“So—how did this happen?”

Having moved to the drawing room, Drisena lifted her teacup and glanced sideways at Martiana.

She seemed far calmer than before. The sharpness in her gaze remained, as though she were trying to assert her dominance once more.

Though it hardly mattered.

The image of her earlier shock had already been etched too deeply into Martiana’s mind.

“I wonder myself. How did it happen?”

“What? Are you playing word games with me? Is this the time for that?”

“Why not?”

After all, they were talking about her voice.

Martiana lowered her eyelids lazily and curved her lips.

No matter what was asked of her, she had no intention of telling the truth.

It would be absurd to inform the person who had attempted to murder her that she had regained her voice thanks to them.

Besides, she had something far more important to say.

“More importantly, Mother. Have you heard from Siliar? We are not divorcing.”

“I have. Even so, why must you come back here? You can live separately without divorcing. Do you really have to crawl back into this house?”

“Yes. I had to.”

Martiana smiled sweetly and lifted her teacup.

Whenever she moved, she could feel Drisena’s gaze burning into her.

Not only when she moved, either. Her mother-in-law was watching her every move.

“Yes, you had to? Ha. Now that you can speak again, are you going to answer back at every turn?”

“You used to dislike how quiet I was. I thought I might at least serve as your companion now.”

“What? Companion? Are you truly planning to continue living here?”

“Yes.”

At least six months.

Recalling her conversation with Siliar, Martiana nodded slightly.

They had agreed on that timeframe.

As her husband wished, she would resume her duties as duchess.

The first of those duties was—

“Thanks to you, Mother, my condition has improved. So I intend to fulfill my responsibilities now.”

“Responsibilities? What responsibilities?”

“The household affairs you have been managing—I will take them back. Siliar said you had agreed to step away, did he not?”

Forced though it may have been.

“You will manage them?”

“Yes. So please send the ledgers you’ve been overseeing—and all related documents—to my chambers.”

Martiana spoke gently, meeting Drisena’s gaze.

The moment she said it, she noticed the faint tremor in her shoulders.

She must have made a mess of things.

Her expression stiffened far too quickly.

Truthfully, Martiana had never thought that Drisena was a good manager of the household.

Even shortly after her marriage, the finances of the Vandyk estate had been in disarray.

Personal embezzlement. Chaotic accounts. Needless expenditure.

Martiana remembered the headaches all too well — there was too much to fix.

If anything, the situation was probably worse now.

‘This will be troublesome.’

That was her expectation.

Still, she could endure it.

It was temporary—and a price she was willing to pay for her purpose.

Yes. Her purpose.

“By the way, I heard there is a guest staying here.”

“A guest? Wh—who?”

“Ramelata, Mother. Your second daughter-in-law—the Countess of Pumilum.”

And my child, Licorice.

“Where is she now?”

Martiana’s eyes sharpened as she asked.

***

Thud. Thud. Thud.

A small ball bounced on the ground, which glistened as though it had rained recently.

It was a secluded forest.

Near the edge of the forest stood a small building.

In front of the building, a child repeatedly dribbled a ball.

“One, two, three…”

The child was waiting for their mother, who had gone inside.

“Just a moment.”

More than thirty minutes had already passed.

Boredom was beginning to set in.

The child kicked the muddy ground and looked sour.

“When is she coming out?”

Alex picked up the dirt-stained ball and sulked.

He didn’t mind coming to the capital or accompanying his mother on her daily outings.

But he disliked this part.

No matter where they went, they always ended up in this forest.

Once inside the building, she wouldn’t emerge for hours.

Leaving him to wait nearby.

“……”

Alex glanced at the house, then sat down nearby.

By now, most children would have gone inside at least once to look for their mother. But he didn’t move. Instead, he simply stared at the house, his expression sullen.

He had never told anyone, but he felt uneasy about it.

It simply did not look like a place he wanted to go into.

At least, that’s how it seemed to Alex.

“It’s too black.”

Every part of the building, from the ground to the roof, was shrouded in darkness.

He had seen something similar in his sketchbook before — pages filled with aimless scribbles from a time when he had nothing better to do.

Though never quite this black.

It wasn’t just the building. Even the ground was stained so darkly that he was reluctant to step on it.

“Ugh…”

“Why did Mother like coming here so much?”

Alex bounced the ball idly on the ground and muttered to himself.

When she told him they were going to the capital, he hadn’t imagined it would be like this.

He thought visiting Grandmother’s house would be full of interesting things.

But in the Pumilum territory, he had spent most of his time on the estate itself.

No friends.

The only people he saw were family and servants.

So, when he heard they were leaving for a faraway place, he was excited.

He thought he would see new things and make new friends.

However, it seemed increasingly likely that he would return to Pumilum without a single friend.

“Help me.”

“Hm?”

Thud.

He heard the ball bounce on the ground again.

A faint voice.

Small. Very small.

Alex caught the ball in mid-air and pricked up his ears.

“Did I imagine it?”

“Help…”

No.

He heard it clearly this time.

A voice as young as his own.

“Is someone there?”

Alex leaned forward and called out in the direction from which the sound had come.

His bright red eyes blinked curiously.

He waited for an answer. But when silence followed, he became confused.

He was sure he had heard someone.

“Are you my friend? Do you want to play too?”

He raised his voice again.

Then, cautiously, he began to walk towards the source of the noise.

Everything around him was black.

Unlike before, however, he did not hesitate.

He still felt uneasy. But his desire to meet someone his own age was stronger.

The voice came again, softly.

“Help…”

“Let’s play together. I have a ball.”

Holding out the ball, Alex stepped toward the thick bushes.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Wait—there wasn’t just one—

“Young master.”

“Huh?”

Just as he was about to take another step, someone called out to him.

He could not move any further.

At the same time, someone grabbed him from behind.

It was a man who had travelled from the Pumilum territory with his mother. He was the doctor who had been living in the blackened house ever since they arrived in the capital.

“Where are you going? This is not a place for you.”

“But—”

“Let us return. The Countess is looking for you.”

The doctor pointed in the opposite direction.

Sure enough, there was his mother, waiting for him.

Reluctantly, Alex turned around.

He didn’t want to. But he had no choice.

The truth was that he found the doctor deeply unsettling.

The man was dressed entirely in black, from head to toe.

And not just that.

There was something else — something dark — that seemed to cling to him.

The same darkness that covered the house.

Every time Alex saw it, a chill ran through him.

He did not want to go near it.

Even now, he pulled away instinctively the moment the man’s hand touched him.

“Okay. I’m coming.”

Alex held the ball as he ran towards the carriage.

The uneasy feeling did not subside until he stood before his mother.

Nevertheless, he did not feel particularly comfortable there, either.

“What were you doing?”

“I—I was playing, and the ball rolled away.”

“Do not wander about needlessly. I already have enough to worry about.”

“Yes, Mother.”

In response to her cold tone, Alex lowered his head without thinking.

She had never been especially warm, but her mood always seemed to deteriorate after visiting that house.

Would it not be better not to come here at all, if that was the case?

This thought sometimes crossed his mind.

But he never voiced it.

He already knew the answer he would receive.

“You are alive because of him. Only he can save you.”

Alex climbed into the carriage, remembering the words he had heard almost every day.

The journey back to his grandmother’s house was silent.