[Iolls was originally one of the knight families that protected the descendants of fairies along with Trumto, Tula, and Smalle, but one day they were excluded from the knight families. The reason was that the descendants of fairies and Iolls fell in love.]

Peiron’s head was spinning from the numerous pieces of information he was seeing for the first time.

It was a book full of unbelievable stories.

[After that, Iolls came to share the curse held by the descendants of fairies. The curse that passed to Iolls changed, giving them a curse to fall in love like fate when meeting the descendants of fairies.]

“A curse to fall in love?”

As the content became more confusing with each page turned, Peiron stopped his hand that had been quickly flipping through the book.

Somehow, he felt that if he read the book to the end, his thoughts would be different from before.

But the hesitation was brief.

[This curse included even those with a slight lineage of fairy descendants, and even distant collateral branches of Iolls.] [If one of the two had deeper blood and a stronger curse, it could manifest in strange forms of love. Excessive obsession or confinement, for example.] [People of the Risky family, who are descendants of fairy blood, name their female children after flowers and male children after trees.] [The Risky family inherited one ability from the primordial fairies. One person per generation is chosen to know prophecies about the future, which the mother who carries the chosen child sees in a dream and tells the child.] [The primordial fairy left only the ability of prophecy, but children with strong fairy blood occasionally awakened other abilities as well.]

“What on earth is this…”

Peiron’s head ached so much from the difficult and complex information that his ears were ringing.

The vault full of rare and precious heirlooms felt strangely like a suffocating prison.

Forgetting the original reason he had entered the vault, Peiron moved urgently to leave.

As he was about to put the book back in its place, he looked at the cover once more.

[Fairies, the Risky family and the Iolls family.]

The color of the letters, which had been strangely close to a sticky blood color, now shimmered with a mysterious silver hue.

With his breath becoming increasingly stifled, Peiron hugged the book to his chest and escaped from the vault.

Peiron, who had come out almost running, ignored the butler and servants calling for him and went outside the mansion.

As soon as he left the mansion, the feeling that had been constricting his breath seemed to dissipate in the open space.

“Phew.”

Exhaling deeply, Peiron looked at the now empty garden, organizing his thoughts one by one.

The garden, once full of special flowers and trees, had all been dug up and sold or disposed of due to lack of maintenance.

As a result, the garden had become a desolate space.

Peiron approached the table that stood alone in what used to be the garden.

Placing the book on the table, Peiron quietly looked at the cover again.

“The Risky family, descendants of fairies.”

Peiron suddenly recalled that his lover’s name was a flower name.

Rose Asila.

Though not of the Risky family, strangely, Rose seemed to be connected to everything described in the book.

“Curse…”

It was said that the descendants of fairies and Iolls had a curse to meet like fate and fall in love.

Peiron recalled the moment he met Rose, the moment he fell for her helplessly.

It was a beautiful moment, as if vibrant colors were being painted into a world that had only known black and white.

It was a moment when everything felt mysterious and only she was visible.

Peiron had thought it was destiny.

But if, as written in the book, his love for her was nothing more than a mere curse.

If these feelings, still overwhelming just to think about, were merely created by a curse.

Peiron’s fingertips trembled slightly as he gently stroked the book cover.

He had to meet Rose.

Somehow, the hot wind blowing through the desolate garden felt stifling to Peiron.

[This is the timeline separator]

At the quiet hour when everyone was asleep, Terik brought a piece of news to Erina.

“Countess, I apologize for the late hour.”

“It’s alright, Baron Semul. What’s the matter?”

“We’ve made contact with Ollie, the maid who was infiltrating the Asila Count’s household.”

Erina stood up in surprise.

She had been constantly worried about the maid who had escaped alone from the Asila Count’s house and hadn’t been heard from.

“How did you make contact?”

“She says she crossed over to another territory, evading the eyes of the Asila Count’s knights. Ollie says the pursuit stopped as soon as she crossed the territory.”

Rose must have ordered the knights to chase the maid and then checked the fake Muangcho.

She might have realized it was her who tried to sabotage things with the fake Muangcho, without even needing to confirm with the maid.

“Please provide enough support for Ollie to return here safely.”

“I’ve already sent a trustworthy knight.”

“Were there any unusual details in the message she sent?”

At Erina’s words, Terik handed her a document.

“Ollie specifically asked to inform you first about Reni’s personal information.”

The document Terik handed over contained very detailed personal information about Reni.

It described in detail how she had worked at Iolls for a long time and recently left Iolls to stay at the Asila Count’s house.

“This is indeed the Reni I was thinking of.”

The appearance of Reni described in the personal information document was identical to the one Erina had seen every day at the Iolls mansion.

“When she was working at the Iolls mansion, her parents were held hostage by the Iolls’ mistress. Moreover, she stayed partly voluntarily as she received a lot of money in exchange for keeping secrets.”

Erina suddenly recalled the time when Sandes had confessed his past to her.

She had heard that Mirea had secretly abused Sandes’ sister, whom the former Count Iolls had forcibly taken.

That secret must surely be related to this.

“It seems that after her parents passed away and it appeared the Iolls’ mistress could no longer pay her, the maid named Reni went to the Kerenik Viscount’s house.”

At his words, Erina examined the document.

It stated that after going to the Kerenik Viscount’s house, she lost her tongue and injured her vocal cords, no longer able to produce a voice.

What must Sandes have felt when he let Reni go?

He was the one who had watched his sister being abused alongside her.

Perhaps he had participated in the abuse and tormented her together, or maybe he had acted directly as Mirea’s hand.

Somehow, she could understand his feelings, unable to give Reni a final gift before letting her go.

Perhaps he was troubled by the fact that Reni’s parents were held hostage by Mirea until the very end.

“After being driven out of the Kerenik Viscount’s house, Reni went to the Asila Count’s house.”

“She must have gone looking for Rose.”

Until Erina left the Iolls mansion, Rose had been busy winning the hearts of all the servants in the Iolls household.

Reni probably remembered Rose as a kind and gentle noble lady and went to find her.

But unfortunately, by the time Reni went to find her, Rose would have been in a quite sensitive state, desperately searching for the prophecy.

“She was Ollie’s roommate, and as it happens, she discovered Ollie switching the fake Muangcho.”

Even without Terik saying more, Erina could picture what happened next in her mind.

Reni must have seen this as an opportunity to secure her position in the Asila Count’s house, just as she had done in the Iolls mansion.

As places willing to accept a maid who couldn’t speak were rare, she must have desperately tried not to miss this chance to establish herself somehow.

“So, do we have no more of our people infiltrated in the Asila Count’s house?”

“One servant remains, but after the Muangcho was discovered, surveillance on the servants intensified, and we’ve had no communication since then.”

“I understand. Baron, please provide maximum support to ensure the maid named Ollie can return safely.”

“Yes, I will.”

As Terik left after leaving the documents, Erina was lost in thought.

According to Connie’s message, Rose had obtained Tetenian herbs from Belodie and completed the deadly poison.

Since Jarham had given her four vials of incomplete poison without the Tetenian herb, it meant Rose now had four vials of completed deadly poison.

Although Erina was gradually taking away Rose’s breathing room, she was still equally uneasy.

Rose had four vials of poison that couldn’t be antidoted, and she possessed an immortal body as the last descendant of fairies, though she might not know it.

Moreover, it was unknown whether Rose’s abilities and these facts were included in the prophecy she was seeking by offering her blood.

There was also no way to know how much of the prophecy Rose had recovered.

Erina’s dreams simply showed events from before the regression, not revealing Rose’s prophecies.

Feeling frustrated, Erina tidied her clothes and went out to the terrace.

The full moon was so bright that the front of the mansion was clearly visible.

It was a beautiful sight that couldn’t be seen in the dreams that kept appearing.

Although it was a beautiful sight that made her heart flutter, she didn’t know why her chest felt so cold.

Was it because of the dreams that kept repeating, running towards death, unlike the reality that was constantly changing?

Even though the warm wind was blowing, Erina strangely felt as if an icy breath was flowing from her mouth.

Her mind felt so distant, as if remembering her breath losing warmth in front of Rose.

Erina closed her eyes and took a deep breath to pull her mind back from what felt like falling into an abyss.

There was no time to be overwhelmed by such emotions.

Erina turned her back on the coldly shining moonlight.