Bathing in the sunlight through the window, Vainty was lost in ominous thoughts.

When Gretae reached Negrian, beyond the border of the Walterminster Duchy, it was already past noon. The path she took was a long one, not suitable for carriages or horses, forcing Gretae to walk it.

She had considered hitching a wagon in the village. But whenever tempted, the grim face of Jocelyn haunted her like a nightmare.

What if she runs into a servant of the Duke’s family in the village? It would be fortunate if she could brush it off then.

But if she was unknowingly spotted and that person told Meiyana that Gretae was outside the village…

Gretae knew that Meiyana didn’t get along well with other servants. Still, her anxiety sharpened her senses, and she started considering unlikely scenarios as undeniable facts.

She hastened her steps as if being chased. To a place as deserted as possible, on a road less traveled…

It made her take longer to leave the Duchy. She stumbled and even fell. But she got up, driven by the note she held—its ominous, unidentified message haunting her like an indomitable demon.

Negrian was a small village right next to the Walterminster Duchy, but it didn’t have the same vibrant atmosphere as the villages within the Duchy.
Long ago, when the king of El Bluean formally bestowed land upon the Duke of Balthorminster, he consolidated all the surrounding small villages into the dukedom.

The residents of Negrian also inflated their expectations, assuming they would be included in the Duke of Balthorminster’s territory and reap additional benefits. However, due to the focus on arable land and mountain ranges with mines during the border-drawing process, Negrian narrowly missed being included in the dukedom.

Because of this, the people of Negrian harbored hostility towards the Duke of Balthorminster’s territory for no particular reason. They couldn’t do much against the dukedom’s prestigious reputation and immense power, but occasionally, if someone from the dukedom wandered alone into Negrian, they would find themselves beaten or pickpocketed for no reason.

‘I need to be very careful…’

Aware of this fact, Grete deliberately wore shabby clothes when she went out. After a few hours walking under the sun and stumbling several times, she was a mess of sweat and dirt, but that actually worked to her advantage in Negrian.

As soon as she entered the back alley of Negrian’s market, Grete pinched her nose shut against the terrible smell. The stench of tanning leather, cleaning fish caught near the river, and rotting entrails on the ground made breathing difficult.

‘744… 744? How do I find it?’

Negrian was not a large village and was quite closed-off. If a stranger appeared who didn’t know the geography well, they would be on alert instantly.

Grete hurried her pace, her face gloomy as she worried about her hem dragging on the dirty ground. However, finding 744 was not an easy task no matter how much she walked.

An old woman caught her eye, sitting in front of a house. One of her eyes was opaque, and she was peering at passersby with a very gloomy expression. From time to time, she swatted at the dirty cats that came too close, seemingly killing time.

“Um, excuse me…”

Grete cautiously approached the old woman. The moment her dark face turned to look at her, Grete felt the urge to run away but clenched her fists and forced strength into her toes.

“What?”

“Um… Granny, where… where can I find 744?”

“744?”

The old woman snickered. Her teeth were almost completely gone, and her mouth looked like a dark hole. Grete shivered at the thought of being sucked into it.

Pointing with the tip of her cane, the old woman indicated the entrance to a complex alley.

“Go that way and you’ll see a triangular sign. That’s where 744 starts. But why are you looking for it?”