“Breeding? My goodness!”

Eustar started laughing, holding his stomach. Laila had meant it half-seriously—it really seemed like he was trying to fatten up a bear cub—but to him, it appeared to be quite a funny joke.

After laughing for quite a while, Eustar finally raised his head, gasping for breath. His face was flushed red.

“Goodness, Laila. How can you say such a thing? Breeding, really. If someone hears, they’ll misunderstand. Two meals a day is the minimum needed to function properly. And you eat too little. You eat like a bird.”

“Well, that’s your standard, Eustar. I’ve told you before.”

Laila retorted sourly, leaning her body slightly towards the doorknob again. Eustar looked at her with an affectionate gaze, then left a light kiss on her exposed forehead as a sign of endearment.

“Then I’ll see you at dinner time. Little bird lady. Today, I’ll feed you just a little so you don’t feel like you’re being bred.”

Laila let out a soft chuckle at his leisurely banter. Eustar stood there until Laila disappeared behind the door, only moving again after seeing it close. However, he had to stop his steps before even turning the corner.

“Your Highness, the Prince, have you returned?”

It was Duchess Himierd. Eustar smiled brightly at her consistent greeting and nodded.

Ord’s order prohibiting Himierd from entering and exiting the royal palace was lifted just before the New Year.

Of course, even before that, Himierd would casually come and go from the palace whenever necessary…. Ord didn’t leave her alone because he didn’t know about it.

Himierd looked up at Eustar with a straight posture.

“Your Highness, I have something to discuss briefly regarding His Majesty’s birthday celebration. Is that alright?”

Then, before Eustar could even answer, she added in a calm yet quick manner.

“If it’s before your meal, I can come back later.”

A strange smile appeared on Eustar’s lips.

“Were you listening to my conversation with Laila?”

“I apologize.”

Himierd spoke calmly, with an expression that showed she was neither sorry nor felt any need to be. It wasn’t as if she had deliberately followed the two to eavesdrop on their trivial conversation.

She had merely heard Eustar and Laila’s voices just before turning the corner, and waited a moment so as not to disturb them.

Eustar knew this too, so he didn’t say anything else and simply said,

“Let’s talk while we eat. You’re not such a leisurely person, Duchess, so I can’t take up too much of your time.”

“You flatter me. Compared to Your Highness, what I do is nothing.”

Himierd bowed her head humbly. Eustar changed his original course of returning to his room and headed straight for the dining hall.

Meanwhile, Laila, who had entered her room, held up her hand to signal Mel, who was about to rush over, to stop.

Though she stopped in her tracks, Mel looked puzzled, not knowing why Laila was doing this. Laila said,

“I smell terrible, Mel. So don’t come any closer.”

Then Mel laughed softly, as was her habit, and approached Laila.

“Is it just a day or two? It’s unavoidable, why are you still so concerned about it?”

Mel, with quite accustomed hands, began to remove the complicated uniform in order.

Laila was still uncomfortable having someone else help her change clothes and wash, but if it was Mel, it was at least bearable.

Above all, because Mel’s attitude towards her was calm yet affectionate, the two were able to grow closer faster than Laila had expected.

“Was it a ghost again this time?”

Mel asked. Laila shook her head as she bent down to unbuckle her boots.

“No, this time it was a magical beast. A huge one… like a giant grub.”

“Oh my.”

Mel, who was holding Laila’s jacket she had just taken off, let out a low scream in surprise.

“Lady Kristrad, there’s blood on the jacket…!”

Laila glanced at her and said calmly.

“Ah, it’s fine. It’s not my blood. It’s the beast’s bod…”

If she said bodily fluid, Mel would be even more horrified. Laila thought.

“…It’s the beast’s blood. There’s no poison, but if you touched it, wash your hands. It will smell awful.”

Mel brought her palm to her nose and immediately frowned.

“Ugh, it’s true. This needs to be washed separately. I’ll prepare for you to take a bath right away.”

“Please do.”

While Mel went somewhere with the clothes, Laila stretched her now lighter body. She glanced at the wall emitting a deep golden light like a blazing sunset, and moved inward with an expressionless face.

Before Laila occupied this room, it was a place so beautiful that nobles staying at the royal palace would say they wanted to live here even if just for a few days, but Laila had never slept comfortably in this room for even a single night.

After washing up, Laila changed into a light dress and was about to sneak out of the room, but Mel noticed first.

“Lady Kristrad! Where are you going without even eating?”

Laila, who was trying to slip out, rolled her eyes while still holding onto the door and let out a light sigh.

“Why is everyone so desperate to turn me into a chubby bear cub?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s nothing. I just have a quick errand. I’ll eat when I get back.”

As Laila was about to open the door, Mel’s voice caught her by the nape again.

“You say that, but you’re going to skip the meal again, aren’t you?”

“No, really. I said I’ll eat when I come back.”

“Then come back within half an hour. Or should I accompany you?”

Laila immediately shook her head.

“No, I can go alone. Half an hour, right? I got it.”

She hurried out of the room as if afraid Mel might stop her again. Even until the door closed, she couldn’t relax, and only after leaving the corridor with quick steps could she finally drop her shoulders and let out a long sigh.

Laila’s behavior of not being accompanied by even one maid wherever she went in the royal palace initially caused countless rumors.

It was only after Mel persuaded and pleaded several times that Laila agreed to let her accompany her when going for meals or walks.

But other than that, when Laila said she had ‘separate business’, no matter what Mel did, she couldn’t get permission to go with her.

The attitudes of the nobles who saw Laila crossing the corridor without greeting anyone were varied.

Some people would go out of their way to politely greet her, while others would pretend not to see her even after making eye contact and avoid her.

Laila showed no interest in any of these. She showed appropriate courtesy to those who approached her politely, but that was all.

Laila did not engage in conversation with anyone, nor did she attempt any social communication.

Because of that cold and indifferent attitude, some people evaluated her as a suitable person to be the prince’s consort… But to Laila, all of these things were just contradictory and ridiculous.

Laila stopped in front of the inner library connected to the annex, past the complex corridors of the royal palace. The two royal guards standing watch bowed their heads when they saw her.

“We greet Lady Kristrad.”

“Is anyone inside?”

“No one, my lady.”

As Laila nodded, the guards on both sides opened the door for her. She blinked her eyes in lieu of saying thank you and entered the library. The sound of the door closing behind her hit her back heavily.

I’m still not used to being addressed formally. Laila thought.

It was fine with Mel, whom she saw every day, but it was still awkward to speak casually to people she didn’t know well. Just now, she had almost asked, “Is anyone there?” but managed to hold back by biting her tongue.

‘It’s unpredictable. Whether noble or royal.’

Lost in thought, Laila shook her head as she entered deeper into the library. Although it was still bright outside, the library was rather dim, which Eustar had explained was intentional to prevent the books from being damaged.

She had already visited this library several times. For the past couple of months, she had come here almost every day when staying at the royal palace. Of course, she had to avoid other people’s eyes, so she always checked if anyone was inside or not.

‘I’ve even looked at the books on this shelf…’

Laila brushed her fingertips over the dusty books and moved on to the next shelf, starting to examine the books one by one from the top.

What Laila was looking for were books related to magic that the previous king and queen had left—or more precisely, collected—when they were alive.

According to Eustar, the previous king and queen had become obsessed with a kind of heresy, or cult, and performed rituals to summon demons. Laila thought that they must have collected books or materials related to this.

When Laila first brought this up, Eustar showed a surprisingly skeptical reaction.

—Well, after they passed away… I heard that all items related to them were disposed of. Even what remained, my brother ordered it all to be burned. So, I don’t think there will be any books like what Laila is looking for.

She detected a hint of unease in Eustar’s voice. While he didn’t oppose the idea of finding a way to terminate the contract with the Deceptor, he seemed uncomfortable with digging into the past of his parents who had met an undoubtedly dishonorable death.

But this was not Laila’s concern. After all, she didn’t even know the faces of the previous king and queen. She felt no pity or regret for them, nor did she feel uneasy like Eustar did.

However, she didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable, so she had no choice but to keep it a secret from Eustar and search the library alone.

‘What’s here isn’t enough…’

Laila’s shoulders slumped slightly as she thoroughly searched the bookshelves.

Contrary to Eustar’s thoughts, quite a lot of books remained—it was clear that the officials in charge had mixed them carelessly, finding it bothersome to sort them out—but they were all either basic content or useless gossip.

‘But they somehow succeeded. They really summoned a demon… That means they figured out how to make a contract. That’s not something that can be achieved by mere chance. There must be something left somewhere…’

Lost in thought, Laila didn’t even hear the sound of the bookshelf door opening and closing again.

As Laila, who had been scanning book spines intently in the darkness, finally pulled out a book that looked promising, the floor not far away creaked.

The moment Laila’s head whipped around, a pair of eyes glinted strangely in the darkness.