“And if you understand that, you’ll become afraid. Clearly the same person, but living such different lives.”

The maid with a mask spoke in a quiet voice.

Upon hearing that, Cassel suddenly recalled an old incident.

“Even in Teynda, there are plenty of fools. If that’s the case, the continent below must be even more dreadful.”

In his young days when there was much to learn, Cassel once said this, chuckling, in front of the mild Verde Jajak.

It was just a light joke, but the old man suddenly spoke seriously.

“No, young master. Even if you are in a high position, you should not ridicule different lives. Rather, you should be more cautious and fearful.”

“Fearful? Why?”

Cassel felt uneasy and bluntly retorted, and Jajak said in a serious tone.

“Regardless of how lowly someone may be, treat them as humans and be afraid. Without that fear, you easily lose conscience, and one who loses conscience, no matter how outstanding, is useless.”

It was a commonplace sermon. Moreover, Cassel suddenly felt scolded and was in a bad mood.

So, he listened with one ear and let the words flow out the other, but those words came to mind again now.

“Fearful…”

Cassel rubbed his chin and pondered the meaning of those words.

Leaving the maid standing beside him for a while, Cassel thought for a long time and sighed alone as if he had understood something. Then, he casually waved his hand towards the maid.

“Alright, you can leave now.”

Without any regrets, the maid said goodbye and turned around. However, Cassel grabbed the maid again.

“Wait.”

When the maid turned around, Cassel flicked something with his thumb, and the maid, caught off guard, received what flew towards her.

“Take it, it’s your wages for fetching water.”

As the maid opened her hand, there were shining gold coins.

Cassel handed her excessive compensation and went into the bedroom. So, the maid, Ibi, secretly stuck her tongue out inside the mask.

‘That’s arrogance to the end.’

Ibi sneered at Cassel’s arrogant back and then turned her eyes to the large pendulum clock in the room.

The clock hands, which had been diligently running all day, were now pointing towards 9 PM.

‘It’s time to meet Dias.’

I hope he entered smoothly. If he entered the castle safely, he would have read the note hidden in the corridor.

Ibi looked out the window while thinking about Dias. It was still raining outside.

External 4th floor, west corridor, innermost storage room.

“From 9 PM.”

The snake murmured with a smile while lurking in the dark warehouse.

Hasn’t it been well past 9 PM already? The girl who left the note hasn’t appeared yet.

Will it come at 10 PM? Or maybe 11 PM? I don’t want to wait until midnight.

Maybe I should go and find her myself. But, but I want to surprise her.

Should I try on the maid’s clothes again while waiting? That might be more fun.

Perhaps the man will get angry because of some misunderstanding. Of course, that would be fine too.
Oh, it’s good, really good, but I still hate waiting. I’ve already waited too much, really for a long time.

But you haven’t shown your face properly yet.

“That’s mean.”

The snake complained in a whisper and stood up from the cramped warehouse.

I can’t wait any longer, so I have to go find her myself.

I wonder what you look like now. Since you’re clever, you must have disguised yourself perfectly.

But it’s okay. I remember your scent.

With an excited feeling, the snake pushed open the door of the warehouse. However, the door didn’t open, as if something was blocking it from the outside.

“It’s not opening?”

In that case, I should just break it.

The snake, anticipating tomorrow, unleashed a stronger curse without reservation.

He liked to swing curses, invisible to human eyes, like a whip, sharply tearing everything apart. Armor, carriages, horses, and people alike.

So that shabby wooden door should be torn apart in an instant, but unexpectedly, the snake’s curse trying to reach the door disappeared without a trace.

The snake, who had been leisurely, finally hardened his expression. He relied on the dim torchlight to examine the state of the door.

It was an utterly ordinary wooden door, but upon closer inspection, something was scattered on the floor. What was gradually falling through the gap in the door…

“Mana-nya’s salt.”

When the snake discovered the sand-like salt crystals and reached out his hand, a sweet voice, which seemed to have started somewhere, reached his ears.

‘A singing voice?’

The moment he realized it, a dizzying vertigo overwhelmed the snake.

When the snake staggered and collapsed, the girl he had been longing for was already outside the warehouse.

Ibi, with her mouth at the gap, was quietly singing towards the trapped snake.

That morning, after delivering breakfast to the maid, Ibi felt her heart pounding too much.

So, to calm her fluttering heart, she leaned against the wall and took several deep breaths.

After that, she went to Dias and said with a firm hand:

“She seems suspicious.”