After observing Carlein’s delicate and splendid facial features, Latil comfortably rolled over to face him directly.

‘I shouldn’t get him drunk, should I? His body is weak.’

It was at that moment.

Carlein’s voice could be heard. Latil’s eyes widened, and she swiftly turned her head. However, Carlein was still asleep.

‘Did I just hear Carlein’s inner thoughts? Did I hear them because his mental strength is weak in his sleep?’

It would be certain if she heard it once more. But no other sounds came. Out of spite, Latil tugged slightly at Carlein’s hair.

That’s when a sight she had never seen before unfolded in front of Latil.

At that moment.

Aini was in bed, constantly pulling her blanket close and letting go.

During the day, she had told her father that Heum had come to find her, but he did not believe her.

You seem to be seeing things because you’re struggling.

Her father comforted her by patting her shoulder. For a moment, he looked at her with sad eyes, then pulled her into a tight hug and made a promise.

Just as much as you’re suffering now, that Hyacinth will suffer later. If you can endure this moment well, you’ll have everything.

Even though she explained that she had not seen things, that there were footprints on the grass, her father just looked at her with sad eyes.

It was the same when she told her closest friend and maid, Redler, about this.

But Your Majesty, I was by your side the entire time, right? No one really came.

Aini felt suffocated, but people just thought she was strange. In the end, Aini, exhausted as night fell, lay down in bed.

I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, Your Majesty.

Although Redler didn’t believe the story about Heum, she seemed worried about Aini. She held her hand until she fell asleep.

Thanks to this, Aini was able to forget about Heum for a moment and fall asleep. But how much time had passed? A familiar song came from somewhere, waking her from her sleep.

There was no one in the room since Redler had left after Aini fell asleep. Aini could not call out to Redler. She just clung to her blanket, trembling.

‘It’s Heum’s voice.’

This was the song that Heum used to sing for Aini. A song sung by a dead person. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to come from inside the room.

While fidgeting with her blanket, Aini carefully got up and went out to the corridor.

Two guards were standing like a steel wall in front of her room. When Aini came out, they promptly and respectfully asked,

“Are you going for a walk, Your Majesty?”

“We will accompany you.”

Instead of replying, Aini looked in the direction where the song was coming from and asked,

“Do you hear this sound?”

The guards were confused and asked back, “Pardon?”

“A song. A song coming from afar.”

When Aini whispered this in a small voice, the guards looked even more baffled. Both seemed unable to hear any sound.

No, when they saw Aini looking at the corridor with a scared expression, they felt a chill down their spines and exchanged glances.

‘It can only be heard by me.’

Instead of speaking about the sound of the song to them, Aini simply instructed that she would go for a walk and only one escort should follow her.

Even if they couldn’t hear it, she could, and she planned to go towards the source of the sound.

“I’ll follow you.”

At Aini’s request, one of the escorts stepped forward. But after a few steps, the sound of the song abruptly stopped. They stood in place and waited a bit more, but they didn’t hear the song again.

“I want to walk alone.”

Aini, suspecting, sent the escort back and tried moving alone. Then, the song picked up again.

‘So it’s asking me to come alone.’

Aini became more afraid, but she did her best to calm herself.

‘If this is Hyewum’s doing, he wouldn’t be a threat to me. He wouldn’t harm me.’

Remembering Hyewum, who was always kind to her, Aini plucked up the courage and walked towards the source of the sound.

It was an unused empty room, with the door slightly open. As if inviting her inside.

Aini took a deep breath and pushed the door.

The black sky was moving. The sound of wings flapping… the sound of the wind… the sky continued to sway in multiple directions.

‘Crows.’

Latil realized that the black sky was a flock of crows. The crows covered the entire sky, making everything look black.

‘What the hell is this…?’

In a field that should be green with grass, bodies were rolling on the ground. But they were strange bodies, they didn’t look like they had just died.

Around them, hundreds of people in white uniforms surrounded them layer by layer.

‘It’s a uniform I’ve never seen before.’

Latil was wary of them, but they didn’t even look in Latil’s direction. Even when a person suddenly appears, the attention would naturally be drawn, but it was as if Latil wasn’t there.

‘Is it an illusion? Perhaps… Carlein’s dream?’

The last thing she heard was Carlein’s innermost feelings, so it was a possible story. As soon as she thought about it, a pair of a man and woman entered Latil’s view.

‘Carlein!’

Latil recognized the man’s face and was surprised. The man was Carlein. Carlein with slightly different hair length than now. His face was the same but his hair was longer.

‘So it’s recent?’

The woman crying and holding Carlein was a woman she had never seen before. A very beautiful woman with red hair and green eyes. So beautiful that she didn’t even look like a person.

The two of them together looked like a pair of paintings.

“You must live.”

However, the situation didn’t seem good, the woman spoke sadly while caressing Carlein’s face, and Carlein bowed his head and hugged the woman.

“You have to take me with you. I will be with you even unto death. Please take me with you.”

‘Carlein also cries…’

Seeing him, who almost had no change in expression, cry his heart out made Latil’s heart pound strangely.

She didn’t know who the redhead was, but she wished she would listen to Carlein’s request. But the woman shook her head.

“Live. Live and find me. I’ll be waiting for you ‘next time’.”

“By that time, there will be another knight by your side. You won’t even remember me.”

“You’re the only one for me.”

As the woman kissed Carlein, Carlein cried and shook his head vigorously. However, the woman was so strong that even though Carlein shook his head quite violently, the two did not part.

Moreover, it seemed as if a strange power was embedded in the woman’s kiss, Carlein struggled to hold onto the woman, but his hands were gradually losing strength.

It looked like he was being forced to sleep.

When Carlein completely fell asleep, the woman laid him down, kissed him on the forehead, and slowly got up. The woman who got up didn’t look sad or distressed as before.

Then, as if waiting for her farewell, a female knight, whose uniform pattern was slightly different from the others, drew a sword from her waist.

That was a signal, and hundreds of knights simultaneously drew their swords following her. The grating sound of it echoed creepily from all around.

At that moment, what appeared before Latil’s eyes was not the fight between the knights and the redhead woman, but Carlein’s tears.

‘So it was your dream after all.’

Carlein, who had a strong mental capacity, was in pain and fell into a nightmare as he fell asleep. It seemed that Latil had caught a glimpse of that nightmare for a moment.

Latil slowly extended her hand and wiped away his tears. Strangely, she felt heavyhearted.

‘Did the woman you loved die? …… Did you join the harem as if running away from the mundane world because the person you loved is dead?’