* * *

[Are you sure about this?]

I’d already been with a malicious dragon who wanted to devour every human he saw, so a romantic tough-guy lizard was nothing.

I nodded silently and extended my hand toward the beaming Parak.

As I chanted the spell for a master-servant contract, a bright light burst forth.

Parak became the second sacred beast to forge a pact with me after Bear.

Now, Parak was free to enjoy his life but could visit me whenever he wanted, drawn by my resemblance to Maya.

“Oh, and by the way, would you consider giving me that stone now? Instead of being a sacred beast bound to guard it in sorrow forever, you’d be living freely.”

I knelt and gently stroked Parak’s head.

He quietly accepted my touch, then rubbed his cheek against my fingers.

[Maya loved humans genuinely. She wanted them to be as happy as possible and always wished to bring forth miracles, to make the impossible possible.]

I watched as Parak’s form slowly faded.

Even as he disappeared, his gaze stayed fixed on me.

His parting words brought a sting to my nose for reasons I couldn’t quite understand.

[Bearer of Maya’s will, never forget this, no matter how much sorrow life brings you.]

Parak’s eyes curved into crescent shapes, leaving a gentle voice lingering in my ears.

[Miracles do exist.]

With those final words, Parak dispersed like a handful of sand, returning to the icy cave where he once dwelled.

Feeling something foreign in my right hand, I opened it absentmindedly to find a purple stone glowing softly.

This was the first stone I’d obtained after much hardship—the one Parak had protected for millennia.

I tucked it behind my pocket watch.

‘Just four more to go, and I can finally destroy Mephisto inside Jerome. But, of course…’

I still had unfinished business.

Shaking off my heavy heart, I forced myself to stand, casting a disinterested gaze at my guildmates, who looked at me as if I were some sort of specter after subduing Parak so effortlessly.

“Where’s Lady Freya?”

According to them, Freya had lost consciousness after Parak was summoned and hadn’t yet awakened.

I decided to check on her condition myself, surveying the surrounding destruction.

Houses and shops were all reduced to rubble from Parak’s rampage.

Thankfully, there were no casualties, but rebuilding would take considerable time.

“As for Freya… but where on earth are Jerome and Carlisle?”

A wave of unease crept over me, the thought that Jerome and Carlisle might have been injured.

But against my worries, I found Carlisle and Jerome, both covered in dirt, fully engrossed in something amidst the debris.

They were smeared in blood but appeared focused on a chess game they’d somehow scavenged from who-knows-where.

“What are you doing on the street? And why do you look like that?”

Their intent concentration took me aback.

Without missing a beat, Carlisle replied while moving a chess piece.

“We’re in the middle of a game.”

“What?”

“We agreed the loser would calmly accept decapitation.”

What does that even mean?

While I stared, baffled, Jerome and Carlisle were more serious than ever.

Jerome, resting his chin on his knee, scowled.

“At this rate, I’m really going to die.”

“You’ve always been oblivious to your surroundings when you fixate on one thing,” taunted Carlisle, making Jerome grin faintly. Jerome pondered a few seconds before moving his piece.

“Better than losing my most valuable piece while trying to be aware of everything around me.”

“There’s no such thing as a ‘valuable piece.’ All pieces have equal worth on the board.”

“Aren’t you being hypocritical, Carlisle, saying that?”

“If choosing evil just because I hate hypocrisy makes me childish, so be it.”

Their gazes met in the air, a tension so thick it seemed they might overturn the chessboard and start another brawl.

Feeling a sudden sense of urgency, I squatted down and joined the conversation.

“Why not just fight like normal people? This game lacks any real sense of danger.”

Jerome, who had been looking blankly at Carlisle, refocused on the board.

Both were bleeding from their heads yet refused to back down.

Jerome lifted a bishop in his hand and shook it.

“Fistfights are too crude.”

A surprisingly sensible reason. Carlisle looked pleased.

“Checkmate. I win.”

“Ah! I was too careless.”

Carlisle rose, triumphant, while Jerome clicked his tongue.

Then, with a grin, Carlisle unsheathed his sword, ready to ‘claim’ his prize.

Jerome lowered his head obediently as Carlisle gripped his hair and raised his sword high.

“Jerome, lower your head properly.”

“Okay, but please, cut gently.”

“I’ll make it as painful as possible, so don’t try to be cute.”

Meeting Jerome’s eyes, who had obediently bowed, I could only gape in disbelief.

“Don’t give me that look, darling. We’re bound to be together in the next life as well.”

“After everything I did to save you, don’t you dare die over a chess game!”

I flipped the chessboard over and yanked Jerome toward me.

Carlisle, seeing my wary expression, sheathed his sword expressionlessly.

Meanwhile, Jerome nuzzled against my chest.

“My wife always smells so nice…”

“I don’t care if you want to play your silly games, but can you at least not risk your lives? Jerome’s a bit lacking, sure, but Carlisle, what’s gotten into you, acting so childishly?”

As I tried to push Jerome’s forehead away, I paused, noticing the warmth radiating from him.

He had a fever. Carlisle observed this with a faint smile.

“It’s not childish. If you consider the innocent lives he might take in the future, this feels like fate. Jeanne, you shouldn’t defend Jerome out of mere sentiment.”

“Jerome’s different now.”

“As his power grows, so does Mephisto’s. And Jerome has indeed grown stronger—probably because he has something he wishes to protect.”

Carlisle’s words mirrored what Bermut once said: the stronger Jerome becomes, the more Mephisto’s power amplifies.

Playing with the chess pieces scattered on the ground, Carlisle continued.

“Don’t you see? The stronger your bond with Jerome, the larger Mephisto grows. In the end, he’ll lose his sense of self, just like the other heretics.”

“…”

“It would be better to…”

“Carlisle.”

I cut him off. It was like deciding whether to raise a troublesome child myself or to abandon them entirely.

For once, Carlisle’s usually calm eyes wavered. I spoke firmly.

“I have a plan. Don’t talk about killing him so lightly. You know this problem isn’t that simple.”

Carlisle sighed, pushing his hair back.

He spoke of killing Jerome as if it were a straightforward solution, but I could tell Jerome was also a complicated figure for him.

They’d known each other far longer than I had. Jerome, arms around my neck, grinned mischievously.

“Don’t fight over me, you two.”

“Shut up.”

“Die.”

Even though our opinions on how to handle Jerome differed, both Carlisle and I knew our lives had been derailed by him.

Ignoring my response, Jerome snuggled closer, the lingering warmth of his fever reaching me.

‘Is he feeling unwell from the battle?’

As Jerome’s sudden health decline left me puzzled, I saw a familiar face approaching in the distance—Luke, with his usual indifferent expression.

When he spotted me and Jerome, he scowled, as if his gaze was saying, “Those idiots managed to survive somehow.”

Standing beside Carlisle, Luke didn’t even glance our way as he spoke.

“Sir Carlisle, an order has been issued for us to withdraw from the temple.”

“Out of the blue?”

“They say there’s an urgent matter that needs to be relayed to the entire guild.”

Carlisle pondered over Luke’s words for a moment before decisively moving forward.

As he watched Carlisle walk away, Luke turned to me, his tone sharp.

“You always seem to bring misfortune with you. Because you lured Parak into the village, the northern land’s people lost their homes. Do you realize that?”

“I was just trying to lure Parak—”

“That’s not something you can decide on your own. In the future, refrain from making unilateral decisions.”

Faced with Luke’s cutting criticism, I clamped my mouth shut.

Somehow, his words seemed to hurt even more than they normally would.

Seeing my expression fall, Luke muttered with irritation.

“But… the idea of attaching Jacob’s feather to the arrow was rather clever.”

Luke’s unexpected remark left me momentarily stunned.

Was that a compliment?

Yet, his expression remained as cold as if he were staring at a mortal enemy.

Scratching my cheek awkwardly, I asked hesitantly.

“Just to clarify, was that a compliment?”

“Don’t say such offensive things. I was merely stating my observations. Soon enough, the temple will decide on your punishment for your impulsive actions. That’s all.”

With that, Luke turned away with a chilling look, leaving me to stare blankly at his retreating back.

Jerome, who had slipped out of my grasp, spoke up in an amused voice.

“If he went as far as to say that, then he was definitely impressed.”

“….”

“If you hadn’t lured Parak away, members of the Flare Guild could have been seriously hurt. He had no choice but to acknowledge that. You were brave. Bold, even.”

Jerome, who’d stood up first, slid his arm under mine, hoisting me to my feet with a grunt.

Still in shock, I mumbled to myself.

“Even with someone he dislikes, he admits what he must?”

“That’s Luke’s greatest strength. He constantly sees others as examples—both good and bad. It’s a bit tiresome.”

“Tiresome?”

“When someone who’s always been nice treats you poorly just once, they’re branded as unforgivable. But if someone who’s always treated you poorly does something nice just once… you start thinking, ‘Maybe they’re not so bad after all.’”

Humming a little tune, Jerome hugged me tightly from behind.

I turned my head on impulse, meeting his gaze.

My reflection shimmered in his dim, ash-colored eyes as he whispered softly.

“Luke is clever. He knows how to manipulate the psychology of people who crave approval. Even if I’m not around, don’t get foolishly deceived by it. Got it?”

“…”

“I expect an answer.”

Normally, I would have retorted with, ‘Forget that, how about you take your hands off my chest?’

But there was a particular word Jerome used that got under my skin this time.

“What do you mean by ‘if you’re not around’?”

His hand, which had been playfully lingering on my chest, paused.

Just as I was about to question him again, I heard someone frantically calling my name from a distance.

“Jeanne!”

Marchen arrived, breathless, doubling over as he caught his breath.

Freeing myself from Jerome’s grip, I nudged his chest with my elbow and asked what was going on.

Marchen looked at me with a pale face, his voice trembling.

“Lady Freya… she’s gone.”

* * *