“Have you been waiting for me?”

“……”

Chamuka just stared at her silently again.

Just as Leticia was beginning to regret asking such a needless question, Chamuka opened his mouth.

“Every night, Tan sat in front of your room. I brought him there every day. So I knew you wouldn’t have any reason to bring Tan to my room.”

Ah, so that was his room.

Since he was Tan’s owner, it would make sense for him to raise Tan in his own room.

“So I never waited for you to come.”

At Chamuka’s words, Leticia asked.

“Then why did you ask why I hadn’t come?”

“……”

Chamuka once again stared at her silently.

This expressionless face didn’t seem to hold any particular negative meaning; he just appeared to be thinking about the answer to her question.

Eventually, Chamuka answered.

“I don’t know either.”

***

After the puzzling conversation with Chamuka during the day, Leticia was lost in thought.

The fact that he asked again why she hadn’t come to his room, despite knowing the reason, was probably…

Could it have been his way of inviting her?

While Leticia generally liked the people of the Basilinte family, she objectively acknowledged their notably poor communication skills.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t speak.

‘It’s more like they just don’t have the concept of casual conversation in their heads.’

Since they were said to be under a curse that removed their emotions, that was probably the reason.

‘Even Grandfather, whom I spent several days with, spoke quite strangely…’

It was like peculiar conversations that only stated the necessary business, even when it wasn’t formal talk.

For instance, at meals, it was just ‘eat’, for snacks, ‘eat’, and for tea, ‘drink’… There was hardly anything else.

Though he would respond when Leticia initiated conversation, somehow, the dialogue would always take an odd turn.

When she offered him some of the snacks he had brought because they were delicious, he asked why she was giving back what he had brought.

While objectively correct, that’s not how conversations between people normally flow.

“Hello, Tan?”

Leticia murmured while looking at Tan, who was sleeping in front of her door in the middle of the night.

The corridor was empty in the darkness.

Though Chamuka would probably notice Tan’s absence and come looking soon, Leticia hurried toward the stairs with Tan on her back.

Because it might have really been an invitation.

Unable to carry Tan in her arms like Chamuka did, she climbed the stairs to the third floor with Tan on her back, breaking into a sweat from the weight.

Catching her breath, Leticia knocked very softly on the rosewood door of the central room on the third floor.

Knock. Knock.

Before she could knock a third time, the door opened.

A boy, a head taller than Leticia, looked down at her with his familiar expressionless face.

“I was about to go get him.”

“I brought Tan myself today. Shall I not do that anymore?”

“……”

Chamuka stared at her intently before stepping back, seemingly inviting her in.

Leticia entered Chamuka’s room with Tan still on her back.

The first thing she saw was a drawing room set up for receiving guests.

The bedroom must have been further inside, as the visible room was furnished with plush sofas, rugs, and a tea table.

In other words, there was nothing that particularly looked like Tan’s home anywhere.

While Leticia was looking around for a large, soft cushion where Tan could lie down, Chamuka lifted Tan off her back.

“Then, good night.”

“Wait.”

Leticia’s body stopped as she was about to leave after giving a small bow.

When she looked at Chamuka, he remained silent for quite a while before speaking.

“…Watch Tan lie down.”

I really can’t understand what he’s thinking.

Leticia thought this as she followed behind Chamuka but was soon surprised by the appearance of Tan’s home(?).

“…?”

It was none other than a dressing room.

Entering the room filled with neatly displayed clothes and accessories, Chamuka opened a large storage cabinet. Inside, cushions and blankets were softly laid out for Tan to lie on.

Just like keeping a pet in secret from parents.

Chamuka placed Tan inside and closed the cabinet door.

Leticia was even more surprised by how natural his movements were, as if he had always done this.

‘Surely he’s not keeping him in secret, so why…’

As Leticia stood frozen in surprise, Chamuka stared at her before placing his hand back on the cabinet door. Then he said something completely unrelated.

“I’ll give you time to say good night.”

He spoke as if Leticia’s surprise was because he had closed the door before she could say good night.

It was truly an incomprehensible train of thought.

‘Grandfather said his grandson still had many emotions left because he’s young, but hmm… I don’t think that’s right.’

Though she had sometimes thought Grandfather was right when seeing how Chamuka cared for Tan, seeing this today, it seemed more like Chamuka was…

‘Hiding something…’

BANG!

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of a door opening.

The sound of footsteps quickly approached the dressing room where they were.

Chamuka reflexively pushed Leticia’s shoulder, and she was instantly buried among the clothes.

“Chamuka.”

A low, familiar voice was heard as the dressing room door opened.

It was the Grand Duke.

Hidden among the clothes, Leticia held her breath.

Though his face was expressionless as usual, the Grand Duke was angry.

His anger was so clearly evident in his eyes alone, despite showing no other expression.

“I’m sure I told you. Tan needs to be in the tower.”

Despite the intimidating atmosphere that made it difficult to speak, Chamuka answered casually.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s outside sometimes. Father used to bring him out occasionally too.”

“That was only allowed for the avatar. Not the original.”

With those final words, the Grand Duke opened the cabinet and pulled Tan out.

“Don’t, Father.”

Chamuka reached out to stop him, but it was completely useless.

Crack.

The bottom of the cabinet was torn away like paper in the Grand Duke’s hands.

Leticia could see the Grand Duke pulling out a box from beneath the cabinet.

The fairly large box shimmered softly with geometric patterns engraved in gold and silver.

At that moment, Chamuka lost his indifference and shouted.

“It’s just a corpse anyway!”

“……”

The Grand Duke, who had been turning to leave with the box, paused.

Chamuka continued shouting.

“They’re already dead! What does it matter if their coffin is in the tower or here!”

But the Grand Duke left without answering.

Leticia could only blink blankly at what had just swept through the room.

The broken cabinet and the floor strewn with its debris.

The silver-furred beast lay deeply asleep like death upon it, and a boy of the same color stood alone.

Without chasing after the Grand Duke. Just standing still. Like a lost child.

“……”

Leticia emerged from the clothes that had been concealing her and approached Chamuka.

She didn’t ask if he was alright. He clearly wasn’t.

Instead, she asked somewhat impulsively.

“Aren’t you going to follow His Grace?”

“…Why should I?”

“His Grace just took something of yours.”

Chamuka’s eyes gazed at her coldly. As if the indifference he always maintained had shattered.

“Everything in this castle belongs to Father. Even you.”