Where Is The Demon? (2)

The one who broke the silence was Reichardt.

Knock knock knock.

The carriage wall shook again with force.

“Are you not coming out?”

Reichardt spoke as he pulled his horse back from the carriage.

Alicia snapped out of her daze as if waking from a sudden sleep.

“I’m coming. Your Grace, please marr—”

As she rose from her crouch, Alicia tried to continue speaking to the face visible through the narrow window.

She’d said something incredibly important, so it felt strange that he gave no response.

Worried he hadn’t heard, she repeated herself a little more slowly.

“Come out.”

Reichardt straightened from where he had been leaning near the carriage window and spoke curtly.

The beautiful face visible through the narrow opening vanished, leaving only a neatly shaped upper body in view.

Even that disappeared with the sound of hoofbeats.

“Marriage… Did he not hear me? Thirty’s not an age to be hard of hearing.”

Muttering to herself, Alicia lowered the window.

It wasn’t winter yet, but the weather wasn’t as pleasant as spring either.

She laid Daisy, who had been lying by the carriage door, properly on the seat and placed a cushion under her head.

She also carefully picked up the fallen poison dart from under the opposite seat, wrapping it in a handkerchief.

After tidying the interior of the carriage, Alicia stepped outside and paused for a moment.

The coachman was comfortably reclined on the driver’s seat.

The reins he should have been holding were neatly coiled and set aside.

Someone had placed fresh bundles of grass in front of the four horses.

The grass must have been tasty, as all four were too busy eating to even glance at Alicia.

They weren’t particularly friendly with her anyway.

Feeling oddly disappointed, Alicia turned her gaze.

The knights who were supposed to guard the carriage and their horses were beneath a large tree.

The knights were asleep, leaning against the trunk, and the horses were tethered nearby.

With grass growing around the tree, the horses were leisurely grazing with contented snorts.

It looked like the area had been deliberately chosen for easy feeding.

It was a thoughtful and meticulous arrangement.

The distance from the carriage to the tree where the knights slept was fairly far.

In front of that tree stood a group of knights holding a banner embroidered with Tessen’s crest.

There weren’t many.

But they were all fully armed cavalrymen.

The knight at the front bowed toward Alicia as she stepped out of the carriage.

Alicia did not respond.

The clatter of hooves approached, casting a long shadow over her.

“They merely fell asleep for a moment.”

Reichardt said as he dismounted.

Though she had thought he only looked tall because of the horse, he still seemed robust after dismounting.

Considering his status and rank, the Alicia of the past—timid and nervous—would have stumbled backward.

It wasn’t strange that her first impression of the man was “enormous.”

Alicia bowed toward Reichardt, now on the ground.

“I formally greet you, Your Grace the Grand Duke. I am Alicia Rain. As you’ve already guessed, I am the one who sent that letter under the name Sirius, without Your Grace’s permission. I am honored to meet you. Will you accompany me to the Seven Stones of Dolore?”

While listening, Reichardt removed his gloves.

“Is that a request I can refuse?”

He was mocking her for posing it as a request after summoning him all the way here.

“Have you already been to the Dolore ruins? I apologize, but if you would wait here just a moment, I’ll go take a look and return quickly. As you might’ve guessed, I have something to tell you, which is why I asked to meet. So if you could just—”

Alicia replied with a casual tone, unusual when speaking to royalty.

“Let’s go.”

Reichardt didn’t let her finish.

Her response to his mocking tone was entirely unexpected.

She should have bowed and apologized, but instead she told him he didn’t have to come if he didn’t want to—then boldly asked him to wait.

It wasn’t quite enough to warrant scolding for rudeness, but too insolent to ignore.

Someone prideful might have taken offense, but Reichardt didn’t want to be that kind of man.

He walked ahead in large strides, with no regard for the fact that a lady in a dress might struggle to keep up.

The Dolore ruins were located on a hillside.

Most noble ladies avoided rough paths and even used attendants to descend stairs at home.

He figured after a few steps she’d be far behind.

“Have you visited the Dolore ruins before, Your Grace?”

Lady Rain, whom he thought would stop after just a few steps and ask for help, walked briskly in her long skirt without hesitation.

“This is my first time. What about you, Lady?”

Seeing Alicia keeping pace at a steady distance, Reichardt slowed slightly.

“It’s my first time as well. I’ve been to the Great Temple, but never made it to the ruins. The Seven Stones of Dolore are actually sundials, right? From morning till evening is the time of the living, and night is the time of the dead. They say non-humans can’t enter the ruins during daylight.”

“It’s said that humans shouldn’t enter the ruins at night either, but they’re just big rocks.”

“The temple probably wouldn’t like hearing Your Grace say that.”

“Making wishes during the year’s first sunrise brings a lot of donations. That might be their main source of income.”

The path to the ruins became steeper.

Not ideal for walking in a dress.

“The temple really wouldn’t like hearing what you just said.”

Reichardt slowed his pace further.

Still, the distance between him and Alicia remained steady.

He stopped walking.

Alicia stopped too.

“Would you prefer I call you Sirius? Or Lady Alicia?”

“There’s no need for a formal title between us. Looks like we’re here. Please excuse me for a moment.”

Pulling her eyes away from his face, which kept drawing her gaze, Alicia turned her focus to the massive ruins.

Large boulders, as tall as a person, were arranged in a circle atop the flat ground.

One tradition on New Year’s Day was to walk through the ruins bathed in the light of the new year’s sun.

But since it wasn’t the New Year now, the ruins were silent.

Since returning from hell, Alicia had begun to question her own existence.

Could she be something other than human? Was there something wrong with her?

According to the Grand Duke, the lore surrounding the Dolore ruins was mere superstition, and one couldn’t distinguish humans from non-humans by walking inside a giant sundial.

They were just big rocks. But still, her steps into the ruins were tense.

When Alicia realized nothing happened after she entered, she let out a long breath of laughter.

It wasn’t a cynical thought like “So it was nothing,” but rather a quiet relief—“Thank goodness,”—even though she had expected this outcome.

With a faint furrow in his brow, Reichardt watched Alicia smiling inside the ruins.

Crunch, crunch.

As she moved deeper into the ruins, an unpleasant sound, like insects chewing leaves, grew louder and made her head ache.

Though he thought he had gotten used to it, when the noise intensified, it was hard to bear.

Suppressing the urge to press his forehead, he stepped into the ruins.

Alicia had entered from the sundial’s six o’clock direction and now waved toward him as she moved toward the crumbled debris at nine o’clock.

From what he’d heard, the girl born into the Rain Marquessate after nearly two hundred years was said to be shy.

When he’d seen Alicia in passing before, she had looked more terrified than timid.

But now, this smiling girl who called herself Sirius and had sent him a letter—she was far from shy.

Her calm demeanor when receiving his blunt words was as strange as the letter that twisted your tongue when read aloud.

He recalled the sudden marriage proposal Alicia had made in the carriage earlier.

“Lady Rain.”

“Alicia is fine.”

Reichardt ignored both the unexpected proposal swirling in his head and the ominous noise gnawing at his mind.

“Don’t we have things to discuss, Lady Alicia?”

“I have a request to make of Your Grace.”

“How did you learn of the imperial marriage arrangements? Who sent you to me? And whose bizarre taste was that letter paper?”

At Alicia’s brief reply, Reichardt bombarded her with questions.

“I found out about your impending marriage through my special ability. I chose Your Grace as the right person. If I must answer who sent me, it would be me. As for the letter paper—wasn’t it perfectly ornate for a wedding congratulation card?”

Reichardt scowled deeply.

“Special what?”

“A special ability. Your Grace, please marry me. If you do, I will give you four prophecies a year.”

Reichardt’s expression turned even harsher.

“This again….”

At the man’s grumbling, Alicia realized that he hadn’t failed to hear her earlier—he had simply ignored her.

Reichardt turned and exited the ruins with a face that had heard utter nonsense.

Though outside, the once-amplified noise wouldn’t subside easily.

In fact, it seemed to be getting worse.

He came to a stop and clutched his head in his hands.

“Your Grace?”

Alicia had followed him out of the ruins.

One couldn’t speak first to a royal or touch them without permission.

But she couldn’t just stand by while he looked ready to collapse.

The moment Alicia grabbed Reichardt’s hand, the dreadful noise in his head stopped entirely.

“…!”

Reichardt froze, stunned by the complete and unfamiliar silence.

It was peaceful—but only for a moment.

He quickly withdrew his hand from Alicia’s.

The noise immediately came rushing back into his mind.

It made the recent calm feel like a cruel illusion.

“Your Grace, are you all right?”

Alicia reached out again, frowning at the pain on his face.

And again, the ominous sound vanished.

“You… What are you?”

Reichardt looked at Alicia with a wary face.

“Pardon?”

Alicia grew nervous, wondering if his amber eyes had somehow uncovered her secret.

His suspicious gaze scanned her from head to toe.

Startled by the intensity, Alicia tried to let go of his hand and back away.

But the large hand gripped hers tightly before she could pull away.

“You’re asking me to do what with you?”

“Marriage… I’ll give you four prophecies a year….”

“And how am I supposed to trust those prophecies?”

Reichardt slowly released Alicia’s hand.

“You came here because the contents of the letter were accurate, didn’t you?”

Seeing his face twist, Alicia’s voice weakened toward the end.

Reichardt opened his mouth to reply but gave up and shook his head.

“Wait.”

With a hardened expression, the man sat on a bench.

Alicia hesitated for a moment, then sat at the edge of the bench, putting her thoughts aside under his gaze.

Unlike when she saw him from her carriage, he didn’t look well