“But why do you look so pale? Don’t stand, sit down.”

“If you order so.”

Ibert, shyly smiling, sat on the chair indicated by Lasillia.

But suddenly, her body tilted to the side.

“Lady!”

“Piiing!”
Pippi asked about Ibert’s skirt as it seemed to be falling under the chair. Fluttering its wings, Pippi tried to lift Ibert, but unfortunately, Pippi was too small.

Lasillia, who had risen from her seat, held onto Ibert.

“You did well, Pippi. Lady should lie down completely.”

“Yes? Lie down? Why would you say that, Your Majesty? I have no reason to lie down.”

Ibert blinked with a puzzled expression. Besides looking extremely pale, there seemed to be nothing else wrong.

“Piiing…….,” Pippi circled around Ibert, sensing that something might be wrong.

“Don’t stand up suddenly, and it’s better not to fall again. Did you suddenly feel dizzy?”

“Me? I fell? Oh… Did I?”

Ibert continued to nod her head, looking oblivious.

“I think it’s better for the Lady to lie down. Change your clothes and rest. I will go meet Her Majesty… ….”

Suddenly, Lasillia closed her mouth.

In her haste to hold Ibert, she had let go of the paper she was holding in her hand carelessly.

As the papers scattered, the one at the bottom became visible.

Unlike the first few neatly and densely written pages, the last page had messy handwriting, and the spacing between lines was uneven.

However, what caught Lasillia’s eye was the color of the letters.

“…….,”

Lasillia bent down and picked up the last page.

“Lady, how did you get this wound?”

Lasillia asked Ibert again.

With a sunny smile, Ibert tilted her head.

“I don’t really know, Your Majesty. It just seems like a scratch.”

“Could this be a wound from writing on this paper?”

“Huh…? Did I? I’m not sure.”

“Think about it. Did you bleed a lot from the wound?”

“Well, um……”

It was impossible to make out the last few characters. Although it seemed like they were scribbled in a messy manner, they might not even be characters.

Moreover, the ink color was different.

Strangely, the characters with a dull brownish hue seemed to be mixed with not just ink but also blood.

“Look here. Do you remember how you wrote these characters?”

“Ah……”

As Lasillia extended the last page, Ibert blinked as if she was about to remember something.

“Ah…? Ah……,”

“Lady!”

“Pii!”

Lasillia urgently grabbed Ibert. Pippi pulled on Ibert’s cuff from the side.

Ibert, who had been looking at the paper, was now flipping her finger over the wound on her back of the hand.

Drip, drip.

As the wound opened, blood began to flow. Ibert, with vacant eyes, looked at Lasillia and began to write something on her dress with her finger soaked in blood.

“Stop it, Lady! What are you doing?”

Lasillia tried to hold her arm, but she couldn’t stop it. Ibert, with a distressed expression, continued to draw an unfamiliar pattern on the hem of her dress with her fingers soaked in blood.

“I don’t know… Your Majesty. I can’t stop… I can’t stop. Why…”

Slish.
Ivett’s dress fluttered. It began to tremble as if something was seeping out.

“Piiing!”

Whoosh! Pippi spat flames toward Ivett’s dress.

“Pippi!”

Whoosh!

Pippi, disregarding Lasillia’s shouts, spat flames again.

Ivett’s dress caught fire.

“Piiing, Piiing!”

Pippi shouted not to put out the fire.

“… Fine. It seems like it should be this way.”

Lasillia stopped moving and looked at the burning dress.

In the white flames created by Pippi, a dark shadow loomed.

Keeeuk.

Though it made a small sound, it was undoubtedly the cry of a demon. As the demons, one by one, stretched out their heads, the place where they burned was Ivett’s dress.

“Lady…”

Lasillia looked at Ivett. Ivett, with widened eyes due to shock, met Lasillia’s gaze.

“Your Majesty, I… Why did I… Hngh.”

Ivett closed her eyes and collapsed.

“Lady!”

In that short moment, her face became even more haggard, and she couldn’t open her eyes again.

“I think we can consider it this way.”

Lasillia’s voice was filled with reality.

Three shadow knights, Chief Knight of the Imperial Guard, and even two high-level magicians from the Mage Guild were present.

Although it was not uncommon for people to gather in a room, it looked a bit unusual for those who were usually scattered.

However, for the Imperial Guard and the shadow knights, it was more unfamiliar to see Rescal sitting across from Lasillia rather than sitting next to her, making up excuses or sitting close to her.

Meanwhile, Dechan opened his mouth with difficulty.

It was a conclusion drawn from the recent incident.

“Those who have once contacted demons can reconnect in the future.”

It was assumed that Lady Schreiden, who had her consciousness taken away before, was moved to draw a summoning circle to call demons.

“Oh, so…”

“Ugh…”

As the magicians made an indistinct sound, Serben’s face stiffened.

“Then I also…”

Almost inaudibly, Rescal turned to Serben and asked, “Can you?”

“It’s not just about drawing a picture; it wouldn’t turn into a summoning circle. She must need the power to operate the magic, be it mana or something else. Did the lady have such power?”

The answer came from Lasillia.

“It seems like she borrowed the vitality of humans.”

At those words, the faces of the magicians turned pale.

“No, that’s…”

“Eerie…”

After sending a quiet signal to the magicians to remain silent, Lyan did not speak again.

In the quiet room, Lasillia’s voice echoed once more.