Episode 81

Rosalind’s face was eerily serene as she spoke about murder. Her tone was so light and casual, it sounded as if she were merely recommending a dinner menu. A sudden chill ran down my spine.

The unsettling feeling struck because her calm demeanor made it undeniable—she was someone who had lived through countless lives and returned. And I, too, realized something about myself.

I wasn’t particularly shocked by their talk of killing someone. Instead, my curiosity was piqued by the fact that the two of them had been searching for the same person. That was what truly caught my attention. ‘I wasn’t normal either.’

‘We had some trouble finding them,’ Rosalind said. ‘Both the Duke and I searched quite diligently, you know.’

Who could it possibly be? Who was important enough for these two to join forces in hunting them down to kill? Pure curiosity welled up inside me.

‘If even Rosalind, who wielded magic so effortlessly, and Igon, who could accomplish anything if he set his mind to it, struggled to find this person, then who on earth were they?’

Feeling the inadequacy of her explanation, I looked up at her with pleading eyes. But Rosalind only shook her head slowly, refusing to elaborate.

‘Have you forgotten the principle of causality? If I tell you more, it’ll cause me no end of trouble,’ she said.

With that, I had no choice but to back down for now.

‘I understand the dilemma you’re grappling with,’ Rosalind said in a soothing tone.

‘The Duke cares for you more than you realize.’

Though his methods are absolute garbage.

She muttered that last part as if talking to herself. Rosalind was far too blunt to simply offer comforting words.

I silently agreed with her sentiment and scribbled something else on the desk in front of me.

‘How was your time living abroad?’

Rosalind leaned over, watching curiously as I wrote, her expression one of amused curiosity, before bursting into laughter.

‘Oh, it was delightful. Truly.’

Her flippant response made me start to doubt whether she had ever been abroad at all.

‘Anyway, regardless of how things went, I believe there’s no place like home,’ she added with a smile.

I nodded in agreement, understanding her sentiment. I, too, had felt a strange sense of relief since returning to the Duke’s manor.

Our conversation didn’t last much longer.

The hope that I might glean even a small clue through my conversation with her was quickly dashed. She was someone who would not speak unless asked, and I was someone who could not bring myself to voice my thoughts.

After the teacup ran dry, only a dreary silence stretched between us. Rosalind was adept at withholding what should not be said. She never let slip unintended clues.

After exchanging polite farewells, I left the room. Now it was time to meet Igon.

“Back already?”

Though he appeared busy, seated at his desk, he lifted his head to meet my gaze. The sunlight was bright, and perhaps because of it, his eyes seemed unusually vivid today—a brilliant, clear sky blue.

His eyes shone with affection, gazing at me as if I were something utterly lovely and captivating.

And yet, I had thought he wouldn’t recognize me for who I was, even when faced with those eyes.

The thought made me feel utterly foolish, a ridiculous notion that embarrassed even myself.

“You wanted to hear it for yourself, didn’t you? Now that you have, how do you feel? Did you gain anything?”

After a moment’s hesitation, I slowly nodded.

“Good,” he said, a picturesque smile blooming across his face.

I approached his desk and reached out to caress his face.

I was relieved I couldn’t speak.

Had I been able to, I might have poured out every ounce of affection I felt for him. I might have been overwhelmed by emotion and pretended to forgive him entirely.

It was fortunate I couldn’t.

Fortunate that my infatuated feelings didn’t spill out.

Because Igon was still not entirely trustworthy.

The uncertainty surrounding Eunice’s whereabouts played a part in my distrust of him.

Igon leaned his face into my right hand like a predator feigning submission as it accepts a leash. His hair, soft and smooth to the touch, brushed against my fingers.

I let myself savor the sensation for a moment before recalling what I wanted to ask and pulling my hand away.

Before I could say anything, Igon rummaged through his drawer. He pulled out a letter and handed it to me.

A letter from his desk—addressed to me.

So, all those letters I had thought were delivered to me by the head maid had already passed through Igon’s hands?

I had believed I was living with some semblance of freedom, but that wasn’t the case.

I had no idea how far his control over me extended.

The realization that I had been watched without knowing sent a subtle but undeniable wave of shock through me.

I glanced down at the envelope.

The sender was supposedly one of the maids working in the imperial palace.

It was a letter from Kenneth, disguised as someone else’s correspondence.

“What does it say?”

I hesitated, gauging Igon’s reaction, before flipping the letter open to show him the contents.

It contained trivial gossip, the kind of chatter one might expect among maids in the imperial palace.

‘…You’ve been well, right? Is the Duke doing well too? In your last letter, you mentioned the Duke enjoys horseback riding…’

The rest of the letter was filled with mundane and irrelevant details about Igon.

Whether Kenneth had researched thoroughly or merely grabbed someone to fabricate it, the accuracy of the details was striking. After all, when maids gathered, heated discussions about their masters were commonplace.

“Sophia?” Igon asked, his voice curious but calm.

Igon read the pseudonym on the letter’s envelope.

“Did you have a friend like this?”

No. Sophia, who worked in the imperial palace, was someone I had encountered in passing, but she was certainly not a friend. Yet I couldn’t muster the courage to shake my head.

‘Then who exactly is this Sophia?’ he would inevitably ask.

“Lily.”

The soft voice called my name.

When I turned around, I saw Igon smiling mischievously, his lips curved in a refined and elegant arc.

I knew instantly.

‘You already know, don’t you?’

“That’s not true, is it?”

Startled, I clenched my fists without realizing it, crumpling the letter in my hand.

“It’s not true,” he repeated, emphasizing his point.

As if clouds had passed overhead, shadows crept into the room that had been brightly lit moments ago. Even his sky-blue eyes seemed to dim, taking on a stormy gray hue.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him.

For a moment, I was so caught in his gaze that I didn’t even realize he was pulling my hand closer.

Then, I felt a light touch at the tip of my right hand, something brushing against it and pulling away.

There was no other sensation at first. The faint sting came much later.

Just one drop of blood fell neatly onto the paper, staining it.

Unlike me, who clumsily pricked myself with a pin to the point of making a mess, Igon’s precision was uncanny.

After confirming the blood had touched the letter, Igon slowly licked my thumb, as if ensuring no more blood was escaping.

His usually composed brow furrowed deeply.

“Those bastards…”

The words spilled from his lips with a venom I had never heard from him before. Igon, as far as I knew, had never used such coarse language.

Even while swearing, his concerned gaze rested on my injured fingertip.

“Have you been hurting yourself like this every time, just to read these useless letters?”

‘Calling them useless isn’t quite right,’ I thought. Kenneth had done plenty for me, after all.

And besides, considering the sleepless nights I had endured recently, this wasn’t a remark he should make.

Looking at Igon, I couldn’t help but think, ‘He has no right to be concerned over such a trivial wound after everything.’

Igon pulled me into his embrace, seating me suddenly at the desk in front of him. He placed a pen in my hand.

“If there’s anything strange written in it, let me know.”

With his strong arm wrapped securely around my waist, I sighed and opened the letter.

‘I have something to tell you in person.’

That was all it said—no other words, no explanation.

The elegant handwriting was undeniably Kenneth’s, but the unusually brief message felt out of place.

At least recently, Kenneth had never written such terse letters.

After a brief hesitation, I used the pen Igon had handed me to transcribe the contents.

As I wrote, Igon watched quietly before muttering with a bitter edge to his voice, “That bastard is calling for you.”

His eyes, now tinged with a sharp intensity, shone vividly blue, almost glowing.

I turned to look at him before continuing to write.

‘Should I go?’

Silence hung between us, the weight of his heavy sigh pressing on my shoulder.

Igon softly kissed the pulse at my neck, his lips lingering.

I wasn’t entirely certain, but it seemed the “bastard” Igon spoke of was the same person Rosalind had vowed to kill.

‘Was this person somehow connected to Kenneth?’

Why were they calling for me?

Questions swirled in my mind.

If Igon or Rosalind planned to use me as bait, I was willing to volunteer. I wanted to know what was entangling them in this web of intrigue.

“We have to go,” Igon said, pulling me closer.

His arms tightened around me, and I leaned into his broad chest, listening to the irregular beat of his heart.

“Not you—me.”

* * *

Kenneth summoned me to the usual garden—a spot familiar to both of us, beneath the shade of a well-known tree. His choice of location was quintessentially Kenneth.

Igon walked slowly to stand beneath the tree trunk.

Not long after, I spotted Kenneth walking from the far end of the garden.

Hidden in the bushes with Rosalind, I watched the unfolding scene with bated breath. My heart pounded harder with each passing moment.

Would Kenneth recognize Igon?

“Liliana?”

Ah.

Relief washed over me as Kenneth called my name and approached.

He didn’t recognize Igon. Rosalind’s magic had worked.

At this moment, Igon bore an identical appearance to mine.

Rosalind’s spell had transformed Igon’s face to look exactly like mine.

It was now clear why Igon had gone to the trouble of summoning Rosalind to the Duke’s estate.

Igon hadn’t wanted me to accompany him, but the magic had a limited range, so it was unavoidable.

And so, the three of us had entered the imperial palace together.

“Liliana.”

Kenneth called my name again.

Igon, who had been staring at the ground as if deep in thought, slowly raised his head.

His timing was just off enough to be eerily similar to mine.

It was uncanny, almost laughable, how perfectly Igon mimicked my appearance and actions.

“A barrier has been set up,” Rosalind muttered beside me.

“Do you see it? Over there, where it wavers,” she said, pointing subtly at a spot near Kenneth.

Now that she mentioned it, I thought I could make it out.

“Have you been well?”

Kenneth took a step closer as he spoke.

It was then that Igon, in my guise, stepped forward to meet him, extending a hand.

Clang!

The sharp sound of something breaking pierced the air, and Rosalind bolted out from our hiding spot.

Startled, I rose to my feet as well.

Before me, I saw a man dangling helplessly in Igon’s grasp, his feet barely touching the ground.

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