Laila acutely noticed a very faint, indistinct sound, as if the hem of a dress was dragging on the floor. She looked around with wide eyes, but all she could see was the thickening fog.

—Kristrad…

The voice calling her came through the fog again. It wasn’t an auditory hallucination. Nor was it the wind whistling through tree branches, creating an illusion. The voice was clearly and distinctly calling her.

“Who’s there!”

Laila shouted, taking a breath. But there was no answer. Only the echo of her shout lingered like a ghost in the forest before fading away.

—Kristrad…

Laila shouted again.

“Show yourself! Stop hiding cowardly!”

Was it Karshu’s voice? Laila took a rough breath, aware of her increasingly rapid heartbeat. It seemed like it could be, but also not…

“Halliwell!”

The fog-covered forest was now hard to see even a step ahead. It was as dark as night without a speck of light, and dark shadows passed by her side like souls being dragged to hell.

That’s when it happened.

With the sound of dry grass and tree roots being gently stepped on, Karshu Halliwell appeared.

Laila was overcome with a strange uneasiness, as if he had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She strongly felt that it wasn’t because he had been hiding in the fog all along, but because there had been nothing that could be called his physical body here.

“Eustar.”

Laila tried calling Eustar on the communicator, but there was no answer. Not even the faint noise characteristic of magical devices could be heard.

She frantically touched the communicator. It seemed to have lost its magical power now. It was just a meaningless ring.

‘I hope Eustar is safe.’

The moment Laila had that thought, Karshu spoke as if he had seen right through her mind.

“Worrying about another human while falling so easily into a trap like a foolish rabbit.”

Karshu’s voice had become even lower than when she first heard it, resonating heavily as if echoing in a cave. Or it sounded very strange, as if he was speaking with two voices at once.

Laila clenched her fists, filled with defiance.

“I’m not the one trapped, Karshu Halliwell. You’re the one cornered. I can handle you even without Eustar.”

Then, unexpectedly, Karshu Halliwell burst into loud laughter. Laila stared at him with wide eyes, then suddenly took a step back as an ominous premonition passed through the center of her body.

His eyes were gleaming with a bright golden color.

‘That’s not Karshu Halliwell…’

Yes. Someone unfamiliar whispered in Laila’s mind. Your thought is correct. He is not Karshu Halliwell.

Laila recalled a pair of yellow eyes gleaming in the forest. This was the owner of those eyes standing before her now. He had Karshu’s appearance, but something else was inside. Just like Alice’s case she had seen before.

Karshu, no, something abruptly stopped laughing and raised its head. Its height had grown almost two spans taller than before. The two eyes looking down at Laila were rippling as if filled with black smoke.

“That temperament, you inherited it from your mother.”

Laila’s eyes widened. Unbelievably, the moment he mentioned her mother, she clearly heard the sound of creaking… in her ear. It was the sound from the rocking chair where her mother always used to sit.

“Who are you?”

Laila’s body retreated a bit more. A vivid and terrible imagination that a trap might suddenly spring up from under her feet made her shrink even more.

However, Laila did not cower. Rather, she straightened her chest and looked up at it with challenging eyes, as if daring it to come.

“Speak! What are you! Reveal your identity!”

Then its body bent downward like a snake. Now as enormous as an old fir tree, it no longer even resembled a human form. Like an ominous sculpture burnt pitch black, its shape was indistinct.

It spoke.

—I am the being you should rightfully serve, human who bears a witch’s name.

His voice no longer came from his mouth. It flowed from the dark, damp ground, from the secret gaps between tangled branches, from under the wings of crows and the bellies of black beasts, invading and penetrating Laila’s body at will.

—I created your bloodline and made your mother’s body create you.

Laila’s lips trembled.

“What do you…”

Towards her, whose knees were shaking, it opened its mouth wide.

—I am your father, Laila Kristrad.

Meanwhile, Muge, who remained at the Halliwell mansion, read the entire strange fable without moving from her seat.

After closing the last page, she looked down at the book with a serious expression. Though she couldn’t tell who had sent it, she could see there was a more important intention beyond what met the eye.

And it must be related not only to Laila but also to Eustar…

‘But something…’

Just as Muge frowned and opened the book again, Countess Halliwell appeared in the doorway without any sign or sound of approaching footsteps.

Strangely, the Countess seemed to suddenly realize where she was the moment her eyes met Muge’s. She looked around with a bewildered and fearful expression, then slowly opened her mouth upon seeing Muge sitting still on the bed.

“What are you doing here?”

Muge held up the book with one hand and replied indifferently.

“As you can see, I’m reading a book.”

The Countess suddenly began to fidget nervously like someone being chased, almost pulling at her fingertips.

She turned around to look behind her, then back at Muge, repeating this several times while her lips moved silently. Then suddenly, she stopped all movement and dropped her arms expressionlessly.

Watching this, Muge frowned with an uneasy feeling and put down the book.

“Leave here.”

At the Countess’s words, a snort of laughter escaped Muge’s mouth.

“What did you say?”

“I said, please leave here.”

Muge moved the frame of her monocle to increase its sensitivity. However, she saw nothing but the Countess. No ghosts, nothing else.

Muge said,

“What if I refuse?”

At her bold retort, the Countess lowered her head slightly. Killing intent dripped from her upturned eyes. Soon, shadow-like flames gathered around the Countess, and a sinister energy that made the skin tingle began to pool.

“Huh.”

Muge let out a laugh of disbelief as she rose from the bed. Immediately, the Countess lunged at her with her mouth wide open and nails raised.

“Get out of this house! Leave now! I said leave now…!”

Suddenly, the Countess’s eyes, which had risen into the air, bulged out. There were marks on her neck as if someone had grabbed it. The Countess struggled to escape from those unknown hands, but it was futile flailing.

Muge, raising her small hand towards the air, said,

“Foolish thing, attacking with clumsy magic without even knowing what’s in front of your eyes.”

The Countess’s body was still shaking and struggling. Then, Muge realized that she had not gasped for breath even once.

“I see…”

As Muge’s hand, gripping something invisible, twisted diagonally, the Countess’s struggles grew larger. However, she neither screamed nor showed pain. She just flailed, clawing at the air expressionlessly.

“So you’re a doppelganger.”

Muge grinned like a villain and gritted her molars.

“I should meet your insolent master.”

There was a cracking sound. It was the sound of the neck of the Countess, or rather the doppelganger created by sacrificing her, slowly breaking. Muge’s eyes flashed fiercely.

“Olga!”

Eustar rushed in just as Muge was about to break the doppelganger’s neck.

He opened his eyes wide in surprise at the sight of the Countess floating in the air. But before he could utter a word, he felt a presence swiftly passing behind his back.

It felt like a vicious and cunning beast fleeing, and without time to think, he drew his sword and turned his body sharply.

“We need to catch it, Eustar!”

Muge’s shout and Eustar’s sliding dash happened almost simultaneously. Then the movement of the doppelganger struggling in mid-air abruptly stopped, and its neck broke with a cracking sound.

As Muge lowered her hand, the Countess’s doppelganger fell helplessly to the floor. Leaving it crumbling like dry plaster, Muge ran out of the mansion, following Eustar’s presence.

A short breath burst out between Laila’s lips with a gasp. She felt the strength leaving her legs, and her body staggered as she stepped back.

The figure, which had grown as large as a giant fir tree, suddenly shrank in the blink of an eye, becoming almost as small as Eustar.

Smoke swirled around his body like a whirlwind, and black flames shot up from beneath his feet. The stinging smell of sulfur and ash, the stench of ruin and destruction, made Laila’s mind hazy.

When it all disappeared, before her eyes stood a man with jet-black hair that seemed to blaze upwards and bright red eyes. Unknown letters appeared and disappeared on his chalk-white skin.

Laila stood frozen like a rock, not daring to move her lips. Overwhelming fear dominated her. But even more frightening and daunting was the familiar emotion welling up from deep within her body.

“You look surprised.”

He said. Now there was nothing about him that resembled Karshu Halliwell.

Laila swallowed with a trembling breath.

“What did you do to Karshu Halliwell?”

“You still don’t realize that wasn’t a human.”

“What do you mean? If not human, then…”

He slowly rolled his bright red eyes.

“It was an imperfect fake created by humans. A puppet and an illusion. It’s pathetic that you didn’t know it didn’t need breath or water.”