Every time he moved behind her back, Laila felt goosebumps rise anew across her entire body. She thought it might be an illusion or a chill, but it wasn’t. It was a clear killing intent emanating from something inhuman, a precarious sensation that set one’s nerves on edge whenever encountered.

“Deceptor.”

Eustar’s voice deepened. Even Laila was startled by that unfamiliar resonance, enough to look at him.

Deceptor frowned and smiled mischievously. It was a vicious appearance, but objectively speaking, one had to admit that he was attractive enough for anyone to fall for, even taking into account that he was a demon.

A kind of beauty inexpressible in human language, a vicious ecstasy that should not exist nor be allowed to exist. Laila turned her gaze away from Deceptor and pressed her lips tightly to avoid looking at him again.

Deceptor said:

“What exactly has changed?”

At the same time, the pressure that had been weighing down on Laila’s back like a rock instantly disappeared. She burst out a breath as if she had just surfaced from deep underwater. Then she clasped her very cold fingertips together.

“Laila.”

Eustar reached out his hand. Laila quietly stared at his palm for a moment before lightly placing her fingertips on it. The warmth that instantly soothed her frozen heart returned heat to her hand.

Eustar, who had been caressing Laila’s hand while looking down, asked with a seemingly light smile:

“By the way, what was that talk about chaff?”

Laila rolled her eyes slightly and pointed to the book placed on top of the drawer.

“It was in there.”

It was the fairy tale book she had received from Count Haliwell. Eustar smiled with a slightly wrinkled nose, feeling strange.

“In the end, you couldn’t find out who sent that book, right?”

In fact, Laila had a guess as to who had sent it.

It must have been Badin, she thought. He might have threatened an employee while disguised as Karsh, or changed into someone else’s appearance to hide his identity. But it must have been sent by Badin.

The reason she thought so was because of the book’s contents. It was…

“Laila?”

Laila suddenly looked at Eustar.

“What’s wrong, Eustar?”

“Did you not hear what I just said?”

Blinking her eyes a couple of times, she said in a small voice:

“I’m sorry, I was lost in thought. What did you say?”

“I asked if I could read that book later too.”

Laila looked back at the book on the drawer once, then nodded silently.

“Of course. But later. I’m still reading it myself.”

In the northeastern part of the Sheerow Kingdom, just below the rugged and desolate Diasgarden Mountains, was the Gilonic branch of Tentinella Division 3.

The Dias Garden, which was said no one could cross alive, was a place where long-dormant volcanoes and roughly uplifted terrain had rubbed and collided to form one massive mountain range.

Its peak appeared black on both cloudy and clear days, said to be due to the ash and dust that erupted during volcanic explosions clinging together and turning into rock.

The members of the Gilonic branch mainly dealt with monsters appearing in the valleys of the Diasgarden Mountains, so there were many members specialized in field combat. Therefore, the incident reported this time gave them a headache.

“Have all the nearby residents been evacuated?”

Jimius Kun, the head of Gilonic, said while looking at the hazy screen floating in the air.

The new member who was just approaching behind her for reporting was momentarily stiffened by Gilonic’s sensitivity in noticing him without even turning around.

The member answered:

“Yes, Branch Head. We proceeded as you instructed.”

“Did you confirm that everyone moved without exception?”

Although her voice was lukewarm, there was somehow an irresistible pressure felt in her tone. The member, even more tense than before, rolled his eyes and nodded.

“I confirmed it.”

“Good.”

Jimius, who had been operating the machine, clicked her tongue with a displeased look as if something wasn’t working as she wanted, and kicked the bottom part. The hazy image floating in the air rippled as the part supplying magical power shook.

She carelessly brushed back her short brown hair that revealed her ears completely and rubbed her face with her palm. Sensing her irritated mood, the new member who had finished reporting quietly retreated, and instead, the deputy Conseary stepped forward.

“Branch Head, should we contact His Royal Highness the Prince?”

Jimius clicked her tongue again.

“I’d rather not if possible, but this time we have to. I’ve prepared a message, so send it.”

“Understood.”

After giving the simple order, Jimius left the situation room without a word as soon as Conseary’s reply fell. The new member standing aside looked at Conseary with a bewildered face.

“Where is the Branch Head going?”

“To sleep.”

The rookie’s eyes blinked in confusion. Going to sleep? It’s the middle of the day now? Even in this situation with a Scale 3 Sync appearing…

“Um, Deputy.”

“What?”

“The Branch Head, she doesn’t look like it, but she seems quite relaxed.”

Conseary, who was operating buttons, glanced at the new member and chuckled.

“Everyone thinks that at first.”

“Is that not the case?”

“At least she’s not a relaxed person. Okay, it’s transmitted.”

The new member spoke again.

“But, I heard briefly before coming here. The Branch Head’s family…”

“Hey.”

The member whose words were suddenly cut off blinked and belatedly answered, “Yes.” Conseary stared at him blankly with an expressionless face, then moved his lips as if smiling but not quite, and said:

“That’s enough. No one here would like that kind of talk.”

“Ah, I understand.”

The new member, thoroughly cowed, lowered his head. Conseary exhaled a short sigh, stretched, and filled his empty cup with strong tea.

The wind blowing from the direction of the mountains violently beat against the window.

“Lady Kristrad, may I ask you something?”

Mel, who was sitting on one side doing needlework, said. Laila, who was gazing out the window with her arms propped on the sill, looked at her as if to ask what it was.

“What is it?”

“How long will Your Highness the Prince and Lady Kristrad use separate rooms?”

Mel often asked Laila about things she was curious about, but this question was of a kind she had never thought about before. Laila, who was just blinking her eyes with nothing to say, said:

“You’re curious about strange things today, Mel.”

Mel smiled brightly.

“Is that so? Maybe it’s because I’m bored.”

“Bored?”

“Aren’t you bored, Lady Kristrad? Even at times like this, you don’t invite others or go to meet them. Except for when you occasionally go out saying you have business. I’m really curious where you go.”

“I told you that’s a secret.”

Laila cleared her throat and added:

“And I’m not bored… Although that might be strange. What was it like before? What did you do when you were bored?”

“Me? As you know, Lady Kristrad, I mainly served Viscountess Himierd before. I never felt particularly bored then. There wasn’t even time for that. Since the Viscountess was always busy, the servants attending to her had to move busily too. I don’t know much about other noble houses, but it’s probably the same for people working in those houses.”

Laila slightly tilted her head at Mel’s answer.

“Then what do noble ladies do when they’re bored, besides the servants?”

Mel said:

“Well, they gather to have tea or chat… Or do embroidery. Some people paint or play the piano too. It varies.”

“I don’t know how to do any of those things.”

Mel laughed softly at Laila’s nonchalant tone.

“I wasn’t trying to say you have to do those things. But if Lady Kristrad wants to, you could learn from now on.”

“Well. I’m not sure what I’d use embroidery for if I learned it.”

“You could embroider things you use, Lady Kristrad, or give them as gifts, couldn’t you?”

Gifts. For a moment Laila thought of Eustar, but no matter how she tried, she couldn’t imagine herself handing him something like a handkerchief she had embroidered herself. Even if she could understand the act of embroidering itself, her own embroidery would probably be a mess…

“My mother didn’t do embroidery either. She always just cut and sewed my clothes.”

Mel opened her eyes wide in surprise. At the same time, she even put down the needle that had never stopped moving during their conversation.

“Goodness, that can’t be!”

“It’s true. Not just for me, but for the clothes my mother wore too.”

“Then Lady Kristrad, you’ve never worn formal clothes with embroidery? Even as a child?”

Laila frowned with a puzzled expression.

“Is there a reason to wear formal clothes with embroidery?”

Mel answered:

“They say children should wear such things to grow up healthy without getting sick when they’re young. Of course, it’s probably just superstition… But besides that, dressing someone in carefully embroidered clothes is an expression of affection. So maybe that’s where that saying came from?”

Laila said:

“You seem to know a lot about such superstitions, Mel.”

Mel smiled silently with an embarrassed expression. It was because she had just realized anew that Laila was a ‘real’ witch. By now she had gotten quite used to it and had almost forgotten…

“It’s probably because I grew up on my grandmother’s knee. Both my mother and father were busy, so my grandmother took care of me. When I was little, I thought witches made magic tinctures for people and received gold coins in return. So I used to imagine that if you lifted the floorboards in a witch’s house, you’d find treasure chests full of gold coins… That’s why I said I wanted to become a witch and got scolded badly by my mother.”

The corners of Laila’s mouth twitched faintly. Mel now knew that this was her effort to smile.

Laila said:

“I don’t even want to imagine what might have been under the floorboards of the house I grew up in. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t treasure chests.”