Laila’s toes lightly brushed the smooth floor, following the sound of string instruments. When their gazes met and then diverged, Laila said.

“I kept it.”

Ord’s hand gripping Laila’s fingertips tightened. Those thin, bony fingers, pathetically frail compared to Eustar’s, felt strangely familiar.

Startled by that sensation, she almost pushed Ord away, but once again, Ord did not allow Laila to move freely.

How can this be? Laila thought. The Ord she had seen until yesterday was clearly a dying man. But now it was the opposite.

He had become a person recovering, trying to live. How, by what means could this be possible? Could it have something to do with that black thing she had seen?

“What are you thinking about?”

Ord gracefully turned his body. Ridiculously, it was then that Laila realized for the second time that he was the king and royalty.

Looking into Laila’s eyes, he asked again.

“Why did you keep it a secret?”

“Did Your Majesty not tell me to keep it secret?”

A faint smile passed over Ord’s lips.

“Are you afraid I might harm that child?”

Laila, with her chin raised, slowly moved her steps without answering. When the bodies of the two, so close they might overlap, moved sideways, Laila looked at Ord intently and said.

“How did you get so much better?”

“What?”

“Your Majesty’s health, I mean. It’s impossible to improve this suddenly. How did you do it?”

Ord chuckled.

“Why are you curious about that?”

He leaned his head close, as if to press his lips to Laila’s cheek.

“Is it because you’re glad? Or because of suspicion?”

Laila looked straight at Ord while pretending to take a step away from him.

“Because it’s strange.”

The dance music grew more intense as it raced towards its climax. Laila’s vision spun rapidly.

The gazes of people watching her and Ord passed by, and passed by… Her mind felt like it was whirling like whipped cream. The music ended.

“I sold my soul to the devil a bit.”

Laila turned sharply to look at Ord with a coldly frozen gaze. At that moment, the music ended.

“You dance quite well.”

Ord said. He bent his waist slightly, looking at Laila, and pressed his lips to the back of her hand as a gesture of greeting. Then he turned abruptly towards where the throne was.

Dizziness set in. Laila had to force strength into her knees to keep from collapsing as she blankly stared at Ord’s retreating back.

She saw Eustar approaching her, but she couldn’t move towards him. As if the ground beneath her feet was full of venomous centipedes and snakes, she couldn’t take a single step.

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

Laila, who had been sitting silently in a chair on the balcony, slowly opened her eyes. Her bright red eyes stared blankly at the ice-white and deep blue winter sky.

She slowly turned her head to look at Eustar. His cheeks were slightly flushed due to the cold wind, making him look somewhat like a boy.

“I’m fine.”

“I was worried. I thought you were going to collapse.”

I almost did. Laila thought. After dancing with Ord, she had barely any strength left to keep from collapsing where she stood.

If Eustar hadn’t come over at that moment and naturally supported her, she would have undoubtedly ended up in an embarrassing situation.

Laila stared blankly at Eustar for a moment, not knowing what to say. His hair, falling by his cheeks, swayed in the winter wind.

“Dancing twice in a row must have been too much.”

When Laila spoke, Eustar smiled with a knowing yet uncertain expression and held her cold hand.

“I suppose so. But you danced very well.”

Laila was about to say that it wasn’t her intention to dance, but she swallowed her words.

There was undoubtedly something suspicious behind King Ord’s sudden improvement in health.

Eustar probably thought it was strange too, but he didn’t show it outwardly and instead seemed pleased. If Ord hadn’t said such a thing, Laila wouldn’t have needed to think deeply about it either.

—I sold my soul to the devil a bit.

‘What could that have meant?’

To know the full story, she would have to ask Ord directly, but too many people were gathered around him. People bringing gifts and congratulations kept pouring in endlessly.

Yet Ord didn’t show even a hint of fatigue while dealing with all of them… Laila glanced at Ord’s figure through the glass door behind her.

Some lady with a greatly puffed-up dress was speaking to him in an exaggerated manner.

“Laila.”

Laila turned to look at Eustar and realized that he hadn’t called her name to say something.

Someone was standing outside the glass door, fidgeting as they looked at the two of them. After glancing around hesitantly, they seemed to have made up their mind and were slowly approaching the two.

Laila and Eustar stood up from their chairs. The cold wind blowing from outside the castle slashed past the intruder who had opened the door. He let out a groan, “Ugh,” and looked at the two with cautious eyes.

“I, I greet Your Highness the Prince and Your Highness the Princess Consort.”

It was a man who appeared small in stature. But in reality, his body wasn’t that small.

He only looked that way because he was crouching his body like a frightened animal. If he stood up straight, he would probably be similar in height to Eustar or slightly shorter.

Eustar nodded to acknowledge the greeting, and the man pursed his lips before speaking again.

“You may not know me, but… I am Halliwell. My grandfather was honored to receive the title of Count from the Hyanmorik royal family.”

So he was Count Halliwell. Eustar nodded once again and then showed a faint smile.

“Count Halliwell, it’s nice to meet you. It seems you have something to tell us.”

Count Halliwell’s gaze moved busily. Laila thought he looked just like a frightened rabbit watching for a fox’s approach.

The Count said,

“Um, I apologize for my rudeness… but Your Highness is correct. I have something I wish to say to both of Your Highnesses. But in a quiet place… No, this place is quiet too. Please listen to me for a moment. I beg of you.”

Eustar looked at Laila.

“Is that alright, Laila? Or should we rest a bit more?”

Count Halliwell turned a desperate gaze towards Laila. To be honest, she didn’t want to talk to anyone other than Eustar right now, but judging from the Count’s demeanor, he seemed unable to wait even a single minute.

Laila said,

“I’m fine now. Let’s hear what the Count has to say.”

Eustar gestured to a servant outside to bring another chair and told them to guard the front so that others couldn’t approach the balcony.

Count Halliwell, seated in the chair, shivered. But it was clearly not because of the wind.

Eustar said,

“Now, tell us.”

The Count’s face turned pale, and fear suddenly filled his expression. He lowered his gaze and hesitated for a long time before abruptly speaking as if spitting out something bitter.

“In my house… something strange is happening.”

Laila and Eustar looked at him more intently. As the two urged him on with their silence, Count Halliwell swallowed dryly and began to ramble out his story.

“I don’t originally live in Benalis. The Halliwell County is at the edge of the west… but for the past two years, my entire family has been living here in Benalis.”

In other words, he wasn’t a capital nobleman like Duchess Himierd.

There were many provincial nobles besides Count Halliwell who left their ancestral mansions to servants and came up to stay in the capital, so it wasn’t particularly special or strange.

The Count shuddered and continued speaking.

“But… but recently, the servants have been saying strange things. All over the mansion… there have been frequent reports of seeing a man named Wells, who used to work at our main house in the province. I ignored it, thinking they must have seen an illusion, but recently my wife saw him and collapsed. And even I…”

At that point, Laila raised her hand as if to tell the Count to wait, interrupting his words.

“This person called Wells… could it be that he’s not a living person?”

Count Halliwell’s cheeks trembled. His lips, which had turned almost purple, also quivered with fear.

He said,

“Your Highness is correct. He died two months before my family came to Benalis.”

“How did he die?”

“It was an accident.”

An accident. Laila sensed that the Count was hiding something. Even if it really was an accident, it must have been one with complicated circumstances.

While Laila was lost in thought, the Count spoke again.

“And… and I saw him too. I couldn’t believe it, but it was definitely Wells.”

Eustar asked,

“Where did you see him? Was it the same place where your wife saw him, and where the servants saw him?”

The Count shook his head with a pained expression.

“No, Your Highness… It wasn’t like that. I saw him in the study. But my wife saw him in the room where the children’s old nanny stays. The places where the servants saw Wells were also inconsistent. He appears all over the mansion! He shows up everywhere!”

As the frightened Count raised his voice, the servant standing outside the balcony guarding the door glanced back.

Eustar said,

“Calm down and lower your voice, Count. What did he look like?”

It was an easy question, but Count Halliwell struggled to answer. Laila could see that he was terrified like a cornered mouse.

The Count stammered,

“He just… just stands there. When I open the door… he’s standing in front of it. He stands there glaring at me and then disappears… He disappears like smoke!”

His voice was on the verge of breaking into tears. The Count covered his face with both hands and let out an agonized groan.

He stands and then disappears. Laila thought. Also, the fact that he appears all over the mansion, and that he’s not seen by just one specific person, was puzzling.

It can’t be without purpose. The fact that he shows himself even in Benalis, far from where he died, must mean there’s something he wants to demand…

Eustar said,

“This isn’t something we can solve just by hearing your story. Tell us the location of your mansion. We’ll visit directly after the birthday celebration is over.”