‘He’s asleep?’

For a while, I sat there dumbfounded, blankly staring with a dazed expression, blinking my eyes. Then, I slowly opened my mouth. I couldn’t believe it, so I checked over and over to confirm if he was really asleep. But it was true; he had indeed fallen asleep.

His steady, soft breathing continued, and his face was peaceful, making it evident to anyone that he was slumbering.

“Ha, ssi…”

I collapsed to the ground as if I were toppling over. It was because the tension had drained out of me, released from the pressure of not making a mistake.

I tried to get up several times, but no strength would enter my body. Sighing, I rolled over to the side.

Ah, I was completely exhausted. It was too hard.

When completing a spell, one’s energy tends to be sapped. Right now, the mental stress was so immense that I felt like I might really die. But even in this strenuous state, I somehow managed to move.

‘It must be uncomfortable.’

Zachary’s clothes were stained with blood, in utter disarray. Struggling to my feet, I removed the clothes, the blood already dried to a dark reddish-brown. His body was so sturdy that I couldn’t even properly take off his top with my strength alone. In the end, I had no choice but to cut it off, and just doing that left my entire body drenched in sweat.

Ah, I was so tired I wanted to die.

Wringing out my strength, I managed to wet a cloth and wipe Zachary’s face clean of the mess. His tightly closed eyelids, his dense eyelashes. Seeing his peaceful face, all the events that had just happened to us felt like an illusion.

As I cleaned his face, my hand slowly moved down to his neck and then his chest. I had no choice since I needed to wipe away all the blood-soaked areas.

“Ahem.”

…But why did it feel so embarrassing? I could say with certainty that I had no impure intentions, but I kept getting this strange feeling. Clearing my throat awkwardly, I turned my head away.

Glancing back at Zachary’s neck, I noticed the color of the spell circle was still fluctuating. When I carefully placed my hand near it, the searing heat from before had vanished, returning to a normal temperature.

‘What kind of changes are occurring?’

The spell circle was, in a way, no different from a living creature. It could be destroyed and killed, or if additional symbiotic spell circles were engraved, it could grow larger and more powerful.

And most importantly, the state of the host—the subject of the spell—was crucial. Spells sometimes fail depending on the target’s condition.

That’s why I considered this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I determined that if I cast the spell on Zachary while he had self-awareness and the spell circles were simultaneously reacting, a definite change would occur.

‘Of course, it’s still far from enough.’

I was neither the Duke nor Erhan. Just engraving a single spell circle was this difficult, so it was hard to predict what effect my spell would have. Nonetheless, I was satisfied that we had come this far.

Some might ask if I was content with just this much. However, I had successfully cast a spell on Zachary, and more than anything, just influencing the spell circle on his neck was sufficiently worthwhile.

‘And it’s been so long since I last saw Zachary displaying his sense of self.’

The moment when Zachary voiced his own opinion for the first time, not merely moving his hands, was still vivid in my eyes. Although he had not yet fully shaken off the power of the spell, this was just the beginning.

Looking at Zachary’s peacefully sleeping face, everything that had happened felt like a dream.

“Let’s hang in there a little longer.”

Both you and me.

I held Zachary’s hand. It was larger and firmer than mine. My hand was no longer small and delicate like when I was a child. Seeing our clasped hands made me realize how much time had passed.

It felt like we had finally reached a proper starting point, grasping the thread to unravel the story.

I wanted to savor this moment more, but there was a mountain of tasks to take care of. Reaching out, I rubbed away the dried, dark red blood.

‘Judging by the changing color of the power-sealing circle on his ankle, it seems to be having an effect.’

Despite only releasing the sealing circles on his wrists, the spell circle engraved on his ankle was also changing color moment by moment.

I quietly observed the sleeping Zachary. I speculated that perhaps he was struggling to break free of the spell in his slumber.

I hoped he would properly wield his power as soon as possible and awaken earlier than expected. Then, Zachary could quickly escape this place, and from then on, I could sleep peacefully with my legs stretched out.

‘I might feel a bit lonely without Zachary by my side.’

In this life, whether it was reincarnation or possession, Zachary’s presence was the reason I didn’t lose my way. The thought of losing the one who had clearly shown me the path I should take felt disheartening. But I couldn’t ruin his future merely because of my own loneliness.

Perhaps it was due to the exhaustion from today. I was also getting sleepy. My fingers, which had been tracing the circle I engraved on Zachary, gradually slowed. Finally, having exhausted all my strength to the point where I couldn’t even move a hand, I collapsed and fell asleep right there.

***

How long have I been asleep? I could feel the hazy blue fading away and the sunlight piercing my eyes.

Perhaps it was because I had developed the habit of waking up early to study spells, but even though I could have slept in today, my tired eyes stubbornly opened.

‘I must have dozed off…’

My body ached terribly. Tapping my shoulders as if I had been beaten by someone, I slowly sat up.

The moment I rose, I felt something large on the bed. Yawning drowsily, I turned to the side and froze, my mouth agape.

“…Huh?”

Honestly, I had thought that Zachary would be awake by the time I woke up, just like when I had cast spells on him before.

‘Why are you still here?’

Zachary was still sleeping beside me. I gazed at his quietly slumbering form and gently got out of bed. It was the first time I had seen Zachary sleep until morning like this.

Once before, Zachary had collapsed, but the next day, he appeared before me as if nothing had happened.

So, I naturally assumed that this time too, Zachary would greet me in perfect condition. As if last night’s events had been a dream.

‘Are you also tired from yesterday?’

Standing in the middle of the messy room, I stared blankly at Zachary and slowly reached out to shake him.

“…?”

But no matter how much I shook Zachary, there was no response.

I thought he would wake up with this much prompting, but Zachary didn’t open his eyes. He was still asleep.

How strange. Tilting my head quizzically, I sensed something unusual. It didn’t really matter since Zachary was staying in my room anyway. I turned my back to him and slowly tidied up the room.

I returned the scattered spell tools to their original places, rolled up the unraveled bandages and set them aside, and brought out a change of clothes for Zachary.

However, even by the time I finished cleaning, Zachary still hadn’t woken up. If I locked the door to my room, saying I needed to study undisturbed, Mother wouldn’t bother coming in. So, it was fine to lock the door for a day or so.

“Zachary?”

But as one day turned into two, and even surpassed five, Zachary remained unable to wake up.

As if he had fallen into a deep slumber, he simply wouldn’t open his eyes.

***

Click, clack. Despite the early dawn when the sun had yet to rise properly, the sound of high heels echoed through the mansion. Beside the owner of the heels, several pudgy-footed servants followed in a line, moving alongside her.

Her destination was the mansion’s door. Her neatly tied-back hair was a fiery color, like the rising sun.

Despite her gently smiling face, her steps toward the mansion’s door were hurried. She was in such a rush that she didn’t even give the servants time to lay a carpet before her. Wearing high heels, she walked without stumbling once, her attire impeccable as if she were heading to a banquet at this early hour.

“Oh my.”

The seemingly endless steps finally halted. She covered her mouth, letting out a small gasp. It was an exaggerated gesture, like that of an actor. In front of her stood three large carriages and a tall man with a nonchalant expression, meticulously inspecting his black gloves.

His gray hair turned red in the rising sun. Suddenly, he turned around while sorting his luggage.

“It’s been a while.”

Adelheid’s lips curved into a broad smile. A natural smile graced her beautiful, dignified face, but she couldn’t hide the chilling gaze that resembled a snake’s.

“My firstborn son.”

Unlike her whispered, affectionate tone, her inscrutable, cold eyes were an unfamiliar sight to her biological son, Oscar.

And so, in the early morning when everyone was asleep, Erhan calmly approached Adelheid, who seemed to have been awake and waiting for this very moment.

“Mother.”

That’s right. The first person to greet Erhan was Adelheid, the lady of the Serpentine household.

At first glance, they seemed to lack nothing in appearance, but their eyes, unmistakably those of the Serpentines, were identical.

Their gazes met briefly, and Erhan’s elongated gray eyes curved mischievously.

“I’m back.”

Erhan had returned to the Serpentine mansion.