“A way to escape.”

“It’s the escape route prepared by the young lord.”

Grita whispered, tense as if someone might hear. She was shrinking into herself, occasionally startled by the sound of footsteps in the distance, stretching out her neck. Adele looked at her with astonished eyes.

“The young lord… You mean Oscar, right now?”

“Yes. He said he would help us. He told me he would secretly prepare a carriage for us a week from now, at night.”

“Grita!”

At Adele’s sharp voice, Grita turned pale. She brought her hand close to Adele’s lips, making shushing sounds. Adele barely managed to subdue her bewilderment.

“Knowing how much I despise him… How could you think of joining hands with him?”

“That’s not important. Please, milady. It’s more urgent to leave this place as soon as possible, even if it’s just a day earlier.”

“…”

“If I can get you out of this quagmire, I can use anyone. It’s not like we’ll see him again after leaving Ansgar anyway.”

“…”

“The wagon he prepared for us will take us to the border of Vitzleben. I’ve saved up some travel money, so from there, we can take a hired carriage.”

“A hired carriage…”

Adele barely managed to exhale her suppressed breath. It was not only Grita who was acting hastily, unable to calm down, but even the plan itself was flimsy when carefully considered.

Two women from the women’s quarters setting out on a journey without an escort? With bandits and monsters swarming everywhere? This was truly a case of running towards a cliff to avoid a carriage.

However, there was an irresistible force in Grita’s desperation. Adele asked, somewhat giving up.

“Alright. Let’s say we leave. Even if we succeed, where on earth are we going to stay?”

“Go and stay at the grand cathedral in Pragmana or Falkenheim. That’s the only place. Even if it’s ‘that thing,’ it won’t be able to chase after us there.”

“Don’t tell me, Grita. You still think the Grand Duke is Vitzleben’s dra-”

“Shh, shh!”

Adele’s mouth was forcibly covered once again. The salty taste of the old maid’s thick palm was distinctly felt. Grita wrinkled her nose and urged.

“If you speak that name, it will surely wake up. Right now, it’s too preoccupied with recovering to wake up easily, but… You still have to be careful at all times. Don’t let that word out of your mouth, even when you’re alone.”

“…”

“Do you understand?”

Adele barely managed to nod. As soon as Grita released her mouth, she barely managed to voice her dissatisfaction.

“Speaking of which, the grand cathedral all of a sudden?”

“Try contacting the Padre, the high priest of the Falkenheim diocese. No matter how I think about it, Vitzleben is dangerous. It’s best to leave this area altogether. Besides, he is the godfather of Jo- no, His Highness… He will take us in.”

When she was flustered, Grita would call her “Laura” instead of “Your Highness.” Adele could only guess that it was probably her mother’s name.

As much as Grita knew her, Adele also knew Grita. Habits, small mannerisms, behavior or way of speaking, way of thinking…

It was a long-standing bond built over many years. The sense of indebtedness for the arduous sacrifices Grita had endured was deep enough to make her listen even to such absurd stories.

“I understand your concern, but we can’t leave without any preparation.”

“Milady, please.”

“Rather, find another escape route. Then I’ll consider it. You know that Lord Oscar won’t help us willingly, don’t you, nanny?”

“…”

“If there’s truly a definitely safe way…”

It was then. The sound of footsteps was heard nearby. Not from the distant corridor, or from below the stairs guarded by the knights, or from outside the window, but right beyond the door where they were standing. The faces of the two women facing each other turned pale in an instant.

“…”

“…”

After a brief silence, Adele was the first to come to her senses. She urgently pushed Grita’s arm towards the stairs.

“Go, Grita. We’ll talk more later.”

* * *

Grita let out an anxious sigh. It was a night of deepening worries. It seemed like the days when she thought she would never grow old had all passed, and now she was just waiting for the day of her death…

She tossed and turned on the hard bed. Perhaps because her mind was cluttered, sleep wouldn’t come easily. Staring at the ceiling in the darkness, as always, she was thrown into the memories of that day.

That day. The night when they first fled the temple as if running away, with a light drizzle falling.

Adelheit. Her innocent young lady wouldn’t know. What kind of woman her mother was, where she lived in her childhood, how she drifted to the south, and how she eventually fell into the dirty hands of Count Raihenau…

Only three people now knew the truth of that day. Count Raihenau, Grita, and the priest who had aided their escape.

‘What more can I do here, Laura?’

The contents of the prophecy she had personally heard from those beautiful lips long ago faded and became blurred with each passing year. Now, Grita only remembered a single sentence.

The tainted shall crave, yet in the end become complete on its own.

Count Raihenau couldn’t let go of Adelheit until she was fifteen, also because of that prophecy. The vain belief that if Raihenau’s blood became “complete,” she would become the most powerful healing mage in the world.

Grita let out a deep sigh.

‘Would it have been better if there was no prophecy?’

To protect Adele, Grita had given up many things and endured living. All for that child’s sake. However, a calamity like this time was not easy to prepare for even in a lifetime. Perhaps it was because the past few years had been too peaceful.

‘Let’s go to the temple first thing in the morning after waking up. Draw holy water, receive blessings…’

Grita closed her eyes tightly and urged herself to sleep. It was already close to dawn. If she didn’t fall asleep now, she would suffer from fatigue all day tomorrow. When her irregular breathing gradually became more regular, it was the moment when the chickens that had been crying without knowing the time suddenly fell silent.

Creak.

Grita’s eyes snapped open. Before her mind could comprehend, a creepy chill ran down her spine. That was the sound of the firmly locked latch turning. And there was only one key to the latch, which Grita always carried on her body.

‘Then who on earth could it be?’

The moment she thought that, ripples of self-mockery arose in her heart. As if asking if she really didn’t know. As if her instincts already knew…

Click.

Eventually, the latch was completely unlocked, and the door slowly opened. Her heart raced very fast. Her breath quickened in an instant. Grita barely managed to swallow the scream that was about to escape. She turned over as if tossing in her sleep and covered her mouth with the pillow.

Squeak. Creak.

The sound of approaching footsteps on the old floorboards could be heard. The shadow she confirmed through squinted eyes looked like a large man. It didn’t look like a dragon’s form as rumored, nor did it seem to move on its own.

As if there was still a reason for it to remain human.

The moment “it” stopped at the head of her bed, Grita tightly closed her eyes.

“…”

Even without opening her eyes, she could feel “it” staring down at her with a piercing gaze. She tossed her body as if pretending to be asleep, but she couldn’t help her quickening breath.

She felt “it” bending its waist. Even when it got close enough to almost touch, strangely, not even the sound of breathing could be heard. The panting breaths belonged solely to Grita.

“…”

It seemed as if “it” was already aware. Of their crude plan, of Grita’s fear, and of the fact that she was not yet asleep.

She would die. A sharp premonition made her lips and fingertips tremble.

The moment she couldn’t bear it and slightly opened her eyes,

“…!”

Grita directly faced the glowing golden eyes flickering in the darkness. Eyes that emitted light on their own without any external light source.

As if looking down at a squirming bug from an extremely high place, that inhuman eeriness. That dreadfulness…

“Hic, hic… Sa, save…”

Grita couldn’t hold back and sobbed in a low voice. “It” was a disaster itself. Grita’s teeth chattered from the intense fear.

It just looked down at her as if it was amusing, or as if her reaction was ridiculous. As if even her pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears.

“…Please, please…”

Suddenly, its shadow moved. She trembled and gasped, feeling the icy sensation of the shadow climbing up her neck. She soon realized that it was not a mere shadow, but hundreds of hands.

Those hands were like metal. They were like snake scales, like blades.

They covered Grita’s mouth and thickly enveloped her short, stout neck. Elegantly, as if playing an instrument, they tightened like a suffocating spider.

“…Ugh…”

Grita’s painful groans were blocked by the hands and couldn’t even flow out. Saliva, tears, and mucus poured out in a mess. It wasn’t an exaggeration; she really felt like she was going to die.

The problem was that no matter how much she squirmed, “it” didn’t even show any interest. It even looked indifferent, as if looking at a crushed caterpillar.

“Uh… Hic…”

In fact, if it wanted to kill her, it would have done so long ago. However, there was only one reason for toying with her like this, deeply instilling fear from the very core.

Because she had suggested escaping to Adelheit.