Charlotte kept her gaze on the back of the boy as he moved away beyond the door.

The boy, going down the only two steps with a trudging gait, wiped his eyes with his thin arms, then was seen running into the complex market alleyways.

What on earth did they leave in the basement for rats to be swarming? Charlotte thought.

And it seemed that the little one called Derry really hated rats.

Is it something to cry about? Boys his age usually make a hobby of swinging dead rats by their tails to scare and startle girls.

Charlotte had experienced such boys several times when she was young.

Of course, every time that happened, she would give them a good thrashing until they raised both hands while bawling.

‘Anyway, I can’t just ignore it… What an unexpected headache.’

Charlotte stared blankly at Derry Blows’ home address, then sighed and came out from behind the counter.

She didn’t feel like going out of the shop today, but she had no choice.

To make rat poison, and a strong one capable of eliminating a swarm of rats, the ingredients she had on hand were far from sufficient.

She turned the ‘Open’ sign to ‘Closed’ before going upstairs to change clothes.

And just as she was about to climb the first step, the silver bell jingled.

I forgot to lock the door. Charlotte sighed quietly as she turned around.

“I’m sorry. We’re closed for today…”

Charlotte’s words were cut off as she headed towards the shop, her eyes widening.

Involuntarily shrinking her fingertips and shoulders, she stared blankly at Matiel standing in the middle of the shop as if she’d seen a ghost.

Instead of a silk hat, he wore a sophisticated Homburg hat with a dented crown.

The silver chain decoration on the front of his jacket caught the eye, harmonizing nicely with the head of his cane, and the half-cloak-style cape he wore, despite being long, gave an effect of looking cool and airy rather than stuffy.

Matiel, who had been silently staring at Charlotte’s dumbfounded face, spoke.

“Isn’t it a bit early to put up the ‘Closed’ sign?”

At his voice, which somehow sounded colder than last night, Charlotte snapped back to her senses.

She was also secretly annoyed at herself for being half-dazed for a moment just because his appearance had changed a bit.

“It’s my shop, what’s it to you? If I want to do business, I do. If I don’t want to, I don’t.”

Charlotte looked up at Matiel with a slanted gaze. As if asking, ‘Right?’

Matiel turned his gaze away, fidgeting with the head of his cane with an expression as if he had something to say.

His lips, which could be called graceful for a man, pulled to one side… then returned to their place as he nodded.

“I suppose that’s true.”

“If you understand, then leave now. If you’re here to buy medicine, quickly tell me what you need. I’m busy.”

“Why? Do you have a prior engagement? With that…”

Charlotte’s eyes sharpened. Matiel spread his hands as if he had made a mistake, then said,

“With that man you call your informant.”

“Why do you keep bringing up Taemi? Taemi is just an informant, as I said. I meet him when I need information. But I’m not going to meet Taemi now.”

“That’s good.”

What exactly is good? Charlotte thought.

Meanwhile, Matiel put his hand in his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out a flat, stiff piece of paper, handing it to her.

Charlotte, who took it reflexively, first noticed that the edges of the paper were elaborately decorated.

It was stiff and smooth on the surface, waterproofed to prevent it from getting wet.

The letters embossed in the center were printed with special ink that wouldn’t erase no matter how much you rubbed it.

It was an opera ticket.

A ticket to an opera house so famous that there was a joke that it would be easier to climb to the sky and pluck a star than to get even one ticket for the worst seat!

Moreover, the performance was no ordinary one either.

It was so popular that even Charlotte, who had little interest in cultural activities unless working as ‘Sherry,’ had heard the title several times.

“What… what is this?”

Matiel raised his eyebrows as if surprised.

“Don’t tell me… you can’t read?”

Charlotte’s eyes widened.

“Ha, ha. What a funny joke, Duke. I’m asking why you’re giving me this expensive ticket.”

“I’m hurt that you don’t understand my intention. Obviously, it’s for you to sell and add to your living expenses.”

Matiel said that and immediately added,

“Just kidding. If I wasn’t inviting you to go together, why would I have come all the way here to deliver this?”

Charlotte retorted,

“That’s exactly what I mean. I don’t understand why you came to ask me to go to the opera with you. Don’t you have a fiancée? A lover? At least a frequently visited escort? You know, those women with glossy black hair and a mole under their plump lips.”

“That’s an unnecessarily detailed description. I’m curious about what kind of person you thought I was. Did I seem like someone who would do such a brazen thing while having a fiancée or lover? To add, I’ve never called an escort in my life. I’m not idle enough to do that while paying money.”

Then I understand even less. Charlotte thought.

At that moment, as if reading her mind, Matiel said,

“But why am I specifically asking you to go to the opera? There’s no better place than a box seat for eavesdropping on secrets.”

“I know that, but whose secrets are we eavesdropping on? And I need to know why we’re eavesdropping too.”

“It’ll take some time to explain, but if you don’t have a prior engagement, come out with me now. The dress code at Felz Opera House changes daily. Today it’s ‘rose.’ If you have a red dress, we won’t need to go to the costume shop, but…”

Charlotte waved her hand.

“Wait, wait a minute. I never said I’d go to the opera with you.”

“If I was going to ask whether you’d go or not, I would have asked before giving you the ticket.”

In other words, he wasn’t going to give her a choice. Charlotte put her fist on her hip with an incredulous expression.

“I have things to do.”

“Postpone them. This is more important.”

It was nothing but absurd words the more she listened.

At the same time, Charlotte felt an enormous sense of loss as the expectation that had existed for a moment crumbled.

The expectation, so faint and small that she didn’t even know it existed, asserted its presence only after disappearing, making her angry.

“I won’t follow your orders. Get out now.”

She pushed the ticket against Matiel’s chest. Despite pushing quite hard, he didn’t budge at all.

Of course, he didn’t take the ticket back either. It slid down towards the floor.

As Charlotte turned away, breathing heavily, Matiel spoke again behind her.

“I said it couldn’t be the work of vampires.”

Charlotte’s steps, stomping towards the stairs, came to an abrupt halt.

Her complexion was pale as she turned back. It was due to anger and surprise.

“What did you say?”

“When you saw the newspaper. Didn’t you say? That it couldn’t be the work of vampires.”

“Yes, that’s right. It can’t be. If such things had entered the kingdom, and if they were running amok hurting people, I would have certainly heard about it.”

However, her voice lacked its usual confidence.

Taemi knew well the characteristics of when magical creatures infiltrated among humans, and Waien was also quick to sense the presence of magical creatures creeping around the capital, but it was a different story for a big shot like a vampire.

They blend in seamlessly among humans.

They move quietly and are cunning. Moreover, while Taemi might not, Waien might be too afraid of vampires themselves to speak up even if he knew.

Matiel knew why Charlotte’s voice had lowered a bit.

He lightly tapped the floor with the tip of his cane.

“Because you were so insistent, I sent my own ‘informant’ to investigate. To the Eliki region. There are a few pieces of news that came through that informant.”

“What news?”

“News that someone among the capital’s nobility is hiding their daughter who has become a vampire.”

Charlotte’s mouth fell open. It was unbelievable. It shouldn’t be possible.

“That can’t be. Are you saying a human is controlling a vampire? That’s absolutely impossible.”

“I said they’re hiding her, not controlling her. They don’t try to go against whatever it does. They just fear the daughter who has become a vampire and protect her instead of driving a stake through her heart.”

“Who on earth would do such a thing?”

Instead of answering that question, Matiel bent down to pick up the fallen opera ticket and waved it.

“That’s what we’re going to find out there.”

The clock hand on the wall ticked, then the bell rang announcing 2 o’clock sharp.

Charlotte glanced at the note pinned to the cork board.

She recalled the frightened face of that boy, Derry Young Blows, who used to run through the alley every morning selling fresh fruit.