Britia stared intently at his face. It was definitely Sig.
“Britia, are you doubting me?”
As she circled him, trying to check his tail, the spirit burst into giggles and grabbed her arm.
“Sig, why….”
“Come here.”
A white tail had appeared on top of his limp black one. She was about to ask why something like that had appeared, but the spirit pulled her into an embrace.
“Were you jealous? How cute.”
Even though he called her cute, Britia didn’t feel happy at all. Her attention was completely on where he got that white tail from. Despite having two tails now, neither of them moved.
Before the war, Sig’s tail would’ve been shedding fur all over by now. But now, his black tail didn’t move at all, and only the white one occasionally twitched slightly.
Britia felt unsettled. In his letters, he had said how much he missed her. Was all of that a lie?
He even said things like he couldn’t stand not being able to touch her!
“Sig, didn’t you miss me all this time? I thought I was going to die from missing you.”
When Britia spoke in a sorrowful tone, the spirit smiled softly.
“I missed you too.”
Maybe it was because of winter, but his breath felt oddly cold.
Still, the voice whispering as their foreheads touched was definitely Sig’s, even if his way of speaking had completely changed.
“Liar.”
Britia squinted at Sig, who spoke without so much as a twitch of his tails.
“You weren’t even a little glad to see me, were you?”
“Why would you think that?”
The spirit tilted his head and stroked Britia’s cheek.
“Is it because I teased him earlier?”
“……”
“Your jealous face is cute, but cheer up, beautiful.”
Beautiful? Did he just call me what he used to call Count Slanford?
At that word, Britia felt a chill run through her mind. Being told to cheer up only made her angrier.
“Sig, be honest with me.”
“Yes?”
“Have you lost feelings for me?”
Britia demanded, her tone sharp. The spirit’s lips twitched slightly.
“Is that it?”
The delayed answer made Britia’s mouth drop open in shock.
“Have you lost feelings for me and, oh no, don’t tell me, found interest in Count Slanford?”
“……”
“Sig, say something!”
“…You are pretty, but a bit of a nuisance.”
The spirit sighed softly, as if disappointed that she wasn’t quiet, even though her appearance wasn’t bad.
“What… What did you just say?”
A nuisance? Did Sig just call me a nuisance?
Britia’s lips trembled from the shock. She had never imagined that something like this would happen on the day she had longed for—the day of their reunion. How eagerly had she waited for him to return?
“You’re a nuisance.”
Sig’s firm tone made Britia feel weak, as if her body had lost all its strength.
“Why… Why have you changed like this? This isn’t the Sig I know.”
Britia felt hurt, as if she were facing a stranger. Betrayal welled up inside her, making it hard to breathe.
“Then, was writing replies to my letters something that annoyed you too?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
With every word, her wounds deepened. Britia stammered, unable to speak properly, “Then… you could have just said so in the letters. You could have ended it truthfully instead of lying about missing me and loving me.”
She thought about how she had cherished his letters, pulling them out whenever she missed him desperately. What did that make her now?
“Then why….”
“Why? Because your face is amusing right now. Were you expecting something else?”
The spirit burst into laughter, saying Britia’s expression looked like someone betrayed was priceless.
“…Esther, is this what war does to people? Can someone really change this much?”
Esther, who had been quietly standing behind Britia, unsure of how to handle the situation, nervously licked his dry lips. This side of Sig was new to him too, and he had no idea what to say.
“Tell me, Esther. Is this normal? Should I just accept this and back down? Is that the right thing to do?”
“Well, lady, it’s just that…”
“Sig, what on earth happened to you?”
Britia pleaded, asking him what had happened for him to change like this. She couldn’t accept that Sig no longer had feelings for her.
“Can’t you at least tell me why? Did I do something wrong?”
“Feelings can change, you know? There doesn’t always have to be a clear reason.”
“But in your case, it’s because you’re too clingy.”
“Clingy? That’s why you don’t like me anymore?”
“Yeah. If you weren’t, I might’ve kept being nice to you, but no, that won’t work. So just accept it and step aside. I need to go back to my ‘pretty one’ now.”
As the spirit turned away, Britia saw the black tail hanging limp, with the white, thin one perched on top, swaying smugly. The black tail still didn’t budge.
“Fine. Maybe things do change like that. Maybe Sig is right.”
“Are you trying to make me feel guilty and hold me back? But it’s too late for that, beautiful.”
The spirit blew a kiss over his shoulder, chuckling. Britia clenched her fists tightly, holding back the tears that were welling up.
“But suddenly showing up with another tail? That’s something I’ve never heard of or seen! What on earth happened to you?”
Britia shouted at Sig’s retreating figure, asking what had caused such a change in him. The spirit froze in place, his once-wagging tail now standing still, pointing upward.
“What did you just say? My tail… what about it?”
“You have another tail! A small, ugly, white one!”
It wasn’t actually that ugly, but in her frustration, Britia yelled with all the force she could muster.
The guards exchanged confused glances, unsure how to react to this sudden talk of tails. Bippy and Perry were perplexed about whether it was appropriate to stay while these two were having a lovers’ quarrel.
Esther, what should we do?
Their eyes sought guidance from Esther, who blinked back at them, signaling for them to stay put.
“Britia, Britia. So, you’re saying you can see my tail now?”
“You know I’ve always seen your tail! Why are you acting like this is the first time you’ve heard of it?”
“And you see a small, white, ugly tail?”
“Yes! Where did you even find that thing and—”
Before Britia could finish her sentence, a sharp blade suddenly flashed before her eyes.
“Lady!”
If Esther hadn’t quickly pulled her backward, she would’ve been struck.
“So, you’re her bodyguard. You’re quite skilled.”
The spirit smirked, seemingly impressed by Esther’s quick reflexes, as though he didn’t recognize him. Esther’s eyes widened in shock.
“Your Grace, it’s me, Esther.”
“Oh, one of my knights, is it? Do you expect me to remember every single name?”
The spirit sneered as he attacked Esther again.
Esther had to make a split-second decision. Sig always knew the names of every knight under him, even the trainees. He wasn’t the type to forget faces, even though it took effort. It was one of the few things Sig prided himself on.
For him to now dismiss those efforts as pointless was completely out of character. Combined with the strange behavior he’d displayed while arguing with Britia, something felt terribly off.
As soon as their swords clashed,Esther was certain—this wasn’t the Duke. He was terrifyingly strong, but the way he wielded the sword was different from Sig’s.
Sig never toyed with his opponents. He preferred to end things quickly, never wasting energy on unnecessary moves unless he had a reason to.
“Haha, it’s been a while since I’ve moved like this. How fun!”
But the way this sword was used—it was clear the intention was to mock him.
“Bippy, Perry! Get the lady out of here, now!”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The spirit kicked Esther aside and turned toward Britia.
“No one’s going anywhere, you damn pretty little thing, Britia.”
With a gaze filled with fury and bloodlust, Britia froze, unable to even blink. Perry barely managed to block Sig’s sword with both hands.
“I said, get her out of here!”
Esther struggled to his feet, coughing, as he shouted.
“Esther can’t handle this alone! Bippy, we need to run!”
“Two of you, huh?”
The spirit scoffed, pressing Perry down with sheer force, then stabbed Esther from behind as he tried to attack.
“Do you think two of you stand a chance against me?”
The spirit swiftly disabled both Esther and Perry. Bippy, realizing she was the only one still conscious, knew she had to escape with Britia. But the spirit gave no opening.
“Lady… I… ugh…”
The spirit rushed toward Bippy, hitting a vital point, causing her to gasp for air. She struggled to get up, but the spirit kicked her legs out from under her, sending her crashing to the ground. With all three guards incapacitated, the spirit turned his attention back to the trembling Britia.
“I should just snap that pretty little neck.”
Britia stumbled backward in fear, recoiling from the spirit’s chilling gaze.
“Why… why are you doing this, Sig?”
She couldn’t understand any of it. Why was Sig acting this way? Her vision blurred as tears welled up.
“Please, stop this.”
“The goddess is cruel, isn’t she? Making me kill such a beautiful woman with my own hands.”
“Sig, I’m begging you.”
The spirit smiled sweetly as he reached for her throat.
“Ugh… what’s this?”
Just as his hand was about to touch her, his body froze. He couldn’t move. Though he thought he had full control, it seemed the original owner of the body hadn’t fully surrendered yet.
“You really don’t want me to kill her, huh?”
The spirit sneered, sensing Sig’s fierce resistance.
“I’d let it go if I could, but I have my own reasons.”
The spirit couldn’t leave Britia alive. Her ability was dangerous.
The ability to see and touch tails wasn’t harmful to the living under the goddess’s protection. But for beings like the spirit, who had defied the goddess even in death, it was a threat.
Her power was a punishment from the goddess, inflicting a pain so unbearable that even evil spirits would beg for mercy.
Ah, that wretched goddess! She had bestowed this cursed power upon yet another living soul just to torment them!
But for now, it was fine. This woman hadn’t realized yet that he was a spirit.
The spirit smirked inwardly. Even with the body resisting, it was futile. His hand inched closer to her neck.
Luck was on his side.
His fingertips brushed against her skin. Victory was within reach. But just then, Sig’s hand slapped his own face, hard.
“Sig…?”
Britia whimpered, calling Sig’s name softly as she watched in disbelief.
Sig let out a small sigh and began slapping his face even harder.
“Stop it, stop it!”
The spirit yelled, but Sig’s hand didn’t stop. The slaps came down with such force that the spirit’s head rang, leaving him disoriented, unable to regain control.
