Baso’s pupils shook violently. It was a fierce movement, as if a cruel child had threaded a needle through his eyes and twisted it around.

His face was always hardened with loyalty, but at that moment, a fearful light arose as if Ord had completely gone mad. Who wouldn’t have felt the same?

“Your Majesty, what do you mean…?”

Baso trailed off worriedly. But Ord didn’t mind. His piercing gaze remained unchanged. He really seemed to have gone mad, but on the other hand, his calm breathing made his mind seem clearer than ever.

Ord continued speaking.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know? That you’re trying to devour me. Poor, faithful Baso. You killed him and turned his skin inside out, pretending to be him, didn’t you?”

Silence followed. Ord’s unsightly chest, like a tree withered from lack of water, heaved greatly.

“Is that not so?”

At his sharp question, like driving in a wedge, Baso’s pupils shook even more violently. Left and right, up and down… Now it wasn’t just from bewilderment.

Up, left, down, and right. The small black dots trembled and spun at an impossible speed, in impossible directions. As red bloodshot lines appeared in the whites of his eyes, they seemed to creep towards the pupils as if alive.

And Baso’s mouth began to split open wide.

Ord, eyes wide open, unknowingly gripped the sheets tightly and swallowed. For the first time, human-like, creature-like fear appeared on his sickly face.

Baso’s mouth split even wider until the corners reached his ears. His reddened pupils moved as if about to collapse, then blazed up like flames.

— Rip, riiip…

“Ugh…!”

A short groan-like scream escaped Ord’s lips as he watched Baso’s face split open with the skin. Baso’s body twitched, and his shoulders shook up and down.

As if dancing. A sound similar to wet feet touching and leaving a cold floor continued. On and on…

A head suddenly popped out of Baso’s horizontally split mouth, and an emotion close to despair appeared on Ord’s face.

Black hair rising like flames, swaying without wind, a frighteningly white and stunningly beautiful face, eyes as red as pomegranate seeds.

It laughed. It giggled, shaking its body.

“My… How long have you known?”

The slimy shell—what had been Baso’s form—fell to the floor with a disgusting sound. The Decepter, almost tall enough to touch the canopy ceiling, bent at the waist to look at Ord.

“It’s been a very long time since we’ve met in this form, Ord Hyanmorik.”

Another groan escaped through Ord’s clenched teeth. One of his weakened molars wobbled and then fell out painlessly. Ord shuddered as he spat out the tooth along with blood-tinged saliva.

“What trickery is this, you demon? Why did you harm Baso and stay by my side?”

“Heheh, trickery, you say. Such big words from a human who would have been dead and buried long ago without my power. Well, you showed promise from a young age. Yes, you were a human with potential. A remarkable human, bold enough to try to persuade even me.”

The Decepter’s finger pressed against Ord’s forehead. At that moment, Ord groaned at the painful chill that ran from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes.

Leaning his upper body even closer, the Decepter said,

“Surely you haven’t forgotten? You most foolish descendant of the foolish Hyanmorik line. That your flesh and soul, even the most secret and intense consciousness, are all in my hands.”

“Kugh… Ah, ughk…!”

Blood gushed out between his tightly clenched lips. Ord didn’t realize he was coughing up blood, but soon a pain like his chest was being torn apart engulfed him.

“Aagh…!”

Only when a desperate scream finally burst from his mouth did the Decepter remove his hand from Ord’s body.

As if by magic, the chill subsided, but the pain remained. It was an unbearable pain, as if tiny needles had been stuck into his blood vessels, making even breathing excruciating.

The Decepter hummed like a nursery rhyme as he watched Ord suffer.

“Living for nearly an eternity, I’ve seen countless humans, but none as appetizing as you. Not yet, the more you endure while marinating in pain, the more time passes, the more appetizing you’ll become. Don’t humans enjoy such things too? Boiling live lobsters or crabs whole in hot water. Or putting a writhing snake in a jar and pouring alcohol over it.”

A giggling laugh followed. Ord glared at the Decepter, clutching his blood-soaked shirt front and gasping for breath. A stream of blood was flowing from his eyes as well.

“Do you know why that tastes good?”

A hissing breath was heard. It was Ord’s. The Decepter deeply inhaled Ord’s breath as if it were a fragrant appetizer and smiled, moving his red lips.

“It’s because of hatred. The deeper the hatred and pain exhaled while dying, the more flavorful you humans become, they say. Like salt becomes bitter when left too long, then eventually turns sweet, hatred when aged and fermented becomes like that. You’re like a snake in my liquor jar. Or a lobster that’s entered boiling water.”

After saying that, the Decepter suddenly burst out laughing. It was a laughter filled with madness, incomparable to Ord’s. There was a strange metallic sound mixed in that no living being could possibly imitate.

“So don’t worry, you’re still delicious and will become sweeter as time passes. Hate me, hate the parents who made your bones and flesh, hate the world. Then I’ll be able to enjoy a delicacy like no other in this world.”

A choking sound was heard. Just as Ord tried to say something, another handful of blood burst from his lips.

Seeing this, the Decepter clicked his tongue mockingly.

“That’s what you get for caring about that insignificant marchioness.”

The Decepter’s hand moved flutteringly near Ord’s forehead. Neither a man’s hand nor a woman’s, its swaying movement was eerily seductive.

Black smoke like a snake crawled up over Ord’s chest. It moved here and there, licking every inch of Ord’s body. It was the same thing Laila had accidentally seen before.

Ord felt all the strength and pain in his body disappear at once. His focus blurred and his lips parted. A stuffy groan, like that of a dying person, slowly, slowly flowed out and then stopped.

The black smoke ate away the pain from Ord’s body and then returned to the Decepter and disappeared. Ord, his complexion restored as if by magic, trembled his lips and smiled cruelly.

“You did this to me last time too.”

His voice was now clear and not rough. His eyes also shone fiercely, as if a cloudy film had been lifted.

The Decepter, arms crossed, laughed silently. Ord continued, as if spitting out his words.

“Why do you do this? What’s the reason for not just leaving me to die?”

“I am leaving you to die, foolish Hyanmorik. I haven’t given you anything. I’ve just temporarily lent you back your life force that I had taken. But there’s interest on this. You know well, don’t you? You’ve experienced it.”

Ord let out a mirthless laugh. That was true. The miraculous ease of his body never lasted more than a day or two.

After that, pain and coma incomparable to before would come. Yet he could never die. No matter how much the unknown illness and nightmares ate away at him, Ord wouldn’t die.

He couldn’t die until the contract was completed.

The Decepter, resting his head against the canopy ceiling, said as if pitying him,

“I’m really curious. Truly curious. I’ve been curious for a long time, and since you’ve noticed the identity of this shell, I should ask…”

Saying that, he trampled on the shed skin on the floor with his foot. Again, a disgusting sound was heard. Ord closed his eyes, thinking he wanted to tear off his ears.

He had no idea when or how the loyal Baso had been sacrificed. But the Decepter must have inflicted pain on him… cruel and unnecessary pain.

The Decepter continued speaking.

“Why did you do it? Why did you interject yourself into that situation and bring about this miserable life?”

Ord glared, grinding his teeth. A bitter sneer briefly appeared on his lips before quickly disappearing.

“What good would it do you to know that? What would a filthy demon who wallowed in hellfire understand?”

The Decepter grinned. His lips seemed to spread wide sideways, then formed a round, deeply curved arc. He looked like the most beautiful and vicious clown in the world. If there were a mad murderer wearing a clown’s mask, this is what he would look like.

“When your foolish parents offered up their offspring, split from their own bodies, they failed a few times but succeeded in the end. I happened to be bored at the time… But when I saw that thing wrapped in swaddling clothes, it wasn’t even enough for one bite. So I slightly changed my mind and decided to take that tiny thing into my grasp to play with. I could fill my stomach with the rest instead.”

The Decepter, who had been speaking playfully, frowned one eyebrow.

“By the way, your father really tasted bad. Tough and fishy.”

“Shut up.”

“Only humans are frightened by such words. Anyway… After finishing my meal, I was about to take that tiny thing, but didn’t you jump in? I was going to boil an egg, but heh, a half-grown chick came along with a bundle of herbs and salt, so to speak.”

Ord, while catching his rough breath, calmly assessed the situation. Earlier, his consciousness had been clouded by pain, but now that his vitality had temporarily returned, he could think clearly.

Eustar is not in the palace. Then Laila probably isn’t either. If only those two didn’t know, there was nothing to worry about yet.

‘Those kids must not find out… No matter what.’

With a feeling of utter deflation, his lower jaw trembled.

The Decepter was still rambling on about something, but his voice seemed to grow more and more distant. Ord, with his eyes open, sank into contemplation as if heading towards death.

The hot, fishy smell from that dark room, which had become a sea of blood, stung his nostrils.