“How can you move into a property like this scam!”

I was entirely focused on pinching Kashar’s cheek with all my strength.

“Ah, it’s refreshing.”

Although it must have been a dream, shaking it violently seemed to ease my frustration a bit.

At least, until someone else’s voice was heard.

“Ms. Hallen, please calm down.”

“……Yes?”

When I turned my head towards the direction of the voice, Dracu appeared.

He was standing there, unable to do anything, in a state of confusion.

“……Dracu, the butler?”

“Yes, yes. Excuse me. So, perhaps… could you remove your hand?”

“What?”

“What you’re holding now.”

My eyes naturally went towards the tips of my fingers.

My vigorous fingers were still pinching Kashar’s cheek.

‘It’s strange.’

The soft touch was overly vivid.

As I blinked, Kashar softly narrowed his eyes.

I pulled one of my grasping hands away and moved it to my cheek. Then I pinched it.

“Ouch!”

It hurt enough to fully wake me up. In that case.

My trembling eyes were fixed on Kashar. As I removed my hand that was on his cheek, Kashar smiled slyly.

“Slept well, my beauty?”

“Eek!”

As I tried to resist, the arm that was holding me tightened.

After struggling in Kashar’s arms for a while, I finally gave in, exhausted.

“……Um, hello, Your Grace?”

“What’s this ‘Your Grace’ between us?”

He spat out a deflated laugh, as if he’d heard all the funny things.

“I told you before, lovers should call each other by name.”

It was a gentle tone, but why did it sound so terrifying?

My gaze lingered on his reddened cheek. I had pinched it so hard; it was quite red.

“That, that’s right. Kashar sir……?”

“Leave the ‘sir’ out.”

“Kashar.”

As the answer he wanted came right away, Kashar looked satisfied.

‘It’s not a dream.’

I was still in the duke’s castle, and both Kashar and Dracu were real.

The finger that had pinched him felt as if it was tingling.

‘I’m dead.’

While I was turning pale, Kashar’s gaze turned to Dracu.

“What the hell happened? I ordered preparations to welcome my lover.”

“……Well, I did prepare.”

What does that mean?

The conversation between the two was unusual.

As I unknowingly eavesdropped, Kashar asked Dracu an incomprehensible question.

“Human style? Or mine style?”

“……Mine style, sir.”

Dracu dropped his head as if ashamed.

Silence hung, and my mouth felt dry.

I finally couldn’t resist asking.

“Um, by any chance…… the garden. Did you decorate it because we were coming?”

I was referring to the garden filled with crucifixes and graves, with a fountain spouting green water.

Dracu’s face instantly brightened at the cautious question.

“Of course!”

“The black skulls decorating the stairs……?”

The carpet soaked with blood, and the violet wallpaper, and the black curtains too?

As I asked each question, Dracu seemed on the verge of tears.

He seemed truly moved.

“Indeed, even after seeing me, a mine, you’re not scared! You must know our culture well!”

Whether it was excitement or something else, Dracu began to explain the mine’s beauty one by one.

“For us mines, black, red, and dark purple are the best. They’re very precious and beautiful colors.”

“Is, is that so?”

“The water spouted by the fountain in the garden is made from very healthy herbs. Aren’t the statues also very cute? They were carved by an artisan, reproducing the most popular creatures in Barahan!”

Ah, now I understand.

Through this long speech, I realized the problem with the welcome in this castle.

‘It was a cultural difference.’

Cultures are different in every country.

The standards of beauty between humans and mines were worlds apart.

However, there were a few things that had survived in this castle.

“What about the children’s and my room?”
The rooms you’ll be staying in were all personally directed by the master. I’ve heard he even handpicked the furniture.”

So that’s why it was safe.

If the room had been designed in the mine style, I might have really smashed the window and escaped.

“Dracu, what you see is not for my lover and children. What I meant by ‘make it livable for humans’ was not like this.”

“……I made a mistake. I sincerely apologize.”

Dracu calmly admitted his mistake.

But something was strange even here.

“Excuse me for interrupting, but the expression ‘make it livable for humans’ is….”

“Ah, that. Originally, this place was a black castle, but when I heard that the master’s lover and children were coming, I was told to renovate the castle.”

So the black castle was Kashar’s taste, and with the added culture of the crimson mine, the current Demon King’s castle was born.

‘I’m going mad.’

It was truly a great madness.

“The master was staying elsewhere due to external engagements. Furthermore, he never commented on minestyle culture, so I must have thought it was natural.”

Kashar was too nonchalant, and he had forgotten that the guest was a human.

Dracu, who explained the situation, was truly sorry to me.

“I am truly sorry, Lady Hallen.”

I felt sorry for him because he apologized too politely.

‘Still, the shock was a shock.’