표트르 scratched his neck frantically.

“It’s not my fault! It’s not my fault!”

Stumbling into a chest of drawers, he looked down at his feet.

The servants avoided such a master. A servant shivered, while the master dragged his ankles in slow steps.

Even the servants fled from such ominous energy.

Creak.

Piotr staggered down the dirt road outside the mansion. His stumbling gait twisted into that path.

As he dropped his head, a dark shadow loomed over him.

He looked down at the hooves in his line of sight and shook his head.

“What a miserable state.”

A man wrapped in a robe was standing there. His low voice was that of a middle-aged man, and beside him stood an old man with a bent back. The middle-aged man spoke in a low voice.

“Quite a sight, crawling around after losing everything. If the ancient worshipers saw this, they would laugh. If you sink further into the darkness, you will crawl like a maggot. The time has come.”

“……”

“If the gate opens soon, it’s time for you to wake up as well.”

The middle-aged man pressed Piotr’s shoulder with his cane and whispered.

“Wake up.”

From the dark shadow, angular skulls emerged. They bit into Piotr’s ankle. As Piotr thrashed around, a hand choked his neck from below.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!”

A piercing scream resonated. The scream didn’t reach the mansion.

“Is this one the last worshiper?”

“He’s just forgotten his essence, but he has touched the darkness. If black magic reaches the darkest depths, these worshipers reach the darkest shadows. Even if they forget their essence, souls tainted by darkness are destined to follow it. They will fall, be tainted, and ultimately be destroyed.”

The old man spoke skeptically.

“Is this maggot good enough?”

“Do we not need even this maggot’s hand to pull up our banished kin from beneath the earth a bit sooner?”

Piotr collapsed, wailing.

“Wake up. Your current state is a wretched sight.”

“……”

“The ancient pact has done its damage. The infuriating pact that chased all my kin under the earth has been torn. Ah…it’s been so long. I don’t know how long I’ve waited for this day.”

By the ancient pact, black magic was driven underground, and the black magicians were all destroyed.

The enforcers of the pact placed restrictions on black magic, and these restrictions stopped black magic from surfacing on the earth.

However,

The ancient pact’s restraints have weakened, people have forgotten its essence, and there are none left who remember its restrictions.

The ancient pact, whose essence was forgotten, gradually weakened. This was just the beginning.

“Now let’s break this pact and call back those who were driven away to the surface.”

One by one, they stripped off their New Year’s ceremonial clothing.

The maids, who were peeling layers of red cloth, also removed their head decorations.

Having finished preparing for bed, they pressed their damp hair with towels.

“Bring me some antacid.”

The head maid looked worried.

“Is your stomach bothering you?”

“It’s not a matter of concern.”

“Please wait. I will bring you some palace soup.”

“No need for fuss. Just come back quietly.”

At the head maid’s gesture, a maid left the room.

The wet hair quickly fluffed up.

“Your Majesty, I’ve brought the antacid.”

The maid who had run the errand brought the antacid.

“Just set it down and go.”

“We will leave now.”

Charlotte gestured with her arm instead of replying, dismissing the maids.

She leaned her body at an angle with one arm resting on the writing table. The candle flickered, and the dim light settled gloomily.

Her eyes caught a drawer under the table.

When she opened the drawer, there was an old paper box. Just as she was cautiously about to take out the crumbling paper box,

“Is your stomach not well?”

“It’s just a preventive measure.”

The bedroom door opened, and Benjamin, dressed in a robe, returned.

Benjamin opened the medicine bottle beside…
Charlotte poured the contents of the medicine bottle into her mouth. The sharp aroma of medicinal herbs wafted in the air.

“Arontho’s special digestive aid.”

“You can tell just by the bottle?”

“The taste of these weeds, as bad as chewing on grass, is definitely Arontho.”

Charlotte closed the medicine bottle’s lid. A bitter smile formed on her face.

“You look like you’re recalling a memory.”

“Perhaps it was a memory.”

A memory I miserably let slip through my own fingers.

“What were you looking at just now?”

“……childhood drawings.”

Drawings made with graphite had all been worn out over time.

Even the drawing paper had lost all its colors.

From infancy to the age of nineteen, traces of my childhood were clearly imprinted here.

I seemed so red during that time. It was as if I was colored in deep, vivid red.

“That child continues to trouble me in this life as well. Being around them, it’s like I become a horrible person.”

Benjamin stared intently at Charlotte. His dark eyes swept across her cheek. Their eyes met in mid-air.

“You’ll catch fire. Be careful.”

This time, he was the one who looked away first.