Chapter 47

Questions buried deep in the subconscious began to bubble up.

Even though she was convinced that Eos was a fake, there were moments when it felt like a sharp needle was piercing her spine.

An inexplicable sense of incongruity, unease. It was as if the ground beneath her feet wasn’t solid earth but a flimsy wooden plank floating on water. Blearily blinking at the tilt of her vision, Bleria’s sense of balance wavered. It was at that moment that the duke appeared.

“What’s going on here?”

The duke, who had been at the back of the banquet hall, must have heard the commotion. Supporting himself with his cane, he hurried forward but stopped abruptly as he reached the scene.

His gaze swept over the tableau before him: Damian, brushing back his wet hair; herself, frozen with unease; and then to the figure before her.

“Help me, please, help!”

Eos clutched at her arm desperately, coughing up the last water she had swallowed.

“My head hurts—hurts so much. It feels like it’s going to split open!”

Gripping her head, Eos crouched down, writhing in pain. Her reaction seemed excessive, even though she had fallen into the water. She was practically screaming. The shawl wrapped around her body slipped off.

“I feel like I’m going to die! Call someone, anyone! Father, Mother, Brother, Harry—where are all of you? You’ve all abandoned me—abandoned me…!”

Her hysterical cries silenced even the murmurs of disdain from the onlookers, who had initially muttered about her unsightly behavior. Now, they stared at her as if she were a ghost.

Perhaps everyone in the room felt the same. But not Bleria.

When the shawl slipped, it wasn’t Eos’s screams that caught Bleria’s attention—it was another sound. A sharp, distinctive clatter echoed as the duke’s cane slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor.

‘Ah.’

The duke stood frozen, his complexion drained of color. Bleria watched him blankly, her gaze following his line of sight as it became impossible to ignore.

It might have been easier to bear if the duke had been looking at Eos’s face. But his gaze was fixed on Eos’s exposed abdomen, where a large, inexplicable scar was revealed.

Click.

A sound from the past echoed in her mind: the sound of her pendant snapping open.

***

Someone was crying. The voice was that of a child and a grown woman, and the desperate sobs rang in her ears.

‘So loud.’

Bleria tried to move but found that even her fingers wouldn’t budge. When she finally managed to open her eyes, she found herself shrouded in darkness. The faint glow from a few wall lamps barely illuminated the space before her.

Her body was wrapped in fine white threads—spider silk. Following the strands with her eyes, she saw they were connected to her hair. The arrangement resembled a cocoon. At that realization, the distant sobbing abruptly stopped.

Then a voice, right next to her ear, spoke.

“Thief.”

She nearly screamed but found her gaping mouth producing no sound.

“Fraud.”

It was a child’s voice.

Holding her breath, Bleria shifted her gaze. Though her limited vision couldn’t make out the speaker’s face, she could see silver hair cascading to the floor. It was unmistakable. The recurring nightmare that tormented her had returned, though its form was slightly different this time.

“You liar.”

The child laughed a cold and clammy sound.

“Did you think you could live your whole life pretending to be me? Foolish and pathetic. But now it’s over. Everything will return to where it belongs.”

“…”

“I can’t wait to see how you die.”

The child’s innocent laughter resonated as the silver hair swayed, piercing her ears like tinnitus. Bleria shut her eyes tightly, willing the dream to end.

Hurry. Hurry up and let this nightmare end.

The child’s breath tickled her ear as if mocking her. A puff of air. And then the world went pitch-black. Even when she opened her eyes, she saw nothing. The lamps had gone out.

Then the sound began.

A faint scratch, growing louder by the second, like a massive insect creeping closer.

Again, the thought struck her: the threads binding her were spider silk.

Wake up.

She thrashed and twisted her bound limbs, screaming soundlessly in her head.

Wake up, please.

The approaching presence grew sharper, and her terror-filled every empty space within her. What if she couldn’t wake up? Would she be devoured? Or trapped in this darkness forever?

Someone, anyone—help me. Not Bleria, but me. Help me!

“Gopher!”

At last, her silent throat released a cry. Hope flickered. Something—anything—might break this nightmare. Or perhaps Gopher himself would appear.

And just as she’d hoped, a calm and familiar voice spoke.

“You seem to be struggling.”

Her body went limp with relief. Nearly in tears, she turned toward the sound. She could see Gopher’s silhouette perched in the dim light on her abdomen.

He asked, “Do you dislike the darkness?”

Of course. Who wouldn’t?

“Then shall I brighten it for you?”

Leaning closer, he moved deliberately. She felt a sharp pull on her scalp. Gopher had taken a handful of her hair.

A grating noise scratched through the silence, followed by the sudden flare of a match. Its flame illuminated Gopher’s ever-smiling face.

In one hand, he held the match. In the other, her hair. Slowly, he brought the two together.

What are you doing…?

“Without fuel, the flame would die out quickly. You hate this white hair, don’t you? It’s fine if it’s gone. Once this hair burns away, there’ll be nothing left of you. But that’s okay. You never had anything to begin with.”

At last, the fire touched her hair. At that moment, Bleria noticed Gopher’s shadow—the shape of a spider.

“Wake up, my lady!”

A forceful shake jolted her awake. For a moment, Bleria couldn’t distinguish dream from reality. She blinked, frozen in place.

Her bedroom. Lucy was the one shaking her. Her body was drenched in cold sweat, every inch trembling.

“Ah.”

She was awake.

Finally relieved, Bleria collapsed limply onto her mattress.

“How could you sweat so much… Was it another nightmare? You’d been doing better for a while.“

“It’s nothing.”

With Lucy’s help, she weakly sat up. Her head throbbed. Running her tense fingers over her forehead brought no relief.

The headache remained, and so did the grim reality of her situation.

The relief of waking up was short-lived. Reality had its own torments. Once again, Bleria repeated the question she’d asked every morning of late.

“Has Father woken up?”

At the celebration banquet, the duke suddenly collapsed after seeing the scar on Eos. The event was immediately halted, and the guests dispersed.

The attending physician assured everyone that the duke would wake soon, but it had already been four days, and he remained unconscious. As a result, the atmosphere at the duchy was tense, as if walking on thin ice.

The large scar and Eos. The unconscious duke and Heaven. These wearying thoughts circled endlessly in her mind, heating it to exhaustion.

“He hasn’t woken yet.”

She had sent multiple letters requesting a meeting with Gopher, someone with whom she could discuss the matter, but that was also futile.

“And still no reply?”

“No, my lady. The only message we’ve received is that he’s swamped.”

Bleria accepted Lucy’s cold water and downed it in one gulp.

“Tell them I won’t need my portion of the meal.“

“Yes, my lady. If you need anything, please call me anytime.”

With careful steps, Lucy left the bedroom. The silence that followed offered a brief sense of peace, but it didn’t last long before there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

Bleria spoke as she rubbed her fingers between her brows. The visitor was a maid, Daisy.

“My lady, I’ve come with a message.“

“From whom?“

“The Count, currently under investigation, has asked to apologize to you. He’s requesting that you visit him just once. He said it’s fine if the knights relay the message to you, so here I am.”

Daisy spoke much quicker than usual as if wanting to avoid dragging out the conversation.

“He also mentioned something strange—you’d understand if he said the letter seems to have been sent to the wrong person.“

Bleria’s expression darkened.

“Fine. Leave now.“

“Yes, my lady.”

Daisy appeared ready to exit but hesitated, turning back.

“Oh, and my lady, you mentioned letting me know if I heard any rumors last time. They haven’t spread much yet, but I did hear something.”

The maid faltered briefly before speaking.

***

Mixel Luke Dice was staying in a guest room deep within the mansion.

It wasn’t typical for someone holding the rank of count and a direct descendant of the Allnight family to be detained. If the enraged Duke Allnight hadn’t actively cooperated with the investigation, he likely would have been released by now.

Even though the charges pertained to fraud—allegedly displacing Heaven’s daughter to substitute another—the evidence was insufficient to hold him for long.

When Bleria arrived at the guest room, she was greeted by two of Heaven’s knights standing guard outside. Upon noticing her, they bowed their heads in acknowledgment.