I smiled faintly at Edmund’s words, my eyes narrowing slightly as I listed our next steps.
“Hmm, first, we’ll make the maid talk without revealing that we already know about the eavesdropping. We need to prepare for the ‘Unconscious Contract.’ Of course, once she speaks, they’ll know we have the information and that she betrayed them, but they must already be expecting that.”
“You really are something…”
Edmund furrowed his brows, a faint smile playing on his lips before he let out a breathy chuckle.
With one hand behind his back, he gently grasped the ends of my hair with the other and kissed them softly—a noble gesture of respect and admiration between lovers.
I lowered my head and returned the gesture with a light kiss on his forehead. He looked up at me in surprise.
We held each other’s gaze for a long moment, filled with trust and affection, before sharing a quiet smile.
At that moment, Tale, who had been lurking in the background, hesitantly stepped forward, sensing that the situation had settled.
Rubbing his side as if it were cold, he hesitated before speaking, a question lingering in his eyes.
“That maid, Belle, is truly strange. If she had just written us a message, we could have resolved this situation sooner. Why did she act so frustratingly? And considering that we’re protecting her mother, she should feel safe.”
“Safe? Do you think Belle feels safe?”
Tale’s gaze drifted into the distance for a brief moment before he suddenly looked at me, realization dawning on his face.
“You’re right. No matter how well we treat her, she can’t let her guard down in the mansion of the Mipedian Duke, the very place where she committed her crimes. And if we consider what she fears most, it’s not Edmund, whom she has never met, but the monster that controlled and dominated her for years.”
If she had been locked away in an isolated place, she wouldn’t have been able to think rationally or make sound judgments.
When both feet are trapped in a swamp, the instinct is to escape, but as time passes, one becomes resigned to the situation, frozen in place.
I understood this feeling all too well. I had experienced it firsthand during my four years of marriage.
In that sense, Belle was just like the old me—before I regained my past memories. And because of that, I knew better than anyone how to make her speak.
“But, Etricia, do you really have a way to make her talk?”
He asked at just the right moment.
I smirked.
“Of course.”
What Belle needed now was anger.
Crash!
Waves slammed against the cliffs, shattering into white foam.
Despite the fierce wind and the sea spray reaching the edge of the cliff, Lunox stood motionless.
Glancing briefly at the artifact in his hand with his ruby-red eyes, he then turned away.
The deeper he ventured into the dense forest, the quieter the sound of the waves became, and the voice from the artifact grew clearer.
[ Belle, on the night of the full moon in a few days, there will be a grand banquet at the Duke’s estate. It will be a small gathering held in the annex, so you and your mother should attend and take a breather. ]
[ H-How could I possibly… ]
[ It’s fine. The annex will also have servants from the Duke’s estate attending. I’ll be there too, taking a break. Oh, by the way, I wanted to ask—was your mother always mentally ill? ]
[ N-No… ]
[ I see… Then it must have been the monster’s doing. ]
[ W-What are you saying? My mother’s condition was inevitable, wasn’t it? ]
[ Actually… no. If you hear the truth, it will only hurt you. ]
[ P-Please, Count, tell me. ]
[ Hmm… Well, according to the physician’s diagnosis, someone… ]
Crunch!
Before hearing another word, Lunox dropped the artifact and crushed it underfoot.
He stared down at the shattered pieces.
“Fool.”
He already knew.
He knew they would look for the maid.
He knew the maid would break her promise.
After all, humans were inherently weak and treacherous.
In truth, everything happening now had been set in motion the moment he met Etricia at the banquet.
Or perhaps even long before that.
After their encounter at the ball, Lunox had postponed the destruction of the Lebron Mine, puzzled by a revelation.
The once-quiet Buell County had begun mass-producing Lebron stones and crafting rings with them.
Then, as he retraced his distant memories, he understood.
“She was looking for me.”
For the sake of her lover.
He was well aware of the Duke of Mipedian.
A man who, at the age of fourteen, led a band of misfits and slaughtered a horde of high-ranking monsters in the Zeder Forest.
Who would have thought that man was the heir to the land where Lunox had awakened?
“Humans really do cling to the past.”
Imprisoned in a purification stone by Leticia, he had spent countless days in silence.
Watching as mountains froze and thawed, civilizations rose and fell, and humans and monsters fought bitterly for territory.
It was a maid—Belle—who had discovered him.
Exploiting the loneliness of a grieving girl who had lost her father was an easy task.
She was fascinated by a stone that responded to her words, comforted by it, and eventually, she worshiped it like a god.
When he finally awoke through a contract with her, his senses were overwhelmed by the scent of fresh human flesh.
He remembered the boy he encountered then.
Silky silver hair, eyes like a full moon against the night sky—an impossibly beautiful and flawless human.
The moment he saw the terror-stricken eyes, his own sanity returned.
And for some reason, he felt ashamed.
That day, he fled with the maid, leaving behind his disgraceful memories.
“Not that it matters now.”
Except for one thing.
Lunox narrowed his glowing eyes.
Etricia.
She was the only one he needed.
The only person who could fulfill his grand ambition.
And for that, he needed preparation.
Stepping through the coniferous trees, he entered a familiar cabin.
A shelf lined with dozens of purification stones he had collected over the years stood against the wall.
He chuckled as he gazed at them before shifting his focus below the shelf.
There sat a statue sculpted in the image of the last saintess, Leticia.
Slowly running his fingers over it, he bared his teeth in a chilling grin.
“Leticia, I’ve found the child of dawn—the one I thought would never appear.”
With his blood-red eyes gleaming with madness, he pressed his cheek against the statue.
His long hair fell messily over his face as he took a deep breath.
“Ah… I finally feel like I can breathe again. I’ve been rotting in the filth you left me in.”
Lunox’s hand tightened—
Crack!
The statue shattered in his grasp.
Breathing out a slow, satisfied sigh, he ran a hand through his hair and smirked.
“Watch closely, Leticia.”
His violent gaze burned with twisted devotion.
Right after finishing the talk with the maid, I shared everything with Edmund.
Then we finalized the plan for the day of the battle.
“I told him that there will be a party at the duke’s estate on the night of the full moon, a few days from now. If Lunox heard about it, he’ll show up at the annex.”
Edmund nodded and said,
“I requested support from the subjugation squad through the command chain to His Majesty.”
“I also sent a letter to His Majesty saying there might be a minor rebellion, so he shouldn’t worry.”
“When you use your ability, I’ll make sure only those who can keep their mouths shut are present. If anyone talks… we’ll cut them down.”
“Oh my, that’s really reassuring.”
We exchanged faint smiles and reviewed the plan again.
The day before the banquet, the residents and servants of the duke’s territory would be moved through portals to stay at Marquis Wickley’s estate or the capital mansion.
‘It’s a relief that the marquis’s wife agreed without asking anything.’
Then, with the duke’s estate left empty, knights disguised as residents would stay hidden. Other knights and Lebron’s weapons would wait in the ballroom and the annex, ready for battle.
Of course, Lova and the Holy Knights would also be there to help.
In short, once Lunox enters the duke’s land, he’ll be like a rat trapped in a jar.
As I took a sip of tea and calmly set down the cup, Edmund furrowed his brows.
“Do you believe what the maid said about the ‘unconscious contract’?”
My hand paused in the air for a moment, then slowly came down again.
“…I have to believe it.”
The “unconscious contract.”
The information we got by driving a wedge between the maid and the monster was truly surprising.
She said she found a purification stone in the western mountain connected to the duke’s estate.
At first, she was shocked that the stone rolled left and right as if it understood her words.
It felt like it was communicating like a person, so she didn’t report it to the temple. Even knowing a monster was inside, she went out to the mountain at night to talk with it.
Then one day, the purification stone rolled around and drew a kind of spell.
Its glow was mysterious—so beautiful that it felt like she’d gladly give up her soul to it.
In the end, she was tricked by a false whisper that promised her wish would be granted if she entered the spell’s light. Caught in the bright glow, she lost her mind, and when she came to, she had already made a contract with the monster.
At the time, she worked in the magic stone control center. Out of fear of the monster, she hid the purification stone among the other stones.
She did it even though, deep down, she probably knew what consequences that would bring.
Belle didn’t speak out to atone for the victims. She spoke out only because she was overwhelmed by her own anger.
That’s why she could not be forgiven.
