“Now answer, demon. What are you, for what purpose did you do this, or whose instigation did you receive?”

Shadow, Dragon of Wittleben, Slaughterer of the World Tree, Antithesis of the Holy Morrigue, God’s Only Twin, Devourer of Darkness. He finally answered.

[Shadow. I must win this war. I desire unbreakable honor.]

“Huh……”

When his mouth opened and spat out the first words, Adelheit gasped and bent her waist.

It was a shock as if lightning had struck her mind. Chills ran down her spine, the back of her neck tightened, and her hair stood on end from the resonance.

It sounded like multiple voices, yet also like a single powerful voice, profound and intense at the same time.

That resonance was being transmitted directly into her mind.

[I can give you anything for that. I would gladly sell even my soul, Dragon of Wittleben.] [You are dying. And I have no interest in your insignificant soul.]

Adelheit quickly realized that this was a conversation between Valentin and the Shadow. It was replaying the moment of their contract, their final dialogue.

[Huu……]

Even the labored, rough breathing from that time was being reproduced faithfully. Valentin’s voice was so weak that it held not a hint of life force. He seemed to be on the verge of his last breath.

After a moment of silence, the dragon spoke again.

[But I see one thing you can give me.] [Is that so?]

A faint hope tinged the fading voice. Valentin pleaded desperately.

[I will gladly pay any price, dragon. Make me the victor of this war.] [You will not live.] [History will remember me. I will be recorded as the greatest monarch of Ansgar. I……]

Valentin coughed painfully.

[Then, eternally, live…… Not such a miserable end as a defeated……]

His voice was unclear as if blood had pooled in his mouth. Nevertheless, the content was transmitted clearly. The dragon’s voice was drenched with willingness.

[Then the contract is established.]

Adelheit breathed heavily. She couldn’t even grasp what she had just experienced or what state she was in. She felt as if all the strength had drained from her body, like someone who had been mercilessly beaten.

As she staggered, the Shadow quickly approached. His voice was desperate.

“I, spoke…… As you, wan, ted…… I did.”

For a moment, she couldn’t distinguish between the voice in her head and ‘Valentin’s’ voice. Startled, he bit his lip hard.

“So…… please, don’t, cry.”

Crying? Her? Adelheit blinked in confusion, then was more surprised when tears fell suddenly. She thought her tears had all dried up earlier. There was no reason to cry now…….

It seemed to want to wipe away her tears. As it carefully raised its hand, Adelheit threw her head back to avoid him. It seemed a little surprised at this clear sign of rejection. Then it bit its lip with sorrowful eyes.

“I knew, this…… would, happen. You are, al, ways, cruel, only, to me……”

“……”

“……I, just.”

“……”

“Missed…… you…… Adelheit.”

Adelheit’s green eyes widened.

‘Missed me? Me?’

According to the ‘conversation’ he had shared, he was the Dragon of Wittleben. There was no reason not to believe it now. Not after hearing such a voice in her mind.

Surprisingly, though it could learn and even engage in intelligent conversation, and very convincingly pretend to be human, the fact that he was a demon remained unchanged.

‘I’ve never done anything to meet a demon.’

And as for her, she hadn’t taken a single step outside the castle since arriving in Ansgar. Because there were no knights or guards to escort her.

It was dangerous enough to wander alone inside the castle without having learned any self-defense, but if she went outside, she might get caught up in some troublesome incident.

The North was never a safe place. They were endlessly generous to Northerners who shared the same barbarian blood, but they were more than just closed off to outsiders, they actively ostracized them.

‘So I stayed almost confined within the castle….’

When on earth had he seen her? How did he know to miss her? Adelheit muttered dejectedly.

“You speak as if you were really His Highness the Grand Duke……”

It was a puzzle she simply couldn’t solve. As she counted inwardly one by one, Adelheit suddenly thought of one possibility.

“Don’t tell me….. You’ve been watching me by inhabiting someone else’s body? Or perhaps an animal?”

“……”

“Then what about His Highness? Where is His Highness’s soul? Tell me what happens to that body after you ‘enter’ and leave!”

“……”

“You, you’re holding His Highness’s soul, aren’t you?”

The Shadow remained silent, but Adelheit thought that very act was an affirmation to her question. She was confused about how to deal with the ‘Shadow’ before her.

“Good heavens….. Then can His Highness return later?”

It slightly distorted its eyes. And it reached out as if to grab Adelheit. It seemed worried she might faint. When the tips of its fingers touched her shoulder, she squeezed her eyes shut.

The instinctive aversion was unavoidable. It was the same no matter how much ‘it’ held its breath, maintained an outer shell close to human, and pretended its attitude. She didn’t know when it might reveal its true form and try to swallow her whole with its wide open red maw.

“Ple, ase.”

‘It’ carefully placed its hand on Adelheit’s thin shoulder, which had shrunk back. It was flustered, as if touching fragile glass that might break at any moment.

“……”

“Adelheit. Look…… at me.”

Gently grasping Adelheit’s chin and lifting it, he lightly brushed her eyelids with his thumb. Adelheit opened her eyes, exhaling the breath she had been holding all along.

The thing with Valentin’s face narrowed its eyes slightly, as if pleased.

“……”

Even if she wanted to believe the man before her was her husband, when she met those inhumanly elongated pupils, it felt like being thrown back into cold reality.

Adelheit barely moved her frozen lips to plead.

“Tell me.”

“……”

“What on earth happened to my husband….. What should I do from now on.”

“……”

“I want to know everything.”

He reached out his hand, which had barely touched her with his fingers before, and cupped Adelheit’s cheeks with both palms. Unlike before, it was a hand that had absorbed her warmth.

Looking down at her with eyes of indecipherable meaning, he finally closed his eyes. He bent his waist and brought his forehead to her pale forehead. Again. As soon as Adelheit gasped, the tingling resonance began.

[I merely wish to see it with my own eyes. To spread Ansgar’s glory to all nations, to have my name gloriously displayed, to have my flesh rise to ….. I desire that I, not my brother, enjoy all those things in my name. Even if I die, or fall asleep within you……]

Valentin seemed half out of his mind with pain in between his words. The endings of his words sometimes became blurred, sometimes muffled, and sometimes couldn’t continue for a long time as he barely managed to breathe. The dragon undoubtedly thought of that struggling as insect-like.

Perhaps sensing that the Shadow was quickly losing interest in him? Valentin raised his voice and shouted.

[You…… will not die, Shadow!]

A long sigh. Their voices sounded similar, perhaps due to the resonance. Because of this, Adelheit couldn’t precisely distinguish whether it was the dragon’s or her husband’s.

At last, the dragon slowly opened its mouth.

[What you must pay me is the people of Ansgar. I will take the blood and flesh of them all.]

It felt as if her heart had dropped. No. Anything but that…… No. The dragon being here meant their contract was already over. Even knowing there was nothing she could do anymore, Adelheit desperately cried out in her mind.

[Choose.]

Surprisingly, Valentin burst into laughter. It was the sound of someone at death’s door, but that alone was clearly distinguishable.

[I finally understand…… huh, why Nassau fell after three hundred years….. How the Lion King could raise his name so high in history……] [……] [Just adjust the timing….. The people should rightfully…… follow their monarch.] [……] [Until then, I shall…… sleep within you……]

Adelheit inhaled as if emerging from a long dive. It felt as if she had fallen into deep water and barely revived. Though her body was dry, she had the illusion of being soaked. Adelheit pushed away the thing, no… the man in front of her with trembling hands. He was pushed back compliantly.

“Are you…… al, right?”

Valentin asked anxiously. His appearance as he checked her complexion with slurred pronunciation showed none of the dignity from earlier. She blinked her eyes slowly.

‘Now, I understand everything.’

The reason the man returned to Ansgar, why he specifically inhabited Valentin’s body, why he hadn’t harmed a single person despite being a demon…….

‘The contract must not be allowed to be fulfilled. It will bring doom to Ansgar.’

Why not? At that moment, someone whispered softly in her chest.

Adelheit blinked, frozen in shock. It felt as if she was eavesdropping on someone’s cruel voice whispering in her ear, not from within her own chest. The voice, faint at first, grew louder and clearer.

Ansgar has always rejected you. They tormented you, ignored you, caused you pain…….

Come now, think carefully. Isn’t this a good thing? The husband who despised you terribly is dead, and the people who disregarded you now bow their heads to you…….