His whisper was excessively vile and dangerous.

He must have known that Adelheit, who trembles even at secretly minting gold coins, would never ask for such a thing even if she died.

It was vile in that it only instilled useless desires, and utterly dangerous in that it made one forget reality.

“……”

Though unsure of the extent of the ‘Dragon of Bitzeleben’s’ abilities, it seemed to be an entity capable of granting most of what humans desire.

Such grand words from a remarkable being, promising to grant anything, easily rob people of their sense of reality.

One must keep their feet on the ground. Flailing about trying to walk on clouds while gazing at the sky will only dirty one’s back.

It was natural to be closer to the ground than ever before, and……

“Hm? Adelheit.”

No matter how warm the false warmth Valentin provided might be, forgetting reality was ultimately nothing but an escape.

Ansgar was what she had finally grasped after being pushed and pulled in various directions.

Even if it was only a temporary responsibility, Adelheit was determined to do her best with that duty.

“……”

Yannik and Hermann, Margaret….. Adelheit had already learned their good qualities, and Ansgar would be the land where they live in the future.

Even if she disappears from this land forever someday, following the ‘shadow’, the land and the people living there will not disappear.

Adelheit opened and closed her hand a few times, which still felt numb from gripping too tightly. Then, with a pale face, she asked stiffly.

“Will you also demand payment for this?”

“Payment?”

“You never do anything without compensation when making a deal. You make contracts or……”

Valentin smiled a little.

“Usually, that’s true.”

“……”

“But now, I want to… do it, so I’m not.”

“That won’t do.”

Adelheit shook her head after hesitating for a long time.

The option to resolve this isolated situation right now was too tempting, making it difficult to refuse. However.

“I can’t run the territory relying on Your Highness’s whims and mercy.”

“Why not?”

He tilted his head slightly.

As if she had suddenly spoken in an incomprehensible foreign language.

If she had said ‘it’s too risky to be discovered’ like last time, Valentin would have nodded and backed off.

But the excuse Adelheit gave was too flimsy for him, leaving plenty of room to probe further.

“Human emperors wield… whims and mercy like weapons.”

“That’s…”

“You’re the same, Adelheit. You treat me with… whims and mercy.”

More precisely, there was room to dig into Adelheit’s weak heart. Though unsure why she was giving him such an opportunity to act this way, Valentin decided not to miss this chance.

When Valentin said that, Adelheit’s expression remained impassive, but he saw her round earlobes twitch slightly.

Swallowing a laugh, he took another step closer to her.

“……”

The closer he got, the rounder her eyes became, like a wary herbivore.

When he grasped her wrist, he could feel Adelheit’s taut tension. This was an old habit of hers.

She generally pretends to be insensitive and composed, but as soon as she’s in even a slightly coercive environment, she immediately becomes wary and shrinks back.

“Ugh.”

It was a trace of having grown up suppressed for a very long time, now settled like second nature.

Valentin pretended not to read all of this as he opened his mouth.

Regardless of how pitiful she was, this kind of behavior always created an opening.

“You said you’d take good care… of me until the contract is fulfilled, but you’re just neglecting me like this.”

“That’s……”

As he twisted his eyes sadly, Adelheit bit her lip, not knowing what to do.

“You haven’t even helped… me recover my memories.”

“Let’s talk about that issue another time.”

Adelheit tried to quickly wrap up the situation, hiding her clearly agitated face.

As a result of repeated learning over the past few months, she seemed to have learned that she couldn’t respond properly when faced with a pressuring situation.

And that no matter what she said, things would end up as he wanted anyway.

Ah, how clever.

While Valentin smiled coldly, Adelheit slowly backed away to escape this situation.

Just as she was about to turn around and run, he grabbed the hem of her skirt with a strong hand.

Adelheit’s body, which was trying to escape quickly, was suddenly pulled back.

She barely maintained her balance, flailing her arms and legs, and then turned to look back.

And she discovered Valentin clutching the hem of her skirt as if he might tear it.

“…Let go.”

“Why?”

Valentin asked back as if she had made an unreasonable request.

Far from letting go, he gripped the hem of her skirt even more tightly.

Adelheit quickly became tearful.

“If, if you pull on my clothes like this, they’ll surely tear.”

“You can buy… as many clothes as you want now.”

“But, Your Grace……”

Valentin didn’t hide his displeasure. He narrowed his eyes and twisted his lips suggestively.

“If you dislike… Valentin, you could call me husband instead.”

“This goes against etiquette……”

“Ah, etiquette.”

Perhaps because the edge of her petticoat was visible, her tiny face was flushed bright red.

One would be hard-pressed to find a more chaste lady in all of Denburg.

Though Valentin inwardly clicked his tongue, outwardly he smiled gently.

“I didn’t know that because I hadn’t… learned it. You didn’t teach me… Adelheit.”

More precisely, she had only tried a little before completely abandoning it after Grita’s disappearance. Adelheit’s cheeks reddened slightly at his reproach.

“Forcibly restraining a lady is improper. No knight would commit such an act.”

“Then teach… me.”

“Pardon?”

“What violates… etiquette, and what doesn’t. Please teach me, my lady.”

Adelheit narrowed her eyes at his ridiculous assertion.

She struggled to free the hem of her skirt from his grasp.

But Valentin didn’t budge an inch. Finally, Adelheit gave up trying to pull her skirt free and replied.

“I believe your memories have all returned. Is there really any need for you to learn etiquette from me……”

“Who says that?”

As Valentin’s eyebrows rose as if to say ‘what do you mean?’, Adelheit hurriedly added:

“Your vocabulary has improved so much, so I naturally thought your memories had returned.”

“Ah, this.”

He shook his head casually as if it wasn’t his own matter.

“I’ve been in the library all this… time. It’s about time my vocabulary improved. You know that in… learning, practice is always more important than theory.”

“……”

“Liar. You promised to… teach me how to dance too.”

Adelheit, who had briefly flared up, quickly realized that no matter what he said, it was disadvantageous to her.

It was true that she had made a promise, and regardless of the reason, she was the one who had started avoiding him unilaterally first.

Moreover, although time had become more leisurely due to the sudden heavy snowfall, learning to dance and etiquette was still an urgent matter for Valentin.

Continuing to discuss this issue would only make her fault more apparent. Adelheit nodded.

“Alright.”

“Let’s do it now.”

As he smiled brightly, it wasn’t just an illusion that the surrounding temperature rose as if a fireplace had been lit.

The surroundings becoming about three times brighter also….. When he snapped his fingers, hands sprang out from the shadows on the floor and dragged the desk and chair towards the wall of the library.

Adelheit froze in shock at the sight.

“……”

Those hands. The terribleness as if risen from hell, the ominousness, the wickedness beyond human cognition…!

Goosebumps rose all over her body.

For just a moment, merely seeing ‘that’ felt like peering into an abyss whose bottom could not be fathomed.

Adelheit realized for the first time that he was a being of an incomparably higher dimension than herself.

Her teeth chattered involuntarily.

“Ter-terrible, isn’t it?”

He rushed over, having noticed her expression. Adelheit reflexively stepped back from him without realizing it.

“I-I’m sorry……”

His voice was so low that Adelheit wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly.

Valentin crossed his arms, hugging his upper body tightly, and fluttered his eyelashes.

“I was feeling good… and forgot that humans are afraid of such… things. It’s been so, so long……”

The sight of him biting his lip and trembling was so pitiful that Adelheit almost forgot what she had just seen.

“You’ve come to… dislike me, haven’t you?”

He looked at Adelheit pitifully, biting his quivering lips.

His hand, which had risen as if to grab Adelheit, came down clenched into a fist.

The fear of possibly being abandoned by her was palpable.

The wickedness and ominousness that had been felt just minutes ago were nowhere to be found.

Moreover, his anxiety was a very familiar kind to her.

After all, Adelheit had lived her whole life being abandoned by others for failing to prove her usefulness.

Knowing the misery of being rejected, Adelheit couldn’t dare turn her back on Valentin. She carefully opened her mouth as if to soothe him.

“That’s not true. I was just… simply surprised because it was a sight I’d never seen before.”

“You haven’t come to… dislike me?”

“I don’t dislike you.”

At her words, some color returned to Valentin’s pale cheeks.

“Then will you come to my… bedroom tonight?”

Adelheit hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.

She was feeling increasingly sorry for having been wary of him, even if only for a moment.

“If you need me, I will. I’ll stay by your side at least until you fall asleep.”

“Can I hold your… hand then?”

Adelheit hesitated before barely managing to nod.

“…Only until you fall asleep.”

He smiled brightly and pressed his cheek against the back of her hand.

His smile, beaming as if he had gained the whole world just from that small permission, looked happy.

And it was that very night when the ‘foreign substance’ within Valentin awakened.