Chapter 65

Right before I closed the door, Laila softly said:

“Have a safe trip.”

I never thought we could fool her from the start.
I simply replied, “Okay,” and carefully stepped into the hallway.

Keith’s family home was a small one-story house—just a bedroom, study, sitting room, storage, kitchen, and basement.
It wasn’t messy, but not exactly tidy either.
Keith always claimed he had no talent for organizing.
From the way Enoch had been eyeing the place, I could tell he’d be cleaning everything up by morning.

Outside, Keith was waiting.
Once he saw me, he whispered a spell:

“Silence.”

The air shimmered faintly, and my ears went numb—like we’d gone up a mountain.
Keith checked our surroundings, then asked:

“Did she notice?”
“She told me to be careful.”

He grinned like he expected it.
I asked if he had been caught.

“I gave him medicine to make him sleep. He’s my cousin—he still trusts me a little.”
“…If we get caught, I won’t be the only one to blame.”
“If we’re getting in trouble, might as well go big. You think that overly sensitive guy wouldn’t notice otherwise?”

He really was reckless.
But honestly, that recklessness kept me grounded.
When I talked to him, the weight in my chest lightened.
I could forget about Jang Hyunji, or Linus trying to hunt me down. I could breathe.

“Where are we headed?”
“To the forest. Where my father’s body was found.”

Keith glanced at me, as if asking if I was scared.
I frowned.
I’d never been afraid of dark forests, not even as a child.
What scared me wasn’t darkness—it was being alone, surrounded by family who hated me.

We walked slowly.
Keith moved confidently in the dark, like someone who had walked this path hundreds of times.
I quietly followed.
The night was still and cool.
Peaceful, in a strange way.

“There’s not even a moon tonight. Creepy.”
“I’m here. And so is Bii. Nothing to be scared of.”
“Who said I was scared?”
“Want me to hold your hand?”

Keith snorted loudly in amusement.
He found it hilarious that I was treating him like a kid.
Still, when I didn’t pull my hand back, he sighed in annoyance—but grabbed it.
His arms were long, so I nearly tripped forward, but managed to keep my balance.

“You’ve got some athletic sense now, huh?”
“I trained for a month and puked through half of it. I better have.”

I’d never had a single athletic bone in my body.
I didn’t know how Jang Hyunji used it, but she was pampered, living softly and delicately.
Even she hadn’t awakened any physical skills in my body.

Now I could dodge Laila’s sneak attacks—maybe one out of a hundred times.
But I could do it.
She promised that once I could hold my own, she’d pick out a weapon for me herself.

We reached the deep woods.
Keith stopped where no moonlight reached.

“Why did my father come out here… alone?”
“…”
“Give me the mirror.”

I took out the mirror I had carefully kept.
A palm-sized hand mirror with a gold base and silver inlay.
Its surface was jet black—useless without magic.

Keith held it up to a tree facing the spot where his father had been found.

After a moment, the black surface began to swirl with gray smoke.

Rustle. Crunch.
Footsteps through grass.
Someone was panting.

“S-Stop, please! Don’t do this!”
“Don’t let him get away.”

A woman’s thin voice.

My eyes widened.
The mirror still only showed black.
This had also been a moonless night.
I focused, trying to catch what was being said.

“Don’t make this harder—tell us everything. Maybe we’ll let you live.”
“I don’t know anything! Hurting me won’t change what your master wants—guh!”
“Ughhhh!”
“Again.”
“But he’s already dead!”
“You dare defy me? You know who I work for.”

This voice…

“If you screw this up, your whole family dies. Do your job.”
“I told you—he’s already dead! What more do you want?!”
“He’s still breathing. Finish it.”

The man gave out a sobbing, choking sound.
He wasn’t used to this kind of violence.

Then I heard it:

Thud. Squish. Slam.
The sound of stabbing into dirt.

Keith muttered:

“He’s driving something into the ground.”
“…Ah…”

The man kept crying.
I expected the mirror to show his face, but it only gave vague shadows.
I leaned in so close my face almost touched it.

Keith tried to pull me back by pressing my head.

“Hey, what’s so great about watching this—”
“Shhh.”

A faint light.
A large man stood over the fallen body.
Then a woman stepped forward—probably the one speaking.
Only a dark silhouette appeared on the screen.

She was small, with neatly tied hair, wearing a hood. Her face hidden.

But her voice… I knew it.

“Why didn’t you just listen? You made me the bad guy.”

A small, mocking laugh.
That nasal voice—it grated on my nerves.
She always threw the knife from behind.

“Lishi…”

It was Lishi.

Lishi had been Grace’s personal maid until she married.
Grace took her everywhere and treated her well.

She knew her place and played it up when the masters weren’t around.
Even the head butler didn’t mess with Lishi.

Up to age 18, Grace ran the Seymour house.
Father was often away, so Grace managed everything—including me.

She never used corporal punishment.
But she did try to break me.

She used Lishi and other servants to humiliate me subtly—laughing, whispering, glaring.
I remembered Lishi’s snide laugh more than anyone else’s.

“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. It’s Lishi. Grace’s maid.”

But why would Grace’s maid… be the one who killed Keith’s father?

I looked at Keith, confused.

He didn’t say a word.
No smile—just a cold, blank expression.

To me, Grace was a terrifying enemy.
But to him, she might’ve been like family.

Which meant I was… the sibling of the woman who killed his father.

Keith’s violet eyes turned to me.
I froze, forgetting how to breathe.

“…Why are you the one afraid right now?”
“…”
“Go back to the house.”

This time, I didn’t argue.
Keith—expression still frozen—said:

“I’m going to bring her back.”