“Yerka created the doppelganger?”

Eustar asked in disbelief. Laila nodded, her face suddenly as tired as someone who hadn’t slept for three days straight.

“Well…”

He trailed off, sighing and pressing his forehead. For a moment, he almost said the foolish words ‘she didn’t seem like someone with such abilities’.

Whether it was magic or physical strength, he had realized hundreds of times while observing various members of Tentinella that appearances aren’t everything, yet he felt anew how powerful human prejudice can be.

Laila said,

“I saw it in Wells’ memories. Yerka said she would help him escape… and that Karshu appeared at the place where they were supposed to meet secretly. That seemed to be true. And it’s also true that Yerka visited Wells while he was imprisoned.”

She paused briefly, frowning painfully. The fear and pain she felt when summoning Wells and looking into his memories still remained like an unremoved thorn inside her.

Laila opened her eyes after closing them with an expression of enduring pain and continued.

“In Wells’ memories… it was almost as if only Yerka’s image remained. There was no one as intense in his life as Yerka. He loved her, worshipped her, and in the end, was terribly afraid of her. Even in excruciating pain that contorted his whole body, he couldn’t understand himself for being unable to hate her…”

Muge clicked her tongue as if it was troublesome.

“That’s the perfect condition to become a mass of obsession. It’s surprising that it only remained enough to startle the person opening the door.”

Laila agreed.

“He… seems to have been a simple person. To the point where others might have thought him foolish. Yerka probably tried to use him because he was naive. Even asking for help to escape might have been… a lie to lure him out of the mansion.”

The three fell silent for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. Yerka summoned a doppelganger. She failed once but would have succeeded the next time.

Then who in this house is her creation?

“We can’t know.”

Eustar looked between Laila and Muge as he continued.

“Anyone in the mansion could have been Yerka’s sacrifice.”

Muge said,

“If there’s an even bigger problem, it’s that we have no evidence right now. Unless we caught her in the act of drawing the circle, the circle is already partially destroyed and the gathered magic has dispersed. Even if we catch and torture her, it’s useless if she doesn’t confess.”

“Tentinella doesn’t torture, Olga.”

At Eustar’s serious reply, Muge made an irritated expression.

“I know. It’s just a figure of speech.”

While the two engaged in a light argument, Laila remained silent. She too was so deep in thought about how to resolve this situation smoothly—though it had already gone far from smooth—that she couldn’t even hear Eustar and Muge’s chatter.

“Your Excellency.”

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice interrupted the three’s thoughts. Eustar turned his head first, with Muge and Laila moving their gazes a beat later.

A man was standing in the doorway. Judging by his clothes, he seemed to be in a managerial position among the employees. He was holding an unidentifiable box and glancing nervously at Laila.

Eustar asked,

“Are you an employee of Haliwell Manor?”

“Yes, Your Highness. I apologize for the intrusion. My name is Biel. I train new employees.”

“Why are you looking for my Bi?”

At that, Biel looked even more flustered and glanced at Laila as if seeking help.

“Someone told me to deliver this item to Your Excellency.”

Expression finally returned to Laila’s face. As she slightly furrowed her brows, Biel’s face turned pale blue. He probably thought he could turn into a toad just by making eye contact with a witch.

“Something sent to me? I don’t have anyone who would send me anything.”

“I, I don’t know who it was either. It was someone I’d never seen before… but they looked like a noble. So I thought… perhaps they might be from Tentinella or someone who knows Your Excellency…”

Biel was now trembling pitifully and rambling. Laila sighed and reached out towards him.

“Bring it here.”

Eustar said,

“Laila, it could be dangerous. We don’t know who sent it.”

Laila took the box and watched as Biel fled like an arrow, then belatedly replied.

“Well, Eustar. If it were truly dangerous, I don’t think they would have put it in such a thin and old box, do you?”

After saying that, Laila slightly lifted and shook the box. Something could be felt rattling inside.

Muge said,

“Just open it. It’s not going to explode, is it?”

“Judging by the weight, it doesn’t seem like something that would explode.”

Even so, Laila opened the lid of the box with quite careful hands. The inside looked even older than the exterior. There were traces of glued paper patching, as if there had been holes.

“What is this?”

No one answered Muge’s question. Or rather, they couldn’t. Neither Eustar nor Laila knew what was inside the box. More precisely, they couldn’t even guess who had sent it or for what purpose…

“This is a storybook. A very old fable.”

Eustar took an old book out of the box. It was slightly larger than his palm, and although the corners were quite worn from age, it was a hardcover book with a leather cover.

It was likely quite valuable when it was made, but now it was something that even a junk shop wouldn’t accept.

“There’s something like a note in here too.”

Laila took out a small rolled-up piece of paper from the corner of the box and unfolded it. There was writing on it in a flowing script that was almost illegible.

‘One can never see the dust sitting on one’s eyelids.’

Muge, who read the words on the paper, snorted.

“Who’s making such a lame joke?”

At that moment, Laila brought the paper to the tip of her nose. Muge followed with a teasing remark.

“Don’t tell me they sprayed perfume on it?”

“No, it’s not perfume. This is…”

Laila’s expression hardened as she brought the paper to the tip of her nose again and took a deep breath. There was no doubt.

“…This smells like gunpowder.”

At that moment, it was no coincidence that the face of Karshu Haliwell flashed through both Eustar and Laila’s minds simultaneously. Upon hearing the words “gunpowder smell,” Eustar also put down the old book and took the paper from Laila’s hand. After smelling it, he nodded.

“It’s the same smell that came from Karshu Haliwell.”

Laila said,

“We need to find him. There must be a reason he sent this to me.”

Eustar stopped her.

“Wait, Laila. If Karshu Haliwell sent this to you, that employee from earlier wouldn’t have failed to recognize him.”

“Maybe he was threatened.”

It was a reasonable point. Eustar slowly nodded and stood up with her.

“I’ll come with you.”

Then Muge picked up the old storybook and said nonchalantly,

“Then you two go. I’ll stay here and read this book. It’s narrow and dark, just like being back home.”

And she really did sprawl on the bed and open the book as if this narrow, cold room was her home. Even as Eustar and Laila went outside, Muge didn’t even give them a glance.

‘Once upon a time, when sky things and earth things lived all mixed up together, there were two wolves. One had rough red fur falling out in patches, looking worse than a mangy donkey, while the other had sleek black fur with a shaggy mane that made it look like the lord of the forest…’

To find Karshu Haliwell, Eustar and Laila entered the forest near the Count’s mansion again.

After hearing the gunshots when Wells appeared, there were no more sounds of gunfire from the forest. They followed the same path they had taken before, but could see no servants, caged birds, or Karshu Haliwell.

“He must be somewhere around here.”

Laila said firmly. She had been feeling someone’s gaze piercing the back of her neck since earlier. She had no doubt that it was Karshu Haliwell.

“Eustar, let’s split up and search. I’ll go west.”

For a moment, Eustar wanted to say ‘It’s dangerous, you can’t,’ but he held back. Having brought her here because she was needed, he couldn’t treat her like a child who couldn’t do anything alone now. That would be terribly rude.

“Alright. But make sure to keep the communicator connected, Laila. Okay? We don’t know what might happen.”

“I will.”

Laila touched the ring on her left ring finger once and then parted from him, heading towards the western part of the forest. She couldn’t give a reason why she chose west. It was just intuition, like a predator sensing the scent of prey on the wind.

‘Although I’m not in the predator’s position.’

With this self-deprecating thought, she took steps deeper into the forest.

Except for the clearing where Karshu Haliwell had been hunting birds, the forest was densely packed with trees, quiet and cold.

Taking a breath, one could inhale air mixed with fresh scents, but along with it, something ominous and dark could be felt creeping up.

As the man-made path disappeared, the soil underfoot became damp and soft. In between, thick and rough tree roots were sticking out haphazardly.

Fog seems to be setting in, Laila thought. Although it wasn’t the weather or time for fog, her vision was definitely becoming hazy. She stroked the ring on her left hand, the communicator that allowed her to talk to Eustar, as she jumped over a large tree root.

It was at that very moment.

—Kristrad…