No. Laila thought. I don’t need it.

That was true. But Badin’s voice kept coming up regardless of her will.

It felt as vivid as if he were beside her, and she could even hear his breathing—though she wasn’t sure if devils breathed.

—Your mother recognized who I was as soon as she saw me and asked…….

‘Go away!’

The moment Laila thought strongly, something exploded with a loud bang.

She instinctively thought she had caused an explosion, blowing away everything around her. But when she opened her tightly closed eyes, nothing had changed.

No, that wasn’t quite true……. Laila heard something constantly clicking in her pocket.

When she took it out, it was the seeker used to find syncs. The five needles were trembling, barely able to point in the direction of the sync. It looked precarious, as if it would break soon.

“Laila, what did you do?”

Eustar, who had left the child with a team member and rushed over, asked in a puzzled and bewildered voice. But even Laila herself must not have grasped what had happened yet.

A team member near the perimeter said.

“The sync’s energy response has increased!”

That was something that could be known without using magical tools or hearing reports. The core of the sync, invisible but certainly present at its center, could be felt vibrating with a humming sound.

But it doesn’t seem like it will grow in scale. Eustar thought. That was a fortunate—though perhaps temporary—sign. Something inexplicable had happened, but it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.

Laila had done something. Whatever had drawn her power to that extent was unclear, but not only had she increased the sync’s energy, she had also swept away the stubborn barrier surrounding Undil Heights.

Whatever was in the house, it probably wasn’t too pleased with what had just happened.

Laila, who had been staring at what she had accomplished as if in a daze, said.

“I don’t know what happened either.”

“Wasn’t it you who did it?”

Laila turned sharply to look at Eustar.

“I did it. I mean, I don’t know how this could have happened. I just thought…….”

No. Someone whispered in Laila’s mind. Don’t tell him.

Eustar asked.

“A thought, Laila? What kind of thought…….”

Just then—fortunately for Laila—a team member pointed towards Undil Heights and shouted.

“Your Highness! Look!”

Eustar and Laila turned their heads in unison towards where he was pointing.

They could see doors, curving in equally incomprehensible lines along the strangely bent walls of the mansion, slowly opening on both sides. Moreover, the lamps near the entrance were lighting up one by one.

“That’s…….”

As Eustar trailed off in a whisper, Laila said.

“It’s inviting us.”

Eustar stared at Laila as if to ask what she meant.

She spoke again.

“It’s telling us to come in.”

With that, Laila firmly closed her lips. Whether she didn’t want to say more or had nothing more to say was unclear, but Eustar knew what she wanted.

“Wicek. Take that child back home. If the child’s parents are there, briefly explain the situation. Can you do that?”

“Don’t worry, Your Highness.”

“And find the children who were with that child earlier…… Take measures to prevent rumors from spreading in the village.”

This meant to caution the children about Laila and what had happened here. Listening to Eustar’s words, Laila thought it was probably already too late, but she didn’t bother to say so.

The team member named Wicek said, lifting the child.

“What should I report to the Director?”

“For now, we’ll investigate the inside of that strange house. We’ll contact Jimi ourselves, so you don’t need to worry about that. And create a new perimeter around the sync. Widen the range.”

The team members nodded. As soon as Laila realized Eustar was ready, she started walking. The steps of the two heading towards Undil Heights along the desolate garden were quick and steady.

They glanced at the dimly lit lamps once and stepped into the dark mansion.

The door of Undil Heights closed silently. Like a child sneaking candy and pretending innocence, it swallowed the two people and shut its mouth.

The empty mansion was so cold that goosebumps rose all over their bodies as if a chill ran through them the moment they entered.

White sunlight seeped in through the tall windows, but there was no feeling of warmth or brightness anywhere, and the air was cold.

Something bumped against Laila’s foot. It rolled silently across the dusty carpet, and looking down, she saw it was an empty, cloudy wine bottle.

Laila said.

“This doesn’t seem like it belonged to this house.”

Eustar picked up the wine bottle and examined it. The label was almost completely peeled off, and a sour smell came from the mouth, which was covered in dust.

“Perhaps vagrants with nowhere to go stayed here. Or maybe some fearless local youths.”

Laila looked around the dark house with a careful attitude, as if she had come to buy Undil Heights. She almost wished there was a broker boasting about the mansion’s history and craftsmanship.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, the appearance of the mansion became clearer.

She could see numerous pieces of furniture and fixtures standing sturdy and arrogant, as if they had never been moved or fallen. Some cabinets were taller than Laila, with expensive glass inlaid with wave decorations in the front.

“There’s an unusually large amount of items left.”

Laila said slowly.

“And in good condition too……. If we dusted them off, cleaned with water for about a week, and ventilated, people could probably live here again. What do you think, Eustar?”

Eustar shook his head at her calm joke.

“You might be right, but I wouldn’t choose a place like this as our newlywed home. I’d prefer somewhere with plenty of sunlight.”

Laila chuckled at his leisurely retort. Aside from the ‘newlywed home’ comment, she agreed with his statement about not wanting to live in such a place.

The two approached the large staircase located in the center of the hall.

It split into two curved sections following the strange linear shape of the mansion, branching off in opposite directions, though they were bound to meet at the same place anyway.

The railing on the second floor protruded in the opposite direction of the mansion’s curve, and Eustar thought it resembled the seating arrangement in a theater. Although there was no stage…….

“It’s impressive.”

Eustar admired, looking down at the railings extending on both sides along the stairs.

“Look, Laila. The craftsmanship is very intricate. I’ve never seen anything like this even in the palace.”

Laila bent slightly to examine the railing closely. At first glance, it seemed to be carved with vines, but that wasn’t it.

Along a thick stem, leaves of various shapes and sizes were attached, and on each leaf, different scenes that could only be seen in illustrations were engraved.

Some depicted battles between two people, some the birth of a baby, some a scene from a funeral…….

“This is almost too much to call a railing.”

Eustar said. It wasn’t just the railing. Though worn, there was also intricate craftsmanship on the edges of the stairs.

After blowing off a bit of dust, they could see the image of a horse running on water—or perhaps some kind of water spirit—engraved.

Laila stared at a small relief carved towards the ceiling. It was a scene of three women sewing.

One was spinning a wheel, one was sewing clothes, and another was embroidering. But their expressions didn’t look very happy. It didn’t seem like there would be any cheerful chatter or singing.

Like they’re being punished. Laila thought. She unconsciously placed her hand on the relief, then suddenly jerked her arm back as if she had touched fire.

“Laila, what’s wrong?”

Eustar, who had been examining the patterns engraved on the stairs, hurriedly approached her.

But Laila couldn’t answer immediately. Shivering as if she had been thrown onto a snow-covered mountain in her pajamas, she moved slightly away from the railing.

“Someone died here.”

Eustar furrowed his brow at Laila’s words.

“Here?”

Laila nodded, then stared intently at the exact spot where her hand had touched.

“There…… They hit their head. They died instantly. I think it was a man.”

She turned her head to the left, looking up the stairs.

“They slipped from there.”

Eustar grabbed Laila’s hand and shoulder simultaneously, making her look at him.

“How did you know that, Laila?”

His expression looked very serious. Not just Eustar, but Laila too knew that something was strange about this situation. But she didn’t know how to explain it.

“……I’m not sure either.”

Laila answered in an uncertain voice, biting her lower lip gently.

“I just knew. When I touched it…… It flowed into my mind. It wasn’t very clear, but clear enough to recognize.”

“But, Laila. This is just a railing. You didn’t make contact with a soul, did you?”

Laila nodded with a heavy expression.

Until now, her ability had been to see memories through ‘overlapping’ when she contacted ghosts. As a powerful medium, Laila could always find a gap to penetrate even if the ghost refused to reveal its memories.

But it was different if she wasn’t contacting a soul. The information she could obtain from places or objects wasn’t much.

She could only vaguely ‘sense’ that some thought had existed or still existed. Just like many other people.

Eustar said.

“You just put your hand on the railing. And yet…… You’re saying you could tell that someone died there, how they died, and even that it was a man.”