Laila gripped the doorknob tightly. Her fingers were trembling, but she put strength into her toes to avoid showing it.

“Let me out.”

Laila said.

“This is the last time. Open this door.”

It was all the strength she could muster, but it was neither a threat nor a warning to Badin. She knew without having to ask that it would be so, but unexpectedly, he did not mock Laila.

However, Laila felt even more hurt by this point.

The fact that no matter what she did—or what she said—she could not make any impact on his emotions, crept up her heels like a vivid nightmare even after waking, giving her a sense of powerlessness.

Badin, who had been keeping silent, spoke.

“That human male seems to be shaking you up too much.”

“That’s none of your business.”

Badin’s eyebrow moved slightly at her immediate response.

“It’s more my business than anyone else’s.”

Laila furrowed her brow, not immediately understanding his words.

Badin was watching her expression change with interest, yet with indifferent eyes. It was a gaze that seemed to penetrate not only her expression but also the emotions swirling within.

Badin continued.

“Isn’t that right? After all, you are my daughter. Humans call it paternal love, don’t they?”

A hissing sound escaped between Laila’s lips.

“I don’t have anything like a father.”

“You deny it even though I’m right in front of you.”

“What do you want from me? Do you want to be called father? Or do you want to use me to create another witch, like you did with my mother?”

Badin briefly wore a strange expression, and Laila was surprised by it. If he had been human, she might have attached the adjective ‘troubled’ to that expression.

But isn’t he a demon? A demon would never show a troubled expression in front of humans. Unless it was a trick to deceive and enchant naive humans to grasp their souls.

Badin said.

“Do you think I wanted to continue the lineage of witches?”

Laila frowned.

“What do you mean?”

She let go of the doorknob she had been gripping tightly as if she would never let go, and turned towards Badin.

“You made it that way. Just as you said with your own mouth.”

Blinking, Badin gave a strange smile. Oddly enough, that smile seemed close to that of a human.

Due to his pale and dangerously beautiful appearance that was impossible to look away from, that feeling soon faded, but for a moment, Laila had the illusion that he too might be a human with emotions and worries.

Badin’s white fingers moved slowly, bending one by one as if playing an instrument.

“You are mistaken about many things.”

“I don’t think so. You call yourself my father, but you’re also my mother’s father. And you were also the father of her mother, and her mother’s mother. At the same time, you were the husband of all of them.”

Laila’s red eyes flashed. She shuddered with disgust.

“If you’re expecting the same from me, you’d better give up early.”

“Expectations, is it.”

Badin, making a sound similar to a scoff, stared at Laila intently.

He’s going to attack me. Laila thought. It was a chilling sensation that her body felt before her mind knew. Like a deer catching the scent of a lion, Laila prepared to flee with all her nerves on edge.

But Badin did not attack Laila. It was clear that he had decided to leave her alone, at least for now…

His gaze flicked upwards briefly.

“The foolish mouse is heading towards the trap.”

The blood drained from Laila’s face. Her senses, heightened by tension, drummed her body like a drum. The ‘mouse’ Badin was referring to. Its meaning was all too clear.

“Eustar!”

Laila’s palm struck the door with a bang! She twisted the doorknob as if to rip it off, kicked it, and punched it, when suddenly her body swayed.

The door opened.

Laila, breathing heavily, reflexively looked back. Badin’s figure had disappeared. It was an unwelcome change.

But there was no time to think further.

“Eustar! Where are you!”

Laila, who had run as if flying towards the narrow and dark stairs, shouted with all her might. But the mansion was quiet. Not only was there no answer from Eustar, she couldn’t even hear his breathing.

“Eustar!”

Laila’s cry echoed through the eerily long and empty corridor.

The 3rd branch of Tentinella, Gilonic, was busy with the sound of members’ footsteps moving quickly. Conserie returned to Zimius after organizing and giving orders to the support team to be dispatched to Undil Heights.

She was leaning over, glaring at the documents she had already read. Her interlocked hands at her mouth trembled occasionally, and her eyes, darkened with fatigue, were hollow and deep.

“Chief.”

Conserie called worriedly, but Zimius did not respond immediately. The silence continued for a long time, and just as Conserie was about to call her again.

“The head of the Undil family summoned a demon, pledging the souls of themselves and all their household members. But it must not have gone as planned.”

It was almost a mutter to herself. However, Conserie faithfully nodded.

Zimius continued.

“The last survivor was the ten-year-old eldest son of the Undil couple.”

A troubled look came over Conserie’s face.

“Yes. According to the testimony of the last people who saw him, the child…”

“Was no longer in human form. He must have become the host. After harming everyone in the house and trying to escape… This is the strangest part. That he was found as a bizarrely shaped corpse near Undil Heights.”

Zimius frowned, tapping the document with her fingernail.

“The demon took possession of that child’s body, but how could he have died? What could have done that?”

Conserie answered.

“The people who recovered the child’s body said it looked like the work of a giant beast.”

“Nonsense. You know that even if a magical beast appeared, it couldn’t compare to a demon, don’t you?”

“I know. But we couldn’t find out any more information than that. They said the child’s body was cremated, and the ashes were buried in various places.”

Zimius, with an even darker expression, was lost in thought for a while before rising.

“Is the support team organization complete?”

“They’re waiting for your orders, Chief.”

“Good.”

Zimius turned and lightly kissed Elbrin’s forehead, who was still looking out the window.

As if touching a doll, no vitality could be felt from her skin. Only a very lukewarm and faint body temperature indicated that she was still alive, still existing in this world.

“I’ll be back, Elbrin.”

Just as Zimius’s hand, which had been caressing the thin shoulder, slipped off.

“Don’t… go.”

Both Zimius and Conserie turned their heads in surprise at the terribly cracked voice. Elbrin was still looking at some point outside the window, a point in the void invisible to the two.

Zimius’s trembling eyes slowly moved downward. As if checking whether her ankle had been cut off, her expression and gaze were filled with enormous fear.

Elbrin’s fingers gripping her own were pale.

“…Elbrin?”

Zimius called her name as carefully as if it were a bomb. Surprisingly, Elbrin’s hand gripping Zimius’s fingers tightened a little more.

Elbrin let out a breath that sounded like a squeak.

“Don’t go… You can’t go.”

Laila was still wandering the corridor on the third floor. There was no trace of Eustar to be found, and not even a hint of his presence could be felt.

The structure of the house keeps changing. Laila thought. At first, she thought it might be an illusion, but it wasn’t. This house was clearly changing. It was mocking her, changing its appearance to make her lose her way.

When she first came upstairs, all she saw was an oddly long straight corridor and two short diagonal paths branching off in two directions.

Entering the left one, Laila saw winding corridors and other rooms that could not possibly exist in the mansion’s structure.

She thought she would come out at the same place after going around once, but when she turned the corner, what appeared before her eyes was a dead end.

After wandering several times, Laila made large marks with chalk on the walls she passed, but even that was of no use.

Sometimes she would see the marks she had clearly made even though she had only moved in the opposite direction, and sometimes when she returned to the same place, the marks would be gone and strange walls or corridors would appear.

“Eustar!”

Her cry scattered hopelessly. Each time her voice echoed, it seemed as if the walls were shaking with a crackling sound.

It was a very small and subtle sound, like teeth clashing together, but Laila could feel the mockery and cynicism contained in it.

“Damn it…”

She was out of breath. It wasn’t easy to endlessly wander through a maze without rest, not even knowing the destination.

Laila took out something small and pill-like from her pocket and bit into it. There was a crunching sound between her teeth, and a disgusting taste filled her mouth. It was a medicine to stop portal sickness, commonly called ‘Orange’.

The indescribably terrible taste made her mind snap to attention.

Laila shook her head and slapped her cheeks a couple of times before trying to move on… when she realized that the door of a room she had passed by several times was slightly open.

It was a door that had definitely been closed until the last time she passed by.

Laila’s head moved slowly. As if responding to her, the door opened along with her movement.

—Creeeak…

The long-unused hinge let out a labored scream. The scene inside the room that was finally revealed looked so ordinary it seemed almost empty.

It didn’t look like a child’s room. Rather, it looked more like a guest room that had been left half-furnished.

The easily movable dresser, the long mirror leaning askew against one wall, and the empty wall-mounted shelf seemed to be standing guard indifferently for someone who would stay briefly and leave.

The translucent curtain covering the large window caught her eye. Although there was no wind, the curtain swayed gently like spring leaves.

For a moment, Laila closed and opened her eyes, wondering if she had seen something wrong. She deliberately savored the foul taste remaining in her mouth as she narrowed her eyes. It wasn’t an illusion.

Two small feet were visible beneath the curtain.