Griselda’s gaze, with her shoulders hunched in shock and frozen stiff, barely rises half a span. She saw the profile of the heir who had arrived like lightning. Contrary to her expectations, the heir standing facing the door had a pale, startled look. Where had the red energy that had swept in like a storm gone? His raised eyebrows looked anxious like a child left by the water’s edge, with a dazed expression. For this reason, Griselda felt even more frightened.

Why. Suddenly.

“…Net.”

The boy whispers abruptly.

His lips slightly parted, seemingly unaware. His cheeks drained of color as if witnessing loss for the first time in his life. With all that giving a frighteningly innocent impression, the heir looked as if he couldn’t believe the door that had just closed right in front of him. He stared at the door in front of him without saying a word, with such a vacant gaze, for several seconds.

Then suddenly, his gaze fell briefly on the door handle.

His blue eyes looking down shook greatly. It was a tremor like someone who had just realized there was a handle there, having been completely unaware of its existence until then. So until that moment, the air surrounding the devil had been perfectly intact.

But Griselda had no choice but to hold her breath. Why? Some kind of chill arose. In the midst of the quiet where even the midsummer midday sun seemed to have lost its presence, her heart was beating unusually fiercely.

There was a premonition. A premonition that something would soon come again. A flame that goes out in an instant often consumes the firewood more fiercely. It seemed that Griselda herself was not the only one who had forgotten to breathe. No noise or commotion could be heard from the crowd standing behind the heir. Creak. What is this….

Is this the sound of the heir grabbing the doorknob?

Is this the sound of the heir grinding his molars?

Before she could find an answer, the devil’s gaze rose again. Now once again, only Johannes’ profile was in Griselda’s view. Fire was rising again in the boy’s eyes that had been so flawless.

“…Inet.”

Griselda saw Johannes’ jawline tremble slightly. As if swallowing back the name he had just uttered. He rests his forehead on the door. His quivering lips opened slightly.

“Step aside, Inet.”

Of course, there was no response or small sign of movement from inside the door. The plea, almost like a whisper, continued.

“At least let go of the doorknob….”

“……”

“I know you can hear me. You’re listening, aren’t you? You’re there, aren’t you? So open it….”

“……”

“I’m begging… Inet…. I’ll beg like this….”

“Young master, first…!”

It was then that the head butler, who had been frozen in silence until then, finally managed to reach out and grab the heir’s arm.

“…Open it!”

Bang!

Johannes’ fist struck the door. It was with such force that it seemed like it would almost break it down. Blood spurting from the shoulder where the knife was embedded splattered on the door, floor, and all around his feet. Griselda, startled out of her wits, took a step back with slightly hunched shoulders. Even the gray-haired head butler could be seen taking a step back. Despite the door making such a loud noise, the inner chamber did not return even a single sound. As if it had been empty from the start.

Griselda absentmindedly wiped the blood that had gotten on her cheek. Without realizing it, she took another step back. But even then, she couldn’t take her eyes off the heir’s profile. Because for a moment, she saw a man.

When did he grow up like this?

The devil’s eyes, stained with an emotion that could be either anger or sadness, were now placed higher than her own. While his features, which perfectly mirrored those of his sister, were still as delicate as white feathers, the line dropping from his jaw to his neckline was distinctly thicker. His heaving shoulders and the line of his back reminiscent of a flexible bow. It was still an unripe weapon. It was a side profile that seemed certain to grow into a sculpted body, an elegant weapon, in just a few years. A sword. And a spear.

“You….”

Again, Johannes’ fist rose through the air as if to smash the door. It stopped abruptly. It trembled slightly while stopped. From the way he lowered his head with a clenched jaw to the rapid breathing that made his shoulders heave, it all showed he was firmly enduring the heat within him.

His eyes were hidden by the shadow of his bangs.

Then suddenly. Johannes’ gaze slid sideways out of the entrance. At the same time, his fist also sank down. Without further delay, he turned his body towards the stairs. His striding steps seemed like those of someone trying to cut off even the smallest lingering attachment. The head butler and the young knights hurriedly followed behind him.

“You need treatment, young master.”

“I’ll do the treatment myself. Don’t call any unnecessary priests.”

“But….”

The head butler grabbed the heir’s arm. He probably grabbed it without thinking. However, Johannes bent his caught forearm inward to shake off the old man. What returned instead was a red-hot gaze.

“…Get out of the way.”

The old man and the boy stood stock-still in the corridor. Those following also stopped in turn. The head butler and the young men closed their mouths as if being pushed back. In the long silence, an uneasy tension filled the corridor. The heir’s side profile gazing obliquely at the head butler standing beside him and the atmosphere settled on his back were so silently yet fiercely driving away guests.

Even Griselda, who remained far behind, felt this on her skin, so how much more so for the young knights who were close by? As if by magic, a path cleared. The corridor in front of the inner chamber became noisy again only after Johannes’ back disappeared down the stairs.

Griselda took a deep breath, leaving behind the young men anxiously chattering among themselves. It was truly a strange thing. While the boy’s growth was only natural, why did it seem to stick in her eyes so much today?

It was incomprehensible. She only knew that the fact that the devil’s outer shell, formed by a splendid frame, seemed to be wailing in front of the firmly closed door weighed on her mind. Someday he would become completely different from his sister, that day would surely come. Griselda could not dare to fathom the meaning of the future that the devil was swearing with his whole body.

It was independence from his sister. Or liberation from a cursed shackle. If not, it might be the completion of the curse itself as a noose. Ah.

To be honest, she didn’t want to know the details either.

Griselda smoothed her apron as if tidying it. It was then that the head butler’s voice flew in amidst the murmuring of the excited young men.

“Did Lady Giovinetta throw it?”

“Pardon?”

Griselda’s gaze jumped slightly and then turned towards the head butler.

“The dagger, I mean.”

“Ah.”

She made an uncharacteristically stupid sound. Ridiculously, it was only then that she recalled the knife that had been embedded in the heir’s shoulder. In fact, due to the profuse bleeding, she hadn’t been able to see its exact shape and couldn’t remember it. However, it did look familiar. Ninety out of a hundred, it was the young lady’s dagger.

There was a reason for such certainty without clear memory. As far as Griselda was concerned, it made perfect sense that the person who threw the knife into the heir’s shoulder should be the young lady. At least, that’s how Griselda understood it.

She had been quietly suspecting that the incident at the royal palace several years ago might have been the devil’s doing. If the young lady had stabbed him intending to take revenge, Griselda could understand that resentful heart as clearly as her own water jug. If one can’t be satisfied without stabbing, then stab. One should rightfully stab. With such understanding, she calmly told a lie.

“I’m not sure why you’re saying that.”

“Otherwise, there’s no reason the young master would have had to come here first.”

“That’s true, but there’s no particular reason for the young lady to do such a thing either.”

“Hmm….”

The head butler’s wrinkled eyes sank deeply. Oh no. Griselda bit her lip for a moment. It was clear as day that her short-sighted judgment would lead to stirring up a hornet’s nest. This old man, who had devoted his entire life to the Valdemar family, would only be at ease after confirming the culprit. Searching for enemy soldiers hiding in the fortress, or something….

Griselda hastily added.

“No. Maybe she made a mistake while I wasn’t paying attention….”

The head butler opens his mouth to say something with an incredulous expression. Griselda immediately knelt down. She even bowed her head deeply there.

“Head butler. Please forgive me. It’s as good as if I threw it myself. As you know, the young lady is still… not well. She really had no intention…. So it’s my fault for not taking better care of the young lady. It’s my sin. Punish me.”

“Get up. Get up right now. What kind of anger would your deceased father direct at me if he saw you like this?”

The head butler, bending his waist, firmly patted her shoulder. Griselda sighed lightly with her head bowed.

“We’ll have to keep watching the progress, but since the young master seems to be unharmed, that will do. Don’t worry about the young lady’s situation. I’ll silence them in advance.”

“…Thank you.”

“You should look after the young lady first.”

Griselda got up hurriedly. She tidied her headscarf and apron and composed herself. She knocked on the door of the inner chamber and called for the young lady. There was still no response from inside. The head butler, who had been watching her for a while, eventually turned his back. Judging by his somewhat tense appearance, it seemed he might visit the heir’s bedroom first before reporting to the duke.

“Living long enough, you really experience all sorts of things.”

Griselda raised her face at the sound the head butler made while shaking his head. The head butler didn’t seem to particularly want her reaction as he continued his soliloquy.

“Even if an experienced archer had thrown it, it wouldn’t have embedded so deeply….”

“……”

“It’s too strange to just call it misfortune, isn’t it…?”

Suddenly, the hinge of the entrance creaked. As if pushed by Griselda’s hand, the door opened inward naturally. Can it… open so easily? As if it had never been blocked from the beginning. When the surprised Griselda, unable to step forward, turned her eyes to look for the head butler, the old man had already walked away to the other end of the corridor.

“Griselda?”

A thin call rang out from the far end of the inner chamber. Griselda hurriedly looked in the direction the voice had come from. By the window where the light and wind of the summer afternoon were pouring in. There, with a low chair pulled up, the back of the young lady could be seen, lying face down on the windowsill like a dead person.

As she raised her upper body, her disheveled golden hair poured down like a wave. Did she take a light nap? Blue eyes full of sleepiness, seemingly naive at a glance, slowly turn to look at Griselda.

“Why don’t you come in and close the door?”

“…Young lady.”

“Why do you have surprised rabbit eyes…?”

“……”

“Did something happen?”

“……”

“Where did all the guards go….”

“……”