Deep in the hours before dawn, Callius watched Chloe as she lay curled in restless sleep.
"Cold..."
The logs in the fireplace burned brightly—Callius had just rekindled the dying embers moments ago. The room should have been comfortably warm.
Moreover, Chloe was wrapped in a thick blanket pulled all the way up to her neck.
Yet still, pale white breath escaped her lips with every shallow exhale.
'She seemed a little better during the day.'
The curse appeared to grow more powerful at night.
Callius took her hand, his chest tightening with pity. It felt like ice beneath his touch.
Summoning a physician would accomplish nothing—this was a curse, not an illness. Callius knew all too well that conventional medicine held no answers here.
He cupped Chloe's cold cheek gently with his hand, trying to offer what little warmth he could.
Even in sleep, Chloe couldn't find peace. She tossed and turned restlessly, trapped between waking and dreaming.
Callius couldn't bear to watch any longer. Quietly, carefully, he slipped out of bed.
'We must find a way to break this curse.'
As he moved toward the door, a soft rustling sound came from behind him.
"Callius...?"
Chloe's voice was small, barely more than a whisper.
She sat up, wrapped tightly in the blanket, rubbing her eyes as though struggling to shake off sleep's hold. She looked up at him with drowsy confusion.
"Where are you going?"
"It's still hours before dawn. Sleep a little longer."
"What about you?"
"I have something I need to attend to..."
Chloe, not yet fully awake, spoke with heartbreaking vulnerability.
"Do you have to go...?"
She seemed unable to distinguish whether this was dream or reality.
Her head lowered, expression crumpling with quiet sadness.
"I don't want to be alone..."
Then, slowly, she lay back down.
"But it's okay... I understand..."
She seemed accustomed to giving up quickly, accepting solitude without even asking twice.
Why did that acceptance hurt more than any protest could have?
Callius returned to Chloe's side and gently patted her shoulder.
"Cold..."
She pulled the blanket closer, curling into herself.
Within moments, she had drifted back into uneasy sleep.
'She can't last much longer like this.'
The sorcerer had been right when he'd warned that Chloe would die soon if the curse wasn't broken.
With heavy steps and a heavier heart, Callius left the room, heading toward a destination he'd been avoiding.
'There must be more records about my mother somewhere. Something I've missed.'
"..."
Someone stood concealed in shadow, watching as Callius left the room and walked down the hallway.
The black-clad figure remained perfectly still, completely hidden in darkness. They made no hasty move to follow.
Instead, they focused intently on the sound of Callius's retreating footsteps. Then, maintaining careful distance, they moved silently in the direction they suspected he was headed.
In Ronheim's castle, not all watchers were friendly—and some served masters far to the south.
Meanwhile, in the Arrental Empire, morning sunlight painted the palace in shades of gold.
Kavala appeared from an inner chamber, extending her hand gracefully. A red bird materialized from thin air, circling once before landing delicately on her palm.
When her breath touched the creature, it dissolved into glittering crimson dust, forming letters that hung suspended in the air above her desk.
Kavala blew gently on the luminous dust. It scattered and vanished without a trace.
"How slow."
She clicked her tongue in mild disapproval, though her smile suggested she was quite pleased with the report nonetheless.
Her gaze dropped to the ring in her hand. Sunlight streaming through the window struck the gemstone, casting a blood-red glow across her fingers.
Kavala turned the exquisite ruby ring slowly, admiring the way light danced within its depths, before slipping it onto her finger.
"My treasure has returned to me at last."
The ring was called Dragon's Eye—a ruby of exceptional quality and power.
Kavala caressed the gemstone with the tenderness one might show a long-lost child, her expression soft with possessive affection.
She looked up at Dnieper, who stood at respectful attention before her desk.
"You discovered this in the North?"
Dnieper had found the Dragon's Eye quite by accident while investigating the whereabouts of Viscount Pelsus. Not only had he uncovered solid evidence of the Viscount's disappearance in northern territories, but he'd also stumbled upon the ring being auctioned on the region's black market.
After so long an absence, Dnieper had returned bearing gifts of tremendous value.
Kavala's smile was radiant with approval.
"Who possessed this ring?"
Dnieper nodded to a servant stationed at the door. The servant immediately stepped outside and returned moments later with a prisoner in tow.
A man with an unkempt beard and a bear-like build was dragged into Kavala's office, chains rattling.
"Please, please spare me! I beg you!"
He pleaded through tears, voice breaking with terror.
"I swear I didn't know it belonged to Your Majesty! I swear it's true!"
Kavala spoke with deceptive gentleness, her smile compassionate and warm.
"There's no need for such a frightening atmosphere. Release him."
Hope bloomed across the prisoner's face as his shackles were removed. He looked up at Kavala as though she were an angel descended from heaven itself.
"Thank you! Oh, thank you, Your Majesty!"
Kavala approached him, her expression kind and patient.
"How did you come to possess this ring?"
The man answered in a rush, clearly having no intention of concealing anything.
"A while back, a merchant brought a gemstone to me for appraisal! He had no idea what it was, but I recognized it immediately as a Dragon's Eye! I've always been fascinated by famous gemstones, you see. I once read about it in a book..."
As the man's explanation grew increasingly verbose, Kavala's gentle smile hardened ever so slightly.
She interrupted with blunt directness, though her smile never wavered.
"So?"
The man felt relief at seeing her smile, yet something cold and predatory in her tone made him swallow hard.
"That's—that's why I bought the ring from him. The only reason I put it up for auction was..."
Kavala cut him off, clearly uninterested in such trivial details.
"Do you know where this merchant is now?"
The man shook his head, lips trembling as though he might burst into tears.
He'd already been dragged to the palace precisely because he couldn't answer that question.
"He's—he's just a traveling merchant... Always moving around the North. He appears suddenly one day, then vanishes the next. I can't say for certain where he might be now..."
A chill suddenly ran down his spine. He looked up at Kavala.
Her expression had transformed completely. The kind smile was gone, replaced by a gaze as cold and merciless as winter ice.
The man realized with dawning horror that if he said the wrong thing—or nothing at all—he was going to die.
'I have to say something. Anything. Something that will please her. Something that buys me time.'
His mind raced desperately.
'What should I mention? What would help? Describing the merchant's appearance won't work—all traveling merchants look the same...'
The longer he hesitated, the colder Kavala's expression became.
The man barely suppressed a whimper of terror as Kavala let out a small, disappointed sigh.
She gestured dismissively to an attendant, clearly losing patience.
The man instinctively understood that gesture meant nothing good for him.
Trembling like a leaf, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind:
"Ronheim!"
Kavala's footsteps, which had been carrying her back toward her desk, stopped abruptly.
Only belatedly did the man realize what he'd said, his expression shifting to startled recognition.
The merchant's distinguishing characteristic—something he'd completely overlooked in his panic—had surfaced unconsciously in his moment of desperation.
"Ronheim?"
Kavala turned and walked back to him with unhurried, elegant grace.
"Yes, yes! I remember now—he often sold goods from Ronheim! Not many merchants travel that far north! There can't be many who carry Ronheim wares and would have brought that ring to market!"
"I see."
A gentle smile returned to Kavala's previously frozen features.
'I'm saved. I'm going to live.'
Relief flooded through the man—but it was devastatingly short-lived.
Kavala gestured to her attendant once more, her expression still kind and benevolent.
"Clean this up. It would be best to dispose of it completely."
The man's eyes went wide with shock and incomprehension.
"Your Majesty! Please! Your Majesty, I beg you!"
But his pleas didn't last long.
The moment he was dragged from the office, he ceased to exist as a living being in this world.
Kavala, as though disgusted by the lingering scent of the man's fear-sweat, ordered her maids to open all the windows and air out the room. Following her usual custom, she personally sprayed perfume throughout the space.
Then she turned back to Dnieper, her smile widening with genuine amusement.
"Ronheim. Isn't that an amusing coincidence?"
The same northern kingdom where her wayward stepdaughter had fled.
The same isolated realm where a certain cursed princess now hid.
Kavala's gaze turned north—toward the one place Chloe had thought herself safe,and the net began, slowly, to close.
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