In an instant, she was plunged into complete darkness.

Startled and confused, she frantically turned her head, searching for an explanation. Then, within the pitch-black void, a faint shape began to emerge.

It resembled a human figure, but something about it was wrong. Something incomplete. Something not entirely human.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow shifted and took the form of a figure draped in a grey cloak.

The hood was pulled low, concealing the face entirely. Beneath the hood, there was nothing but blackness — no features, no expression.

Violet parted her lips, ready to shout at the grey-cloaked figure.

“……!”

But no sound came out. Her lips moved uselessly; her voice had completely disappeared. Panicking, she blinked rapidly.

The grey-cloaked figure reached out a hand towards her.

‘If you come with me, your wish will be granted.’

Violet stared at the outstretched hand. Although it resembled a hand, it was nothing more than a formless mass of darkness.

‘Take this hand.’

At that very moment—

“Violet!”

Jaina’s voice echoed from somewhere in the distance, and the darkened world was flooded with light. The grey-cloaked figure that had been reaching towards her vanished as if it had never been there.

Violet turned her head.

Jaina stood there, having completed the purification ritual in the rear garden. She looked at Violet with concern. The three men stood beside her, all watching Violet closely.

Jaina gestured for her to come over.

Violet began to walk towards them.

Suddenly, a reckless thought occurred to her.

That position, where Jaina now stood, should have been hers.

This groundless belief festered as she watched Cadel gently brush back the strands of Jaina’s hair that the wind had scattered.

If only Jaina did not exist, she could be standing at Cadel’s side. If Jaina were gone, she might even become the saintess, blessed with holy power.

A baseless confidence stirred within her, growing stronger by the second.

‘Do you wish to erase that saintess from this world?’

‘I will grant that wish.’

In that instant, she remembered the words of the unknown entity. If only Jaina would disappear, everything would happen exactly as she wanted it to. This thought filled her with dizzying hope.

‘I should have taken his hand.’

A heavy weight pressed down on Violet’s chest. She felt as though she had lost her chance to make a wish just because she had hesitated.

However, when she looked at Cadel’s face, she had another thought. She could not leave his side, not even for a moment.

If she were to disappear during the rainy season, he would instantly become consumed by pain. She could not bear the thought of causing him suffering for her own selfish reasons.

‘Well… there will be another chance.’

For some reason, she was certain that the person who had promised to grant her wish would come back.

Following him had been unsettling, filled with fear and uncertainty. But if a second chance came, she would take it without hesitation.

Even selling her soul seemed like a small price to pay to remove Jaina from Cadel’s side.

As Violet drew closer, she saw Jaina turn her back on her and start talking to Cadel about the meal they were about to eat.

She also noticed that Cadel did not spare her a single glance. His attention was fixed entirely on Jaina.

She disliked Jaina. But she also felt quietly resentful towards Cadel, who had not looked her way once since they arrived.

In fact, it had begun even before they left the North.

That morning, when she came down to the lobby slightly late after finishing her preparations, he stepped straight into the teleportation portal without waiting for her. She stood before him, looking more beautiful than ever, yet he did not even glance at her or compliment her on her appearance.

His indifference left her feeling heartbroken.

Despite being someone who could not bear rainy nights without her, he had made her follow him like this. The thought stung sharply.

For a moment, she wondered if she should have ignored Cadel and followed the stranger instead.

After all, people only recognize someone’s worth once they have lost them.

Violet prayed that her second opportunity would come soon.

***

By the time Cadel finally sat down to dinner, it was much later than usual.

With the communication orbs and teleportation stones malfunctioning, he had been consumed by anxiety and skipped almost every meal.

Now reunited with Jaina and overwhelmed by relief, he suddenly felt hungry. He ate with a voracious appetite, more eagerly than anyone else at the table.

Jaina’s eyes widened slightly at the sight. In all the times she had dined with him before, she had never seen him like this. He was not someone who openly enjoyed food, yet now he seemed as absorbed in eating as Elysion.

Shar, too, kept glancing back and forth between Elysion and Cadel, clearly fascinated by how they continued to shovel food into their mouths without pause.

“It seems the dishes suit your taste.”

With his cheeks full of food, Elysion chewed slowly and glanced at Shar, smiling faintly.

As if he hadn’t expected a response, Shar shifted his gaze to Cadel and asked.

“What about you? Why are you eating like a man who hasn’t had food in days?”

“Because I haven’t.”

Cadel answered flatly and speared a piece of meat with his fork, placing it into his mouth.

Shar stared at him in surprise.

“You haven’t eaten?”

Cadel did not respond. Instead, he cast a sidelong glance at Elysion.

“My feet were tied in the North, thanks to someone.”

At that, Elysion shifted his gaze to Cadel, his cheeks still stuffed with food. The two men chewed in silence, glaring at each other across the table for a moment.

“By the way, the girl you brought.”

Shar’s words drew both Cadel’s and Jaina’s attention to him at once.

“Didn’t you say you had to stay in the same room? Is it really fine to be sitting that far apart?”

Now that he had mentioned it, Jaina realized that she had wondered the same thing.

On rainy nights, they slept in the same room and in the same bed because the pain only subsided if they were together.

But here, they were not especially close, and Cadel seemed entirely unaffected.

He lifted his glass, took a sip of water, and replied in an indifferent tone.

“This isn’t the North.”

Even Elysion turned his gaze toward him at that.

“In the north, if we’re not within a certain distance of each other — even inside the ducal castle — the pain begins. It feels as though my body is burning from the inside out. I learned that the hard way. After experiencing it several times, we made it a rule to always stay in the same room after sunset.”

“……”

“But as you can see, it isn’t raining here. That doesn’t mean the rain in the North has stopped, so it’s not that I can suddenly endure it without Violet. The distance I can tolerate has simply grown wider. In the end, nothing has truly changed—I still need to be with her to escape the pain.”

“Hm. I see.”

Shar nodded thoughtfully.

“It’s worse when I fall asleep. At the moment I drift off, we have to be in the same room.”

“Is that so?”

Shar’s eyes widened slightly.

Cadel nodded once and then looked at Jaina.

“I’ve tested it dozens of times. The result’s always the same. When I fall asleep, we have to share the same space.”

This meant that on rainy nights, he had no choice but to stay with Violet. He wanted Jaina to understand that. If he could have endured the distance between them, he would never have shared a room with Violet in the first place.

“About that curse. The Grand Hierophant said he could investigate it.”

At Shar’s words, Cadel turned his head to look at Elysion.

“And he even implied he might be able to lift it.”

“When did I say I would lift it? I said I might be able to discover the method to lift it.”

Elysion refuted him at once. Shar merely shrugged lightly.

“It amounts to the same thing.”

“How is that the same?”

“You said you can find the method?”

Cadel cut in abruptly, directing the question at Elysion.

Elysion stared at him for a long moment. Then he set down the fork in his hand and let out a short sigh.

“Perhaps. But even if the method is found, do not expect the curse to be easily lifted.”

Both Cadel and Shar showed puzzled expressions at that.

Elysion continued, watching them.

“Knowing the method does not solve everything. Even if lifting the curse requires offering up the person’s most precious possession, would they exchange it for the curse without hesitation?”

Upon hearing these words, Cadel, Jaina and Shar all fell silent, stiffening simultaneously.

Knowing the method was not the same as resolving the matter. Everything came at a cost. Depending on the value of that cost, the outcome could change entirely.

As Jaina cut the meat on her plate with her fork and knife, she wondered what the price would be to free Cadel from his curse.

“Well, discovering the method alone would already be something, wouldn’t it?”

Shar spoke brightly, as though attempting to lighten the mood.

“Whether he chooses to lift it or not—that’s for Cadel to decide. The Grand Hierophant need only tell him how.”

Elysion gave a soft scoff.

“Do I look so idle?”

“Who knows? The price for finding it out might be considerable as well.”

“No matter how great a price a human can offer—”

“Let’s discuss that separately later.”

Cadel cut Elysion off.

Beside them, Jaina—who had been quietly uneasy as she listened—released a faint sigh of relief, barely audible.

“Very well. We’ll leave that aside for now.”

Shar nodded and continued.

“Then what are your plans for tonight? For the record, I can offer only two rooms.”