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Chapter 18
“I heard you sent breakfast. Thank you. It was delicious.”
“Breakfast?” Erno didn’t remember giving that order. He searched his memory and soon nodded as if he figured it out.
Oh right—Akila had made a fuss in the morning, asking how Erno could eat alone and leave his bride behind. He had probably ordered the maids to take care of it on his own.
But there was no need to correct Diana, so Erno stayed silent.
“And… I’m really sorry about last night.”
So that was the real reason she came.
“Don’t drink again.”
“…Okay.”
Diana nodded right away, clearly feeling guilty. As anyone should if they had any shame.
“That’s all you wanted to say?”
Erno looked back down at the papers in his hand, clearly signaling she should leave if there was nothing else.
When Diana didn’t say anything, Erno acted like no one had been there in the first place and returned to his work. Realizing again that she was just a bothersome, unwanted presence to him, Diana’s gaze dropped to the floor.
“…Could you show me around Fenril Castle?”
She bit her lip and carefully asked.
“The castle?”
Erno didn’t even look her way as he coldly replied. His pen kept scratching across the paper without stopping.
“Ask the other servants for something like that.”
“I know… but I thought I should know what’s inside the castle if I’m supposed to choose the most precious reward later.”
“Heh.”
Only then did the scratching of his pen stop, and his golden eyes looked straight at her.
So this is what she really wanted.
Erno gave a crooked smile at his wife, who boldly admitted she was scoping out her new inheritance right in front of the landowner.
“I saw a tall tower on the way here. If I go there, I could see the whole castle at once without having to walk around…”
“Bi.”
Erno cut her off and fully set down his pen.
“Don’t ever mention that tower in front of me again. I’m busy. Go wherever you want—no one will stop you.”
“…Even if I leave the castle?”
“So you’re finally showing your true colors.”
Erno smirked like he’d been expecting it all along.
“I’m sorry. I said that without thinking. I didn’t mean it like that…”
“Okay, now leave. You should hurry if you’re planning to go somewhere far, right?”
But that’s not what I meant! Diana wanted to explain, but before she could say anything, Erno waved her away with a dismissive gesture.
Stunned into silence, Diana had no choice but to lower her head and leave his office.
Just as Erno said, the servants didn’t care what the new Grand Duchess did or where she went. But it wasn’t out of respect—it was closer to being ignored or abandoned.
Every time she tried to talk to someone, they would disappear with excuses like being busy.
So in the end, Diana wandered the castle completely alone, without even a single escort.
The tower…
Before she knew it, her feet had led her to the entrance of the tower she’d seen earlier. It stood tall and alone among the castle buildings, as if it were just like her.
“He only said not to talk about the tower, not that I couldn’t go there.”
Diana stared up at it.
The tower seemed abandoned, with no one around to guard it. The lock on the door came loose surprisingly easily after she tugged at it a few times.
Inside was a long spiral staircase winding up and up. At the very top was another door, and she worried it might be locked again—but it wasn’t. The door opened like it had been waiting for her.
The room at the top of the tower was much bigger than Diana expected. In fact, it was completely empty—no furniture, no decorations, nothing but cold stone walls on all sides. If the door closed, she might not even be able to tell where the walls ended and the darkness began.
Luckily, not every wall was sealed—there was a crack of light coming through somewhere. Diana ran toward it and felt around. When her fingers touched smooth wood instead of cold stone, she knew it was a shuttered window and opened it right away.
Bright sunlight poured in like a waterfall. Dust that had sat still for years suddenly swirled in the air with the breeze.
Diana leaned out the window and gasped in awe.
She’d expected a nice view since it was high up—but this was something else. It felt like standing above the clouds.
Only faint blue shadows separated the sky and land. The snow-covered fields, white and glittering under the sunlight, stretched endlessly into the horizon.
It was breathtakingly beautiful… but also strangely frightening. A freezing wind brushed her cheek, like a reminder not to forget how dangerous the North could be.
The wind was so sharp it could cut skin—but instead of backing away, Diana leaned out farther.
There wasn’t a single footprint or sign of life in the snowy landscape. It looked like nothing could survive there.
But Diana knew better. She knew there were Northerners who fought fiercely to survive in that harsh land.
So all she could say was:
“…It’s beautiful.”
She wondered—Does Erno know about this view too?
Remembering how he told her never to talk about the tower, Diana pouted slightly.
Maybe… he’s afraid of heights? If that’s the case, I guess I can’t blame him.
Guessing at Erno’s reasons, she shivered from the cold wind and stepped back.
I should come back with something warm to wear. The view from the tower was too beautiful to see just once.
But when she reached for the doorknob to leave—
Clink. Clack.
“Huh? What’s wrong with this?”
There had been no lock, but now the doorknob spun uselessly. Diana frowned and pulled harder. She pushed, pulled, twisted the handle—but the door didn’t budge.
When Erno closes his eyes, the memory plays like it happened just last night.
That tall tower that made his legs tremble just by looking at it. The heavy click of the lock. The room with no windows. The overwhelming darkness. And the voices beyond the door—pretending to worry but full of mockery, scolding, and blame.
The suffocating pain of his heartbeat stopping and restarting again and again still lingered deep in his soul like an unhealed wound.
“Elder… I was wrong… Please forgive me just once…”
“It’s too dark in here. I’m scared, Elder!”
“You must overcome this, Erno. If you’re truly the heir of Yarl, you must endure. No—you will endure!”
“No… Please let me out. Open the door!”
“You must awaken every sense in your body. You can do it. No—you must!”
In the end, the experiment was only half a success.
Pushed to the edge, his soul managed to awaken the ancestral power of Fenril. But because he awakened it in such a broken state, the power was uncontrollable. It raged wildly until his body was completely exhausted.
The price of losing control was severe. As the memories returned, Erno’s jaw clenched and his teeth ground together.
Damn Ragna Nidhogg. Damn those Elders. Damn… the power of Fenril.
Erno yanked at his collar and clenched his fists over and over. Because that woman had to bring up the tower—of all places—he was now drowning in memories he had almost forgotten.
No, not forgotten. Not even for a moment.
No matter where he went in the castle, part of the tower always loomed behind him, like a shadow watching his back.
His focus shattered, Erno finally set his pen down and leaned back in his chair.
Right then—
“Your Grace! Lady Bi is missing!”
Akila, who always knocked politely, burst into the office in a panic.
Erno stood with an annoyed scowl on his face.
“So, she finally ran away. Send a search party, just for appearances. But if they don’t find her by sundown, call them back. She left by choice, no need to waste effort.”
“Actually… we already found signs of where she went. But…”
“But?”
Erno raised an eyebrow. Akila licked his lips and hesitantly continued.
“…It looks like she went to the tower.”
Damn it.
A curse escaped from Erno’s mouth.
