Although she had confidently said she could do it, Leticia didn’t actually know what she was supposed to practice.

Wearing a nightdress and a thin shawl, Leticia stared blankly at the door that connected to Callius’s room.

Perhaps “practice” was just something he had said offhandedly.

About five minutes later, she became certain that he wasn’t going to come.

Feeling relieved, Leticia let out a long breath.

She removed the shawl she had been wearing and set it aside.

The warm weather made wearing the shawl unbearable, as it caused her body to heat up.

Knock, knock, knock.

It was then that she heard a light knock on the door.

Leticia perked up her ears like a rabbit, wondering if she had misheard.

Knock, knock, knock.

The knock sounded again. Leticia didn’t call out for the person to enter but instead walked over and opened the door herself.

With a click, the door opened slightly, revealing Callius.

“I thought you were asleep.”

His expression was flawless.

It wasn’t teasing nor indifferent. If anything, it was resolute, as if he were determined to fully commit to the “practice” they had agreed upon.

‘He looks tense.’

But that couldn’t be true.

It wasn’t tension; it was likely discomfort with the situation itself.

Leticia thought that in the darkness, she would resemble his lover even more.

The lighting was dim. The faint lamp light that flickered across Leticia’s face made it easier for him to overlap her image with that of his lover.

‘He said my voice was the most similar.’

“Come in.”

Leticia stepped aside, allowing him to enter.

Despite the fact that the entirety of Siscreek Castle was his domain, he acted as if he were truly a guest who had been invited.

He walked to the farthest point away from Leticia and began inspecting the room.

“So, have you thought about how we should practice?”

He asked her opinion with unusual kindness.

After all, he was the one who had suggested they could simply practice.

“I thought you’d have a method in mind.”

“So you don’t care how I go about it?”

“As long as it doesn’t cross any lines.”

Leticia spoke firmly, and he nodded in agreement.

Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to close the distance between them.

He circled around Leticia, keeping her at the center of his orbit.

He was clearly stalling for time, pretending to examine every corner of the room. Leticia found herself staring at his back the entire time.

At this rate, it felt like they would never get anywhere.

Leticia decided to approach him first.

Normally, he would have noticed her presence long before she got close, but for some reason, he didn’t realize until she was right next to him.

“What should I do?”

When he turned around abruptly, Leticia almost bumped her forehead against his.

Seeing his stern expression up close made it even clearer.

Leticia was nervous too, but she thought it would be better to understand his intentions than to remain uncertain about what he was thinking.

She didn’t want to deal with him without knowing his thoughts.

“If I do nothing and you keep hesitating, Kelsior will become suspicious.”

In truth, Leticia didn’t know what she should do to make him appear infatuated with her.

“She’ll believe it.”

“Why?”

Leticia frowned in confusion.

“Because you have my lover’s face.”

Callius looked sad as he said it.

Up close, it was undeniable.

He wasn’t hiding his emotions, making it all the more apparent.

Every moment, he searched for her in Leticia.

Leticia should have been grateful for this fact, yet she found it oddly bitter.

And she couldn’t even call it fortunate.

What was a stroke of luck for her was immense suffering for him.

“You can think of it as fortunate.”

He seemed to read her thoughts and spoke bluntly.

Even with his permission, Leticia couldn’t feel happy about it.

“…Can I ask you something?”

“You’ve been asking without permission all this time, haven’t you?”

He smirked as he replied, indicating he wasn’t being sarcastic.

Leticia decided to take it as approval to ask.

“What kind of person was she?”

Though her question lacked context, Callius immediately understood who she was referring to.

Because of that, his smooth brow furrowed slightly.

The relaxed curve of his lips tightened into a stern line.

Leticia knew he was sensitive when it came to questions about his lover, but she couldn’t help but be curious.

She wanted to know more about the woman she supposedly resembled so much.

What kind of woman could shake Callius Maxis to this extent?

“She must have been a wonderful person if you were so deeply infatuated with her.”

Leticia added a compliment, hoping it would soften his guarded demeanor.

It seemed to work, as his brow relaxed slightly.

When he closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, his gaze had already drifted to the distant past.

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

Leticia had a reason for wanting to know about the woman.

Understanding her better would help Leticia imitate her more convincingly.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

There was personal curiosity as well.

“Then we’d need the whole night.”

His voice, filled with longing, revealed the depth of his emotions.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that even an entire night wouldn’t be enough.

With just one sentence, he marked the beginning of a long night.

“I fell for her at first sight.”

It was a surprising admission.

For one, Leticia didn’t believe in the concept of love at first sight.

She couldn’t comprehend the idea of falling for someone instantly.

“Of course, you wouldn’t understand.”

Callius spoke as though he knew Leticia had never experienced such feelings.

“But that doesn’t mean we became lovers right away.”

“Why not?”

His appearance was unforgettable.

Even his rude behavior could be overlooked because of his looks.

As long as he kept his mouth shut, he could easily rival the saints depicted in temple murals.

Leticia swallowed her thoughts quietly.

“She wanted to kill me.”

He grinned as he said it, causing Leticia to blink in surprise.

She wondered if he was joking, but he was serious.

He spoke as if recounting a particularly amusing memory.

“Why did she want to kill you?”

“Who knows? Maybe she was worried I’d kill her first, or maybe… I don’t really know. It didn’t seem important, so I never asked.”

Someone wanting to kill him wasn’t important?

It was absurd, but Callius genuinely seemed to think so.

And now Leticia couldn’t help but wonder how a woman who tried to kill him ended up becoming his lover.

“How did she come to trust you?”

Callius hesitated before answering, as if the question required careful thought.

“I’m not sure.”

After a long pause, that was all he could say.

Well, it wasn’t as though he could fully understand the inner workings of his lover’s mind.

“Maybe she never trusted me at all.”

Leticia saw the look in his eyes as he said it.

He wasn’t sad or upset.

He spoke as though it was an indisputable fact, without a hint of emotion.

Instead, Leticia felt a pang of sorrow on his behalf.

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

She realized belatedly that her questions were straying far from their original purpose, but she couldn’t take back what she had already said.

“If it did, I wouldn’t have come this far.”

He answered without hesitation.

What “this far” referred to, Leticia couldn’t say for sure.

But she guessed it meant the point of giving up everything and resolving to take revenge on Mathias.

“Why did she think you’d kill her?”

“I’m a man who knows what he wants, and she probably thought I didn’t want her.”

His answer was vague, leaving out what she wanted entirely.

“…Did Mathias kill her?”

“……”

It was a painful question for him.

But it was one that had to be asked.

“Probably.”

He looked anguished as he said it.

Leticia tried not to gauge the depth of his pain as the lamplight illuminated his face.

“Probably” wasn’t a definitive answer, but it was enough for tonight.

Leticia didn’t ask anything further.

“Thank you for telling me.”

He stared at her for a long time, his expression unreadable.

Eventually, he broke eye contact and stood up hastily, as if reminding himself why he had come there.

His steps slowed just before he opened the door, as if he were reconsidering.

“The practice—”

“I think this is enough.”

He raised an eyebrow slightly at her response.

“As long as I have her face, like you said.”

She spoke playfully, but his expression stiffened slightly.

He nodded after a moment.

“Right. That should be enough.”

Without saying goodnight, he opened the door and left. Soon after, she heard him enter the adjacent room.

Leticia tried not to dwell on the expression he had worn just moments ago.

The way he looked, moved, and gazed while thinking of his lover was more genuine than anything Leticia had ever seen.

She had thought that hearing about the woman would help her find similarities or at least better imitate her.

But that had been her arrogance.

That woman was different from Leticia.

Unlike Leticia, she was resolute, knew what she wanted, and had the drive to achieve it.

She wasn’t like Leticia.

Leticia was like a sandcastle before the waves—fragile and unstable.

She constantly worried that the castle she had painstakingly built would collapse in an instant.

She had always known she was nothing more than a sandcastle.

Now that she understood her efforts amounted to nothing more than a fragile structure, she was merely struggling to build another sandcastle.

‘What happens after I restore Rearbon?’

What comes next?

She would simply become a body destined to bear heirs for Rearbon again.

Leticia closed her eyes to avoid thinking about it.

But then Callius’s expression came to mind.

It was a night too restless for sleep.