Badin looked at Laila as if she were ridiculous.

“I mended your bones, my daughter.”

At that, Eustar was startled and looked at Laila’s arm.

“Laila! Are you hurt?”

“Earlier… I’m fine now. Look.”

Laila moved her arm back and forth. However, Eustar still looked at her and then Badin alternately with suspicious eyes. It was a look that clearly said he had done something unsavory.

Badin clicked his tongue overtly and shook his head.

“This is why humans are no good. Ungrateful things. When they want something, they ask for it, but when you give it, they resent you. Especially the males.”

“I warned you not to touch even a finger of Laila’s.”

At Eustar’s words, one of Badin’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“As you can see, I didn’t touch a hair on her head, let alone a finger. Are your eyes on your heels? Who was the pathetic one groaning without even realizing his companion was hurt, even if it was fabricated?”

Hearing those words, Eustar’s expression contorted. Though not as bizarre as the Deceptor’s, his expression also showed both insult and shame.

Laila said,

“I understand you healed me. But what I want to know is the reason. Why did you save me? Why did you heal me?”

Badin remained silent in response to her question.

Laila was staring back at Badin, who wouldn’t take his eyes off her, when she suddenly realized he had never blinked once. Perhaps that was why she felt so strongly that his gaze was piercing through her.

A short sigh was heard. She thought it was Eustar, but surprisingly, it was Badin’s sigh.

He said,

“Though you are as vexing and ungrateful as any human, I thought you might be able to fulfill my wish.”

Laila and Eustar were simultaneously bewildered. Were they dreaming that the word ‘wish’ came from the mouth of a demon, not anyone or anything else?

They thought that perhaps the enraged Deceptor had killed them instantly, and they were having their last dream in a fading state of consciousness.

After a long while, Laila finally opened her mouth.

“What… do you mean?”

However, instead of answering her question, Badin gave an ambiguous piece of advice.

“Think wisely and carefully. Do not lose what I have given you.”

Laila asked again in an angry voice,

“What do you mean by that!”

“Do not obsess over an empty house. The owner has long since changed.”

As Badin finished speaking, black smoke rose like a cloud from beneath his feet. Laila realized he was about to disappear and jumped up from her seat.

“Wait! Explain what you mean!”

She reached out towards Badin’s shoulder, but all she caught was a handful of smoke. She watched with empty eyes as the smoke scattered between her fingers and disappeared without a trace, then turned to look at Eustar.

Eustar’s expression was just as bewildered as Laila’s. Since meeting him, this was the first time she had seen him look so dumbfounded.

Eustar said,

“What on earth was that fellow talking about?”

Laila let out a long sigh and covered her face with both hands.

“I don’t know, Eustar. I really don’t know at all.”

Fortunately, the members of Branch 3 who had been lying like corpses were able to return without losing any lives. Some were injured, but only to a minor extent, and the same was true for Jimmius.

“What happened?”

When Eustar asked, Jimmius, who was wrapping a bandage around his sprained wrist and applying cloths for hemostasis on various parts of his face, lowered his gaze and shook his head.

“I’m not sure, Sir Eustar.”

“What do you mean you’re not sure? Does that make any sense?”

Jimmius let out a weary sigh.

“I am ashamed. But truly… I don’t know what happened. Sir Eustar, did you know that the last family living in Undil Heights attempted to summon a demon?”

I did know. Eustar thought. It would have been better if I had known sooner, though.

He nodded with a bitter expression. Jimmius’s face darkened even more.

“As soon as I received that information, I gathered the members and marched to Undil Heights.”

“This isn’t an army, Branch Director Kun.”

“I know. But in a way, it’s no different from an army. In the sense that we fight against the enemies of the kingdom.”

Jimmius, who had answered firmly, slightly softened his stance and then furrowed his brow. It seemed like a persistent headache was attacking him again.

After pressing his temples for a moment, Jimmius said,

“Even before we reached the border between Undil Heights and Sink, I felt that things were going wrong. There was a… terrible aura. I swear, I’ve never felt such an ominous feeling in my life.”

“I understand.”

For a moment, Jimmius looked at Eustar as if that couldn’t be possible. That reaction alone was enough to imagine the immense fear she had felt.

Well, why wouldn’t it be? The enraged Deceptor, unable to enter the mansion, must have been raging furiously, ready to turn the surroundings upside down.

“And then?”

When Eustar asked, Jimmius’s head moved slightly up and down. She continued slowly.

“The energy of Sink was quite powerful, but the flow had slowed down. I thought that was strange too… And when we crossed the border of Undil Heights, suddenly something like a gust of wind blew. No, not a gust, it was more like…”

Jimmius’s brow furrowed faintly. Although she was originally not very eloquent, it was the first time in her life that she had been at a loss for words while giving a report.

But how should she explain that?

What she first felt was definitely a gust of wind. She felt something like a whirlwind rising high into the sky, writhing from the ground.

It was such a clear sensation that all the members, including herself, instantly lowered their bodies. But the wind didn’t blow… Instead, their whole bodies floated up, and a noise that felt like it would burst their eardrums pounded their entire bodies.

Jimmius touched her ears and said,

“It’s amazing that I can still hear properly now. It was a sound like the earth was splitting in half.”

“That was the demon’s roar.”

At Eustar’s answer, Jimmius’s lips hardened.

After staring at him blankly for a moment, Jimmius said,

“Did you say demon, Sir Eustar? Are you saying there was still a demon there?”

“Yes, that’s right. There were even two of them.”

“Two!”

Jimmius, who had shouted in a single breath, jumped up from her chair. The wrinkles on her forehead, deeper than her age due to anguish and pain, trembled slightly.

“Are you saying that I missed it?”

“Sit down. It’s not appropriate to say you missed it. As you know, demons are not something humans can catch. Even if there are some that can be exorcised, they’re just small fry no different from magical beasts anyway. What was there was…”

Eustar’s voice trailed off, and his shoulders rose silently and then slowly sank.

He shook his head as if to say let’s leave it at that.

“Be glad that you all are safe, Jimmius.”

Eustar glanced at Jimmius while repeatedly clenching and unclenching his still tingling hand.

“Remember that recklessness can sometimes be worse than cowardice.”

Those words didn’t provide much comfort to Jimmius. However, she was a loyal knight. She didn’t dare to talk back to the prince, to whom she felt she owed more than she could repay with her body and soul.

“…I understand, Your Highness. I will not forget your grace in not rebuking my incompetence.”

Eustar smiled as if pitying her.

“No one can say you are incompetent. The fact that you didn’t lose a single member is proof that you made the right decisions until the end. You should be proud of that.”

Jimmius nodded with a gloomy expression and asked,

“By the way, what exactly was in that house? Besides the demon…”

“There was something. But ghosts weren’t the problem. The problem was the house itself. Now that it’s collapsed, nothing will happen.”

“That’s a relief.”

Eustar nodded. Staring intently at Jimmius, who seemed to have entered a path of worry and anguish again, he carefully asked a question.

“How is your younger sister doing?”

“She’s fine. The same as always.”

“Is there no improvement?”

Jimmius briefly considered whether she should truthfully tell Eustar that Elbrin had said “Don’t go,” but ultimately said nothing.

That was all she had said, and Elbrin had closed her mouth again and shut the door to her heart. Where her consciousness was wandering, what she was seeing… Jimmius couldn’t know.

“I’m grateful enough for your concern.”

Eustar’s eyebrows drooped a little.

“…You should let go of that incident now too. His Majesty and I have forgotten about it now.”

“I can’t do that.”

Jimmius’s answer was as sharp as a blade.

“I can never do that until the kingdom and the royal family enjoy complete peace. Since my parents died without atoning for their sins, I can only repay by being loyal to His Majesty, Your Highness, and Sierrow.”

It was already known that her stubbornness couldn’t be broken.

Eustar didn’t expect Jimmius to give a positive answer when he brought it up. She would fulfill her oath. Perhaps even at the cost of her own life.

Eustar smiled bitterly and nodded as he stood up.

“If that helps your mind, then do so.”

Just as their conversation ended, Laila entered the situation room. Despite saying her arm was fine, Eustar had insisted she see a doctor, so she had just returned from meeting one.

“What did they say, Laila?”

“They said it’s fine. I told you so.”

“Still, you never know. I’m glad it’s okay.”

Laila moved her lips with a seemingly sulky expression but didn’t blame Eustar further.

The two stepped onto the portal to return to the royal palace. The moment she stood beside him, Eustar noticed that there was something heavy and unfamiliar inside Laila’s leather pouch.

He hadn’t seen it with his eyes or touched it with his hands, but he could intuitively tell. And he also knew that Laila had deliberately not mentioned ‘it’.

‘What could she be carrying?’

Eustar’s gaze briefly touched Laila and then fell away. Whatever it was, she wouldn’t be able to hide it for long.

At least not from Eustar himself.