What is all this?

Clearly in my memory, this place was an empty, bleak gray room, but now it was decorated to the point of being described as splendid.

The white panels covering the walls were designed with elaborate patterns, and under the sparkling large chandelier was a fluffy sky-blue sofa with gold trim and a table.

The bed with a translucent white canopy was also new, and on the opposite side was a large wardrobe.

Feeling as if I had come to a different space, I stepped back out of the room for a moment.

Wondering if I had come somewhere other than the castle, I scanned the corridor, but it was indeed my very familiar workplace.

I re-entered the room with a bewildered face. It still had a completely different atmosphere from the outside.

“Is this really my room?”

“All the items in the wardrobe are also for Lady Latieana, so feel free to look through them.”

I opened the large wardrobe doors one after another.

It was filled with elaborate dresses I had never seen before in my life.

In the corner hung my humble original pajamas, maid uniform, and outerwear.

I had bought them with good fabric from the village, spending quite a bit of money.

But hanging in the corner, overshadowed by these exquisite clothes, they looked like they had been picked up from a trash heap.

“Let’s take a look at this side as well.”

Ruben calmly guided me to the console next to the door.

For this moment, he seemed to have transformed from a knight into a butler.

He opened the first drawer of the large console, which had two long drawers.

All sorts of dazzling jewelry and accessories were neatly arranged in rows, some extremely fancy, some simple, each with its own style.

“Not knowing what you would like, I filled it with expensive items.”

Right. They certainly look expensive. At this point, I couldn’t help but ask.

“Did the master do this?”

“Yes. It was the Grand Duke’s order.”

“Why?”

Ruben looked down at me quizzically, as if wondering why I would ask such a question.

“Of course, it was done to make Lady Latieana happy.”

Ah, right. That would be it. For me.

But what happened in the span of a week? Was this even possible in just a week?

“I’ve discreetly stationed knights around the castle. There won’t be any surprises like when Commander Hillstain suddenly attacked. So don’t worry and rest.”

“Wait a moment.”

“I’ll be taking my leave now.”

I grabbed Ruben as he was turning to leave. I’m asking this just in case, with a glimmer of hope.

“Is this why the master hasn’t been seen during the day recently?”

I pointed at the room.

“Yes.”

“Surely he didn’t personally select and purchase everything?”

“He did, but is there a problem? Ah, if it’s not to your liking, we can change it easily…”

“No, no. It’s not that.”

What could I say to Edan’s right-hand man? Ruben was someone who would do anything Edan said.

Ruben tilted his head and then left, and I stared blankly at the wardrobe.

I had thought Edan’s face wasn’t seen much at the Grand Duke’s castle, but was he doing this?

The same person who had taken me to a restaurant not long ago, saying he didn’t care about my attire at all?

He was busy because of this? For me?

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Edan, who used to wield a blood-stained sword and kill demons, going shopping? It was a bit cute and refreshing.

But then I abruptly stopped laughing.

“Haa.”

From afar, I might look like a strange woman, but this wasn’t the time to laugh. This wasn’t the time for this.

I hurriedly headed to the library.

There was something I had to check before Edan returned.

I went to the library and sat at the desk. I opened the drawer and took out a book with a black cover.

It was the book of black magic that I had hastily hidden away when Hillstain suddenly came last time.

“Huff—”

I exhaled a tense breath and carefully opened the book.

During the days I was lying down, I had been pondering how Ivy could have taken my power.

“It was definitely somewhere here… Found it!”

While flipping through the front part of the book, I found the section I had read before about how using black magic causes the skin to rot.

I carefully recalled Ivy’s appearance.

The black blood vessels that had rapidly surged up were clearly rising from below the chest, from the solar plexus.

And the hand that grabbed me was definitely blackened.

At that time, I thought it looked black because of the blood vessels, shocked by my own hand that had turned into a mummy, but…

No. It was brief, but it was clearly rotting skin.

There was definitely a change in the panorama I saw in my dream too.

At first, the skin color was intact, then it was gray.

And when I saw her at the temple, it was completely black. Ivy’s skin was rotting due to black magic.

‘But how is she hiding it normally?’

It didn’t show at all. Maybe she was hiding it with her healing power.

Or perhaps if she could take my power completely, it might even negate the use of black magic itself.

“But the more I think about it, the more infuriating it is.”

Ivy, that girl, is she crazy? How could she kill her friend! She was full of lies!

As quickly as my heart was boiling with anger, I flipped through the book rapidly.

As I went towards the back, there were stronger spells written, so I flipped as far back as possible.

After flipping for a while, around page 120, I found a similar black magic spell.

Wow… The name alone doesn’t sound scary, but it was a chilling page.

Around the letters written in deep black ink, there were several bloodstains only on this page.

The dark red marks, as if real blood had dried on them, made the paper even stiffer.

At this point, I couldn’t help but question even more why this book existed here.

Who on earth was the original owner of this castle?

“Ugh.”

I carefully grabbed the edge of the book with my fingertips and read down with my eyes.

“A secret spell passed down from ancient witches. It can forcibly steal life force. It was a method used by black magicians on the brink of death to extend their lives. The spell…”

As I read down the page, I turned to the next page.

And, eek!

I almost threw the book away in shock. Compared to the previous page, there were incredibly massive bloodstains, all full of fingerprints and palm prints.

I frowned deeply and stayed away from the book for a moment, then barely mustered the courage to look again.

It was full of strange writing that I couldn’t read or even tell if it was proper writing.

And below that, there was an important phrase written.

It was a chilling sentence.

“Witch, witch’s blood…”

Thinking simply, it meant that only the descendants of witches could decipher these unreadable letters.

“Witch…”

Speaking of witches, they were briefly mentioned in the original work.

Around the time the empire was just established, there was a great witch who lured demons to the empire.

It was said that even now, the empire’s ability users fighting against demons was because of that witch. That was all the information I knew.

I hurriedly closed the book, put it back in the drawer, and headed to the bookshelf.

A library filled to the ceiling on one side of the spacious room, of course this was just one wall, and on the opposite side of the wide hall, dozens of bookshelves were placed in layers.

I needed to find a book about witches.

Most of them were ordinary books that you might find in a general bookstore, but since there was a book about black magic here, there might be books about witches too.

I started to search the library carefully.

The enormous amount of books suddenly caught my eye. I had no idea where to start looking, but I began to search from the most secluded corners.

I don’t know how much time had passed.

“Just a little, really just a little more… ugh.”

Just as I was reaching out, barely able to reach a spot slightly above my height—

“This?”

Suddenly, I felt a solid weight on my back.

A large hand easily pulled out the book I wanted, while my arm was stretched out embarrassingly, even standing on tiptoes. I quickly turned around and looked up to see Edan.

“Master?”

“Yes. I’m back.”

Edan, slightly twisting the corners of his mouth upwards, held out the book to me.

I widened my eyes and looked around.

There was no sense of a portal opening anywhere in the library.

“How did you come in?”

“What were you doing to be so focused on the book that you didn’t even notice the portal opening?”

It was true. Because I was hidden behind the bookshelf, I didn’t even notice the blue light of the portal opening.

Looking towards the desk where the portal opens, I could see the blue light fading away.

“It just happened. Give me the book…”

Whoosh.

As I was about to take the book, Edan raised the hand holding the book straight up.

I narrowed my eyes and frowned.

This feels like something I’ve experienced before.

“Give it to me.”

Edan, as if it was out of the question, pressed down on my head with his other hand while looking at the book.

Then he suddenly let out a snicker.

“What are you going to do with this book? Read it?”

“Of course.”

“This?”

“Why? It’s up to me what I read.”

“You’re really going to read this?”

“There are no limits to learning, you know.”

I frowned and stretched out my arm towards Edan, who was looking down with his eyelids lowered haughtily.

“Give it here.”

Edan removed the hand he had placed on my head, then swiftly turned the book to show me the cover.

“’50 Skills for a Burning Night,’ really?”