Even though my eyes were closed, I could feel a tingling pain throughout my exhausted body.

It wasn’t painful enough to scream, but it was enough to be irritating. It was as if the blood flowing through my body had momentarily stopped, and then belatedly thought, ‘Oh, I should move,’ and started thrashing about wildly.

Annoying. Laila thought. Everything was annoying even though she wasn’t moving at all.

The sound of her heartbeat was too loud, and her breathing echoed in her ears like a storm. She wanted to make it all stop. Then it would be quiet. Quiet and…

Her furrowed eyelids parted slightly. Her vision was blurry and unfocused, but she could see long platinum blonde hair falling down. And a neat hand lightly touching the sheet, as if trying to reach towards her.

‘Eustar…’

It was definitely Eustar. Laila knew no other man’s hands but his. She had never seen anyone else with such enchanting hair besides him.

As she moved her lips, her parched tongue made a ‘tsk’ sound. She thought it was a very loud sound, but in fact it was only loud to Laila’s ears.

“…This must be a dream.”

As Laila whispered in a small voice, Eustar, who was sitting by her bedside, leaned towards her. His long hair fell onto Laila’s cheek, tickling her skin.

“Why do you think that, Laila?”

So soft. Laila thought. Such a soft voice. If only I could touch his voice. It would be as warm and cozy as stroking the down of a young bird.

“You can’t be here. Because I sent you away.”

Laila’s eyes, which had been fluttering open and closed, slowly shut again. Eustar got down from the chair and leaned over her bed. As his face drew close, his thin breath tickled her fine hairs.

“Where are you right now, Laila?”

“I’m… in the darkness.”

Laila smiled faintly as she realized that the noisy sounds ringing in her ears had suddenly disappeared. It had finally become quiet.

It was dark and silent. She could feel the faint warmth and scent that had seemed so close slowly drifting away beyond her consciousness.

Then Eustar spoke.

“Then come out here, Laila. Don’t stay in the dark place. Come to where I am.”

“I can’t.”

Laila murmured.

“No one can leave from here.”

At that moment, Laila’s eyelids, which had seemed like they would never open again, suddenly flew open. Her neck and arms were covered in goosebumps.

Laila shook her head as if she couldn’t believe her cleared vision, then slowly lowered her gaze from Eustar’s smiling lips. She could see his large hand overlapping her own cold one on the sheet.

The sheet beneath their overlapped hands was clean, and the room was bright and peaceful with lights on in various places. Beyond the lampshades made of thin, hammered sunset-colored jewels, a heat-like light shadow flickered.

As Laila looked around, she finally realized she was in a bedroom in the Sierou Palace and made a puzzled expression.

“How… am I here?”

Eustar, still holding Laila’s hand, lowered his gaze and gave a faint smile.

“Indeed, Laila. I’m curious too. There are many things I’m curious about… but first, let’s have you drink some water.”

As Laila nodded, Eustar picked up a glass that was on the bedside table. However, he did not respond to Laila’s outstretched hand trying to receive the glass.

“Just put your lips to it.”

“I can drink it myself.”

“Come on, Laila. Just open your lips.”

His attitude was as gentle as usual, but strangely firm. Laila pursed her lips for a moment as if she was going to be stubborn, but her parched tongue and throat were screaming, so she had no choice but to obey him.

Eustar placed the glass on Laila’s slightly parted lips, as if she was frightened, and tilted it little by little. He helped her slowly moisten her mouth and swallow the water.

When Laila’s lips parted from the glass, Eustar put down the half-empty glass. Drinking the water suddenly cleared her mind, and she could feel her heart pounding again. And Eustar’s expression became even clearer.

“Do you need anything else? Does your head hurt, are you dizzy, is there anywhere uncomfortable?”

“…No. You sound just like the physicians, Eustar.”

“The physicians have already been here, but just in case.”

“I’m fine. I’m not feeling anything. I’m just a bit dazed.”

Eustar nodded. It seemed to mean ‘that’s good’ or ‘I see’. He gently massaged Laila’s hand, which was slowly regaining warmth.

“You made me faint, didn’t you? Laila. Am I right?”

Laila looked at Eustar’s expression with just her eyes raised, like a child caught stealing sugar. Is he angry? It didn’t seem so, but she could tell the atmosphere was a bit different from usual.

“…That’s right.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because if I hadn’t, you would have been in danger, Eustar.”

Eustar shook his head.

“Not just me. We both would have been in danger. And I would have chosen to face the danger with you rather than survive alone.”

Eustar’s voice remained calm throughout, but Laila could tell that his emotions were slightly agitated.

She could sense that even for someone as rational as him, there were disordered emotions and words tangled up that he couldn’t control, and his mind was as chaotic as if a storm had swept through.

“I know, Eustar.”

Laila readily agreed with his words. Eustar looked at her for a moment as if surprised, then asked in a more serious voice.

“If you knew, why did you do it?”

Laila’s fingertips twitched. She finally looked directly into Eustar’s eyes as she raised her head.

“If you were in the same situation, wouldn’t you have done the same? If there was a way, you would have tried to save me. If we both couldn’t survive, you would have chosen to sacrifice yourself instead. Am I wrong?”

Eustar closed his eyes for a moment and let out a sigh.

“Yes.”

He said.

“I would have. You’re right, Laila. So let’s move past this issue. But my question still remains.”

Laila felt the urge to run away. It was all too clear what he was going to ask. And she couldn’t even think that Eustar would be pleased with the answer she would, or rather had to, give.

Eustar asked.

“How exactly did you do it? What on earth did you do? We both had nothing. You know, and I know, that we didn’t have any magic tools or decent weapons. People say I suddenly appeared in my bedroom. Unconscious. How was that possible?”

Laila stared intently at Eustar for a while without saying anything. Her red eyes, flickering like flames in the light, held many words.

Do you really want to know? Do you really want to hear the truth? It won’t be a pleasant story, are you sure you won’t regret hearing it?

“Laila.”

Eustar called her name in a quiet voice, as if urging her to answer. Laila’s eyes slowly closed. She carefully pulled her hand out of Eustar’s grasp and said,

“I asked Badin for a favor.”

At that moment, the last faint smile on Eustar’s face disappeared without a trace.

His face turned pale and bloodless, and the serenity in his gaze vanished as if washed away.

It seemed as if sharp, icy wind would blow if he blinked, and his breathing alternated between being as rough as an excited beast and subsiding. He was like a blue-edged sword sharpened to a keen edge.

A precariousness emanated from his entire body, as if he might cut down everything his eyes touched.

“What did you say?”

Laila shook her head.

“There was no other way. You.”

She pressed down her cold hands with all her might and swallowed her trembling breath.

After shaking her shoulders for a moment, Laila spoke calmly with her eyes closed.

“It was the only way I could think of to save both you and me.”

Eustar stared blankly at Laila, at a loss for words.

How should I express this emotion? He thought. Betrayal? Emptiness? Sadness? Guilt? It was an emotion that couldn’t be expressed in any words. Moreover, it was an emotion he had never felt before in his life.

Had he ever felt such immense sadness because of or for someone else? He could say with certainty that he hadn’t. He hadn’t even felt this sad or frustrated for Ord Hyanmorik, his only blood relative and only brother.

Eustar, who had been staring at Laila as she turned her head slightly away, spoke in a subdued voice.

“What did you give?”

Laila’s gaze, which had been almost completely turned away from him, slowly moved. A light shadow like deep autumn flowed over her black hair, making her look strangely fragile.

Eustar spoke again.

“The price, I mean. What did you give him in exchange for saving me?”

“It was an informal contract.”

After a long while, Laila finally managed to utter those words with difficulty.

“You don’t always have to give your entire soul when making a contract with a demon, you know.”

“Whether that’s true or not, there’s no such thing as a contract without a price.”

Eustar immediately refuted her words.

“Tell me, Laila. What did you give him?”

Vaguely, an emotion resembling sadness seemed to appear in Laila’s eyes.

The moment he noticed this, Eustar felt as if his body was falling into an unfathomably deep place.

Even when she was living in Rijikers, avoiding ghosts and being shunned by people, she didn’t show sadness. She stood firmly on her two feet even while bearing the name of a witch’s daughter.

And yet. Eustar thought.

Despite being so strong, Laila looked as if she might crumble at any moment. She seemed so fragile that he was afraid to reach out, fearing she might break and disappear without a trace if he tried to hold her.

“Laila.”

Eustar urged her anxiously. Laila was sending a clear gaze as if she couldn’t hear his voice.

“Eustar.”

So when Laila suddenly called his name, Eustar thought for a moment that he might be hearing things. But he wasn’t. It wasn’t an auditory hallucination.

“I’m listening, Laila.”

He nodded. Laila stared blankly at Eustar’s earnest expression once again.

He looked like a child who understood nothing, or conversely, like a being who had realized all the truths of the world and was no longer human.

Laila said,

“Is your promise to stay with me tonight still valid?”