While Jessie was changing Irene’s clothes, Kalos changed in the reception room adjoining the bedroom.

Of course, Dewey attended to his dressing.

“……”

Throughout his service, Dewey’s expression was serious. He also looked troubled.

“What’s wrong?”

At Kalos’s question, Dewey hesitated for a moment, then carefully asked while watching his reaction.

“Um, about the young lady… Will you keep her in your bedroom?”

Kalos nodded as he buttoned up to his neck.

“Probably.”

“Until when?”

“Well. For now, I plan to keep her here until it’s certain that Dale hasn’t done anything else strange. That way, I can respond immediately if anything happens.”

That made sense. It was perfectly logical.

If Dewey hadn’t known anything, he would have let it go at this point, but knowing Kalos’s feelings for Irene, he couldn’t.

So he carefully asked again.

“Then where will you sleep during that time, Master?”

Kalos answered as if it was obvious.

“Of course, I’ll sleep in the same bedroom with her.”

“What?!”

When Dewey was startled by this, Kalos looked at him strangely.

Dewey rarely stammered.

“H-how can you share a bedroom with the young lady? That’s impossible. You, you can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

Because you like the young lady, Master!

Even putting uninterested men and women in the same room could lead to trouble, but if a man and woman who liked each other were in the same room, it was clear what might happen.

Not only giving her your heart, but also your body?

No! I must prevent such a thing from happening at all costs!

Dewey’s sense of duty and loyalty flared up unnecessarily.

But Dewey couldn’t say anything.

“Kalos, are you here?”

It was because Abel had come looking for him.

Why did he have to come at this timing?

“You’ve come.”

While inwardly resenting Abel, Dewey greeted him with a smile on the outside.

Abel didn’t even look at Dewey and went straight to Kalos to ask.

“Is your hand alright?”

Instead of answering, Kalos showed his now-healed hand.

Seeing the hand with only faint traces of being bitten, Abel finally seemed relieved and stroked his chest.

“Thank goodness. I was worried that if your power had weakened, your healing ability might have weakened too, but I’m really glad.”

“You worried needlessly.”

“Look who’s talking.”

Abel clicked his tongue and sat on the sofa.

“So what are you going to do now?”

And he asked what he hadn’t been able to ask earlier.

“It seems that demon was being controlled by someone… Will it be alright? If Dale controlled it, it means his influence has reached even here, Esper Castle.”

“Even if it’s not alright, there’s nothing we can do.”

Kalos answered indifferently as he sat across from Abel.

“We’ll have to strengthen security as much as possible and weed out anything touched by Dale’s influence.”

“True. We can’t abandon Esper Castle and run away…”

Abel sighed deeply and sank deep into the sofa backrest.

“That Dale, really. I knew he was stubborn, but I didn’t know it was to this extent. How many times have I told him it wasn’t your fault Aimee died, but he won’t listen at all.”

Aimee Barans.

Dale’s twin sister and the cause of the rift between Kalos and Dale.

Usually, the lords of the underground are alone, but strangely, Dale, the lord of Pero, had a twin sister.

As it was unprecedented, everyone thought there must be some mistake at first, but the moment they saw Dale and Aimee together, they had to acknowledge they were twins.

Not only did they look alike as if their genders had been switched, but the nature of their mana was also identical.

Since the nature of mana couldn’t be the same unless they were blood relatives or in very special cases, everyone accepted that Aimee was Dale’s twin sister.

Perhaps because she was a special existence and the twin sister of a lord, Aimee rose to fame in the underground world.

Usually, when someone becomes this famous, people who envy and are jealous appear, but Aimee was different.

Her personality was bright and cheerful, and she was full of warmth, so most people liked her.

Kalos too.

Of course, he liked her as a cute little sister, not as a woman.

“Brother, I like you!”

…So when Aimee confessed, he was very flustered.

“……”

Suddenly recalling what happened with Aimee, Kalos rubbed his throbbing forehead.

“Are you alright, Master?”

When Dewey asked worriedly, Kalos waved his hand in response.

Then he looked at Abel and asked.

“Did you sense Dale’s energy when Yomi was being controlled?”

Abel thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“No. I only sensed your energy.”

Of course, that would be the case.

Because Kalos had opened his power to activate the Poyeon magic circle, it was full of his power, so there was no room to sense any other energy.

Still, he asked just in case, but it didn’t deviate from his expectations.

Yet, the reason he was certain that the culprit who controlled Yomi was Dale was not only because Dale was the only one who would do such a thing, but also because…

As a lord of the underground, Dale’s ability was precisely ‘Puppet Show’.

Dale could control anyone he attached mana threads to as he pleased.

It was clear that he had used this ability to control Yomi and make her attack Kalos.

Abel suggested.

“How about sending a letter saying such an incident happened in Pero? It’s not just anywhere, but in your territory, Esper Castle, so I think you can at least ask about it.”

Kalos shook his head.

“If we send such a letter without any evidence, they’ll take it as a declaration of war.”

The relationship between Pero and Esper was already as precarious as cracked glass on the verge of breaking since Dale cursed Kalos.

If they provoked unnecessarily and war broke out, the Esper territory would suffer the greatest damage.

Unlike Dale, Kalos couldn’t return to the underground world.

So they had to prevent war at all costs.

“Geez, how frustrating.”

Just as Abel was sighing deeply and scratching his head, Jessie came with a flushed face.

“I have something to report, Master.”

Jessie said this while glancing at Abel.

It meant she had content that was difficult to say in his presence.

“Abel. Go out for a moment.”

At this, Kalos issued an order of expulsion disguised as a request, but Abel wasn’t one to take it at face value.

“Why are you excluding only me again?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then speak where I am.”

Abel turned to Jessie.

“Is it about Esper territory or top secret?”

“No. It’s not that, but……”

Unable to lie to the lord’s question, Jessie trailed off.

Abel crossed his arms and sank deep into the sofa backrest.

“Then it doesn’t matter if I hear it. Just say it.”

“……”

As Abel showed a stubborn attitude as if he absolutely wouldn’t get up, Jessie looked at Kalos awkwardly.

“……”

Kalos looked at Abel with very annoyed eyes, then gestured to Jessie to just speak.

Jessie carefully began to speak while watching Abel’s reaction.

“Well… the flower has bloomed.”

Kalos’s eyes widened as he immediately understood that the flower Jessie was talking about was the flower on the flower branch tattoo engraved on Irene’s back.

Dewey also understood right away and looked at Jessie in surprise.

“Huh? Flower? What flower?”

Meanwhile, Abel asked in confusion, but no one paid attention to him.

Kalos stood up abruptly and asked Jessie again.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. I just confirmed it with my own eyes.”

“……”

Jessie wouldn’t lie, so the flower must have bloomed, but it was hard to believe.

I need to check with my own eyes.

Kalos immediately headed to the bedroom where Irene was.

*

“Ah, that flower is that flower!”

Abel, who only realized after Kalos left, exclaimed and confirmed with Dewey who was standing blankly.

“Right? It’s the flower that bloomed on the flower branch tattoo engraved on that woman’s back, right?”

Dewey nodded awkwardly with a smile.

What was there to hide when everything had already been revealed?

“Is that so?”

Abel, having confirmed with Dewey, got up with a grin.

“I should see for myself what this rumored flower branch tattoo looks like.”

And he grabbed the doorknob connected to Kalos’s bedroom.

Click−.

“Huh?”

But the door was firmly locked from the inside.

*

“……”

Kalos’s expression was subtle as he returned to the reception room after checking the flower branch tattoo engraved on Irene’s back, having locked the door in advance anticipating Abel’s interference.

He didn’t know what state it was in, but one thing was certain – he didn’t look happy.

With this, there were 5 flowers bloomed on the flower branch tattoo, and if just 2 more bloomed, he could break the cursed curse and return to the underground world.

Given the rate at which the flowers had been blooming so far, there was a very high possibility that the remaining two could bloom within this year.

It was such a hopeful and good situation, so why wasn’t he rejoicing?

“……”

“……”

Jessie and Dewey seemed to know the reason, so they quietly exchanged glances.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look like that?”

Meanwhile, Abel, who still didn’t know anything, asked curiously.

“Wasn’t a flower blooming on the flower branch tattoo?”

“…That’s right.”

“Then why are you making a face like you’ve eaten shit?”

Kalos frowned at the rather crude expression and looked at Abel.

“I’m not.”

“You are. Should I find you a mirror if you don’t believe me?”

As Abel acted as if he was about to go look for a mirror right away, Kalos clicked his tongue and said it was fine.

Then he stroked his dry cheek. He didn’t know if he was really making such an expression, but it was true that he wasn’t very pleased.

‘Why?’

Why haven’t I been able to purely rejoice at the flowers blooming since last time?

He kept pondering, but the question he still couldn’t find an answer to bothered him like a thorn stuck in his throat.

“By the way. How did that woman read the runes?”

Abel brought up the question he had momentarily forgotten.

“It’s strange that she activated the Poyeon magic circle too. Only you, the lord of Esper territory, can do that, right?”

Knowing the answer to this part, Kalos replied immediately.

“My power is sealed in her body, so she was able to activate the magic circle.”

“Ah, right. That’s true. Then what about the runes? Do you know why that happened too?”

Instead of answering, Kalos asked Dewey and Jessie.

“Has she ever learned runes?”

Jessie answered.

“No. The young lady has never learned runes. As proof, when she first saw the magic circle, she couldn’t recognize the runes at all.”

“Could it be this?”

Abel joined the conversation again.

“Since she awakened your power enough to activate the magic circle directly, did she also gain the knowledge imbued in it?”