Larinne’s hand, which had been digging through the grave, suddenly stopped.

After examining the nearby mounds, she confirmed that all the other graves were intact. The belongings buried with the dead remained untouched.

Only the travel money placed inside had vanished without a trace.

The Lemen people believed in an afterlife. Because of that belief, touching the burial money was no different from placing a curse upon the dead—wishing for the soul to suffer even after death.

‘Who did this?’

If nothing else, she was certain it was not Seidon.

If it had been him, he would not have taken only the burial money. He would have torn everything apart and left the graves in complete ruin.

Whoever had done this clearly understood the Lemen funeral customs—the tradition of placing travel money with the dead.

‘…Could it be?’

Words she had heard before from Lemen’s messenger echoed faintly in her ears.

“There will be a traitor.”

Perhaps that memory resurfaced now because the events from a week ago had been weighing on her mind.

The day Jeba, Pellet’s spy, died at the Grand Temple.

At the time, the commander of the knights had mentioned receiving a report from someone.

“We received a report today that a rat has entered the Grand Temple, so we need everyone’s help to search for it.”

At the time, she had been too distracted to think carefully about it.

However, if there was indeed an informant among them, this was not something she could ignore.

She began to consider who the suspects might be: Her personal maid, Chardi. Or William, Libehi’s close friend and a Zhakan soldier?

They had both come here with her before.

Had the only attendant she trusted become someone else’s puppet?

Or had a dear comrade truly betrayed her?

Perhaps it was all a trap.

At that moment, she could not distinguish truth from deception, and she was left in a state of uncertainty and turmoil.

For a moment, she even found herself wishing it were nothing more than her fiancé’s petty mischief.

‘No… it can’t be.’

Larinne forced herself to reject the thought.

At this stage, with the operation drawing so close, a traitor could not appear.

‘Absolutely not.’

For now, she decided she would quietly investigate the suspected individuals.

After painstakingly gathering her scattered thoughts, Larinne turned and walked toward her bedroom.

‘I hope this is something I can resolve on my own.’

Her head throbbed with tangled thoughts, but she could not stay away for long.

If she aroused unnecessary suspicion, it would only harm Pellet.

***

As night fell, the world was blanketed by a sky dotted with stars.

Larinne held a small lantern as she walked down the corridor towards the Southern Palace.

Wherever she went, the darkness slowly receded from the floor in the faint glow of the lantern.

Before she knew it, it was almost midnight.

The imperial palace lay silent.

Without drawing anyone’s attention, Larinne quietly reached her chamber and stepped inside.

The desert hawk, still awake, immediately flew towards her.

“Horus, you’re still awake?”

Piii!

The hawk flapped its wings impatiently, chirping far more urgently than usual.

It looked strangely uneasy.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Larinne had been gently stroking the hawk perched on the back of her hand when she suddenly froze.

She noticed a shadow standing motionless in the middle of the dark room.

“Chardi?”

“Lady Larinne… have you been wandering outside alone again?”

In the darkness, she could not see the maid’s expression clearly, but she could tell that her tone was far from pleasant.

Larinne quickly moved the lantern over to the wall lamp and lit it. The shadows clinging stubbornly to the floor vanished instantly, as though blown away by the wind.

“Good heavens. What on earth happened to you? Your clothes are a complete mess.

“I’ll get some clean clothes and some water to wash with ready right away.”

Despite her anxious words, Chardi’s face remained bright.

Larinne quietly observed the seemingly overly dramatic movements of the maid.

Chardi’s fingertips were dark.

A sharp chill pierced Larinne’s core.

‘Could it have been Chardi?’

Unease began to bloom within her unconscious thoughts. While washing the dirt from her hands with the basin Chardi had brought, Larinne spoke casually.

“Nothing really happened. A sandstorm suddenly came up, and I fell.”

“You weren’t hurt anywhere, were you?”

“Thankfully, no. But what about you? Did something happen?”

“Me?”

“Your sleeve is a mess.”

“N-no, it’s nothing. I was just doing a bit of cleaning…”

Under the close scrutiny of those blue eyes studying her, Chardi hurriedly hid both hands behind her back.

Her face was visibly flustered.

She was not someone who could lie well.

“How has your mother been lately? With the famine, it must be difficult to find medicine.”

“The prices have risen so much that it’s been hard. That’s why my younger brother will also be helping with work at the palace during the upcoming banquet.”

“Your brother… didn’t you say he was still young?”

“He’ll only help during the banquet period. Lady Larinne, you know how the wages are for people from minority tribes.”

She knew it well.

She had experienced it first-hand.

Discrimination against minority groups in the Eastern Empire was commonplace.

Even when doing the same work, they received lower wages than others.

They were forced to pay higher prices for the same goods.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t look after you better, Chardi.”

“Please don’t say that. Thanks to Lady Larinne adding a little extra from your allowance for maintaining appearances each time, I’m actually the highest-paid minority worker in the Imperial Palace.”

“Even so, it’s still not much.”

“No, it really helps. Just last month, thanks to your help, I was able to obtain medicine.”

To confirm this one last time, Larinne deliberately took off her jewelry and put it in the first drawer while Chardi was watching.

She wasn’t so much testing Chardi as trying to calm her anxiety.

In fact, she wanted to calm her anxious heart.

In fact, she almost hoped that Chardi was the culprit.

‘That it was simply something she did out of desperation to survive.’

That would be far better than betraying a comrade.

Ever since Larinne was publicly announced as the Emperor’s fiancée, Chardi had constantly served at her side. If it came to that, she might be able to pretend not to know and overlook it.

After confirming that Chardi’s gaze had fallen on the drawer, Larinne changed into fresh clothes.

“My goodness, it’s already this late. You should be going to bed, yet I kept bothering you with all this conversation. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. The envoy from the Kingdom of Lirmen will be arriving soon anyway. Go on—finish what you were saying.”

“Oh, right. What’s wrong with me today? I completely forgot to tell you. He asked me to pass along a message. Apparently he had something urgent come up today and won’t be able to come.”

“Something urgent?”

The thoughts she had only just managed to settle flared up again.

‘What urgent matter could an envoy sent for diplomatic relations possibly have?’

The face of the man she had tried so hard to forget crept back into her thoughts, as if it belonged there.

She remembered those seductive, crimson eyes following her relentlessly.

It was strange.

Just recalling him made her mouth go dry for no reason.

Perhaps this was another lingering effect of the companion dream.

“You should go to sleep soon. His Majesty said he would come early tomorrow morning. There’s the welcoming banquet for the Lirmen delegation, remember?”

Carrying the dirty basin of washing water, Chardi stepped out and blew out the lamp.

The shadows of night filled the room.

Even though the flames had been extinguished, the heat lingered.

It was one of those suffocating tropical nights.

***

In the darkness, her gaze met a pair of crimson eyes.

At first she thought it was a shadow.

But when she looked more closely, it was a black serpent.

‘That dream again.’

Larinne quickly realized that she was dreaming.

‘It’s bigger than before.’

She remembered the first companion dream clearly.

Back then, the snake had been nothing more than an ordinary size—perhaps large enough to coil around her thigh twice.

But this time its body had grown far larger.

It looked as though it could wrap around her entire body several times over.

‘What kind of dream is this supposed to mean?’

Before Larinne could find an answer, the snake began to move.

Just like before, it slithered between her legs as though crossing a narrow gorge, then coiled tightly around both of her thighs.

A cold chill raised goosebumps along her skin.

“W-wait.”

In an attempt to calm her growing anxiety, the snake opened its dark mouth and whispered, ‘Shh…’

Strangely, she felt as though she had been put under a spell of submission.

She could not move at all.

Her gaze was helplessly drawn to the serpent as it slowly slithered up her exposed thighs.

Its crimson eyes seemed to melt her thoughts.

She thought of him.

The man from the enemy nation whose overwhelming presence had been etched in her mind from the moment she first saw him.

Within the serpent’s red eyes, she seemed to glimpse his figure.

His gaze, bare with burning desire, held her firmly in place.

She could not escape.

The serpent’s belly sliding between her legs felt disturbingly similar to a man’s touch.

Absurdly enough, her body began to grow warm.

Soon, the serpent coiled around her slender waist and continued upwards, as though savoring the curves of her ripening body.

“Ah—!”

Dizzying sensations surged through her like waves wherever the snake brushed past.

Although she had never experienced such intimate contact before, her instincts immediately recognized the danger.

Libehi Winterd — that snake — could not be allowed to continue like this.

“Stop… Duke Winterd.”

At last, Larinne forced the words past her lips, breathing out hotly.

As though saying that name had broken the spell, the enormous serpent vanished without a trace.

In its place stood a man with his upper body completely bare.

His finely sculpted muscles were almost breathtaking. Yet they were marred by the marks of a curse. Her brows drew together instinctively.

Not because the sight was grotesque, but because she could not ignore the thought of the pain he must have endured for so long.

For some reason, she found herself unable to ignore it.

Perhaps sensing her thoughts, his eyes darkened to an even deeper shade of red.

He looked as though he had been seized by excitement.

What a ridiculous and improper thought!

While Larinne stood there, inwardly appalled at herself, the distance between them closed further still.

“So why would you recklessly say such a thing—as if you were ready to hand over whatever I asked for?”

“What are you talking about?”

Could people really hold conversations with each other inside a companion dream?

The question flickered through her mind for a moment, but she had no time to dwell on it.

Right now, she needed to stay sharp if she didn’t want to be devoured by the beast standing before her.

“I’m asking how you could so boldly tell me to name whatever I wanted, without even knowing what I might demand of you.”

Was he referring to the reward she had mentioned for treating Horus?

“I’m not sure if it will please you, but I was planning to send you some specialty goods that will soon arrive at the imperial court.”

“As if something like that could possibly satisfy me.”

“If there’s something specific you’d prefer, please tell me. I’ll try to obtain it if it’s within my ability.”

“How do you intend to handle the consequences of being this soft?”

The growl of an enraged beast echoed right beside her ear.

‘When did he close the distance like this?’

Before she realized it, Larinne was trapped within his arms.

“Don’t be so carelessly kind to just anyone.”

He seized her ear as if he intended to devour it.

Despite his rough breathing stirring her eardrum, the lips that explored her earlobe were astonishingly gentle.

Without realizing it, her breathing quickened.

She had never experienced sensations this vivid before.

Each movement of his lips caused every muscle in her body to tighten in response.

‘Is this really still a companion dream?’

The unfamiliar stimuli crashing over her senses made her wonder, for a fleeting moment, whether this might somehow be real.

“S-stop. Winter… Duke Winterd.”

Larinne pushed against his shoulder. But he did not move easily. Instead, he caught her slender wrist and pressed his lips against the inside of her wrist, where her pulse beat.

A sharp thrill ran through her as though her vein had been pierced by fangs.

Her heart raced wildly.

“It seems you didn’t even consider what I told you before.”

What on earth was he talking about now?

From the outset, the conversation had taken an unpredictable turn, becoming like one of the Sphinx’s riddles, which made it almost impossible for Larinne to keep up.

“That must be why you’re behaving so carelessly.”

“Explain it so I can understand, Duke Winterd.”

His crimson gaze, looking down at her, gleamed darkly.

Whatever urgency was driving him, he finally spoke through slightly roughened breaths.

“I told you before—Lemen people must carry out in reality what occurs in a companion dream.”

Right… now that he mentioned it, she remembered.

“Since the topic came up, I’ll answer clearly. I acknowledge that you appeared in the companion dream, but I cannot commit such an impropriety.”

“Impropriety.”

A low laugh echoed between them.

“You truly know nothing about the Lemen people.”

His words struck directly at her weakness, and she stiffened.

“That isn’t something you can weigh in terms of propriety. It’s a matter of survival.”

“Survival? What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, he smiled in a way that seemed to carry some hidden meaning.

An uneasy feeling crept into her chest.

All her life, Larinne had worked until her hands were covered in blisters just to survive.

The same was true of the other Lemen people and Pellet’s companions.

These were things that parents should naturally teach their children. But for people who lived on the edge of life and death every day, nothing was ever truly ‘natural’.

“It’s all right. I’ll teach you from now on.”

‘From now on.’

The words sounded almost like a promise of countless futures.

“Tomorrow will mark one week since your first companion dream. You won’t be able to endure it any longer.”

Her tense lips barely moved.

“Endure… what?”

“You’ll understand once you wake from the dream.”

He pressed his body closer.

Something that had swelled beneath him brushed unmistakably against her.