Without knowing where Cahilid was taking her, Ihis simply followed him.

Even so, she kept looking around.

It was not because she suspected where Cahilid might be leading her.

The reason was simple.

She did not know.

She had lived her entire life locked inside that cramped room, so she did not even know what places existed within this mansion.

Cahilid said nothing to her about it.

He merely stared intently at her, then slowly parted his lips a moment later.

“Please come in here.”

The door opened quietly, and Ihis raised her head.

Before her was a luxuriously decorated room, one her poor imagination could never have dared to picture.

It was the place where Cahilid was staying.

It was completely different from the basement, where dark-red blood clung stickily and the stench of blood filled the air.

And from that cramped room where she had been imprisoned her entire life.

Was that why?

Even though no one had said anything, she somehow felt conscious of herself.

Not knowing whether someone like her was allowed to be in such a splendid place, Ihis only stared down at the innocent floor.

Even though she had been the one to step forward and offer to treat him.

“Are you uncomfortable because this is the room of a man unrelated to you?”

Cahilid, who had been watching Ihis, asked with a small chuckle.

“There is no better place than this for me. Especially in this mansion.”

“Ah, no. It’s all right.”

Startled, Ihis belatedly stepped into Cahilid’s room.

After confirming that, Cahilid quietly closed the door.

Click.

At the sound of the lock turning, Ihis flinched hard.

“I personally dislike being interrupted.”

Not being interrupted was something Ihis preferred as well.

After all, she wanted to examine the energy she had clearly sensed from him earlier a little more thoroughly.

But then Cahilid said something Ihis had not expected.

“I imagine the same is true for you, my lady.”

“……Pardon?”

“Is it not?”

At Cahilid’s words, which somehow felt suspicious, Ihis froze slightly.

Could it be that he remembers me too?

Is that why he is trying to talk about what happened back then?

“By any chance, have you……”

Ihis parted her lips, stammering.

“Have I what?”

“Have you… ever seen me before?”

If Cahilid knew nothing and she openly brought up the events before her regression, he would only think she was insane.

So Ihis asked as indirectly as she could.

Cahilid narrowed his eyes as if puzzled.

“Well. If you were ever sold at a slave market like me, or if you ever lived wandering the streets, then perhaps I might have seen you.”

Ah, as expected……

He doesn’t remember.

Perhaps she had held a small expectation after all.

Even as she thought that, she found herself ridiculous.

He had merely shown her the bare minimum of pity.

They were nothing to each other.

Then what did he mean by not wanting to be interrupted?

“Please sit here.”

Cahilid pulled a soft sofa over for Ihis, then sat on the bed across from her.

If pushing that heavy sofa with one hand could be called a skill, then it seemed he had that skill as well.

The next thing Cahilid did was hold out his hand.

It was his right hand, the one scratched by a shard of the plate Ihis had broken.

The hand she had dared to grasp tightly earlier.

Ihis took Cahilid’s hand again, but her mind was already elsewhere.

……This little scratch is not the problem right now.

The energy she had felt.

In other words……

Magic.

She wanted to know why such powerful magic was coming from Cahilid.

“Did you not say you would heal my wound?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Please wait a moment.”

A soft golden light began to seep from Ihis’s hand as she held Cahilid’s.

Cahilid looked down at it with interest, while Ihis tried to stall for as long as possible, doing her best to properly sense the magic she could still clearly feel coming from him.

It was at that very moment.

Cahilid suddenly seized Ihis’s wrist.

“L-Lord Cahilid?”

She tried to twist her wrist free, but there was no way she could overcome Cahilid’s strength.

Cahilid, his face cold, slowly pushed up Ihis’s sleeve.

Then he looked down at her arm, which was covered in all kinds of scars.

“It seems the one with healing power is unable to care for her own body.”

“……”

“And scars from sword wounds and being pierced by arrows, no less. Those seem rather far removed from the wounds a noble young lady should have. Wouldn’t you agree?”

At Cahilid’s unexpected question, Ihis froze without being able to answer.

“I have heard such a story before.”

Cahilid’s low voice quietly echoed through the spacious room.

“That an imperfect healing power leaves identical wounds on the person who performs the healing.”

An ominous gleam lingered in Cahilid’s eyes, which seemed to burn red.

That sticky, chilling gaze swept over Ihis’s body.

“I wonder who you healed to end up like this. Even while injuring your own body.”

Cahilid’s gaze was as sharp and keen as a well-honed blade.

Even if she were wearing armor instead of a cloak, it felt as though she would not be able to hide what was inside her heart.

“From what I can see, it seems you have healed no small number of people.”

Overwhelmed by him, Ihis held her breath, and Cahilid continued speaking.

“Then why, every time, did people with such serious injuries appear before you?”

“……”

“Is that not quite strange?”

It felt as though he had already seen through everything.

Ihis slightly shrank back in fear and faint shame.

“So then.”

The words Cahilid spoke next were even more shocking than everything he had said just now.

“What do you think of my magic?”

“……Pardon?”

Startled, Ihis let go of Cahilid’s hand, which had already been completely healed.

“Did you not break that plate because you were worried I might go berserk in front of everyone?”

“Th-that was……”

“If I had stayed there, Mahie—your father—would have discovered that I possess magic, and he would have seized that weakness immediately.”

In the Empire, magic was treated as ominous and wicked.

The people worshipped only the god who had founded the Empire, and unlike other places, they had not even left a Magic Tower standing. They had destroyed it completely.

So to Mahie, there would have been no better leash than the fact that Cahilid possessed magic.

“And yet, why did you stop that from happening?”

Before she knew it, Cahilid had brought his face right in front of hers. Gripping Ihis’s pale chin, he whispered in a low voice.

“And you did it secretly, no less. Even going so far as to suppress my magic, which kept rising inside me, with your powerful healing ability.”

Cahilid was certain of his guess.

It had started from the moment Ihis clumsily broke the plate and abruptly grabbed his injured hand.

From that moment, the magic on the verge of rampaging had begun to calm little by little.

“Ihis Erbereje.”

The large hand gripping her chin tightened slightly.

All Ihis could do was swallow dryly from the tension.

She could see an indescribably dark light in the red eyes looking down at her.

“What do you want from me?”

Cahilid’s ominous voice, heavy as lead, rang clearly in her ears.

“You had better be honest. I do not know how much you know about me, but my sword can cut down anyone.”

“……”

“Even if that person is the witch of Erbereje, whom Mahie has hidden away so tightly inside this mansion.”

At that moment, Ihis’s blue eyes, filled entirely with Cahilid, trembled helplessly.