‘Don’t overthink it. Just focus on the immediate solution in front of you.’

Adelheit gripped the dagger in her hand tightly. She carefully brought the blade to Valentin’s forearm. The terrifying green medicine smeared on the sharp point cautiously pierced his skin.

Surprisingly, the sharp edge easily penetrated his flesh.

“……Uh, huh…….”

At that moment, Valentin’s back twitched suddenly. Startled, Adelheit quickly raised her head, but no matter how long she waited, there was no sign of him waking up. It seemed like an almost instinctive rejection.

“…….”

Adelheit swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth. With some effort, she made a shallow and thin cut. She was terrified of causing Valentin irreversible harm. Cold sweat had already formed on her forehead.

As she applied more pressure to the handle, the blood that had been barely surfacing from the wound suddenly flowed out.

“Gasp……!”

Simultaneously, black smoke billowed from the wound. Adelheit hastily covered her nose with her sleeve. She sneezed repeatedly, unable to hold back. The toxic smoke brought tears streaming down her face.

‘That smell…’

It was like inhaling ashes. Was this what the smell of a burnt field or the midst of a battlefield burning bodies was like? It felt as though death itself had risen.

Overwhelmed by the pungent, spicy scent, Adelheit struggled to remove the blade from Valentin’s arm. His face looked even paler than before.

‘Something terribly wrong has happened.’

She threw the bloodied knife aside and hurried to a bronze basin filled with water. Although she knew she needed to check the mirror, her priority was to wash off the stinging sensation from her face. After wiping her face several times, she turned to the dressing table’s mirror.

Suddenly, a chill wind blew through the room, extinguishing all the candles.

“…….”

The room grew considerably darker. With no light from the moon, shrouded by clouds, the room was pitch black. The pungent smoke that had disoriented her had also vanished. Adelheit hesitantly stepped backward.

“Your Grace?”

There was no response. Valentin on the bed remained motionless, not reacting to her call. As Adelheit began to relax, thinking Padre’s words were coming true and Valentin wouldn’t wake up, she glanced back at the mirror but could only see her tear-streaked face. She looked very pale and tired. She wiped off the remaining moisture from her face and looked again.

That’s when she realized Valentin was no longer on the bed.

“What the……”

Startled, Adelheit turned around. The person who was definitely there just moments ago had disappeared, as if he had never existed. If not for the impression of his body on the bed, Adelheit might have thought she was dreaming.

Either this was a terrible prank or something far beyond her understanding.

Her legs trembled uncontrollably. Too shocked to scream or make a coherent decision, she thought of escaping the room…

‘But escape to where?’

There was nowhere safe to go. Realizing this, her legs stiffened like logs. She barely took a few steps before feeling weak and about to collapse.

Suddenly, a chilling touch brushed the back of her neck. Frozen, Adelheit’s tear-filled eyes widened in shock.

Slowly emerging from the darkness, fingers crept over her lips.

“Ahhh…….”
Adelheit felt a scream rising in her throat, but it turned into a muffled moan in her mouth, unable to escape. The hand that covered her mouth felt like steel – firm, cruel, and chillingly cold, unlike any human’s.

“…….”

Twisting her body to see who had grabbed her, Adelheit found herself forcefully embraced, her chest pressed down by a brutish arm. Her upper body bent forward over the dressing table under the oppressive force.

Items of Morrig’s relics, cosmetics, and pearl earrings scattered to the floor as a bottle of perfume shattered at her feet, releasing a strong scent of crushed grass.

“…….”

Adelheit turned her head to look at the mirror. What pinned her down was a massive shadow, indescribable as anything else. It didn’t have the shape of a person, but rather seemed like gathered smoke dispersing.

Suddenly, she felt a breath on her back. It crawled up her sunken spine, past her nape to her temples. Adelheit gasped for air, her shoulders heaving as if she had just finished a sprint.

Was it because her eyes had adjusted to the dark? The shadow formed a straight nose, cheeks, neck, shoulders, and waist.

It – that thing – was trembling violently, as if in agony.

That thing. That very thing.

It looked in pain, and yet, it was unfairly beguiling and beautiful. Twisted brows, clenched lips, elegant jawline – thick beads of sweat fell from it, pitter-patter onto the dressing table. It writhed, letting out long, agonized groans.

“Kr, ugh, ugh…….”