Rainian began to grope around, searching for the lamp. After a while, he found an oil lamp and matches together and lit the lamp.

Now, the dim light from the lamp finally revealed the interior of the log house. Simultaneously, Idel and Rainian looked at each other.

Perhaps due to the unexpected contact earlier, Rainian’s face turned red. Feeling his heart pounding, he lowered his gaze. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

“You must be tired. Wipe your sweat here.”

“Thank you.”

Observing Rainian visibly sweating, Idel approached and offered a handkerchief from her pocket.

Suddenly remembering when Rainian handed her a handkerchief during the royal ball when she was crying alone in the garden, she smiled faintly.

Seeing her smile, Rainian, feeling even drier in the mouth, took out a water bottle and drank. Even after drinking, his thirst didn’t seem to go away.

“Rainian, you look exhausted. Sit on the bed or a chair and take a rest. I’ll check if there are any usable tools inside now.”

“No, I’ll look for them.”

Inside the log house, there were tables, chairs, and even a bed prepared. Although Idel suggested Rainian take a break, the moment he lifted his head to refuse, his legs gave way.

“Ugh…!”

Due to the legs not moving as he intended, Rainian’s body swayed. In a hurry, he reached out to the nearby table.

“Rainian, are you okay?”

“Ah… Suddenly, my legs…”

His legs didn’t move as he wished.

‘Maybe my legs got numb…?’

Feeling helpless, Rainian tried to move his body, but instead, he felt his strength draining away, and his whole body stiffening.

“First, sit here.”

Sensing that Rainian was not in good shape, Idel pulled a chair and made him sit. Worry filled her face.

“You might have strained yourself. It’s better to sit and take a break for a while.”

“But…”

Even if he admitted that he overexerted himself, it shouldn’t have resulted in being unable to move to this extent. Rainian, feeling the oddity of his body, clenched and unclenched his fists.
No, he tried to resist. However, now, even the tips of his fingers didn’t move as he wished. As if paralyzed.

That was the moment. Through a small gap under the log house door, smoke, like hazy mist, began to seep in.

“What on earth…?”

In an instant, smoke rose from below his feet. It wasn’t a natural mist; it felt more unpleasant, as if someone had deliberately produced it.

As the smoke entered his nostrils, his tense body gradually became sluggish, and consciousness began to blur.

“This… is… a sleep… scent…”

Now, even Rainian’s tongue began to stiffen as he laboriously conveyed the words to Idel. Given the form of the smoke and the body’s response, it was clearly a sleep-inducing scent.

He wanted to tell her not to inhale the smoke, but his stiffened body wouldn’t listen. Moreover, his own body, too, didn’t obey the command to hold his breath, so he had no choice but to inhale the sleep-inducing scent.

“A sleep scent…?”

When Idel understood Rainian’s words and asked, he barely blinked in response with his hazy eyes.

“Wait, Rainian! Are you okay?”

In a hurry, Idel used her sleeve to cover his nose and mouth, supporting the increasingly collapsing Rainian. His body now completely leaned over the table.

“Dan…ger…”

‘He’s in danger. I must avoid this!’ Even though she wanted to shout, she couldn’t utter another word. Rainian, trying hard to lift his heavy eyelids, could not, and his consciousness gradually faded away.

“Rainian…”

Although Idel urgently called his name, Rainian eventually closed his eyes completely, losing consciousness.

‘What should I do…?’

The door didn’t open, trapping them in a perfect sealed space. Even holding his breath had its limits. No matter how hard he tried to hold his breath, there was no way to block the sleep-inducing scent from seeping through his nose or mouth.

‘Who on earth would do this…?’

Judging by the situation, someone undoubtedly intentionally released the sleep-inducing scent. Moreover, the abrupt change in Rainian’s body condition that led to his collapse seemed strange. Like a deliberately set trap…

‘Rainian was trying to warn me of danger…’

Although he only managed to say the two syllables ‘dan-ger,’ the desperate cry in his eyes was felt intensely. It was a dangerous situation. She had to snap out of it.

‘I can’t… lose consciousness…’

However, due to the blurred mind, eventually, Idel, too, weakly sank to the floor. Clenching her lips, she laboriously took something out from her embrace.

Always carry this with you when going out. When I’m not around, let this be the one to protect you.

It was a day after the incident of the kidnapping. One day, Kairon handed her a small Derringer pistol, the size of a palm. It was a compact, concealed carry pistol in the form of a gun-cane, loaded with a small knife and three bullets.

‘I must… protect…’

Her eyes, momentarily shaking with hesitation, became clear in an instant. She raised the knife of the Derringer with all her might.