Only then did Adel realize she had been holding her breath all this time. Her startled gasp quickly turned into hiccups.

“Adel.”

A face beautiful enough to enchant people drew close. The voice calling her name again, as if to soothe her, was sweet as honey. Her name, which had never been gladly called by anyone before, was now like praise offered to someone extremely precious.

Adel lowered her trembling eyelids. A warm sensation settled upon them.

* * *

That night, Adel couldn’t return to her room.

This was because Valentin would go into an almost seizure-like frenzy if Adel disappeared from his sight for even a moment. Even sturdy knights holding him down were of no use.

Those groans, those piercing eyes, that gaze persistently following only her even while his limbs were restrained, that mouth with saliva dripping…

Irreverently, it was comparable to a madman. A person who was perfectly rational and calm when the Duchess was in sight would fall to such a state when she disappeared.

At that point, the butler Hermann was the first to bow his head, asking her not to leave the Duke’s side for the time being. It was the first act of submission Adelheit had ever experienced.

“Long live the Duke!”

“For the great Ansgar!”

Adel snapped out of her daze and looked out the window at the distant, boisterous cheers.

Groups had gathered in the backyard, raising toasts to celebrate the Duke’s revival. It seemed they had distributed the ritual wine meant for the mourners to the servants at their discretion.

Everyone looked excessively cheerful and joyful.

As if they had forgotten that the Duke had been a corpse to be buried just yesterday.

People forgot many things so easily. Fear had turned into reverence, and all ominous signs had been transformed into Morig’s miracle. They believed that the blessing power residing in Ansgar’s land had stayed with the Duke, causing him to ‘freeze’ at the critical moment.

All this change in perception had occurred in just one night. Now, it seemed she was the only one in all of Bithleben who still feared her husband as a reanimated corpse.

‘I must hurry.’

It was a brief moment when Valentin, who had been guarding Adel all night, finally fell into an exhausted sleep. Adel hurriedly left the room to return to her own quarters, if only for a moment. She intended to tidy up her clothes and gather a few items before returning before he woke up.

Her steps were quick as she ascended to the northern tower. The room where the Duchess should stay was originally in the center of the main castle. But the butler had given her an old room in the tower, making the excuse that the inner chambers had not been used for a long time and needed repairs. She had spent 3 full years like that.

The room was rather shabby for a noble lady’s chamber. The window was only a span wide, and there was a fireplace cleared of ashes. In the narrow room, there was a bed, a clothes chest, a desk, and a chair, but they all seemed to have been barely matched, collected from somewhere, with even the types of wood differing from each other.

‘There’s no time to light a fire.’

She skillfully undressed and poured cold water from the kettle into a brass bowl. She wet a towel and thoroughly wiped off the soup stains that had dried on her body. Adel crouched in front of the clothes chest.

‘Fortunately, I have spare undergarments and clothes.’

She pulled on an old chemise and rummaged through the chest to put on a farthingale whose only merit was that it was clean. It took a long time to fasten the clothes by herself with strings.

At that moment, the door burst open urgently. As Adel turned around in surprise, covering her body, a shrill voice flew in.

“Miss! Oh, how I’ve been looking for you!”

It was Grita. Her face was pale in a way Adel had never seen before. She quickly crossed the room and grabbed Adel’s arm tightly. She spoke, gasping as if out of breath.

“This, this is no time for this. You must leave, right now, this instant.”

Whether it was excitement, fear, or dread… The fragments of emotion etched on Adel’s face only confused her more.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. Leave?”

“You can’t stay here, Miss. You must leave before that thing wakes up. There’s no time to waste.”

Grita seemed to have forgotten that Adel was only in her chemise. She rummaged through the clothes chest and forcefully pulled a hood over Adel’s head.

With that rough force, Adel’s hair was messily pulled and disheveled. She frowned, which was rare for her.

“What do you mean, Nanny? The situation has changed now that the Duke has awakened. Going to the convent was something I had hoped for, but…”

“No. That’s not it…”

Grita interrupted her, mumbling desperately. Her body was shaking so much that her voice became unclear, muffled on her tongue. It was almost like talking to herself.

“It recognized you, Miss… That thing… It’s come to finally devour you.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“The, the time is up. There’s no way to stop it now. What was it they said? Ah, yes. You must watch the shadows very carefully. For they will move on their own…”

“Nanny. Why are you suddenly being so frightening? What shadows?”

Grita seemed to have forgotten that Adel was right in front of her. The old woman’s lips, white with fear, suddenly opened.

“The dragon of Bithleben will be a cunning, vicious, and enchanting beast…”

Everyone from the North knew the words that followed. It was such a famous story in Bithleben. A tale passed down from parent to child over the ages, meant to warn children who ventured into the forests.

The dragon of Bithleben will be a cunning, vicious, and enchanting beast. It will manipulate shadows at will, cleverly hide among people, mimic human actions, and imitate language,

but the speechless beasts will be the first to recognize it.

Suddenly, an eerie cock’s crow was heard from beyond the window.

* * *

“What rooster at this hour of the night…”

“It has awakened. It’s looking for you, Miss.”

As Grita’s face contorted with terror, a commotion erupted from the floor below, similar to her expression.

It came from the direction of the window that had been left open for ventilation. The voices of servants in the backyard, exchanging words, filtered through to the high tower.

“Damn it, what’s all this commotion about?”

“They’ve all gone mad suddenly. Have the animals collectively lost their minds or what?”

“Even the horses were acting up earlier. Is there a pack of wolves passing by nearby?”

The murmuring voices gradually grew louder. The jovial atmosphere was breaking. The horses in the stables stamped their front hooves in fear, and the chickens let out shrill screams. A sound that should only be heard just before dawn split the night once again. The dogs’ barking was thunderous.

“…”

A chilly wind swept in. It violently flung open the half-open window. At that moment, what had been thought to be the howling of the wind became a little louder.

Oooh, oooh.

It sounded like an eerie gust, or the last gasp of a prisoner, or a scream filled with agony.

“No, no…”

Grita, her face deathly pale, covered her ears. She crouched down, curled up, and rocked back and forth. Like someone utterly consumed by anxiety. Adel wrapped her hands around Grita’s shoulders.

“Grita, please come to your senses. Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

Adel wrapped her hands around Grita’s shoulders. Inexplicable fear spread as easily as an epidemic. Just as Adel herself was about to be gradually consumed by Grita’s emotions,

Thump thump. There was an urgent knocking on the old wooden door. Adel’s head snapped up.

“Your Grace. Are you in there?”

It was Hermann. There was only one reason why the butler would search for her so anxiously.

“The Duke is looking for you. I think you need to come quickly.”

His voice was tinged with urgency that he couldn’t quite hide. Adel was so flustered that she was momentarily at a loss for words. Immediately after, the sound of mercilessly pounding on the door of the lady’s chamber came again.

Having sold his usually calm demeanor somewhere cheaply, his urging voice was quite hasty.

“Your Grace. If you’re inside, please, hurry…”

“Please wait a moment. I haven’t finished dressing yet.”

Adel hurriedly tidied herself up. She tied the strings where her hands could reach, and tucked the rest into her clothes where they couldn’t. Since Grita wasn’t in a state to help her, she did everything alone.

Throwing on a worn-out shawl, she opened the door to find Hermann standing there, his face already half-gone. His complexion was very sickly.

As soon as he saw Adel, his face showed excessive relief.

“Thank you…”

Unsure how to react to this gratitude she had never received before for doing nothing, Adel hesitated. Hermann changed his expression and urged her.

“We must hurry. I apologize, but ever since he woke up, he’s been calling only Your Grace’s name…”

Adelheit!

Just then, the Duke’s howling voice cut through the clear night. It was a terrible scream that didn’t seem to be human. A chilling shudder ran through her as soon as she heard it. As she opened her eyes wide in surprise, wondering if that voice really belonged to her husband, the butler nodded with a gloomy face.

Adel hurriedly descended the tower and ran down the corridor. Some people greeted her as they passed by, but she didn’t even have the presence of mind to return their greetings.

The area in front of the Duke’s bedroom was already crowded with servants and soldiers who had gathered, leaving no room to step.

“Butler! And… Duchess.”

“Her Grace the Duchess has arrived!”

As someone recognized her, a crack formed in the tightly packed crowd.

People squeezed their bodies to make way for her to pass. After repeating this a few times, Adel was finally pushed into the room as if being spit out from among the crowd.

“…”

The room was a complete mess.

Porcelain and dishes, shards of broken window glass were scattered everywhere, and the thick wooden table lay toppled over, broken in half. Spilled vases and water-soaked carpets, torn curtains and burst pillowcases were strewn about.

Adel’s gaze moved slowly, as if crawling.

And finally.

“Adel.”

Her eyes met the golden eyes staring directly at her.