However, it was unlikely that the butler could immediately relay a message to Hadel, who had gone for a bath. I was still held in Sae Deul’s grasp. Sae Deul squinted his eyes and examined me closely.

“Suspicious.”

“Suspicious, what do you mean?” I thought.

‘It’s always those who look the most suspicious who call others suspicious.’

The handsome man in front of me seemed like a villain with a hidden agenda. I glanced at Sae Deul.

‘Wasn’t it this good-looking but dark-hearted guy who sent Hadel to the North?’

Having a flame attribute doesn’t necessarily mean avoidance.

But if it appeared dangerous and uncontrollable from a young age, people around would naturally fear it.

Manipulating such a situation is too easy. As a child, Hadel might not have been fully aware of his overflowing flame, and just the cries of heat from those around would have been enough to make him lose control.

‘If the brother got burned a few times, not only Hadel but everyone around would have been mistaken.’

As if Hadel intentionally hurt people.

Thinking this far, I shook my head. Sae Deul was also young at that time. Could he have been that cunning?

‘This is an opportunity for me.’

An opportunity to understand what kind of person Sae Deul really is. With this thought, even in the sudden kidnapping situation, I felt calmer.

Sae Deul was still deep in thought, holding his chin.

“Definitely felt the flame, but now it’s not there. Could it mean it hasn’t absorbed any… or maybe just didn’t get a chance to absorb today?”

Startled.

But Sae Deul too easily deduced the reason for the absence of flame mana in me. Caught off guard by his sharpness, I involuntarily flinched.

‘He’s like a fortune teller. How did he guess the reason so accurately?’

His sensitivity wasn’t limited to mana. Although I flinched only slightly, Sae Deul’s gaze shifted. He looked straight at me and murmured,

“Can you understand human speech?”

It was a test.

“Kyu?”

My heart pounded, but I tilted my head innocently. I’ve been in this Archduke’s castle for months now.

‘What’s he talking about? I’m just a dumb ferret. I don’t know anything.’

Pretending to be clueless, acting as if I couldn’t understand a word, was something I had perfected. Otherwise, I couldn’t have eavesdropped on the maids’ conversations.

Seemingly fooled by my act, Sae Deul scratched his head and stood up, moving away from me.

“What am I saying? That’s impossible.”

Right, it’s impossible.

‘Keep being fooled. I’m a harmless ferret.’

Doing great. Keep it up.

As the pressure from Sae Deul eased, I quickly curled up again, looking for a place to escape. Just then, Sae Deul pressed down on my head with his palm and said,

“It definitely absorbed mana. How strange.”

‘Oh, why is he so stubborn?’

Just think of me as a ferret and let me go. Why all this back and forth?

I was tense, not knowing when a wave of coldness might pour over me. The subordinate, who had been silent, finally spoke.

“What is that creature, Prince?”

Instead of answering, Sae Deul commanded,

“Call Yulnysia.”

‘Yulnysia?’

My ears perked up at the sound of that familiar and dear name.

‘My friend Yul?’

Indeed, the name of the magus who had been closest to me on the battlefield until my death.

At Sae Deul’s command, the subordinate hesitated,

“She might not come in. Didn’t she suffer more as she approached the North?”

“If I call her, she will come.”
Sae Deul looked down at me with a sly, sinister smile.

“Once Yulnysia examines you, your identity will be clear.”

I buried my head on the ground, hiding my trembling eyes. My heart, which already beats fast, was now pounding as if being chased.

Yulnysia. That name alone, ever since I heard it, made my heart flutter.

‘It must be someone with the same name. My friend Yul is dead. She’s not from this era.’

I tried to reason with myself.

‘But I can’t help but wonder if it’s not Yul.’

The Yulnysia I know is not the same Yulnysia. I already found my friend Yulnysia’s name in the history books in Hadel’s study.

Yet my heart kept racing.

‘Our last moment, being so final, makes it more…’

I got caught in the explosion trying to stop Espen’s rampage. In that chaos, I couldn’t even confirm if Yulnysia had escaped properly.

‘If only I could meet my friend Yul again…’

While waiting to contact someone through a device I didn’t recognize, the subordinate briefly left the room. Returning, he bowed to Sae Deul and reported.

“The aura of flames is too strong for her to come in.”

“Useless.”

Sae Deul clicked his tongue. My ears perked up. Two things in their conversation struck me as odd.

First, the subordinate spoke respectfully of someone named Yulnysia while talking to Prince Sae Deul.

Secondly,

‘Can’t come in because of the flame’s aura? Why?’

This Yulnysia person can’t enter the northern castle, presumably due to the flame mana emanating from Hadel.

But that’s an unbelievable excuse.