“Unlucky.”
“Unlucky.”
“I think he’s unlucky.”
Surprisingly, Kyle, and I—along with James—shared the exact same opinion without the slightest discrepancy.
Almost simultaneously, the three of us let out a sigh as we watched Nox wander around the castle like a tourist on a package tour.
The moment Kyle instructed us to treat him as a “guest,” that shameless magician immediately began roaming every corner of the castle as he pleased.
He ran his fingers over the walls, curtains, and even the lanterns of Blake Castle. He peeked into empty rooms and greeted the servants with unwarranted familiarity whenever he ran into them.
From time to time, he would mutter something while gazing into the air, as if measuring or calculating something. But since we were keeping a cautious distance, his voice was too quiet for us to hear.
‘It’s bound to be nonsense anyway.’
Isn’t it obvious what lunatics mutter to themselves? Listening to it would only raise my blood pressure and turn my stomach.
“I’ll reinforce the outer defenses as per your orders.”
“Good. We need to focus on the interior for now, so I’ll leave the exterior to you.”
A fleeting trace of pity crossed James’s gaze as he looked at Kyle, and the same sentiment was reflected in my own eyes.
I understood the reasoning behind treating Nox as a “guest,” but keeping a ticking time bomb like that around would only shave years off Kyle’s life.
[Kyle Jane Meinhardt. Estimated time until death: approximately 35 days remaining.]
Out of habit, I checked Kyle’s lifespan and quietly sighed in relief.
Fortunately, he still just looked exhausted—Nox hadn’t eaten away at his life span. At least, for now, it seemed he had no intention of causing trouble while staying here.
“Stop touching everything and come this way.”
Nox swiftly approached me and said,
“The drowned corpse might get jealous, thinking you’re stealing its role.”
First a mortician, now a drowned corpse. The way this bastard’s insanity manifests in such oddly specific ways is truly baffling.
“Save the nonsense for when you’re alone.”
At that moment, Kyle spoke in his usual blunt tone.
“The room at the end of that corridor will be yours. If you need anything, ring the bell on the table. However, be aware that it won’t be a servant who comes to assist you, but a soldier assigned to monitor you. So be mindful not to disturb them past midnight.”
Without waiting for a response, he continued,
“Unless it’s for something important, I’d prefer if you didn’t leave your room often. And if you harm the soldiers guarding your door, I will consider it an act of aggression against the North.”
“Hm.”
“Also, if you expect Shu to treat you as a guest, then you should at least show me basic courtesy as well.”
Nox raised an eyebrow.
“Understood. I shall abide by the laws of Blake Castle. But really, just a couple of soldiers won’t be enough to ‘monitor’ me.”
“…….”
“Wouldn’t it be more effective to assign someone capable of actually keeping watch, Your Highness?”
With an exaggerated gesture, he pointed directly at me.
What? What?
As if it weren’t enough that I can’t properly use one arm, now I have to keep an eye on him too?
Be fucking reasonable.
“I’m not a soldier.”
At that, Nox’s blue eyes narrowed into a sly smile. At the same time, a chilling sensation began creeping up from around my right elbow.
“……Crazy bastard.”
It felt as if an icy snake was slithering up my skin. It wasn’t unbearably painful, but it was irritating enough to make standing still uncomfortable.
Noticing the change in me, Kyle rested his hand on his sword’s hilt and sent Nox a murderous glare.
“Are you already planning to break the contract?”
“This much hardly qualifies as ‘harming’ your safety.”
“……”
“Rest assured, I have no intention of playing any excessive pranks.”
I let out a deep sigh and stepped forward.
“It’s fine. Your Highness, I’ll keep an eye on him whenever I can.”
The unpleasant chill vanished as if it had never been there.
Nox was most interested in me within this castle. As long as I stayed close, he wouldn’t have any reason to poke around and cause unnecessary disturbances.
‘It’s just five days. I can endure it.’
If things got too difficult, I’d just ask the system to stock an item with a knockout ability in the Cashew Nut shop.
Kyle’s face was filled with dissatisfaction, but in the end, he agreed with my decision. He hesitated, reaching out toward my right arm, but fearing it might hurt, he didn’t dare touch it. His fist clenched and then fell away into the air.
Feeling guilty about leaving it as it was, I extended my left arm and gave his back a light, reassuring pat before letting go.
“It’s just a few days. I’ll be fine, Your Highness.”
At my words, Kyle muttered under his breath.
“……I really should’ve just killed him.”
For once, I couldn’t help but agree with him.
***
“Your Grace.”
There was no response. Not that the speaker expected one.
The master of Blake Castle, often called the “Grand Duke of Blood,” merely stared at the chessboard with a cold and indifferent expression.
At Nox’s request, he had taken a seat across from him, but his demeanor, neither welcoming nor respectful, was almost arrogantly dismissive.
“I doubt someone like you has the leisure for such trivial games.”
At the smooth remark, Kyle’s crimson eyes flicked up to scrutinize his opponent.
The man in white, with icy blue eyes—the pale, eerie, and cruel magician—was met with a glare devoid of any warmth. Were it not for their contract, Kyle would have risen from his seat and cut him in two without hesitation.
“The person you asked for is busy right now.”
“How coincidental.”
“Yes. Quite the coincidence.”
To be precise, that person was currently curled up as a hamster, fast asleep inside the pocket of Kyle’s coat.
Nox had heard that Shu was being sought, but there was no reason for Shu to comply.
He would sleep soundly and wake up just as Kyle returned to his chambers—just as Kyle would prefer.
The black and white chess pieces remained silently in their places, while a cold stillness settled over the room. Nox narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
Then, as if he had found an answer—or perhaps hadn’t—his lips curled into a lopsided smirk.
“Hmm, how fascinating.”
He leaned forward slightly, curiosity brimming in his expression, overflowing as if it might spill onto the floor.
He had agreed to wait five days to take Kyle and Shu away, and two of those days had already passed. Like a fine delicacy being aged, he waited patiently.
But that didn’t mean he waited quietly.
The one who intrigued him most—Shu—was someone he wished to keep close. But Shu was not the type to sit quietly by his side, which only made him all the more appealing.
Whenever Shu ignored him too much, a simple nudge to the brand on his right arm was enough to send him storming into the room in a fury. Or, if not Shu, then the Grand Duke himself would come instead, eyes burning red.
But now, there was only silence.
Nox had just manipulated the brand quite severely. The pain should have been intense. And yet, the person himself had not appeared.
Had it not reached him? No, that wasn’t possible. Nox’s magic never failed—it always obeyed his will perfectly.
“The target isn’t reacting to the magic.”
It had happened before, too.
Still leaning forward, Nox parted his lips slightly. A moment later, a clear voice rang directly in his mind.
[What are you saying? Wraith, are you telling me your specialty—control—has slipped beyond your grasp?]
“The magic is still intact.”
[But how is that possible? It’s because of that ‘kid’ you mentioned yesterday, isn’t it?]
“Yeah.”
Nox tilted his head, a few strands of white hair slipping past his cheek.
[That’s ridiculous. What, did they cross over into another world or something?]
“Another world…”
[Anyway, don’t stay away from the Frost Tower for too long. Why are you doing this when we have something important coming up?]
“You’re right, drowned corpse.”
Nox’s smile deepened.
Kyle silently observed him, watching the magician murmur in near-inaudible tones. With arms crossed, his gaze was cold and calculating, as if facing down dozens of monstrous beasts.
The sworn enemy of knights.
A threat to the North.
And a foreigner who endangered Shu.
Kyle caught a single word from Nox’s moving lips and repeated it, as if seizing it out of the air.
“Drowned corpse.”
“……”
“Who is that? A companion of yours?”
Nox lifted his head. His gaze, which had seemed distant as if looking into another world, focused on the sharp and icy features of the Grand Duke.
“You shouldn’t pry too deeply, Your Grace.”
“Are you saying you won’t tell me?”
Kyle’s voice remained devoid of amusement.
“If that’s the case, you seem quite eager to bring Shu into whatever that ‘inside’ entails.”
“Oh, jealous, are we?”
“You’d be better off calling it caution and refusal.”
His voice was cold—nothing like the way he spoke to his lover.
“I have a penchant for the peculiar.”
Nox idly tapped the leftmost of the neatly arranged white pawns on the chessboard.
“And that tiny little one of yours… feels like a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit in this world.”
Their sharp gazes locked midair, clashing silently.
Even in the face of those burning red eyes, Nox did not flinch. Rather, he persistently sought a gap, as if trying to wedge himself between them.
“So, where is that adorable and cheeky little thing right now?”
“My Shu,” Kyle interjected, correcting him.
“Is somewhere safe.”
“……”
“The safest place possible.”
“……”
“Do you have any more questions?”
“Even if I did, I doubt you’d answer them.”
“Of course.”
“In that case, let’s do this.”
Nox picked up the white pawn he had been tapping and moved it forward one square.
“A single match. The winner gets to ask the loser one question, and the loser must answer truthfully. What do you say?”
Instead of replying, Kyle moved one of his own pawns forward—a black pawn, positioned at the far right.
The piece, now advanced a step, seemed to glare at the white pawn before it, as if ready for battle.
“Fine.”
