In the dark night, Eustar was walking slowly somewhere, following the night. The only light to rely on was a single faintest star, which was flickering weakly as if it would soon go out.

He turned his head to the right, moving his feet like a broken machine or doll, not knowing where he was heading.

A calm, black water surface was visible. Whether it was the wind or the movement of fish, occasional round ripples spread, approaching close to his feet.

The moment he felt strange about the ripples spreading to his feet, he realized he was standing on water. Then, as his body sank down, ice-cold water struck his entire body.

—No!

Eustar swam towards the surface with his mouth open, but his body continued to sink as if weights were tied to his ankles.

A shadow flickered outside the rippling surface. Eustar tried to grab it without knowing what it was, but when he reached out, all he felt was a cruelly hard and smooth sensation.

It’s freezing. Eustar thought. This lake—he thought he had fallen into a lake—is freezing over. I’ll be frozen under here, unable to rot, with my eyes wide open.

There was a cracking sound. It’s a wonder how such a clear sound could be heard underwater. Eustar realized that the waves were no longer moving, and he knew his body couldn’t move either.

There was nothing he could do but wait moment by moment to become a blue, vengeful ghost sunk at the bottom of the lake…

“Huk…!”

Eustar’s shoulders trembled as he jumped up from his bed with a groan.

The chill of dawn crept into his soft linen nightclothes. Though it should be time for the weather to warm up soon, the palace was always cold and without warmth until the sun rose. It was the same no matter how much firewood was put in the fireplace.

“You look like you’ve just had a wet dream.”

A cackling laugh followed by an irritated, sharp voice was heard. Eustar wiped his fevered face with his palm and roughly ran his fingers through his long hair.

Deceptor stood in the darkness, revealing only half of his body. He was leaning against Eustar’s favorite drawer, his long legs forming a slanted line.

He was looking this way with his arms crossed, but his face wasn’t visible. Only two burning eyes occasionally flickered in the darkness like an ominous sign.

Eustar met those eyes with displeasure, then threw off the sheets and got out of bed.

“Cut the nonsense, Deceptor.”

Deceptor spoke in a humming tone.

“Why, feeling guilty? It was quite a sight back then. When you were a 16-year-old boy. In that dream…”

There was a whoosh sound. Eustar had thrown a cushion he had grabbed at him. However, the cushion burst into flames in mid-air before it could even reach Deceptor, disappearing without leaving a trace of ash.

Eustar glared at Deceptor with an expression of utter annoyance, then roughly pulled back the curtains.

The sky outside was still bluish as the sun hadn’t risen yet. But judging from how far and clearly the scenery could be seen, the weather seemed to be fairly good.

‘I wonder how long it’s been since I’ve seen a sky like this.’

Eustar thought. Since returning from the Gilonic branch, he hadn’t seen a blue sky for days even in the capital, Benalis.

Seeing nothing but rainy skies or gloomy gray skies just before rain every day, he felt his nerves standing on edge.

“I’m hungry.”

Deceptor muttered in an even more vicious tone.

Eustar looked at him as if to say ‘so what do you want me to do about it?’, but on the other hand, he thought it was understandable. Hadn’t Badin swallowed that huge mass of resentment they had caught in Undil Heights a few days ago?

Ignored, Deceptor let out a beast-like howl.

But Eustar, who had long since come to regard such threats as mere background noise, didn’t even raise an eyebrow as he filled an empty glass with water and drank it in one gulp.

It seemed contradictory and amusing to him that his throat was parched after having a nightmare about drowning and freezing to death.

A long, scaly tail twitched between Deceptor’s legs.

“I can’t understand why a bastard like Badin is lurking around here.”

He grumbled. Eustar, who was about to ignore Deceptor’s words completely again, changed his mind after a moment and turned to him.

“Why are you so wary of that demon, Deceptor?”

“Do I have an obligation to answer such things to you?”

“No. But I think it would be good for you to reconsider who it is that fills your stomach.”

Deceptor immediately bared his teeth and furrowed his brow. A sense of malice and killing intent that pricked the skin could be felt, but Eustar only pretended to frown without showing any reaction.

“A contract is a contract.”

Deceptor’s voice resonated with a trembling hum.

Eustar nodded.

“Yes, a contract is a contract. But according to you, I’m supposed to feed you ‘the souls of humans I capture’, right? What if I say I won’t deal with vengeful spirits anymore? What if I focus on eliminating stinking, giant monsters? Then even if I starve you, it’s not breaking the contract. You didn’t say I had to prepare your food ‘regularly’.”

“Are you trying to play word games with me?”

“That’s your specialty, Deceptor. I’m just stating things as they are.”

Deceptor’s face twisted even more grimly. To ordinary human eyes, it would be a face overflowing with charm and loveliness, regardless of whether it was male or female, but it gave Eustar no thrill at all.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand those who were captivated by a demon’s face, but he had grown so accustomed to seeing him over the years that it had become utterly familiar.

As Eustar, who had been staring at him, made a gesture as if to turn away if he didn’t want to speak, Deceptor finally opened his mouth.

“It’s because we value our own territories. It’s a basic issue. Just as you humans mark your pitiful things called ‘countries’ with just a few lines, dots, and walls. We also have boundaries between each other, and demons don’t cross those boundaries.”

“So it’s a kind of fishing ground dispute. Like fish.”

Deceptor made another beast-like sound. Eustar, focusing on the statement that demons ‘have their own territories’, fell into thought. If that’s the case, where is Deceptor’s territory? The royal palace? Or the capital? All of Sierow?

No. Eustar thought. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be monsters and strange things popping up all over the place.

Despite appearances, Deceptor was a very neat demon, and if something had invaded his precious territory as he said, whether human or not, he wouldn’t have left it alone.

‘But he didn’t try to eliminate Badin.’

Eustar asked next.

“That one, Badin… what kind of demon is he?”

Deceptor stared at Eustar with a blank yet contemplative look. It was unpleasant to feel as if he was seeing through his thoughts, but Eustar habitually concealed that displeasure.

Eustar glanced at the flower that had withered overnight where Deceptor’s shadow had touched.

“You’re a demon of lies and fire. As you told me. Then what about him?”

The flames burning in Deceptor’s eyes flickered. It looked like naughty children shaking their bodies, laughing until they were out of breath as they mocked others.

The scaly tail swayed as if it had a will of its own, then curled slightly at the tip.

“Why are you interested in him? Am I not enough?”

Eustar ignored him cleanly this time as well.

“Speak.”

He glanced at Deceptor’s swaying tail as if looking at a disgusting snake, then moved his gaze to his face.

“Unless you want to keep starving and crawl like a dog under the feet of the human you so despise.”

A wolf-like growl rumbled from Deceptor’s throat. He couldn’t contain his anger even though he knew Eustar wouldn’t budge over such a thing.

Flames burst over Deceptor’s growling shoulders, then disappeared without a trace.

“He doesn’t govern anything.”

Deceptor said through gritted teeth, then smiled with a strange expression.

“You wouldn’t know what that means.”

Eustar was silent for a moment, as if surprised, then said,

“Doesn’t govern anything, you mean he’s that low-ranking?”

At that moment, Deceptor burst into loud laughter. He seemed to find it immensely amusing that his expectation had been met.

“You foolish bastard. It’s the opposite. Understand? Among the many vices of humans, there’s nihilism. Badin is nihilism itself, Eustar. Nothing can grow where he passes, and anything that was alive disappears without a trace. If you’re captured by him, all that remains is terribly long boredom and loneliness, cynicism and self-destruction.”

Eustar’s expression became more serious.

“What about Laila?”

“What about that arrogant witch?”

“Does the same happen to Laila? Badin said he was her father.”

Deceptor, with his arms crossed, swayed his tail slyly.

“Why don’t you ask him directly? That foolish witch girl wouldn’t know anything about it.”

Eustar decided it would be better not to exchange any more words with Deceptor. Turning his head back to the window, he narrowed his eyes as he spotted a human shadow flickering between the sturdy bushes in the garden.

“Laila?”

The name came out familiarly, as if she were right beside him. It was clearly Laila moving in and out of sight among the bushes. Whatever she was doing, she was alone without any attending servants.

Eustar hurriedly found and put on a long robe. He knew Deceptor was staring intently at his back but pretended not to notice.

He had exchanged too many words with him this morning. He didn’t want to talk anymore. After all, conversing with a demon wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience like chatting with a comedian…

As he stepped outside, an even chillier air touched his shoulders and forehead. Eustar inhaled the cold wind blowing from the opposite direction along with his breath, then exhaled and carefully approached Laila, muffling his footsteps.