Chapter 25

Shilen let out a small sigh as she looked at Demius, who was still frozen in disbelief. Then she quietly extended her tiny hands.

“Hm? You want to eat by yourself?”

Nod.

At Melissa’s question, Shilen nodded politely and then glanced sideways at Demius.

His tightly furrowed brow eased ever so slightly at her response.

Sigh.

This time, the sigh escaped loudly enough for Demius to hear it clearly. Shilen took the bowl of porridge from Melissa’s hands.

“It might still be hot, so eat slowly.”

Hearing Melissa’s gentle concern, Shilen scooped up a spoonful, blew on it softly, and took a bite.

“…!”

Heavenly flavor.

Beyond the rim of the bowl, she could almost see the head chef winking and giving her a thumbs-up.

For the record, when Melissa had offered to make fried food, the chef had shouted, “Oh, I just remembered I urgently need to restock some key ingredients!” and promptly vanished from the kitchen.

Perhaps the exquisite flavor of this porridge held a hint of the chef’s sympathy for the poor child who had almost been forced to eat that dreadful fried dish.

‘Thank you so much.’

With deep sincerity, Shilen prayed that the Great Spirit would bless the chef, then continued to empty the bowl spoon by spoon.

When she was finally done, Melissa looked at her with an oddly nervous expression before speaking carefully.

“Are you really feeling alright? You’re not in any pain, are you?”

Nod.

Shilen nodded again since she truly felt fine.

But the next question made her tense.

“Really? Even if something sudden happens, you won’t faint again, right?”

A flicker of alarm passed through Shilen’s eyes.

Was she… bringing out fried food for dessert?

But before panic could take over, Melissa pulled something out from behind her back. A box.

“I brought this so we could open it together!”

She smiled brightly.

Relieved, Shilen watched as Melissa placed the box on the bedside table.

The dirt had been carefully wiped away, revealing that it was actually quite a fine-looking chest.

“Alright, let’s open it.”

With a serious look, Melissa inserted the key Shilen had found into the lock and turned it.

Clank, clank!

The sound of metal pieces shifting in sequence filled the air before a final click announced that the lock had been released.

Creak—

As the old hinges groaned open, the chest finally revealed its contents.

“…Huh?”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Inside the chest was another, smaller black box. Written on the lid in white ink were the words:

Once you look inside, there may be no turning back.

“A warning?”

Demius frowned slightly.

Melissa tilted her head and said,

“Maybe it’s a word of concern?”

“Concern?”

At his puzzled tone, Melissa nodded.

“It’s telling us what’s inside. Maybe it’s trying to prepare us so we don’t get startled by something unexpected.”

Touched by what she assumed was the box maker’s kindness, Melissa smiled softly.

“Maybe they wanted to give us a choice.”

“That could be.”

Demius gave a small smile and nodded, though his mind was already elsewhere.

‘A double box, huh.’

A perfect opportunity.

Someone else had found the first key, but he would be the one to find the second.

He knew his competitors were many. Not just Shilen, who was his strongest rival, but every servant and knight in the household as well.

That meant he needed a new strategy.

‘Where could the key be?’

His first mistake had been wasting time scouring the gardens. The key had been found in a completely unrelated place, the records room.

So this time, he had to look somewhere no one else would search. Somewhere only he could enter.

“…!”

He inhaled sharply.

He’d just remembered such a place.

One of the secret hideouts he had used as a child to escape from Natalianne’s prying eyes.

A place ordinary people couldn’t reach, and even the cleaning staff avoided.

‘That’s it.’

His gaze returned to the inscription on the box.

The more he stared at the handwriting, the more familiar it seemed.

Had he seen it in official documents?

‘No.’

It wasn’t that. He would have recognized the formal handwriting used in government papers immediately.

Then it had to be from personal correspondence, and that narrowed the possibilities considerably.

He didn’t socialize much, so the only options were Linburton, Natalianne, and their mother.

But Linburton’s handwriting matched the formal style used for records. His mother’s writing was bold and powerful. And as for Natalianne, given her temper, there was no way she wrote in such elegant, refined strokes.

‘Where have I seen this before?’

It resembled his brother’s handwriting the most.

But Asellion had disappeared twenty years ago. Would he really have left this box, abandoned all this time, in the garden?

‘I’ll have to compare it with my brother’s letters.’

He decided to check the ones stored in his desk later.

Just as he was forming the plan, a commotion broke out outside the room.

“My lord!”

The door burst open and a knight in full armor rushed in, face pale with urgency.

“There you are!”

“What is it?”

The knight froze briefly when his eyes met Demius’s. Judging by his troubled expression, this was not the right time for whatever news he carried.

He glanced uncertainly at Melissa before speaking cautiously.

“Forgive me, but… monsters are crossing the mountain.”

“Now?”

Demius’s brows drew together.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then turned to Melissa.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, then smiled.

“Don’t worry about me. Go.”

“…Alright.”

With a faint, bitter smile, Demius gently took her hand.

So this was how his rare moment of leisure would end.

“Then, I’ll be back soon.”

His lips brushed lightly over the back of her hand before he stepped away.

Melissa blinked in surprise.

She could still feel the lingering warmth where he’d kissed her skin, leaving her with a strange fluttering in her chest.

But Demius had already turned away, questioning the knight about the situation without noticing her reaction.

“Are the others ready?”

“Yes, my lord!”

“Let’s move.”

The knights followed Demius out into the corridor.

Once they were gone, Melissa unconsciously rubbed the back of her hand.

The room suddenly felt emptier.

Only one person had left, yet it felt as if all the air had gone with him.

She blinked a few times, then suddenly clapped her hands.

“Oh, that’s right!”

Her eyes sparkled as she turned toward Shilen.

“I forgot to ask what we should do for the second key’s prize!”

“…!”

Tension flickered in Shilen’s eyes.

* * *

Crash!

The front doors of the mansion exploded into splinters.

The Grand Duchy of Eisenhart—

The strongest fortress of the empire, its northern shield had just had its gates shattered.

Servants walking past stopped in shock as the echo of destruction filled the air.

“What’s happening?”

Hearing the commotion, the butler came running, shouting toward the figure emerging through the dust and mist.

“Wh-who goes there?”

Good heavens.

When he recognized the silhouette beyond the fog, his eyes went wide enough to stretch the wrinkles around them flat.

Why… why is she here?

Haa.

A breath of white mist escaped the lips of the woman stepping through the haze.

The black veil covering her face rippled like the cloak of death itself.

The Ice Witch, Natalianne.

Cloaked in black robes, she emerged from the fog, her presence chilling the very air.

Even under the fierce August sun, not a single beam of light could touch her. The heat froze midair and shattered into pale dust before reaching her skin.

The butler wiped the corner of his eye without realizing it.

She broke the gate the moment she arrived.

It was a sight that would have made both the butler and Linburton, who had written to summon her home, weep in despair.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Linburton wasn’t here.

He, along with Demius and Seres, had gone on an extended monster subjugation that would last at least a week.

The butler kept his tense eyes fixed on Natalianne as he leaned slightly toward the nearest servant and whispered so softly that his lips barely moved.

“Go inform… ‘that person’ that she has returned.”