As Eclace stared at him, Shed’s brows knit.

“What is it?”

In his violet eyes glimmered a subtle, cautious hope. Perhaps he expected to hear that Liana Serpens had awakened.

Eclace swallowed, imagining for a moment that failing to bring such news might mean ending up on the edge of that sword.

Finally, he spoke.

“Personal training is certainly admirable, but… there’s something important we need to discuss.”

In other words: it was time to stop and come inside.

Shed shot him a deadly glare before averting his eyes. With a sharp, irritable motion, he sheathed his sword and reached for the clothes he had cast aside.

“…I’ll send for you once I’m ready. Come up to the room then.”

With strides heavy enough to shake the floor, Shed left without looking back.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

The room was now clean and tidy. On the desk beside the bed, there were maps of Indiana, historical records, and stacks of documents strewn haphazardly about.

Next to the desk was a three-seater sofa that looked rather small for a man of Shed Lester’s size. A folded, seemingly unused blanket rested neatly on top of it.

However, the real focus of the room was the makeshift bed by the desk. Liana Serpens lay on it, commanding all of Shed Lester’s attention.

“Ahem.”

At Eclace’s deliberate cough, those violet eyes finally turned away from the bed and towards him. Only then did Shed seem to realise that they had been in the middle of a conversation about heretics.

“Don’t worry. No matter what it takes, I’ll see to it every last one of them is dealt with.”

Shed Lester’s words slipped through his clenched teeth. Despite everything, his declaration carried weight; it was the kind of assurance only someone with bloodlust in their eyes could offer. It was the kind of promise you would expect from a man who looked ready to kill a heretic right then and there.

The scattered records and papers on the desk were evidence of his desperate search for answers. Ever since Liana was injured, he had scoured every scrap of information he could find on heresy and black magic.

When the research became too much to bear, he picked up his sword. When that offered no relief, he returned to the papers. For three days, he had done everything within his power.

But—

“Lord Lester. I greatly respect your passion, but… we know nothing of black magic.”

Eclace pointed out the reckless impulse driving him.

Yes, Shed Lester was a reliable guardian. With him around, there was hope that the heretics could be stopped.

But only if he retained the level-headedness and sharp intuition that usually characterised him.

‘In his current state… Shed Lester is dangerous.’

Eclace looked at Lupus, perched unsteadily on the edge of a chair. Deep shadows had sunk into the hollows beneath his eyes, and his lips were dry and cracked with restless unease.

Three days.

He hadn’t slept at all.

Even while they were talking, his bloodshot eyes kept flicking towards the bed. Eclace doubted that he was paying proper attention to their conversation. Even the talk about the heretic had sounded more like muttering to himself just now.

Lester’s current state was precarious; it was as though, if the faint breaths from the bed stopped, Lupus himself might plunge into an endless abyss.

“Could you also have fallen victim to the heretic’s magic, Your Grace? Until we understand its power precisely, we cannot afford to act rashly.”

Eclace carefully steered Shed’s thoughts back onto a rational track. At that, Shed lowered his lashes, biting down on his lips.

“At present we have only one priest. And even he knows nothing of heresy.”

“…Truly, His Majesty has gifted Ideana with a treasure.”

Shed muttered, his tone laced with such cold irony that it was hard to tell whether he was referring to treasure in the sense of talent or disaster.

Eclace found that he could agree with either interpretation. After all, the priest assigned by the Imperial court had proven to be utterly useless in this crisis.

He was a novice, ordained just three years ago. They had brought him here because he was supposedly trained in purifying Ideana’s lands, yet when it came to black magic, warding barriers or healing,

he inspired no confidence at all.

‘When the heretic appeared, all he did was cower and tremble.’

As darkness fell, Shed fought the heretic, while the priest clung to the wagon, crouching and shivering.

Since leaving the monastery, he had undoubtedly spent his short life being pampered and revered, never once standing in the shoes of those whose lives hung in the balance.

He had tended to the wounded from a safe distance, deluding himself that he had experienced war.

This was the flaw of talent drawn from nothing but the cloistered halls of a monastery.

‘Perhaps His Majesty thought Lupus unworthy of a truly capable priest.’

Watching the duke anxiously twisting his clasped hands, Eclace felt a stab of pity.

What a pitiful man. A duke, the savior of the Emperor’s very life and yet treated like this.

“They’ve sent word from the High Temple. Another priest is being dispatched—and a High Priest as well.”

“A High Priest? Who…?”

“It didn’t say. But whoever it is, their help should be worthwhile. If all goes well, they’ll arrive tomorrow, or the day after.”

Shed answered in a steadier voice than before, pressing his throbbing temple with the tips of his fingers.

Eclace could almost hear the wheels grinding inside his head, so quickly were thoughts racing. On a mind starved of sleep, he was endlessly devising how best to strike down the heretic.

“With a High Priest here, we might finally track the heretic. And no more wasting days struggling just to build a warding barrier.”

“That is why I must mention this. The goods from the merchant guild will be delayed by several more days. Just in case it proves impossible to obtain holy healing, we’ll need to prepare medicine and supplies.”

BOOM!

A deafening blast cut him off.

Startled, Eclace’s eyes darted to the window, while Shed’s head snapped instinctively towards the bed.

The two men realised at once that the blast had come from outside. They leapt to their feet and rushed out.

“Kyaaa!”

“Everyone, get back!”

“Stand clear!”

The cries led them to the source. In the distance, the annex of the Ideana estate was collapsing.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

Liana’s eyes fluttered open as a sharp, tearing pain ripped through her insides. Her head was throbbing, her vision was swimming, and the stabbing pain in her abdomen was preventing her from thinking straight.

She struggled to piece together what had happened. When they entered Faradel, the skies had darkened — and Shed had…

Through the haze of her vision, she saw a pair of violet eyes.

“Shed…?”

She squinted, trying to see more clearly. Instead, a stranger’s voice answered.

“Pleasure to meet you, Ideana.”

At that voice, her mind snapped into sharp focus. Forgetting the pain, she pushed herself upright.

A man in a dark robe stood beside the bed.

“You…!”

Even without seeing his face, she knew. The oppressive aura radiating from him was unmistakable. A heretic.

Shed—where was he?

What about the others?

“Shed…!”

“Shh. Don’t call for anyone. Unless, of course, you want me to kill them all again.”

He moved his fingers through the air as though playing a harp. Black energy emerged from his fingertips and then disappeared into thin air.

Liana clamped her mouth shut. The pain in her stomach clouded her thoughts.

‘If he says calling them would endanger them…then he must have come for me alone.’

The others must still be safe. If she wanted to keep them out of harm’s way, she had no choice but to cooperate.

“Your condition looks dire. It can’t be from a mere stab wound… You must’ve foolishly let a priest treat you.”

The heretic spoke in a light, singsong tone, smiling as though humming a tune.

Even a severe wound should not have left her bedridden for days. Injuries like this were ones that Liana’s body could easily heal. It was not the wound that had laid her low, but the holy power of the priest.

To someone touched by heresy, that sacred energy was poison.

“…Who are you?”

Liana pressed a trembling hand against the ache in her side and demanded an answer.

“You—you’re Ideana, aren’t you?”

Instead of answering her, the heretic asked. At his words, Liana’s eyes wavered.

“There’s no way I could ever forget your face. After all, it’s thanks to you that I ended up like this.”

“How… how are you still alive?”

“What’s the matter? Surprised? Did you really think they were all dead?”

From beneath his hood, his eyes curved with a sly glint. The sight sent a tremor through her pale face.

The haze clouding her mind began to clear, and with it, scarlet memories flooded back in vivid detail.

“No… I never meant to kill them…”

‘That wasn’t my will. I only…’

Her stomach churned. Like a fool, Liana could only shake her head over and over.

“Lies. You deliberately killed the other test subjects. You wanted the power for yourself—alone.”

“No! I—I was only afraid…”

At her desperate denial, the heretic let out a soft laugh.

“Afraid? You’re joking, right?”

He did not believe her.

“What on earth could you possibly fear?”

He reached out and gently pried away her hands, which had been clamped over her ears.

“With power like yours, you could bring down this entire empire without even trying.”

His violet eyes, tinged with a bleak madness, fixed upon her.

He knew. He knew the truth. The potential Luise Ideana carried. The immense power that had once brought down Ideana itself.