Laila was crouched between bushes, deeply focused on something.

She was so absorbed that she didn’t even notice Eustar standing right behind her, until she was about to stand up and realized something strange.

She held her breath for a moment as she noticed a shadow larger than her own covering her body.

This was the palace garden, and through the window visible with just a slight raise of her head, the shadows of employees could already be seen moving about. But she didn’t want to cause a commotion.

Laila gently grasped a handful of dirt in her palm while slightly lowering the basket she had on her arm. Then, without warning, she turned her body sharply and tilted her shoulder back as if to throw the dirt in her hand at the face of the rude spy.

“Wait, Laila!”

At the urgent cry, the dirt fell from Laila’s hand with a thud.

“Eustar?”

Calling his name as if dumbfounded, Laila quickly scattered the dirt she was holding and made a sound like a snort.

“What on earth are you doing?”

Her cheeks were flushed red, either from the cold of dawn or her agitated expression.

Eustar let out a short laugh and grabbed Laila’s dirt-covered hand. She tried to pull her arm away, but Eustar didn’t let go.

“What were you doing, Laila? I could see you from my room window. So I came down quickly to check.”

Eustar took out a handkerchief from his robe pocket and carefully dusted off the dirt on Laila’s hand. Her fingers were stiff from the cold, and dirt was stuck under her short nails.

“Were you looking for flowers?”

Eustar joked, glancing at the basket hanging on her arm.

It’s a season where even a newly sprouted leaf is hard to find, let alone flowers. But inside Laila’s basket were a few strange plants that looked unusually fresh.

“I was looking for some salserpy and indigo. They start sprouting at this time of year.”

Eustar tilted his head.

“Those are names I’ve never heard before.”

He looked at Laila with a curious expression.

“What are they used for?”

Laila’s lips moved slightly. She looked like a nine-year-old asked to answer a difficult math problem.

“They’re used as medicine.”

She finally replied with a sigh-like response and stared blankly at Eustar.

“If you mix basil and willow root and boil them, you can make a tincture that helps with fever, headaches, and eye problems.”

“You’re not sick, are you?”

Eustar asked while examining Laila’s complexion. Fortunately, she looked healthy.

Laila said,

“It’s not for me to use. It’s not like that…”

As she trailed off, Eustar, who had been staring at her intently, smiled gently.

At that moment, Laila felt as if all the coldness she had felt at her fingertips and forehead had suddenly disappeared. Like applying a warm flame to ice, the coldness melted away and was replaced by a tingling warmth.

“Did you get them for my elder brother?”

Laila didn’t answer right away, but that silence was a very active affirmation.

“I heard about it.”

Laila blurted out.

“Mel told me. The servants and physicians… His Majesty hasn’t come out of his chambers. They say he keeps complaining of headaches. He’s coughing and feverish, unable to sleep properly. If I make the tincture properly, it should help suppress the cough somewhat. It’ll make breathing easier too.”

Eustar’s expression turned to one of pity. His smile, which had seemed to warm the surroundings, faded.

“You’re right. You’re right, Laila. My elder brother is unwell. It’s been like this for days. Everyone’s trying to keep it quiet, but… He’s still not well. But this time, everyone’s worried that something seems different.”

Laila felt the sincere sadness in Eustar’s voice, and couldn’t help but shrink her shoulders at the stiff, piercing sensation in her chest.

It wasn’t a lie that she had been rummaging through the bushes in the cold dawn wind to make a tincture for Ord.

But unlike what Eustar assumed, Laila wasn’t doing this out of concern for Ord’s health. She had another purpose.

That diary.

Laila needed to ask Ord about the contents of the diary she had obtained in Undil Heights, the diary that was likely written by the nanny who had cared for Eustar.

She needed an answer from someone who knew and could remember the situation at that time, about what parts of the contents written in that notebook were true.

—His Majesty, who was fourteen years old at the time, rescued His Royal Highness from that terrible scene.

After getting her hands on the diary, Laila kept mulling over what she had once heard from Baso, the king’s chamberlain. The statement that Ord had saved Eustar…

At that time, she was just surprised at what courage a mere fourteen-year-old child had to think of entering that place.

Perhaps he had instinctively run out with just the baby, not fully understanding the situation unfolding before him due to being too shocked and scared.

But after reading the diary, her thoughts changed a bit.

Although there wasn’t clear evidence, according to the nanny’s diary, it seemed that Ord knew everything about what his parents were doing in that secret room.

‘But how…’

“Laila.”

Eustar’s gentle voice softly interrupted Laila’s endless contemplation.

He smiled as he held her hand, turning it this way and that to examine it. Even after confirming that there was no dirt left, Eustar didn’t let go of Laila’s hand.

“Won’t you stay with me from this morning?”

“What do you mean…?”

“I won’t bother you too much.”

Eustar quickly added.

“If you want to be alone, I’ll give you that time. But if it’s okay, I’d like you to spend time with me today.”

Laila looked at him with eyes that still didn’t quite understand. It was the first time he had said such a thing to her. He had never done this before…

Even without specifically saying ‘stay with me’, the two of them were often together. But that was because of Tentinella’s work, not for any other reason.

If it weren’t for the demons to be stopped or the ghosts causing strange incidents, would she have thought to seek out Eustar? She had asked herself this question several times, but the answer was ‘not likely’.

But that’s why Eustar’s words felt even more sudden. It wasn’t unpleasant or bothersome. Rather, it was the opposite. She was glad and happy, but… she was curious about the reason.

“Why do you want to do that?”

Eustar’s fingers, wrapped around Laila’s hand, moved very carefully and strangely. It felt like he was gently stroking down, or perhaps tightly wrapping around.

“Have you never wanted to do that, Laila?”

For a moment, Laila tightly grasped the end of the basket hanging on one arm and took a breath. But the scent of Eustar standing close by, mingling with the dawn air, only filled her body and made her mind scattered.

He, who had just woken up, had a scent she had never smelled before.

It was the kind of scent you might smell if you lifted the very soft part of a flower petal and put your nose under it. A very faint and lovely, yet intimate fragrance.

Had he always had this scent? Laila suddenly had an odd thought.

On the night when they had awkwardly shared a bed while she was copying the seal on his back, she hadn’t smelled this scent from Eustar. Because he had woken up first and finished preparing, she had only received the usual fresh impression.

But now he was only wearing a single layer of robe, still in his nightclothes, and…

“Well, it’s not that I haven’t thought about it.”

Laila bit her tongue slightly mid-sentence. A brief stinging pain was felt before quickly fading.

“It’s not like that, but…”

“But?”

Her lips closed tightly again. At that moment, Eustar had a thought he had never had since meeting Laila.

If he kissed those stubbornly closed lips, if he tickled the tightly shut gap to open them, what expression would she make?

But he couldn’t do that. At least not now. Eustar fiddled with Laila’s fingernails in his hand, forcibly suppressing the urge that was rising like a lump, and smiled.

“Tell me, Laila.”

Laila’s eyes moved for a moment as if in confusion.

What should she say? That this heart, which suddenly flares up like a lit log every time she sees him and sometimes sparkles, is not human?

That because she is the daughter of a demon, because she has received the blood of something not human, she is only attracted to him, her contractor?

The fingers that had been gripping the basket more tightly gradually loosened. It felt like a small stone heated in fire was moving around inside her stomach.

She suddenly found a soft spot on Eustar’s hand, calloused from holding a sword. As she lightly traced that spot with her fingertip, she heard him let out a long sigh.

“I… didn’t know what to say.”

When Laila finally finished speaking, Eustar felt as if he was caught again by the impulse he thought he had shaken off well.

Seeing the flushed traces appearing on the pale cheeks that had turned away, averting her gaze, an uncontrollable feeling, something that could be called desire or perhaps affection, grew like a snowball and suddenly burst.

If it were spring now, if it were warm enough to lie down with your back on the ground, this bush that was invisible to anyone’s eyes might have encouraged him even more.

Eustar, who had been biting the inside of his cheek, lightly kissed Laila’s temple as usual. It was a plain kiss with no discernible intention, but his lips were hotter than usual.

“You’re a fool.”

Eustar whispered, and a pleasant shiver ran down Laila’s nape.

“You just had to say one word, to stay with me.”

At this, Laila looked at him with wide eyes, as if she had heard something utterly unbelievable. Her eyes seemed to be saying:

‘How could I, Eustar? How could I say such a thing to you?’

Eustar gently pulled Laila’s hand. She followed him out of the bushes as if entranced. With a rustling sound, her lightly worn skirt lifted slightly before settling down.

“You have to be with me all day today.”

Eustar said with a grin.

“From morning till night.”