“Ah, I only stopped by, and then Lady Liana—no, Madam Benesch—came to mind… D-did you enjoy the Harvest Festival?”

Dietrich dragged out his words, as if trying to demonstrate his eloquence. She nodded slightly.

“Yes. Thanks to the temple’s careful preparations…”

“That’s a relief!”

“But… what brings you here at this hour?”

Luise asked in a guarded voice. It was far too late for casual visits.

“Ah, well—it’s the Harvest Festival, and I happened to think of you, so…”

Dietrich faltered, then suddenly held out a flower towards her.

It was a round cluster of violet-blue blossom.

“Allium.”

It was the same flower he had once given her long ago.

“But why… are you giving this to me?”

“Back then, Duke Lester took it before I had the chance to give it to you properly. I remember that. So I thought… Is it too late? I meant to come earlier, but I was so busy today. By the time I finished, it was already too late.”

Still holding the flower, he stammered out his excuses.

Luise stood uncertainly, unsure how to receive such a gift.

Had he brought roses, white lilies or even blue cornflowers, she might have doubted his intentions. But what he offered was an allium.

No one would give such a sharp, onion-scented flower to a loved one.

And a high priest would hardly show personal affection towards a married woman — let alone one with a child.

‘And yet…’

Given the late hour and the secluded location of her room on the ducal estate, her actions were difficult to understand.

“I-I didn’t mean to burden you…! It’s just to welcome you back to Faradel.”

Still clutching the allium, Dietrich broke into a nervous sweat.

“I appreciate the thought, but why would the High Priest be the one to welcome me…?”

“Ah—uh! S-so you mean it’s strange for me to do this? Wrong, even? I just… it’s been so long, and I was glad to see you…”

Behind his glasses, his blue eyes darted frantically, as if searching for a place to rest.

“I’m only a servant woman, while you are the High Priest. I don’t see why you would trouble yourself over me.”

“Ah…”

The moment she drew a cold line between them, Dietrich shrank, folding his shoulders in on themselves. He slumped so low that the allium in his hand seemed to have withered even further.

He looked pitiful, like a wet puppy left out in the rain.

Luise felt a pang of regret.

She had spoken coldly because it had seemed improper for him to visit her at midnight while Eve slept nearby. And yet… he was still the High Priest.

Had she been too cold? Especially for someone who was already so awkward around people?

Luise swallowed a sigh. Maybe she had read too much into a single rough, sharp allium blossom.

“Um, s-still… since I brought it, would you accept it, just this once?”

Dietrich asked in an almost inaudible voice. Behind his glasses, his clear blue eyes looked as though they might well up with tears at any moment. In the end, Luise accepted the allium he offered her, just as she had done long ago.

She couldn’t very well drive away the High Priest, after all.

“Just this once. But if you give me gifts like this again, I won’t be able to accept them. It feels burdensome to be singled out like this…”

“Ah, yes, yes! Of course!”

Relief spread across his face as he nodded quickly and the tension melted away, turning into a smile.

He was such a simple man.

As Luise gazed down at the cluster of blossom, an idea struck her and she asked:

“But… do alliums even bloom in autumn?”

Alliums, like roses and lilacs, bloomed in spring to early summer—rarely could they be seen in the fall.

“Ah, well, I grew it in a greenhouse. I—I like tending flowers and herbs, you see.”

Dietrich smiled shyly and explained that the temple had built him a small greenhouse after he became Faradel’s official high priest.

He was quite the flower gardener.

But then—

‘…Huh?’

All at once her head spun.

The world tilted and her vision wavered. Luise reached out to steady herself against the wall, but the air felt heavy and grey. At that moment, someone tugged at her hem.

Struggling to focus, she looked down and saw Eve, who had slipped out of bed. The child’s frightened gaze clung to her as she clung tightly to her mother’s skirts.

“Mommy… isn’t that man a bad man?”

Eve recognized the robes of the High Priest. He was the man her mother had warned her about.

Luise glanced at Dietrich, then crouched down to comfort her daughter.

“High Priest, I think my child is too sleepy. I should put her to bed…”

She hurried to dismiss him and pull Eve into her arms.

But just then, the sharp, pungent scent of allium hit her.

Her body swayed violently.

“Mommy?”

She stumbled, and a hand caught her. Yet that touch felt cold and strange.

“Are you all right?”

Dietrich asked, his tone full of concern.

Luise knew she had to shake off his hand, but her weakened body refused to obey. Through her blurred vision, she could just make out Eve’s worried face.

“Eve… go back to bed, quickly…”

But Eve shook her head, unwilling to leave her mother’s side.

Dietrich supported Luise’s faltering frame, lifting her gently.

“Y-you know… I love flowers. Do you know why…?”

He murmured softly as he supported her.

Luise forced herself to raise her head, enduring the dizziness. Through a wavering haze, she saw his blue eyes gazing back at her.

“High Priest…”

“Because they’re fragrant and beautiful… so defenselessly easy to take.”

He took the allium from her hand and held it out to Eve. The moment she inhaled its scent, she collapsed onto the carpet.

“Eve…!”

Luise desperately reached out for her daughter, but her body refused to obey. It was then that she realized something had gone terribly and irreversibly wrong.

Clouded by a haze, her mind struggled to remember the dagger Shed had given her. Summoning her last shred of strength, she forced her bound body to move and fumbled at her bodice with her trembling hand. But her sluggish, unsteady fingers closed on nothing but empty air.

Dietrich caught her pale hand, stopping her.

“Foolish humans… so easily deceived by appearances.”

He slowly took off his glasses and smiled. The gentle, awkward high priest leaned towards Luise, who was struggling to stay awake.

“I’ve waited for you for so very long, Luise.”

His voice, thick with rapture, sent a chill down her spine.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

Eve awoke in an unfamiliar place.

The air was dark, damp, and reeked of something strange. Dim, scattered lights faintly revealed the walls around her.

“Mommy…!”

Terror struck her the moment she sat up, calling for her mother.

“You’re awake, little one.”

A voice answered—not her mother’s, but a stranger’s.

Eve whipped her head around in fright. Beyond the iron bars stood a man with beautiful silver hair.

It was the very man her mother had warned her about.

Closing the old book he was holding, Dietrich looked up at her with a gentle smile.

But Eve recoiled in terror at that deceptively kind face and scrambled away, pressing herself hard against the cold stone wall.

“Wh-where’s my mommy?”

Eve’s chest pounded. Fear welled up inside her, blurring her vision and causing her voice to tremble. Beyond the iron bars, the room was crammed with papers and books, and a frightening man stood there. Strange, unidentifiable objects were piled high.

“Mommy…! I want to see my mommy!”

Eve whimpered in the dark, calling for her.

“Quiet now, little one. Your mother isn’t going to die.”

He said softly, though his tone carried the weight of a command. Closing the book in his hands, he added.

“There’s a lot I want to learn about you. Black magic is inherited like holy power, so you’re a valuable subject for study.”

Dietrich adjusted his glasses and muttered something under his breath. His words were beyond the understanding of a three-year-old.

Eve’s sobs faltered. She curled up, instinctively afraid of angering him, unsure of what he might do if she provoked him.

Dietrich watched her with a faint smile, then turned towards the far side of the chamber.

This was Faradel’s underground laboratory — a place that had been hidden away for a long time and where Felix Ideana had once conducted his experiments.

“I went through quite a lot to keep this place secret.”

Dietrich said with a stretch and a laugh. Then, approaching a corner, he swept aside a heavy curtain. A sinister red light spilled into the room.

“Mommy!”

Forgetting her fear, Eve rushed to the bars. On the floor beyond, a strange sigil glowed, pulsing with crimson light—and her mother stood frozen upon it.

Around her, the purple flowers he had given had burst into bloom, their stems twisting unnaturally as they reflected the red glow in a grotesque display.

“When Luise disappeared years ago, my fury was beyond measure.”

Dietrich murmured and nodded as he glanced between the mother and her child.

“But since she’s returned carrying something so fascinating, I’ve decided to forgive.”

“Mommy, wake up!”

Eve screamed at her, but Luise didn’t move.

Her eyes were wrong. Her once bright green eyes were now dull and lifeless. She seemed unable to hear anything; she was like a dead puppet.

“Mommy…”

Eve’s knees gave out, and she collapsed to the ground, realizing something was terribly wrong.

Dietrich laughed at the sight of the pale, terrified child.

“It’s a brainwashing spell, I’ve used it often—harmless, really. Your mother should be quite accustomed to it by now.”

He removed his glasses, recalling a memory from long ago.

“More than ten years ago now…”

Back then, when Dietrich had just completed his monastic training, his first assignment had been Ideana Faradel.