‘Don’t think too deeply. Just focus on how to solve what’s right in front of you.’

Adel tightened her grip on the sword. She carefully brought the dagger to Valentin’s forearm. With the sharp tip of the blade coated in a horrible green substance, she carefully pricked the skin.

The sharp blade pierced the skin more easily than she had thought.

“… Ugh…”

At that moment, Valentin’s back twitched. Adel startled and quickly raised her head. She wondered if he had regained consciousness, but there was no sign of him waking up no matter how long she waited. It seemed to have been a half-instinctive reflex.

“…”

Adel gulped down the saliva pooled in her mouth. Barely gathering her courage, she made a shallow, thin scratch. She was afraid of inflicting an irreversible wound on Valentin’s body. Beads of cold sweat had formed on her forehead.

As she applied a little more force to the blade in her hand, the droplets of blood that had only formed on the surface of the wound suddenly gushed out.

“Gasp…!”

At the same time, black smoke rose from the wound. Adel hurriedly covered her nose with her sleeve. Before she could stop it, a fit of sneezing erupted. Tears flowed involuntarily from her eyes due to the acrid smoke that made her want to wash her face.

‘The, the smell…’

It was like inhaling ashes. Could this be the smell of a burnt field, the middle of a war where corpses are being burned? It felt like a bleak death was rising.

She couldn’t come to her senses due to the pungent and acrid scent. She painfully pulled out the blade stuck in Valentin’s forearm. Her husband’s face looked even paler than before.

‘Something has gone terribly wrong.’

She threw away the bloodied knife and staggered towards the brass bowl filled with water. Though she thought she should check the mirror, washing her face was more urgent due to her stinging eyes. After wiping her face several times, she turned her head towards the mirror on the dressing table.

At that moment, a chilling wind blew from behind, extinguishing all the candles in the room at once.

“…”

The surroundings suddenly darkened. Even moonlight seemed blocked by clouds, leaving not a single point of light in the room. The acrid smoke that had bewildered her was gone without a trace. Adel stepped back hesitantly.

“Your Majesty?”

There was no answer. Valentin on the bed didn’t move a finger at her call. Adel, who had tensed for a moment, gradually relaxed.

‘According to the padre, he won’t wake up. Don’t panic, just calmly check the mirror. It’s almost over now…’

Adel looked at the mirror again, but all she saw was a woman with a face messed up by tears. Adel barely tore her gaze away from her own very pale and tired-looking face. She wiped the remaining moisture from her face with her sleeve and raised her head again.

And realized that Valentin, who had been on the bed, was gone.

“What…”

Adel turned around in shock. The person who had clearly been there until just moments ago had vanished without a trace. As if he had never existed in the first place. If it weren’t for the impression of his weight on the bed, Adel would have thought she was dreaming.

If not that, then she was being subjected to a terrible prank…

Her legs trembled at the situation that far exceeded her understanding. She was so shocked that she couldn’t even scream, let alone make a proper judgment. For now, she had to hurry out of this room and…

‘Get out and go where?’

There was no safe place anywhere. Realizing this, her legs became stiff as if turned to logs. Just as she was about to collapse, trembling after taking only a few steps.

A cold sensation brushed the nape of her neck. She froze with her tear-filled eyes wide open.

Fingers that had slowly crawled out of the darkness covered her lips.

Ah…

Adel felt a scream rising in her throat. Unable to pass her tongue, it crumbled into a moan in her mouth. The hand, hard as steel, cruel, and ice-cold, didn’t seem human at all.

“…”

Adel twisted her body to look at who had grabbed her. But the strong arm that tightly pressed below her chest and embraced her came first. Her upper body slowly bent forward, pinned down onto the dressing table.

The statue of the god Morig, holy water, cosmetics, and pearl earrings were quickly swept to the floor. A glass bottle containing perfume shattered at her feet. The strong scent of crushed wildflowers filled the air.

“…”

Adel turned her head sideways to look in the mirror. What was pinning her down was a huge shadow. She couldn’t explain it any other way. Not in human form, but as if smoke had been gathered together…

She suddenly felt breath on her back. It slowly rose along the hollow of her spine, passing her nape to reach her temple. Adel panted, her shoulders heaving as if she had just finished a run.

Was it because her eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness? A straight nose suddenly protruded from the shadow, molding cheeks, neck, shoulders, and waist.

It pinned Adel down below its chest, trembling as if in the pain of childbirth.

It. That is, it.

‘It’ seemed to be in pain. At the same time, it looked excessively sinful and beautiful. Thick beads of sweat formed along its furrowed brow, clenched lips, and elegant jawline, dripping onto the dressing table. It writhed, letting out a long, drawn-out moan.

“Ugh, ungh…”

Golden irises flashed between eyes crumpled in pain. Slitted pupils, sharp cheekbones and nose bridge, black scales covering the back of its hands and neck, the slender and firm body pinning Adel down. Just then, moonlight brilliantly scattered over all of it.

That wondrous sight overwhelmed even fear. There was a beautiful monster wearing her husband’s face.

“…”

It simply held her in place while standing upright, not harming her otherwise. As Adel’s struggles lessened, it carefully removed its hand from her lips.

Adel hurriedly escaped from its embrace. Clutching her neckline, she retreated to the wall, watching it with wary eyes.

“… Ungh…”

When it suddenly staggered, Adel almost reached out without thinking.

But she quickly came to her senses, overcoming the impulse.

That was undoubtedly a demon. No matter how beautiful and splendid it might be, she must not sympathize with or be enchanted by it. It wasn’t human to begin with.

Look at those scales shamelessly exposed and elongated pupils…

It looked at its own body with confused eyes before finally raising its head. As their gazes met, its lips formed a faint smile.

“Adelheit…”

The voice calling her name was as eloquent and sweet as usual. It was her husband’s face and voice. Adel stared blankly at that smile for a moment.

Why Valentin of all people? Had someone cursed him? If he had somehow come back to life, how did he know her name?

‘And… why was he so kind only to me?’

When she realized that part of her heart longed for Valentin’s kindness, she felt deep self-loathing.

It was terrible. The past when she had cared for him without knowing anything.

In the end, she had grown attached despite being suspicious, distrustful, thinking he might be a demon, constantly tense and wary. Perhaps the padre had already understood these feelings of hers and sent a warning.

Unjust anger swelled in her chest.

‘What did I do so wrong?’

Adel’s docile eyes twisted miserably.

‘I was lonely and wanted to rely on someone. I was grateful for the kindness I received for the first time. Was even this too greedy for me?’

Anger pushed away fear. Adel barely managed to keep her trembling eyelids steady. She asked with a dry mouth.

“Who… are you?”

“…”

“What kind of wicked demon are you, to brazenly take His Majesty’s body and do such a thing?”

“…”

“For what purpose did you do it? Don’t tell me, you… hurt him?”

“…”

“Answer me!”

Tears that had welled up now flowed down her cheeks. She longed for human company. She wondered about the unconditional love that they say everyone receives at least once when born. It doesn’t come when you desperately need it, but barges in uninvited when you don’t want it, tearing at your soul.

If she had never known it from the beginning, perhaps it would have been different, but once her hunger had been satisfied once, she didn’t have the courage to go back. It wasn’t that she was angry because it was a demon. What made her most miserable was the fact that the warmth mimicked by the demon was the warmest she had ever received.

“Without knowing that, I…”

How much must this demon have laughed inwardly as it watched her gradually lower her guard. A hollow laugh filled her lungs.

“While watching me unable to even recognize my husband’s… enemy, you must have greatly enjoyed mocking me alone. Thinking what a foolish and stupid thing you were seeing…”

She bit her lip to swallow the rising emotions. Betrayal, sorrow, regret, self-loathing. Showing them would only make her more miserable.

“…”

He took a step towards her. Adel remained upright, resigned even to the huge shadow cast over her. Either way, she was destined to die.

Holy water, the priests’ blessings, even Morig’s veil were useless. There was no place in the castle this demon couldn’t reach if she tried to escape, no sanctuary it couldn’t find.

“I’m sick of running away now…”

Adelheit wiped her sore eyes with the back of her hand. Raising her head high, she stared directly into the golden eyes. Whether it was resignation or acceptance. Her usually docile gaze turned up coldly with a different light than usual.

“So answer me, demon.”

“…”

“What you are, for what purpose you did this, or whose instigation it was.”

The ‘thing’ standing before her gazed at Adel with calm eyes. Eventually, its head tilted slowly.