Adel hoped that her attitude felt light enough. She also wished Valentin would laugh it off and pass by as if he had just heard an amusing joke. However, Valentin only stared at her with eyes that held an incomprehensible meaning.

A slight blush appeared on Adel’s pale cheek. She desperately changed the subject.

“And, there’s something else I wanted to ask. About Grita.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized her mistake and turned even paler. Since it was a sensitive topic, she had intended to inquire in a gentler atmosphere…

But it was spilled milk. Valentin smoothly lifted his lips as she expected, but his eyes showed no sign of amusement.

“What about her?”

Struggling to choose her words carefully and realizing that whatever she said would sound strange, Adel finally opened her mouth.

“It’s about the attack Grita suffered. The governess seemed to think it was the work of the ‘Dragon of Bicheleven.'”

“So…”

“So… it’s just that… maybe, there might be…”

She swallowed the saliva gathered in her mouth. Glancing at Valentin, she noticed his lips forming a slightly more severe line.

“What do you think won’t happen?”

“Surely, it won’t be…”

“I didn’t say a word. Adel.”

He spoke with a firm tone, blinking his eyes slowly. Adel realized there was no way to hear the truth unless she directly asked him. She looked up at Valentin with concern.

“You didn’t… attack Grita, right?”

She realized that she was wishing more desperately for a ‘no’ answer than she thought. Since Valentin became aware of the fact that he was the Dragon of Bicheleven, her greatest fear had been exactly this.

If he was the monster that harmed Grita, he was an entity that should never be trusted. Even if he pretended to be mad for her, even if he poured out the warm affection she so desperately wanted.

“Well…”

Valentin laughed, revealing that he found her question very interesting. It was an extremely cold smile, unfamiliar to Adel.

“How does it sound?”

Adel pondered deeply. The only thing that could break through Morrig’s barrier was the ‘shadow.’ However, anything with power could overcome the breached barrier.

However, the sight of a monster had never been witnessed. Even considering the relatively small number of residents in Ansgar Castle compared to its scale, it was unnatural.

Even if a monster died, it left behind a ‘corpse,’ and that ‘corpse’ had to be reported to the church authorities. It couldn’t be completely ruled out that a negligent servant missed the report.
Above all, the most significant issue was that the curse had persisted until now. This meant that there was a high probability that the monster had not died and was still prowling in the vicinity. And in that case, most likely…

Adel met Valentin’s persistent gaze without avoiding it.

“I heard that monsters obey your commands.”

He let out a short laugh, but it didn’t sound pleasant at all. Adel gathered the last bit of courage she had.

“Have you ever given orders to the monsters to harm Grita?”

“Valentin.”

“Yes?”

“I told you to call me ‘Beur.’ If you don’t want to be suspected.”

“…”

“And what did you say… Did you attack Adel’s governess? Answer, if it’s not true.”

“Is that so?”

Adel hoped her voice didn’t sound too suspicious. However, she felt like a failure from the moment she spoke.

“The curse that took Grita’s voice hasn’t weakened. Is there a chance that another monster wandering around might lose control? If that happens…”

“Adel.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know.”

The eyes that still held a reasonable warmth turned cold. Twisting his lips, he spoke again.

“What’s important to me is that without discussing anything, now I’m being asked if I attacked your ma…”

“That, that’s…”

“If I had moved, I wouldn’t have bothered with such a cumbersome… suffocation.”

Adel took a short breath. The calmness in his tone felt chilling. She managed to release her frozen lips.

“If you felt uncomfortable, I apologize.”

“Anyone… can’t feel good in a situation where they’re suspected by their partner.”

“Partner?”

“If that’s how you thought of my ignorance.”

“Well.”

“Wa, are you really going to… lend me your body so readily? Without offering your heart?”

As he teasingly spoke, Adel’s small face turned bright red.

“Wh-where did you learn such words?”

“I wonder.”

He grabbed Adel’s chin and tilted her head. Leaning down to her ear, he softly whispered.

“Do you know what kind of… thoughts I have when I see you?”

“…”

“When the sun sets… come to me immediately.”

“Why, why…”

“So that I can recover the memories of this ‘body’ as soon as possible? If that’s the case, frequent contact with a close person is often necessary. For example, a wife-like…”

Adel blinked. Was close contact really important? If so, why hadn’t he mentioned it until now? As Adel raised her head to ask again, he released her chin and stepped back.

Simultaneously, a knocking sound similar to a door being knocked echoed.

“Come in.”