“Me?”

“Yes. He sent me a message saying that he has something to tell you in person and that you should come to the study.”

“Is that all he said?”

“Yes.”

Erhan seemed to doubt his own ears upon hearing the servant’s words. Judging by his reaction, it appeared that such a thing almost never happened.

“Go quickly. I can go alone, so don’t worry about me.”

I shook my head and took a step back, telling him to hurry and go. However, even that single step made me stumble due to my ankle, causing Erhan to click his tongue as if dumbfounded.

“Stubborn brat, tsk.”

He immediately wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close with force. I wanted to say that I could walk on my own, but it seemed better to stay still rather than showing myself staggering again like before.

Erhan seemed worried about me. Just as he was about to fully support me by pressing his body close, I saw a servant walking over beyond Erhan’s shoulder.

‘Where did he go and come back from now?’

After spending a long time together, I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I could recognize him just by his gait.

Zachary, who had suddenly disappeared earlier, was slowly walking towards us. But as if he had discovered something, Zachary abruptly paused for a moment.

However, it was so brief that it felt like an illusion. Soon, he approached swiftly without hesitation, as if he had never faltered.

‘Is he really walking?’

What the… Why is he already… right in front of us? And his gait seemed strangely angry.

By the way, is it okay for him to walk over so hastily? I found myself unintentionally gauging Erhan’s reaction to Zachary’s gait, which felt distinctly different from other servants.

“Lord Erhan.”

“I’ll take this kid back to his room first.”

“Lord Erhan. The Duke…”

“Shut up.”

Fortunately, Erhan seemed too preoccupied with arguing with the servant to notice. The servant was urging Erhan with almost obsessive persistence.

This was the first time I had seen a servant act so persistently. It seemed that the Duke’ summons was an urgent matter.

“It seems important, so it’s okay to leave me and go.”

I gently pushed Erhan away. He stared at me with a reproachful gaze as if asking if I was still being stubborn.

“This is far enough. My servant has arrived anyway.”

“Your servant…?”

Perhaps he was truly distracted by the argument, but Erhan only then noticed Zachary standing behind us. He immediately frowned.

“Why is he here?”

Erhan’s expression was unpleasant, as if he had recalled what had happened before the meal.

However, the current Zachary was no different from a gentle lamb. He had approached with angry strides, but in front of Erhan, he stood with a submissive demeanor, no different from any other servant.

“He’s my servant. It’s natural for him to help me.”

But even with my words, Erhan’s expression didn’t soften. Rather, as if he had sensed something, he narrowed his eyes and looked at Zachary.

“Then, be careful going in, brother.”

I felt the need to avoid the two of them confronting each other.

I immediately straightened my body that had been leaning on Erhan. After untangling our clumsily intertwined hands, I quietly reached out towards Zachary’s side, and he promptly moved close as if he had been waiting. Then, he tightly grasped my hand without leaving any gap.

‘To this extent?’

I couldn’t help but be startled for a moment. The hand that held mine tightly like interlocking fingers was far from what I had intended.

The rough bandages on Zachary’s arm touched my pressed body, and the warmth from his hand felt like heat emanating from it, making me feel somewhat embarrassed. However, what was even more perplexing was Erhan’s gaze.

He stared intently at Zachary and my clasped hands with an almost obsessive focus.

Erhan didn’t seem to have any intention of moving. And because of Erhan standing still and motionless, I became anxious.

“I’ll go ahead first.”

As I pulled Zachary, he obediently turned his body. I tried to leave like that, but Erhan suddenly blocked my way.

When did he put on gloves? A black glove shot out and grabbed the collar of Zachary, who had been supporting me. Erhan pulled, and Zachary meekly followed the hand that dragged him. Like a docile servant.

The two large figures pressed close together. As I gasped in surprise at the sudden confrontation, Erhan opened his mouth with unconcealed ferocity.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Brother, don’t do this…”

“Who are you to be so annoyingly persistent since earlier?”

“Calm down!”

The situation didn’t improve but rather worsened. Suddenly, the incident from the morning came to mind. Although a clash had occurred then as well, it was stopped by Mother’s appearance. But what about now?

‘Neither of them is even listening to me!’

Still, I couldn’t just stand there in a daze. I didn’t know what Erhan would do to Zachary, and conversely, I didn’t know how Zachary, whose spell had been broken, would react. As my face turned pale and I reached out my arm to stop them at that moment…

“I am Young Master Oscar’s servant.”

A voice that shouldn’t have been heard was spoken. Both Erhan and I froze as if we had been frozen on the spot. Not only me but Erhan also turned to look at Zachary with an incredulous face.

“…Did you just speak?”

Then Zachary repeated his words.

“I am Young Master Oscar’s servant. I exist for the Young Master.”

He spoke slowly and precisely, as if telling us to listen clearly to his voice.

It’s natural for people to speak. However, this was the Serpentine family, where common sense didn’t apply.

In the Serpentine family, servants were not human. So, when Zachary spoke like a normal person without any hesitation, it was natural for Erhan to be startled.

Of course, Zachary’s words were void of emotion. His monotonous voice simply conveyed the facts without any intention, lacking any human sentiment. If he had responded with emotion like when he was with me, Erhan would have immediately noticed that Zachary’s spell had been broken.

But that shouldn’t have happened either.

Erhan was suspicious and quick-witted. There was no way he wouldn’t find it suspicious for Zachary to suddenly speak after remaining silent all along. As expected, Erhan looked at Zachary with an incredulous face.

“Wasn’t this guy’s tongue cut out?”

The servants who could speak were predetermined, and Zachary wasn’t one of them.

We collectively referred to those who had spells cast on their tongues or had them actually cut off as having their tongues cut out. And Erhan would have known that Zachary was a servant with a severed tongue.

“But why…?”

Even I, who knew the truth, wasn’t much different from Erhan. I was so shocked and in disbelief that I couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

My heart pounded. Why? Why all of a sudden? Talking here? Is he in his right mind?

I looked at Zachary, but his face was covered with a cloth, making it impossible to read any emotions.

‘What is he thinking, causing this commotion?’

Cold sweat ran down my back. After managing to hide it all this time, how could he speak in front of Erhan, the one person who absolutely shouldn’t find out?

At that moment, Erhan let out a short, hollow laugh and moved his hand.

“…Brother!”

The most frightening thing about Erhan was that there were no warning signs.

Erhan suddenly reached out and grabbed the talisman wrapped around Zachary’s neck. He was about to check the spell circle inside the talisman right away.

If we were caught here, it would be the end of everything. I tried my best to stop Erhan, but it was of no use. Erhan tore off the talisman wrapped around Zachary’s neck with his strong hand.

‘No.’

The bandage held in Erhan’s hand fell limply. Then, Zachary’s white and straight neck was fully exposed.

I couldn’t bear to look and tightly closed my eyes. There was no way Erhan, who had some knowledge of spells, wouldn’t be able to notice that the spell circle drawn on Zachary’s neck had been destroyed.

It’s over. What will happen to us now?

How much have I struggled and strived to get this far? I never thought the tower I had built would crumble so pitifully.

“What the…?”

The first thing that broke the silence was Erhan’s dumbfounded voice.

Well, since the brainwashing spell cast on the Imperial Prince had been undone, for Erhan…

“It’s working properly.”

He would be this surprised… Huh?

Did I mishear? Erhan’s mouth uttered words I had never expected.

I widened my eyes and examined his face. Erhan was furrowing his brow as if irritated, but he didn’t seem that shocked.

I hurriedly shifted my gaze to look at Zachary’s neck. I tried my best not to show it, but I couldn’t control my expression. My face contorted involuntarily.

‘Why is it red?’

The unknown spell that had been engraved on Zachary’s neck. The spell circle that had lost its color after being destroyed was now glowing red again.

If that was all, I wouldn’t have been this astonished. Having stared at the spell circles on Zachary’s body every single day, I could immediately notice.

‘When did that appear?’

Below the originally engraved spell circle, there was a new small spell circle that I had never seen before.

As if it had just been engraved… A fiery red spell circle.