Eustar felt like something was exploding in his head. He suddenly thought of the fireworks he saw on the festival day.

The thunderous sound and flashing light, seemingly three times, ten times, dozens of times brighter than those fireworks, blurred his eyes and deafened his ears.

“That.”

As if a stone was stuck in his throat, Eustar paused for a moment, then furrowed his brow and swallowed.

“What do you mean by that?”

Laila looked up at him with her characteristic expression that seemed indifferent to the point of innocence.

“It means exactly what I said.”

Eustar immediately shook his head. Laila felt slightly confused, unsure if it meant denial or something else.

“Laila.”

Eustar, sitting next to her, spoke in a softened voice. It was a warm voice. She could tell it was full of concern, worry, and overflowing with affection.

At the same time, she sensed that he seemed somewhat unstable. Others might not notice, but Laila could clearly tell.

“When I asked you to be with me from morning till night… you probably don’t know what I meant.”

Laila lowered her gaze to look at the back of Eustar’s hand.

Seeing his large hand enveloping hers as if covering it, she suddenly felt at ease, thinking it didn’t matter. And then she abruptly felt sad. The overwhelming sense of relief made her sad.

“I didn’t know.”

Laila replied. Before Eustar could speak again, she surprisingly turned her hand and intertwined her fingers with his, saying:

“I didn’t know, but now I do.”

“Laila, look at me.”

As Laila turned her head, Eustar, as if unsatisfied with just that, grabbed her shoulders with both hands, turning her whole body to face him, and said:

“Won’t you really tell me what happened? What did you give in return?”

Laila hesitated for a moment, curling her fingertips, then said:

“I haven’t given anything yet. He… he told me he would ‘put it on tab’.”

Eustar immediately denied her words.

“That’s impossible. I’ve never heard of a contract made in that way.”

“Neither have I. But it’s true. Instead of taking payment from me right away, he… showed me a place.”

“What did he show you? What kind of place… what place?”

Laila took a deep breath, her expression turning slightly pale. She pressed her clenched fist to her chest and said:

“Nothingness.”

Laila, who had spoken with difficulty as if spitting out a hot stone, flinched her back and shoulders simultaneously as if hiccupping.

“What he showed me. That place. Where Badin stays…”

Laila trembled in fear as she recalled the scenery of the place she had been led to by Badin’s hand.

She could tell where it was without Badin telling her.

The place where he stays, though one might not call such a place a home, but by human standards, it was Badin’s ‘home’. A space devoid of color, where no wind blows, and neither sun nor stars shine.

Laila said:

“It was… empty. There was nothing, yet at the same time, everything you could want was there. I don’t know if you can understand, Eustar. But really… that’s the only way I can explain it. There was nothing, yet everything was there. But none of it… was precious. Nothing was valuable.”

Perhaps that’s the essence of nothingness, Laila thought. No, did Badin say that? She couldn’t remember clearly.

In that space, Laila’s mind and Badin’s seemed to be intertwined as if crossed. Laila could feel what Badin felt, and at the same time, she could sense what he was feeling.

It didn’t feel like they had become one. It was more like… when two carriages pass each other, and you can guess the emotions of the passengers from the glimpse of their expressions through the windows.

Laila, who had been focusing on shallow breaths without speaking, said:

“I found that place very… comfortable. Badin told me. I…”

—You have inherited my blood most deeply.

—Why? Why me?

—That’s unknown. Whether it’s someone’s mischief or if it’s your fate. You are the closest being to me, and you owe me a debt. So now, listen carefully to my story. Don’t take my words lightly.

Eustar’s eyes blinked slowly. He held Laila’s trembling hands.

“What did he say?”

But Laila hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

“Right now, I can’t tell you that. It’s part of the promise. But, Eustar. When you are freed from the Decepter…”

For a moment, Laila moved her eyes left and right as if there was someone else in the room besides her and Eustar. Then she lowered her voice and whispered:

“…I’ll be able to tell you after that.”

Eustar’s eyes widened. For a very brief moment, an expression similar to disappointment passed over his face.

“Laila, such a day…”

“Will come. It will definitely come. Because I’ll make it happen.”

Silence fell. Occasionally, a flame that had burned incorrectly on the wick made a ‘tak’ sound, spreading thin black smoke into the air.

Laila stared at the flickering flames like a person in a daze, then continued speaking without turning her gaze:

“Badin’s space… It was surprisingly comfortable. It felt as comfortable as if that place itself was me. Come to think of it, I think I lived in a similar place in Rijikerus too. That place was also empty, but I had everything there. The things my mother left me, me being a witch, and my strange eyes.”

Was there ever a time when she was happy staying there? Certainly, not once. But she wasn’t unhappy either. Each day was bland and constant. Laila didn’t complain about it.

Because she had never met another world or other people. Remaining in ignorance meant stability. Though it was so fragile that it could break even with the tiniest pebble.

“If I had stayed there, I would have gradually lost myself. I might have just… become one with that space. Because I’m not a demon. I can’t handle and control such nothingness. It would have been comfortable. I wouldn’t have had to worry about anything… But still, I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t be there.”

Eustar had been listening to Laila’s words, which were coming out intermittently as if reading an old book, without any objection. However, there was one question.

Every time he tried to bring it out, it felt like a knife was cutting into a corner of his chest, but he couldn’t help but ask.

“Why… couldn’t you stay?”

Laila’s red eyes looked at Eustar.

“Because of your duty? Because I brought you here… Because you have things to do, Laila. Did you… give that up?”

At that moment, unexpectedly, a faint but clear smile appeared on Laila’s lips. It was a genuine smile that even Eustar, who had always been by her side, had never seen before.

“No.”

Laila said.

“No, Eustar. That didn’t matter at all. My duty, what I have to do… If it was just that, I would have gladly not left that space.”

Eustar’s fingers slowly tensed. Laila could feel his body moving closer to her.

His beautiful lips, shaking her gaze, slowly grazed her right cheek and ear. At the same time, she felt his touch carefully caressing her opposite cheek.

“Then why did you come back?”

Laila’s head moved slightly. It seemed as if she was trying to escape his hand, but that wasn’t it. Laila buried her cheek in Eustar’s palm and gently rubbed against it. As if trying to transfer his warmth to herself.

“I told you, Eustar. There was everything there, but nothing precious or valuable. But that was Badin’s nothingness, not mine. I can’t create such perfect nothingness. Because I… I had one precious thing.”

“What is it? Tell me.”

His whisper was covered in breath. Laila felt the weight pressing on her body and rising up. She shivered for a moment as the warm, soft sheet touching her back felt like ice.

“You.”

Laila’s hand caressed Eustar’s cheek.

“Stay here tonight. Even after I fall asleep… keep staying by my side. Hide me in your shadow.”

Laila, who whispered as if singing or chanting a spell, slightly raised her head.

“You’re the only one who can tell me what I have, Eustar. And I’m the only one who can know what you have.”

The next moment, their lips collided simultaneously.

Ah, it’s firm, Laila thought. She could feel his nape, which she was embracing with both arms, tensed up.

As she caressed his back, curved from supporting her body, a very low and sensual voice leaked through their connected lips.

“Can you touch me?”

Eustar asked. It was more urgent and impatient than any voice of his that Laila had heard. Her heart dropped and rose again at the sound of clothes brushing against skin.

Laila wiggled her fingers, and a few nearby candles went out on their own.

Eustar looked at her with a surprised expression for a moment, but that wasn’t important right now. It would have been the same even if she had smashed the candlesticks instead of extinguishing them.

As the room darkened, Eustar’s silhouette deepened in the distant light shadow.

The moment he overlapped his body with hers, Laila felt like she might stop breathing.

From her toes to the inside of her thighs. Parting the soft flesh and going up, further up, an unfamiliar sensation climbed up her like a vine. It felt like she was actually being devoured by Eustar, by his shadow.

But she wasn’t afraid.

Laila whispered:

“The thing I want to do most right now is to touch you.”

Eustar’s lips touched Laila’s white, slender neck. As her head tilted back, Laila was startled by the unfamiliar sound erupting from her body and embraced him with all her might.