She wondered if he was finally paying the price for his ill intentions, or if this had been destined all along, but she couldn’t help feeling a sense of satisfaction deep inside.

Thea quickened her steps toward the annex with Margaret in tow.

Before long, they stood before the annex—gloomy and covered in dark green moss.

When criminals had stayed here before, it hadn’t been this bad, but it seemed maintenance had been neglected, making it look almost like an abandoned house.

The eerie atmosphere made her rub her arms with her hands as she stepped inside.

Dr. Brown and what appeared to be his assistants stood there, and they all seemed extremely pleased by Thea’s arrival.

Apparently, her father-in-law wasn’t accepting Dr. Brown’s and the others’ suggestions well. Otherwise, they wouldn’t look so relieved.

Understanding the reality without needing an explanation, Thea slowly approached Dr. Brown.

“Doctor. How have you been? It feels like it’s been a while.”

“Good day, Lady Winter. I’ve been well, but this doesn’t seem like the time for pleasant conversation. Could you come this way for a moment?”

“Of course. I heard Father fell ill.”

“Then this will be quick. The gentleman is showing symptoms of an unknown high fever, auditory hallucinations, and visual hallucinations, so I prescribed new medicine, but it seems to have caused side effects.”

“Side effects? He’s never had reactions to medication before.”

Though he was ill, he had such a naturally strong constitution that he’d been undergoing treatment comfortably without any medication side effects.

But now, side effects?

As she widened her eyes at this unbelievable fact, Dr. Brown told her it was understandable to be surprised, but she should calm down first.

“My lady, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. You look very pale.”

“Yes, yes. But what medicine did you use that caused side effects?”

When she asked carefully with one hand on her chest, Dr. Brown pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.

A prescription was written on it. How urgent must it have been for him to crumple a prescription he normally kept neatly organized?

Realizing it had been an extremely urgent situation, Thea held her breath as Dr. Brown furrowed his brow and replied.

“I prescribed herbs to lower the fever, poisonous mushrooms for the auditory hallucinations, and venom glands from a venomous snake for the visual hallucinations. They were all used in weak doses, so there definitely shouldn’t have been any side effects… but judging by what happened, the snake’s venom glands seem to have been the problem.”

“That makes sense. The first two have been used continuously, but only the venom glands were newly added.”

“So please be careful yourself, my lady. The painkillers and sleeping pills you take every night also contain similar ingredients, though in small amounts.”

At Dr. Brown’s warning, Thea nodded.

“Understood. I’ll be careful.”

But she found it strange. Thea could get sick because she had no tolerance, but her father-in-law was different.

Hadn’t he roasted and eaten venomous snakes several times in his youth?

‘Something’s off.’

He wasn’t someone who would have problems from just one ingredient like that.

‘There must be something else.’

Thea spoke to Dr. Brown, who was still scratching his head trying to find the problem.

“Doctor. I understand for now, so please prepare new medicine. In the meantime, I’ll nurse Father.”

“Would you do that?”

“Of course. That’s why I hurried back from the Grand Duke’s estate.”

With an expression telling him not to worry, she passed Dr. Brown and moved toward where Margaret and her father-in-law were.

From inside came groaning sounds—he really was in pain. Thea stood quietly for a moment at that scene, then spoke softly to Margaret, who was about to open the door.

“Go to the head chef and have him make something Father can eat.”

Thea shrugged her shoulders slightly and entered, leaving Margaret behind.

Inside, countless spiderwebs hung everywhere. Spiders occasionally crawled along the walls.

‘Good heavens… what is this!’

Goosebumps spread across Thea’s back. The spiders all made bizarre sounds—‘Screech, screech, hiss.’

They weren’t ordinary spiders.

Thea tried to ignore her trembling body out of fear. Then, she carefully stepped forward, pretending not to see the spiders.

With each step she took, the spiders secretly followed behind her.

It felt like they were gauging the atmosphere. Thea felt suffocated by this terror she was experiencing for the first time in her life.

Thoroughly frightened, Thea tried to quickly retrace her steps when she heard her father-in-law’s faint voice.

“…There’s no point asking others for help. This is a sin only House Winter can see.”

Realizing the phenomenon she witnessed was due to a deal with a demon, Thea felt her heart sink with a thud.

How could he bring this up so casually?

She couldn’t understand her father-in-law speaking so calmly in a tone devoid of any emotion. How could he be so composed when something so terrifying and serious had happened?

“What did you tamper with?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

At his feigned ignorance, Thea felt like she was going insane. Not content with ruining her life, he was now trying to throw her into yet another unknown situation.

Refusing to be fooled twice, she raised both hands and roughly tore at her hair. Finally, when her anger had somewhat subsided, she could speak.

“If the deal with the demon changed enough to be different, it means it’s completely different from what was originally wagered… and what you wagered was us.”

“That’s right.”

“Why did you suddenly change the terms of the deal? For what reason? Are we still included in that deal?”

“Well, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

She stared ambiguously at her father-in-law, who continued to play dumb.

It wasn’t like his minuscule affection had suddenly grown so much that he wanted to embrace the entire curse in his place.

Or perhaps he felt it was too regrettable to leave behind the gold and treasures piled before his eyes? So he did this?

‘If not that…’

Maybe he wanted to apologize before dying.

Don’t people usually do that? Right before death, they chew over the past and try to correct the regrettable parts of their lives if they could turn them back.

To her eyes, her father-in-law looked the same. Like someone trying to accomplish something before leaving this world.

Though he didn’t seem to realize how meaningless it was.

We were different from other people. The line drawn from the beginning was clear.

* * *

Beyond his casually turned gaze, he spotted an ominous thick fog.

Ordinary humans couldn’t see it, but Acel was different. He was, after all, a descendant of a family that had contracted with a demon.

At this phenomenon of seeing what shouldn’t be seen, Acel shot up from his seat. The appearance of fog harboring ill omens was proof that something had happened to Thea and the former Count.

Just when he thought he could catch his breath for a moment, another problem came right to his doorstep.

‘D*mn it, how… there’s not a single quiet day!’

He was grinding his teeth, wondering if he had to live his entire life like sparks were falling on his feet, when Margaret came to the office where he stood.

“Count Winter.”

“Margaret, did you check what I asked you about?”

“Unfortunately, it’s the same situation.”

“So there’s still no way to break the curse.”

“But I did find a small clue. Should I tell you?”

At the mention of a clue, Acel pressed his lips together even more tightly. How many clues had there been now? 

He was so sick of it he could taste blood. If only it had been the first time… he wouldn’t have become this distrustful.

Acel barely ignored his parched mouth and said, “Fine, tell me. I hope this isn’t another wrong clue.”

“When the priest from the Temple of the Sun comes, we might be able to get an answer from them.”

“The priest knows the answer?”

Acel furrowed his brow deeply, unable to understand. They were people who detested demons and evil things to a chilling degree. Yet they knew the answer?

It was ridiculous. It would be better to grab a passing servant and say they knew a clue.

He crossed his arms lightly with a sulky expression.

“You think I’ll believe that?”

“You’ll have no choice but to believe it. From what I can see, it’s the most credible information, and His Highness the Crown Prince said it wasn’t bad either.”

“His Highness said it wasn’t bad? No, before that, when did you meet His Highness?”

He was someone so busy with official and private matters that it was extremely difficult to see his face. It was ironic that Margaret, who hadn’t even made an appointment, had met such a person.

So when he tilted his head and pressed her about where they met, Margaret shrugged and replied.

“I met him on my way back after collecting the last bit of information. It seemed like he was trying to make a new lover there?”

“A new… what?”

“A new lover. This time it was a red-haired southern woman.”

Along with saying she was beautiful just to look at, Margaret changed the subject.

“So I casually asked if this information might be true, and he said it wasn’t bad. He said His Highness the Crown Prince had also read a book about something similar recently.”

Saying it was a book called ‘Secrets of the Temple,’ Margaret pulled out a book from inside her clothes. It must be the very book the Crown Prince had read.

He clicked his tongue, wondering if he was now becoming the Crown Prince’s errand boy on top of everything else.

“From now on, don’t run errands for His Highness.”

“I normally wouldn’t do such things, but I had no choice because I felt too sorry for my lady. How long do you plan to deceive her, Count?”

“Deceive? What am I—”

When he answered monotonously, acting like he didn’t know what she was talking about, Margaret shook her head from side to side.

He was sharp about other things, but strangely, his mind didn’t seem to work when it came to Thea.

Especially regarding romance and affection.

“No matter how much you’re her beloved husband, if you keep making her feel despair, she’ll have no choice but to run away.”

“Run away? Who… her?”

Like he’d heard something unbelievable, he repeated the words with his tongue several times, then let out a hollow laugh.