CHGD 07

Chapter 08

[You who hate, you who are, you are my this being’s flesh of-]

‘No.’

The end of the book was approaching. I had a gut feeling that if I read this book to the end, something irreversible would happen.

Trembling fingers, ceaselessly quivering eyes, my brain soaked in fear and ecstasy screamed ceaselessly.

……Eventually, I reached the final page.

At some point, I had buried my face in the book.

And on that final page I had so dreaded, only one word remained.

[Arrival.]

‘Arrival? What does this……’

Just then, someone placed a hand on my shoulder.

“My lady, are you alright?”

“……!”

The moment I heard that voice, I regained control of my body. I dropped the book I’d reached the final page of, and immediately stepped back.

“Hah, hah……!”

“What’s wrong?”

He looked at me, breathing heavily, as if finding it strange. And he reached for the book I’d dropped.

I forcefully pushed his hand away.

“Don’t pick it up!”

“Wh-whoa?”

And I hurriedly picked up the book instead, closed it, and returned it to its original shelf.

This book was a forbidden text I must never read again.

Unidentified voices and letters were still tormenting my mind.

Sensing that my expression was unusual, he asked in a bewildered voice.

“Did you see something strange?”

“Well…….”

I tried to explain, but then shook my head and closed my mouth. Considering his personality, if he got unnecessarily curious, it would be a problem.

“It’s nothing.”

“Well, if you say so…….”

Just then, the bell announcing noon rang out. The sound came from the clock tower near the castle gate.

“It’s lunchtime. Do you want to go out?”

“……Yes.”

I didn’t want to stay in the library any longer. Following his guidance, I headed outside the library. Seeing that my steps seemed unsteady, he supported me.

Just before leaving, I looked back at the shelf where that book had been.

‘……It’s gone.’

The spot where that shelf had been was now empty. As if it had never existed, both the book and the shelf had vanished.

What was that book? Why was it here, made in a modern style? What were the emotions I felt while reading it? And who had written those terrible sentences…….

My head was complicated with a whirlwind of questions, but I turned my head away and averted my gaze.

I’d only been in this castle for a day, but I’d already established a standard for what I shouldn’t take an interest in.

“Ah, by the way, my lady.”

“Yes.”

As we headed to the dining hall, he spoke in a somewhat amused voice.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself to you. And I’m supposed to be your escort.”

“We already know each other’s names.”

Besides, I’d introduced myself at our first meeting. Did he already forget?

“Did we? Do you know my name, my lady?”

“Yes. It’s Roaz, right?”

“That’s right, Roaz.”

Roaz, the escort knight appointed by the Count, smiled harmlessly.

“Please call me Roaz from now on.”

As if that were difficult.

I nodded.

Something sinister had intruded.

At the same time, Haster sensed that something had changed in his castle.

‘What kind of being is it?’

The castle’s defenses were perfect. Blacky handled the physical defense, and the dimensional gaps were meticulously sealed.

He’d left no element that could interfere with Deliana from the outside.

And yet, someone had intruded without even touching those defenses.

Haster immediately set down all his work and moved toward Deliana. Forgetting even his own rule of always maintaining human form in the castle, he ran, half-revealing his true form.

It was noon, and he had instructed Valos to guide her to the dining hall at this time, so he could guess her location.

Arriving at the dining hall, he once again took human form and opened the door.

“Deliana!”

Fortunately, Deliana was in the dining hall.

Startled by the sudden call, she covered her mouth with her hand, which was full of food.

“Co-Count?”

He didn’t sense the presence of any other being nearby. Deliana was the only one seated in the spacious dining hall.

‘It wasn’t targeting Deliana?’

Haster quietly gazed at Deliana. He examined her closely to see if she’d suffered any harm from the external being.

No wounds, no mental contamination. She was exactly as she’d been this morning.

“What…… happened?”

As expected, no trace of the being’s presence could be felt. Well, an entity bold enough to invade the castle wouldn’t leave evidence so blatantly.

Now that he’d confirmed Deliana was fine, he should look elsewhere, but Haster’s gaze remained fixed on Deliana.

“Count?”

‘She’s pretty.’

There was no particular reason.

It was just that Deliana, with her cheeks full of food, was pretty.

Haster, who had never felt such emotions toward a mere mortal, was experiencing for the first time the sensation of curling toes and stiffening body when seeing something cute.

“Is it…… delicious?”

He’d intended to greet her and tell her to enjoy her meal, but what came out was an awkward greeting unlike him.

Deliana, still covering her mouth with food in it, hesitated and nodded.

“It’s…… delicious.”

Of course it would be.

Deliana’s meal was something Haster had specially ordered.

There was no being in the castle who could make human food. So he had personally transformed one of the servants into an excellent chef.

The menu, naturally, consisted mainly of foods she liked.

“Would you like to join me?”

She was even offering a meal to him, who had rudely barged in.

At Deliana’s kind words, Haster clutched his chest and shook his head.

It was because his heart pounded as he remembered her feeding him fruit that morning.

“No, I’m fine. I have work to do…… Please, continue eating.”

“Ah, yes.”

If she’d asked twice, he might have considered it, but Deliana just nodded as if that was fine.

Though a little disappointed, he came to his senses and left the dining hall, intending to tell Deliana to enjoy her meal.

‘If not Deliana, then why did they intrude?’

There was no being that didn’t know this castle was Haster’s domain.

Moreover, entering recklessly meant preparing for war, and his enemies weren’t stupid enough to suddenly intrude without preparation.

The questions grew, tail after tail.

‘First, Deliana’s safety is the top priority.’

Now that he knew there was an intruder in the castle, he couldn’t leave Deliana alone. He had appointed Valos as her escort, but it was woefully insufficient.

“Wait, Valos?”

Having been so captivated by Deliana, he belatedly realized that Valos, her escort knight, wasn’t by her side.

Haster expanded his senses and surveyed the area. Valos’s characteristic slimy presence couldn’t be felt anywhere.

Though Valos was a bit lacking in intelligence, he had never failed such a simple command.

Frowning, Haster moved to find Valos.

Just as he was about to head to places where Valos might be, he sensed a presence near the opposite hallway.

As he quickly headed there, an unimaginable sight awaited him.

“……!”

The first thing he saw was blood.

The blood that had soaked the hallway walls had spread in all directions as if it had been trapped in a water balloon and then burst, forming bizarre shapes.

At a glance, it looked like a flower drawn in blood.

And beneath it lay a corpse, seemingly the owner of the blood.

There was nothing above the corpse’s neck, its limbs were twisted grotesquely, and its entire body was covered in an unidentified sticky liquid.

It was a shocking sight, like a broken doll, but Haster’s expression was filled not with horror but with irritation.

He’d recognized the corpse’s identity from the armor it wore and the magic-infused blood.

“Valos.”

Valos had been murdered in a gruesome state.

Irritated by Valos’s incompetence, Haster frowned and approached his corpse.

‘With this much evidence left, there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed.’

Up close, the pungent scent of blood and thick magical energy stimulated his senses. Traces that he should have noticed before even entering the dining hall.

No, in the first place, if it had been a battle where Valos was taken down like this, the whole castle would have been stirred.

That meant either Valos had been unilaterally defeated without resistance, or……

‘Or rather, Valos didn’t resist at all from the start.’

Haster brought his finger to the cross-section of Valos’s neck, where his head had been.

As if struck by something sharp, the cleanly severed neck—he inserted his index finger. He clicked his tongue at the death energy felt at his fingertip.

‘Completely cut off his life.’

Valos’s vitality was impressive enough to make even Haster marvel.

He was a being who could revive with tremendous regenerative ability even if his neck was cut off, but the unknown enemy seemed to have done something to prevent Valos from regenerating.

‘If they wanted to kill him, they could have left the limbs alone. They must have really hated Valos.’

A power that suppressed regeneration, concealment ability excellent enough to hide from Haster, and someone who held enough grudge against Valos to desecrate the corpse…….

Haster quickly deduced the culprit.

“Roaz.”

All the evidence pointed to him.

A being of shadowy schemes, an apostle of plots.

……And Haster’s fragment.

Roaz was here.