Upon arriving at Irene’s bedroom, Kalos placed her on the bed.

What should I do about her clothes?

They looked uncomfortable to sleep in, all bundled up in thick clothing, but undressing her seemed to cross a line, so he refrained.

He could call Jessie and have her take care of it.

Just as he turned to leave.

“Wa…ter…”

Irene suddenly sat up groggily, waving her hands in the air searching for water.

“Thirsty, wa…ter…”

“…”

She looked so desperate that he couldn’t ignore her.

Kalos personally poured water into a cup and held it out to Irene.

“Drink.”

“…”

Though he had brought her the water she so desperately wanted, for some reason Irene just stared blankly at Kalos without drinking.

“Why aren’t you drinking?”

“…”

There was no response even when he asked.

Could she have fallen asleep with her eyes open?

Kalos set the cup down on the nightstand and reached out toward her to check.

“!”

Suddenly, Irene grabbed his hand and pulled him close, bringing her face right up to his.

“You’re handsome.”

His broad shoulders flinched at her words.

His purple eyes wavered, unable to grasp the situation, as they took in the sight of Irene smiling brightly at him.

He had seen Irene smile many times before, but it was the first time seeing her smile so purely, without a trace of anything else.

Come to think of it… her smile really is pretty.

“You’re really handsome.”

“…”

The warm, soft touch on his cheek brought his wandering consciousness back to reality.

Irene kneaded his cheek as if it were a toy, murmuring:

“I think you’d look even more handsome if you smiled… why don’t you smile?”

“…What?”

“Even just a little smile would be nice…”

Kalos stared at her in disbelief at her sudden words, but Irene paid no mind and continued touching his cheek.

“Smile for me.”

Speaking so informally too.

He could only let out a hollow laugh at her completely different behavior, doubting if this was even the same person who used to tremble and avoid eye contact with him.

“This is absurd.”

If she were in her right mind he would have said something, but he couldn’t since she was intoxicated by Alegria.

If she were in her right mind, she wouldn’t have said such things in the first place.

It would be best to just ignore this and leave.

Kalos forcibly removed Irene’s hand that was still caressing his face and laid her down on the bed.

“Stop this nonsense and go to sleep.”

“…Are you leaving?”

“Yes.”

Finding it amusing that he was earnestly answering her nonsensical words, Kalos turned away with a wry smile.

But once again, he couldn’t take a single step.

“I’m scared…”

Turning back, he saw Irene curled up under the blanket, shivering.

“The demon… the demon will come for me.”

“…”

“It’s coming to kill me…”

The word “demon” strangely pierced his heart, perhaps because humans often called the inhabitants of the underground world demons.

He had been called that many times himself.

And… because he was actually going to kill Irene.

“…”

So even though Kalos felt pity for the trembling Irene, he didn’t dare reach out to her.

How could someone like him comfort her?

“I’m scared, I’m scared…”

“…”

But he couldn’t just leave Irene like this.

Kalos sat by the bed and gently patted her back through the thick blanket as she curled up shivering.

“There’s no need to be afraid.”

“…”

“There’s no need to be afraid.”

It was a clumsy attempt at comfort, but it was the best Kalos could do, having never comforted anyone in his life.

A more cliché phrase like “Don’t be afraid, I’ll stay by your side” did cross his mind.

But he didn’t say it out loud, since he was the very person Irene needed to be most wary of right now.

“…”

Fortunately, it seemed to have some effect, as her trembling shoulders gradually calmed.

Irene poked her head out from under the blanket like a turtle.

Her eyes were slightly red and wet, as if she had been crying.

A wave of sorrowful sympathy washed over him.

Kalos furrowed his brow as if he were the one who had cried, and gently wiped Irene’s damp eyes.

“Don’t cry.”

His deep voice was surprisingly gentle, even to his own surprise.

Irene seemed startled too, blinking slowly before grasping his hand that had wiped her tears with both of hers.

“I… want you to stay with me.”

“…”

“I’m scared to be alone… please stay with me.”

Did Irene know what she was saying right now?

Kalos could bet everything he had that she didn’t.

Tomorrow morning, when she woke up from the Alegria and recalled everything, she would surely regret this moment and kick the blankets in frustration.

She might not be able to look him in the eye out of embarrassment, and might even try to avoid him like before.

They had just started to close the distance between them, and that wouldn’t do.

Moreover, Kalos himself wasn’t keen on staying in her bedroom.

It would be disastrous if Irene happened to see his left leg.

So even though he thought he should firmly refuse…

“Please… stay with me.”

He couldn’t bring himself to reject her as she pleaded with tear-stained face, and nodded.

“Alright.”

*

Good heavens. Who knew Alegria had such side effects?

While inwardly cursing Abel for not telling her despite knowing, Jessie also blamed herself for her foolishness in trusting him.

“I’ll never trust him again.”

By now, the master should have left Miss in her bedroom and gone back.

Though she had been deceived by Abel, Jessie was also at fault for not properly taking care of Irene.

But knowing she would be scolded severely if she ran into Kalos, Jessie waited for some time before entering Irene’s bedroom.

She didn’t knock because she thought Irene would be asleep, intoxicated by Alegria anyway.

That thought was exactly right, but another problem arose.

“…!”

Kalos had not left yet.

That alone was startling, but when Jessie saw Kalos sleeping next to Irene, her jaw dropped.

How should I interpret this situation?

Her eyes darted around rapidly, faced with this unexpected scene.

‘I should leave for now.’

Thinking it would be a big problem if she woke Kalos, Jessie quietly closed the door and came out.

Just then, Dewey, who was coming to see Kalos, waved at her.

“Jessie! The master…!”

“Shh.”

Jessie hurriedly gestured for Dewey to be quiet.

Though confused, Dewey closed his mouth as Jessie instructed.

He approached quietly, making almost no sound, and asked in a very low voice.

“What’s going on?”

“The master and miss are sleeping together right now.”

Dewey’s eyes widened.

“What? How is that possible?”

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but it’s true.”

Jessie stepped aside from the door.

“You can see for yourself if you want. But if the master wakes up, I’m not taking responsibility.”

“…”

Imagining Kalos in a bad mood right after waking up, Dewey waved his hands in refusal.

“No thanks. I don’t think you’d lie about something like this… Well, if the two of them are getting along so well, that’s a good thing.”

Dewey soon broke into a bright smile.

“I hope all the flowers bloom soon and the curse on the master is lifted.”

“…”

Jessie’s expression suddenly darkened.

She glanced at the tightly closed door and asked Dewey in a small voice.

“When all the flowers on the tattoo bloom… he’ll die, right?”

“That’s right. That’s what we found when we interpreted the curse, remember?”

“Right…”

As Jessie’s expression grew even darker, Dewey tilted his head and asked.

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing…”

I was just wondering if maybe the interpretation of the curse was wrong, if there was a chance Irene wouldn’t die.

And I was curious if to Dewey’s eyes, the reason Kalos was being nice to Irene seemed to be simply to make the flowers bloom.

No, I hoped it would seem that way for certain.

Then I could laugh it off as my own misunderstanding.

So I wouldn’t have to seriously worry about what to do, and could focus solely on making the flowers bloom.

…And Kalos could also break the curse with peace of mind.

“Jessie?”

“It’s nothing.”

Jessie swallowed the words she couldn’t bring herself to say and smiled.

There might come a time when she would have to speak up, but now was not that time.

“I just had a strange thought and asked, don’t worry about it.”

*

“Ughh…”

As soon as she regained consciousness, Irene felt a terrible headache and buried her face in the pillow.

The pain was like being repeatedly punched in the head, making it difficult to even open her eyes.

On top of that, her throat was so dry that she desperately craved a sip of water.

There should be a water jug on the nightstand.

Irene managed to raise her upper body and reached out towards the nightstand with her eyes still closed, fumbling around.

Perhaps finding her pitiful, someone placed a cup in her hand.

“Ah, thank you, Jessie.”

Assuming it was Jessie who had given it to her, Irene thanked her briefly and drank the water.

As she drank the cool, sweet water, her terrible headache subsided a bit.

“…!”

Finally able to open her eyes, Irene froze as she met purple eyes staring back at her.

Plop, the honey water spilled from the cup she dropped, soaking the blanket.

“It seems you’ve come to your senses.”

At the chilling voice piercing her eardrums, Irene snapped back to reality, pressing her back against the headboard as she looked around.

A familiar scene. This was indeed her bedroom.

But why was Kalos here, looking disheveled as if he had just woken up after sleeping here?

Surely not…

“Did you… sleep here last night?”

Kalos tilted his head slightly.

“You don’t remember anything?”

At his meaningful response that clearly implied something had happened, Irene’s eyes rolled anxiously.

She clutched the wet blanket tightly as she tried to retrace her memories.

She remembered eating the red fruit called Alegria that Abel had given her, but couldn’t recall anything that happened after that.

Could there have been poison in that fruit, causing her to lose consciousness after eating it?

No, that can’t be. Jessie said it was okay to eat.

And Kalos also said that although Abel was mischievous, he wouldn’t harm her, so that certainly wasn’t it.

“It seems you don’t remember.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize.”

Kalos continued in a light tone, as if joking.

“You just said you were scared to be alone and asked me to stay with you, so I did.”

“You’d look even more handsome if you smiled… why don’t you smile?”

“…What?”

“Even just a little smile would be nice…”

“!”

As if Kalos’s words were a trigger, memories she had forgotten came flooding back, and Irene’s eyes widened beyond their limit.

Kalos smiled, a rare sight.

“It seems you remember everything now.”

“…”

Irene squeezed her eyes shut, desperately holding back the urge to scream.

She felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.