When I had seen it during the day, it hadn’t been this strong.

However, in the few hours we were away, the demon must have drained a significant amount of Jervis’s life force. Now, it was emitting an aura more intense than that of most evil spirits.

Suddenly, a chilling gaze filled with murderous intent fixed on me.

<You…!>

Before I could react, the demon charged at Leila, knocking her aside, and then lunged at me.

Selena shouted desperately.

<Terry!>

Time seemed to slow down.

Selena was reaching out from where she had fallen on the floor, while Leila was running with a half-torn hand.

And the demon’s sharp claws were coming right at me.

‘I’m going to die!’

Before I could even think, my body moved on instinct. I threw myself over Jervis, hugging him tightly as I squeezed my eyes shut.

And at that moment.

<You’re too young to be worrying about dying. It’s not your time yet, kid.>

‘Huh?’

A strangely familiar, mischievous voice seemed to brush past my ears like the wind.

<Kyaaa!>

Immediately, a wave of nausea hit me, and the demon’s scream pierced my ears.

Startled, I lifted my head. Then, I was utterly shocked.

“What, what, what is this…?”

I stared blankly at my hands, then belatedly panicked and shook them wildly.

But the soft blue glow surrounding my body didn’t disappear.

<Terry?>

<What is that…?>

Selena and Leila appeared just as surprised.

Both of them stood frozen in place, forgetting even to run to me.

A thin, high-pitched whimper reached my ears.

<No, no…! My existence… Oh, Demon Lord…>

Startled, I turned my head and saw the demon writhing in pain on the ground a short distance away.

“What?”

Blinking in confusion, I watched as the demon’s body slowly shed its dark red aura.

Before long, its form started to blur as if melting away, eventually becoming a soft blue mass of light.

What on earth is that?

<Kang!>

At that moment, a sound like a big cat’s cry emanated from the light mass.

It was the kind of sound a pure ‘panther’ might make.

The floating light mass excitedly circled around me. And then…

“Huh?”

With a pop, it vanished as if someone had turned off a light.

Once the blue light disappeared, the faint glow enveloping my body faded away without a trace.

<Terry!>

Selena, who had regained her senses a moment later, ran to me. She frantically checked my condition.

<Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?>

“Oh, I’m fine…”

I was about to say I was fine when suddenly there was a commotion outside the door, and it swung open.

“Lady! Are you in here?”

The white door swung open as the anxious Marquis Amethris rushed into the room.

Beyond the open door stood Duke Valerian Everdeen, frozen like a statue with one hand awkwardly extended forward.

“My goodness, Lady. What in the world is going on at this hour…? You startled me! Why are you even here?” the Marquis quietly scolded me after confirming that Jervis was peacefully asleep.

However, his words went in one ear and out the other.

I was completely captivated by the Duke’s eyes visible through my glasses, unable to move an inch.

‘No way…’

Did he hear everything I said?

My heart pounded ominously.

According to the plan, it should have been only the Marquis bursting in here now.

Even considering the distance, the Duke should have arrived about five minutes later!

Although I couldn’t see it, I felt like my eyes were shaking like a ship caught in a storm. I gulped down my saliva.

Fortunately, or perhaps not, the Duke blinked once and then walked into the room.

He bent down to look at my face with concern and then moved his pen.

“Terry, I was worried because you weren’t in your room. Why are you here?”

‘Phew.’

Thank goodness, he didn’t hear it.

I let out a sigh of relief inwardly and smiled innocently as if I knew nothing.

“I’m sorry for the surprise. I just wanted to say goodnight to Jerry.”

“Then you should have said so earlier. Oh, what an unexpected exercise in the middle of the night,” the Marquis grumbled as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

“If you’ve finished your greetings, let’s head back to your room. I’ll…”

“But Jerry had something he wanted me to tell you just a moment ago.”

“…What?”

The Marquis paused, his actions halted by my words.

I continued with a spotless smile.

“When I came to say goodnight to Jerry a little while ago, he was awake! He said, ‘If I fall asleep before Dad arrives, please pass this on.'”

Jervis had been in a coma since he collapsed earlier in the day, so this was a lie.

But since I was just trying to seize the opportunity to speak alone with the Marquis, there was no need to worry about the consequences.

The Marquis looked at me with puzzled eyes and asked, “What did he say?”

“Um, he asked me to tell you when no one else was around…”

I hesitated deliberately and glanced at the Duke once.

He met my gaze with an unreadable expression for a moment, then sighed.

“Alright. However, if you two continue talking here, it seems the young Marquis might wake up, so why not move somewhere else?”

“Ah, right. Let’s go to the drawing room, Lady.”

Thus, I was left alone with Marquis Amethris in the drawing room.

The Marquis, sitting across the table from me, took a sip of tea with a complicated expression.

He let out a long sigh over the tea, put down his cup, and rubbed his face with his hands.

“Jerry, seeing that he woke up even for a moment, it seems he’s passed the critical stage.”

His face, visible over his hand, showed deep and bitter relief.

I sipped the milk from a small teacup and responded calmly, “Jervis won’t fall ill anymore.”

“…What did you just say…”

The Marquis froze in the act of removing his hands from his face.

Clink.

I deliberately set the teacup down with a sound and looked at him with an unusually clear gaze.

“Marquis. Would you believe me if I said I could see the Duke’s face?”

“What?”

The Marquis wore a face of complete incomprehension from the moment I opened my mouth.

Fearing this might come off as mere childish nonsense, I spoke again with a serious tone.

“I can see ghosts. I can hear them, and I can touch them too.”

This was the best solution I could think of.

To save Jervis Amethris and let it be known that it was thanks to me, or rather, thanks to the Duke of Everdeen, there was no other way.

The Marquis wouldn’t recklessly divulge the secret of how I saved his dearly beloved son’s life to others.

I became certain of this assumption by observing how he treated Jervis since I arrived here.

“An evil spirit had attached itself to Jervis. Those with a spirit attached to them fall ill without reason and ultimately lose their lives.”

The Marquis’s eyes widened slightly, probably because the symptoms I described matched exactly with those Jervis had shown.

“I snuck into Jervis’s room secretly because of that. Now that I’ve removed the spirit, Jervis will soon return to his healthy self. Of course, he’ll need to eat well and sleep well.”

Throughout my explanation, the Marquis wore a dazed expression.

He opened and closed his mouth for a moment, rubbed his face, muttered, “This is nonsense,” and finally spoke in a resigned tone.

“Well, it’s hard to believe, but given the current state of Rian… Damn, let’s just say it’s true for now.”

The Marquis sighed deeply, as if he thought himself mad for saying such things, then raised an eyebrow and looked at me.