That’s right. Laila thought. Why did I close my eyes? A whisper was heard in her head, and Laila had to respond to it.

“Because it feels good.”

She could see Eustar smiling. It was strange. Even though her eyes were clearly closed, she could see him distinctly. But it didn’t feel strange…

As if in a dream. Knowing it wasn’t a dream, Laila was surrendering herself to the strange sensation of floating in the air.

“Does it feel good? My hand?”

Laila nodded.

“Yes. Your touch… feels good.”

Her head tilted a little more towards Eustar’s palm. Her cheek touched his cupped hand… and his hand was as soft as freshly woven silk.

At that moment, Laila’s eyes flew open and she stepped back.

“What’s wrong?”

Eustar asked. He was still smiling as if nothing was wrong.

Laila hastily looked him up and down. She wanted just one thing… even one little clue to justify this premonition.

But there was none. The man before her was clearly Eustar…

“Who are you? Why, how did you get in here?”

Laila asked, crouching with her back against the wall. Eustar frowned slightly in confusion, then said,

“Laila, calm down. What’s wrong with you?”

Eustar reached out his arm. Laila tried to shake off his hand and escape under the bed, but she was a moment too late.

Eustar’s fingertips firmly grasped Laila’s knee. The place where his hand touched felt hot, and then all her senses and nerves began to stand on end and scream.

Laila flailed her legs in confusion, but she had no strength to pose a threat to Eustar. In fact, her movements seemed less like resistance and more like trying to draw Eustar closer to herself.

Laila’s body slid down as it touched the soft cushion. Eustar’s hand, which had been gripping her knee, naturally moved up and pressed down on Laila’s wrist.

Eustar’s long hair flowed down on both sides of her vision.

Like a translucent canopy curtain, through his brightly shining hair, darkness and light were seeping in like thin threads. Laila suddenly felt the urge to reach out and touch that light, and that darkness.

No. Once again, someone’s voice whispered in her head.

What you really want to touch isn’t darkness or dim light, Laila.

Eustar smiled softly.

For a moment, Laila thought that the voice she had just heard might have been his.

Was that unfamiliar-sounding voice, the voice that made her feel a tingling guilt and sense of loss whenever she tried to reject or push Eustar away, his?

How could that be possible?

“Laila.”

When Eustar’s voice softly rang out, Laila swallowed dryly without being able to give any answer. His fingertips touching her cheek were still as soft as freshly woven silk, and as cold as a piece of the north wind.

“I think we need to have at least minimal contact to act as a married couple. So we don’t make mistakes.”

“…What kind of mistakes?”

Eustar smiled softly again. For a moment, his eyes seemed to be the same red as hers, but… no.

It seemed to be a reflection of the flickering lamplight. Due to the light and shadows, his face showed even clearer contours than usual. The sharp bridge of his nose and the lines of his lips were excessively provocative.

“What mistakes are you talking about, Eustar?”

“That’s not what’s important.”

His hand brushed Laila’s cheek and wrapped around her neck.

At that, Laila parted her lips and let out a moan at the chill rising from the tip of her waist. It was cold and frightening. On the other hand, she felt an unfamiliar desire she didn’t even know existed twisting awake throughout her body.

“Don’t close your eyes, Laila.”

Laila did so. She kept her eyes open and looked at him. Watching Eustar’s face slowly draw closer, she was just waiting for his lips to cover and devour her.

His breath—even that was cold as ice—tickled her jawline, and she could feel the fine hairs standing on end. Just before their lips met, Eustar’s eyes flickered red once more.

But that was not a light shadow.

“No!”

Screaming and pushing him away, Laila fled back towards the wall, pressing herself tightly against it. She felt a dull pain in her hand, and a voice scolding her rang loudly in her head.

But Laila did not succumb to it. She used all her strength not to listen.

“You’re not Eustar.”

Laila got down from the bed and backed away. The cold carpet touched her bare feet without slippers.

The corners of Eustar’s mouth, sitting alone on the bed, curved into a gentle line.

He was attractive enough to make her want to run and embrace him right away, but Laila was already certain that it wasn’t Eustar. It was because of his eyes.

Eustar’s eyes are a fresh light green, like a grassy field just after summer rain. But Eustar, or rather something that looked just like Eustar, on the bed… was not like that.

At first, they were the same light green eyes as the real Eustar’s, but a moment ago they had turned black.

And now they had changed to a pale gray. Where the pupil should have been, it was flickering like a fish’s tail, but it was actually flames. Laila had mistaken it for light shadows, but that wasn’t true.

Eustar suddenly bowed his head and began to shake his shoulders. His beautifully disheveled long hair swayed like ripples.

“Better than I expected? Very sharp. Rebellious and independent. An excellent witch.”

Laila’s eyes widened as if they would pop out. It was clearly Eustar’s voice, but it wasn’t him… And she felt a distant fear she had never experienced before. At the same time, she felt an incomprehensible sense of familiarity.

‘It’ raised its head. Laila could now see that the face no longer resembled Eustar’s at all. Nor was it a face she had seen sometime in the past.

A terribly beautiful man was looking at Laila with eyes flickering with flames.

“Why did you reject while desiring Eustar?”

Laila shook her head. The thought that she shouldn’t have reacted at all came too late.

“Who are you? Just…”

“Who am I, you ask? I’m hurt. You must have seen me several times. Even if you hadn’t, to ask who I am after seeing my eyes, you’re a child with talent but no learning.”

Seen several times? Laila thought. No, that’s impossible. Not even once, I swear…

It moved its head slightly. It was like a giant snake considering how to kill an interesting prey before it.

“Even if not in my true form, you have seen me before. You were curious about me. You asked Eustar several times, but he didn’t answer. Now, I’ve come to give you the answer.”

As soon as he finished speaking, all the lights disappeared.

Even the lights illuminating various parts of the palace garden seemed to have darkened and become invisible. In the sudden darkness that had descended, Laila floundered and heard a voice that seemed to be snickering.

—I am called Deceptor. I devour the ‘souls’ that you and Eustar have captured. Laila Kristrad, I’m so delighted at the thought of feasting thanks to your talent that I want to burn this place to the ground.

Suddenly awakening from sleep, Eustar raised his upper body, shivering from an ominous chill.

He felt cold as if thrown naked into the middle of a snow-covered field, but as soon as he heard the crackling sound of firewood in the fireplace, his body warmed up as if by a lie. Soon, an unpleasant smell struck his nose.

‘It’s the smell of sulfur.’

The smell of the roaring fire itself rotting evoked a lightning-like sense of disgust.

Eustar rushed out of bed and left the room without even properly putting on his robe. Pale-faced servants were bustling about busily.

“Your Highness the Prince!”

A servant who nearly collided with him hastily bowed. Eustar frowned at the pile of cloths in his arms. Dark bloodstains were spread here and there.

“What’s happening?”

“His Majesty’s condition has suddenly worsened! He’s having severe convulsions and seizures…”

“What?”

“The, the royal physicians are with him now.”

His heart sank. But it wasn’t just because of concern for his brother. Eustar slowly looked around his dimly lit room. As if someone was there…

“Your, Your Highness. Time is of the essence, so I will take my leave now.”

He kept bowing and ran off in the opposite direction with the cloths. It was clear he was going to secretly burn them, as they couldn’t risk rumors by taking the king’s sudden bloody vomit to the laundry room.

Eustar imagined his brother’s face, suffering in pain, and began to stride purposefully.

His destination was not the king’s bedroom. Passing by servants moving quietly yet busily, he practically ran until he arrived in front of Laila’s room.

When the soldiers standing guard opened the door, Mel, who had fallen asleep sitting in the living room, jumped up in surprise. Seeing Eustar suddenly burst in in the middle of the night, she looked quite startled.

“Your Highness the Prince, you’ve come.”

“Where’s Laila?”

Mel glanced once at the tightly closed bedroom door and answered in a lowered voice.

“Lady Kristrad is sleeping, having skipped dinner.”

“I need to go in for a moment.”

As Eustar abruptly turned, a look of bewilderment flashed across Mel’s face.

In fact, Mel had been thinking it heartless that Eustar hadn’t even come to look in on Laila once. Even if she was a witch, now that he had taken her as his wife, shouldn’t they consummate the marriage?

If word got out that Eustar hadn’t even come to her on their wedding night, what would happen to Laila’s reputation in the palace from now on…

But when Eustar actually said he needed to see her, instead of being glad, she felt suddenly afraid. This was because Eustar gave off such an urgent atmosphere.

“Your Highness, just a moment… I’ll go in and wake Lady Kristrad.”

Mel tried to block him, but Eustar didn’t seem inclined to stop or wait. Instead, he looked at her blankly and said this:

“There’s no need for that. And, try to stay outside as much as possible. No matter what sounds you hear from inside, don’t open the door until I come out.”