continuously.

The doctor asked with a somewhat anxious face.

“Is there anywhere you’re feeling pain, miss?”

Irene glanced at Jessie, who was standing behind the doctor observing the situation, then carefully said.

“I think I might have come down with a serious illness.”

The doctor’s eyes widened.

Jessie’s reaction was similar.

“A serious illness?”

“Recently…”

Irene spilled out everything she had found strange, starting from her increased sleep time to nodding off even while eating.

After hearing everything, the doctor carefully checked her condition, including taking her pulse, then tilted his head in puzzlement.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Forgive my impertinence, but your condition seems perfectly normal, miss.”

“Then why have I suddenly become so sleepy?”

“It could be that your energy has weakened due to the major incident you experienced. I’ll prepare some medicine to help you recover your strength. If your condition doesn’t improve even then, it might be good to have a more thorough examination at that time.”

The doctor added.

“It would also be good to receive blessings from high-ranking priests. Usually, it’s difficult to meet high-ranking priests, but if His Grace the Grand Duke calls for them, they would come immediately.”

“…”

Irene also knew well that the blessings of high-ranking priests were said to be so good that they could instantly revive even dying people.

However, what made her reluctant was probably the memory of almost being killed by priests in the past.

Just hearing the word ‘priest’ made her stomach churn and feel unwell.

Irene forced a smile while curling her fingertips inward.

“I’ll try recovering my energy first, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll think about it then.”

It was an empty promise.

Even if such a situation arose, she had no intention of seeking help from priests.

Absolutely not.

*

After the doctor left, Irene exhaled deeply and clasped her hands together.

Although she hadn’t found the exact reason for her sudden increase in sleep, she felt a little more at ease since no major problem had been discovered.

“There’s probably nothing to worry about, so don’t fret too much, miss.”

With Jessie saying that too, Irene felt even more at ease and smiled awkwardly.

“I feel a bit embarrassed for making such a fuss over nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. It’s natural to be worried when you suddenly start sleeping so much.”

Jessie smiled and added.

“You know how animals often hibernate to get through the cold winter, right? Maybe it’s something like that for you too.”

“But I’m not an animal.”

“Humans are a type of animal too, if you think about it.”

Jessie draped a soft, snow-white fur over Irene’s shoulders.

Due to the recent sharp drop in temperature, Irene had been wearing fur even when in her room.

“You look like a snow rabbit like this.”

At the words that came out like a joke, Irene blushed slightly, feeling a bit shy.

Finding that appearance lovely, Jessie let out a small laugh.

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to read a book.”

“A magic book?”

“Yes.”

Although she could no longer receive magic lessons since Jerdin had returned to the imperial palace, she still wanted to continue studying magic, so she kept reading basic magic books.

It was also because she had nothing else to do besides reading books.

“Then I’ll be going now, but please call me anytime if you need anything. Especially if you’re going out, you must absolutely call me.”

The words, clearly intended to monitor her so she couldn’t escape, left a bitter taste in her mouth, as if she had chewed medicinal herbs.

‘Should I tell them I have no intention of running away?’

Irene considered it for a moment but decided against it.

Although her resolve to escape had faded compared to before, it hadn’t completely disappeared.

For now, she felt no need to run away because she was confident that Kalos wouldn’t harm her, but the moment that confidence changed, her thoughts would change too.

Moreover, it was questionable whether they would believe her even if she said so.

It would be fortunate if they didn’t misunderstand and think she was plotting to escape after making them let their guard down.

After Jessie left and Irene was alone, she opened the basic magic book.

In the past, she could hardly understand anything written in the book, but thanks to learning various things from Jerdin, she could now understand to some extent.

The problem was that this understanding was limited to the early parts.

As she progressed further, unfamiliar terms appeared in droves again, making her head hurt.

On top of that, when it came to the math parts, which were her weakest area, including equations, her concentration wavered.

To make matters worse, sleepiness washed over her, causing her eyelids to keep drooping.

How long had it been since she woke up, and already sleepiness was overwhelming her?

Irene rubbed her sleepy eyes, trying her best to fight off the drowsiness, but her eyelids, heavy as stones, refused to stay open.

Finally, as her mind succumbed to sleep, her eyelids closed completely.

The book she was holding fell with a thud, and dark shadows flickered around it.

*

Kalos, who was touring the territory with Dewey to see how much it had been restored, stopped in his tracks when he felt a dull thud from the shadow he had attached to Irene.