Kalos fiddled with the extinguished magic communication ring, recalling the Emperor’s words.

“The person to be presented as the false culprit in the Powder Festival incident is Baron Duglo Eklas. Upon investigation, it appears he has a great interest in black magic and magical beasts.”

“He visited the Esper territory during this Powder Festival, but fortunately left the territory just before the magical beast riot broke out, suffering no damage.”

The main Powder Festival began from the late evening when the powder ceremony took place.

But to have left the Esper territory even before the magical beast riot broke out.

It wasn’t something a person who came from afar to see the Powder Festival would do.

Unless there was a very special reason.

“We plan to dig into that part to frame Baron Eklas as the culprit, and present false evidence.”

The Emperor seemed to have the same thought, as he pointed out that part.

No, maybe it was the Empress who thought of it.

“That alone might not be enough to convince the temple and the imperial citizens. There might be talk of framing him.”

The Emperor continued very cautiously.

“So we’ll need a witness… But if we put forward just anyone, there might be talk, and the possibility of the fake culprit being exposed. So I was hoping you could be the witness yourself, Your Lordship.”

It was annoying, but every word made sense.

Moreover, Kalos wanted this matter to be resolved quickly and smoothly more than anyone else.

Since he had asked for a fake culprit to be created first, it was right to accept the Emperor’s request even if he didn’t like it.

“I’ll think about it.”

However, the reason Kalos reserved his answer was because the Empress had intervened in this matter.

From the Empress seemingly waiting to put forward Baron Eklas as the fake culprit, to his alibi being too perfect to become a fake culprit, to the missing letter sent by Jerdin, there were more than one or two things that bothered him.

‘Is she trying to somehow call me to the capital with these tricks?’

During the New Year’s Festival, he thought they would invite Kalos along when inviting Irene, but it seems the Empress thought that alone wasn’t enough.

Although it was somewhat irritating, it would be fortunate if that was the only reason.

The problem was that given the Empress’s personality, there was a very high possibility that she had other schemes in mind.

Whether the Empress really had other schemes, and if so, what they were – he didn’t want to move at all until he found out.

On the other hand, he also thought about moving as the Empress wanted, since he couldn’t avoid it forever.

There was also a saying that to catch an ogre, one must enter the ogre’s den.

“…”

Once all the flowers bloom and the curse is lifted, he would return to the underground world anyway, so did he really need to engage in an all-out war with the Empress?

Not knowing when all the flowers would bloom, and since the Empress could keep bothering him, should he settle this clearly now?

“…This is giving me a headache.”

As it was difficult to make a decision either way, Kalos let out a deep sigh and pressed his aching head.

Amidst all this, the image of Irene looking at him with a face that seemed about to burst into tears kept coming to mind, making his head hurt even more.

*

Thump-.

Returning to Kalos’s bedroom, Irene collapsed in front of the closed door as if falling.

She didn’t know what state of mind she had returned in.

She only remembered Abel, and even Jessie, worriedly asking if she would be alright alone.

What answer she gave to that… she didn’t know.

Her mind was so full of the man named Kalos that she had no capacity to think of anything else.

Irene hugged her knees and buried her face in them.

She thought this might help her forget about Kalos a little, but it was a delusion.

Being in Kalos’s bedroom seemed to make her think of him even more.

‘Since when?’

Since when did she start liking that man?

From when he saved her when she was in danger of being burned at the stake for being accused of being a witch?

Or when he taught her table manners?

When he protected her without wavering like a deeply rooted tree despite the priests’ slander?

Or when they went out to see the Powder Festival together, and he kindly taught her about darts.

And when he appeared heroically to save her when she was in danger from the spider demon’s attack.

When he created a place for her to stay when she lost her parents and had nowhere to go, and so on.

Now that she thought about it carefully, there were too many occasions that could have made her like Kalos.

It was strange that she hadn’t noticed this fact until now.

‘No, I was pretending not to know.’

She had been constantly turning a blind eye because she didn’t want to realize these feelings, because it was obvious that only she would be hurt if she realized them.

Not even realizing her clothes were getting wet in the drizzle.

She had been deluding herself that if she kept ignoring it, it would disappear someday, which led to her feelings for him growing uncontrollably.

“…”

Could she still sort out her feelings for him if she tried now?

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with the flowers blooming, nothing else matters.”

…No, I must sort it out.

Because I know well, even without experiencing it, how painful a one-sided love with absolutely no possibility of change can be.

Irene firmly resolved and resolved again that she must sort out her feelings for Kalos no matter what.

The problem was that she didn’t know how to sort out these feelings.

But that man’s words that His Grace the Grand Duke of Esper would never abandon her.

Was it okay to believe them at face value?

“…”

Irene raised her head slightly and looked down at the hairpin she had received from Abel.

The hairpin was broken again, despite having just been beautifully repaired.

Abel was very sorry about this and said he would fix it again, but Irene refused.

Because she didn’t want to be involved with that man anymore.

Because she could no longer believe Abel’s words.

“…”

No, that man was untrustworthy from the beginning.

But Irene laughed bitterly, feeling foolish for having asked Abel about Kalos.

If she hadn’t gone to meet Abel in the first place, she wouldn’t have heard such words from Kalos.

…And I wouldn’t have realized my feelings either.

“…”

As her thoughts kept coming back in the same direction like a Möbius strip, her chest felt tight and she felt suffocated.

It was also because of the anxiety that Kalos might abandon her, which was filling her up to the top of her head.

‘Should I try to resolve this anxiety first?’

It seemed she wouldn’t be able to do anything else if she didn’t.

The most certain way was to ask Kalos himself, but she didn’t have the courage to ask even if her mouth was torn.

That’s why she went to ask Abel… but she never dreamed she would face such a worst-case scenario.

“There I go thinking about it again.”

By now, beyond frustration, she couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

The one fortunate thing was that she thought of an appropriate person who could solve this problem.

Whether that person would answer was another matter… but there was nothing to lose.

Irene stood up, smoothing out her crumpled skirt, and threw the broken hairpin into the trash bin before leaving the bedroom.

*

She had thought of an appropriate person, but where should she meet him?

She wanted to meet him as soon as possible, and she didn’t want to stay in Kalos’s bedroom any longer, so she came out impulsively, but it was a wrong choice.

She wanted to ask someone passing by, but she couldn’t because not even an ant was in sight.

Should I go back to the room and call Jessie?

…But I don’t want to go back to that man’s bedroom.

“…”

Standing on the landing between the third and fourth floors, Irene looked east.

It was the direction where her bedroom was.

She wondered how long she had to use Kalos’s bedroom.

…I should ask that person about this too when I ask him.

Because he would know better than Jessie.

The problem was where to find that person.

“…”

As Irene was stretching her neck over the railing to see if anyone was passing by, her eyes caught a dark blue head of hair.

Ah, it’s that man!

Luckily finding the person she wanted right away, Irene ran down the remaining stairs.

“Dewey!”

Fearing she might miss him, she called out loudly.

The man who had been walking steadily, showing only his back to Irene, stopped abruptly and turned his head.

“…!”

Only then confirming the man’s face, Irene flinched and stopped.

She had run over thinking it was surely Dewey based on just the hair color and build, but it wasn’t.

Irene smiled awkwardly, feeling a bit embarrassed for mistaking him even though they were supposedly identical twins.

“Ah, I made a mistake. I’m sorry, Sir Deuce.”

She had permission to call Jessie and Dewey just by their names without titles, but not Deuce.

She didn’t know his exact status, but seeing that he used a sword, he seemed to be a knight, so she added the appropriate title ‘Sir’.

“…”

Deuce looked at Irene with eyes that said she was annoying and irritating.

Wariness and hostility were also visible.

It didn’t seem like he was angry just because she had mistaken him for Dewey; Deuce had been wary and angry from the first time he saw Irene.

Moreover, it was hard to understand why he was so angry even after she apologized.

What on earth did I do wrong to him?

The anxiety dominating Irene’s body and mind transformed into irritation, arousing a strange courage.

“Why do you dislike me so much?”

Her mouth, emboldened, spilled out the truth that had been deep in her heart.

Irene belatedly realized she had made a mistake under the coldly pouring gaze, but it was already spilled milk.

“Did I do something wrong? If so, please tell me.”

Since it had come to this, might as well say everything she wanted to say.

“If it’s something I should apologize for, I will. We’ll keep running into each other living in the same castle, and I don’t want to maintain such an uncomfortable relationship.”

Irene subtly hinted that she would continue to stay in this castle.

If Deuce laughed or showed a similar reaction to these words, it would mean her words were wrong, so she was indirectly testing him.

“…”

Deuce silently looked down at Irene.

His expression hadn’t changed much from the beginning, but the hostility and wariness in his crimson eyes had softened a little.

Looking at him like this, he really does look exactly like Dewey.

If it weren’t for the monocle and his expression as cold as perpetual snow, she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.

More than that, since there wasn’t the reaction she had worried about, could Abel’s words be true?

Or does Deuce not know anything?

“I don’t dislike you.”

Irene, who had been pondering which it might be, doubted her ears at the nonchalant answer and asked again.

“You… don’t dislike me?”

Deuce nodded and added.

“To be precise, it’s not that I dislike you, but that I dislike humans themselves.”

Irene tilted her head.

“What do you mean? You’re human too, how can you dislike humans?”

Deuce’s lips, which had been forming a straight line, loosened into a bitter smile.

“I’m not human.”

What?

“To be precise again, I’ve never been treated as human. So don’t think of me as human either.”