I stared directly into Ilian’s eyes. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He simply gazed at me with calm, subdued eyes for what felt like a long time.

“You’re truly cruel, young lady.”

“You’re the cruel one. Who exactly do you want to bring back to life?”

“Well. That’s a secret.”

It wasn’t that I couldn’t guess. I sighed.

“Your revenge ended the moment you killed all the nobles in that kingdom. You merely shouldered more deaths because of it.”

“But that doesn’t bring the dead back to life.”

“Yes, and you knew that when you did it, didn’t you? Or rather, you killed them precisely because you knew the dead don’t come back to life.”

I turned my head. What a pointless waste of time, I grumbled inwardly while waving my hand dismissively.

“Anyway, I’ll tell you why I came. The Thanksgiving festival is tomorrow, and I’ve decided to go with Evelyn. I’ll bring several knights with me, of course, but I want you to come too.”

“My, what’s this about? Including me in such an outing?”

“I’m not bringing you for fun. Several unpleasant incidents have been happening these past few days, so I’m going to investigate. You’re just a tool I’m planning to use, so prepare accordingly.”

“Is Hasis coming too?”

“…No. I won’t be bringing Hasis. I originally planned to, but things changed.”

“Oh dear, what if I cause trouble while I’m out with you?”

“If you try anything, do you think you’ll get away with it?”

I curled the corner of my lip into a slight sneer.

Ilian let out a long “hmm” with a sigh.

Nevertheless, he soon nodded with his usual bright smile.

“Alright. I’ll gladly escort the young ladies.”

“You’re so shameless.”

Of course, I knew better than anyone what was hidden behind that facade. I clicked my tongue and left the room.

* * *

Thud.

As soon as the door closed, the smile vanished from Ilian’s face like a lie. He roughly untied his hastily bound hair, letting it fall loose.

‘Too arrogant,’ he muttered quietly to himself. Yet after a moment:

‘Well, I’m no different.’

A bitter smile settled on Ilian’s face.

* * *

The next morning.

After changing my clothes, I sat at the dressing table, now accustomed to Sela’s attendance.

Soon Sela came with a comb and ribbon, tidying the strands of hair that had fallen to one side.

But then she tilted her head, seemingly noticing something.

Wondering what was wrong, I looked at her through the mirror, and she asked:

“Come to think of it, has Your Highness ever trimmed your hair yourself?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Ah, it’s just that your hair length doesn’t seem to have changed. By now we should be trimming your bangs, but they seem to be the same length.”

“Huh?”

Now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t cut my hair since becoming a child.

I wasn’t particularly attentive to things like hair or clothes, so I hadn’t noticed, but Sela was right—I certainly hadn’t trimmed my bangs recently.

‘Could it be the effect of black magic?’

But what kind of black magic would concern itself with something as trivial as bangs?

“I don’t know. Perhaps my hair just grows slowly.”

“I suppose that’s possible. Oh, today I’ll braid all your hair and put it up for you.”

With those words, Sela focused again on styling my hair.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

I had dismissed it as unimportant not long ago, but now that this strange detail had been pointed out, anxiety began creeping into my mind.

‘If I can’t break the black magic spell, will I ever grow into an adult?’

But as soon as the question arose, I shook my head to dispel such idle thoughts.

What a useless thing to worry about suddenly.

“Oh my, Your Highness, please hold still just a bit longer. Just the final touches and… there, done.”

As I shook my head, Sela, who had been hurriedly looking for hair ties, stepped back with a satisfied expression.

I looked at myself with my hair braided and put up in two sections, then got down from the chair.

I seemed to be getting used to this appearance gradually.

‘No, I can’t get used to this!’

That’s absurd—becoming accustomed to this would truly be the end.

“I’m going to read in the playroom. Don’t disturb me.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Would you like any snacks?”

“No. I don’t need any. I’m not hungry.”

With those words, I left the room.

Soon after, when I opened the playroom door, I was greeted by the familiar sight of Hasis’s sullen face.

“Hey, am I your servant? Coming when called and going when dismissed?”

After visiting Ilian’s room yesterday, I had sent word to Hasis, telling him to come to the playroom early this morning.

Normally I could have gone to him directly, but given the sensitive nature of our conversation, it wasn’t appropriate to discuss it freely in the garden.

“You’re already here, aren’t you?”

“Did you give me a chance to refuse?”

“Wouldn’t it be so much better if you just came without complaining? You always have to make things unpleasant.”

“So what’s this about?”

Hasis clicked his tongue at my comment about his unpleasantness.

I closed the door completely and approached the sofa.

Hasis was sitting with his legs casually crossed. After sitting across from him, I spoke.

“Yesterday while talking with Ilian, I heard something strange.”

“What strange thing?”

“It seems that the person in question told Ilian something about being able to resurrect the dead.”

At that moment, the irritation disappeared from Hasis’s face.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. Someone appears to have hired Ilian, offering to resurrect the dead in exchange for something.”

“What did they hire him to do?”

“That’s not particularly important. At most, it’s something trivial like killing me. But one thing is certain—there might be more than just Ilian who have been hired this way.”

While I have no attachment to the dead, and even if I did, I believe it’s something I should bear myself, the promise of bringing back the dead would be quite tempting for ordinary people.

Especially when thinking about parents, siblings, friends, lovers, or anyone beloved—how many people could easily reject such an offer?

“That’s nonsensical rubbish.”

“But turning nonsensical rubbish into reality is exactly what black magic does. Though what meaning would there be in sacrificing one life to resurrect another?”

“…”

“It’s incredibly selfish, isn’t it? Killing someone unknown to save the life of someone you love. That’s the shamelessness of black magic.”

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“You have the Eye of Truth.”

“Yes.”

“If you can see my true essence despite my child form, shouldn’t you also be able to see those who are dead yet pretending to be alive?”

“Well, I’ve never actually seen such a thing… Oh, you don’t mean—”

“For the past few days, could you check if there are any such ‘beings’ around the imperial palace?”

“Come on, seriously? If dead people were walking around, wouldn’t everyone notice, not just me? Do we not have eyes?”

“I created dolls with magic—couldn’t black mages do something similar?”

Hasis seemed at a loss for words at my question. Certainly, though horrifying, he couldn’t deny the possibility.

“Looking just around the palace won’t be enough.”

“For now, focus on the palace and the festival locations. I’m not saying you must capture them. But if, by chance, such beings have infiltrated the capital—”

“This is disturbingly horrific.”

“With so many dead people in this world, resurrecting them all would create a formidable force. Honestly, that’s what frightens me most. What if that’s what they’re aiming for?”

And could people truly fight against resurrected humans? What if their loved ones were among them?

‘The more I think about it, the more grotesque it becomes.’

I finally shook my head to clear these thoughts.

“I never imagined things would escalate this far. I thought it was simply the work of a political rival.”

“Well, it could still be a political rival. With the goal of destroying the empire’s peace to pull you down from the throne?”

“Then they could just storm the palace with swords and kill me!”

“Why does that sound like you want to die?”

“What I mean is, there’s no need to involve innocent people.”

If someone must kill, let me be the one to kill; if someone must save, let me be the one to save. How dare they think of killing my people on my land to strike at me? Didn’t they realize that would only fuel my anger more?

Contrary to my thoughts, Hasis’s face darkened strangely. He nodded slightly and murmured.

“Perhaps they know you well enough to understand that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Anyway, you want me to look around the palace and capital for the next few days? You always give me such impossible tasks.”

Despite his words, Hasis’s face showed no particular displeasure. However, as he was about to leave the room, he suddenly turned his head, remembering something.

“Ah, by the way, have you seen Master recently?”

“Um… no?”

Since our conversation that day, Lerrhagen had barely appeared at the palace.

Hasis scratched his head and muttered to himself.

“Where could he have gone? I had something to ask him.”

“What did you want to ask?”

“Just something. You don’t need to know, squirt. Oh, and enjoy the festival.”

“You just do your job properly, you overgrown child.”

Hasis chuckled at that and left the room.

‘So I’ve essentially entrusted the palace’s safety to Hasis while I’m gone.’

Well then, shall I go and enjoy the “festival”?