Chapter 82

He was only released once Iberin had reeled off a whole string of famous lines from novels she'd apparently read.

What had been early evening was already deep into the night, and Iberin, as always, came to find Lyssel with her pillow in her arms.

It hadn't been a one-time thing anymore — by now Lyssel naturally opened the door for her and set the bedding straight.

You'd think someone might've suggested combining their rooms at this point, but both Lyssel and Iberin treated that as if it were a forbidden word, never bringing it up.

For Lyssel, it was because he'd already been turned down once, and for Iberin, because she'd been the one to turn him down.

And really, there was no need to say anything — it was tacit agreement at this point.

The only thing that changed was that they washed up and got dressed in different rooms when they woke.

"Lyssel. Sleep well."

Iberin spoke from where she'd burrowed into the soft, cocooning blanket.

"I hope you have a peaceful night."

Lyssel murmured it quietly as he turned off the lights.

By force of habit he lay down beside her and offered up his arm; only then did her eyes slowly drift shut.

Not long after, the only sound in the dark was her steady, even breathing.

But then Iberin, who'd looked deeply asleep, suddenly sat up.

Lyssel, who'd seemed to be sleeping right beside her, snapped his eyes open the second she started to move, like a ghost coming awake.

"Iberin."

He called her name softly, but there was no response.

Her eyes were open, but they were unfocused, looking at nothing in particular.

It wasn't the first time Lyssel had seen Iberin like this.

"Iberin."

No matter how many times he called, Iberin didn't react.

After sitting still for a moment, she got up and started wandering.

Her staggering steps looked frighteningly unsteady.

Lyssel hurried to catch her and hold her up, but Iberin didn't seem to register being touched at all — she just kept flailing forward, trying to push on.

Knock, knock—

Someone tapped at the door.

"Come in."

The door slid open, and the family doctor stepped through.

"How is Lady Iberin's condition?"

"Same as I told you before."

"I'll stay and watch with you tonight."

The first day after they'd come back from the trip.

Lyssel, who was a light sleeper to begin with, had realized Iberin had suddenly gotten up.

At first he'd thought she was thirsty and held out the water on the table, but Iberin's gaze had been subtly off.

Iberin?

He'd called her name when something about her seemed off, but no answer came.

Every single day, Iberin wandered the grand ducal estate as if searching for something.

Once she'd even tried to head straight outside, and his heart had nearly dropped through the floor.

He'd spent days just watching, until he'd finally given in and quietly told the family doctor.

After hearing the description, the doctor said it sounded like sleepwalking.

"How does she look?"

The doctor studied Iberin, who was sitting there blankly.

She was moving here and there like she was being pulled by something invisible.

"It does appear to be sleepwalking."

The doctor's expression was uneasy as he said it.

"The cause?"

"Stress is the main trigger, but in the lady's case, I suspect it's a sudden change in her body."

"A change in her body?"

"With Rozelia's help she's been neutralizing the demonic energy to a degree, hasn't she? It's possible that her original life force has been thrown into disorder."

"Life force?"

"Every person has their own innate energy. Every citizen of the Aleta Holy Empire is born with holy power. Then demonic energy was injected into her, and now it's been purified. I think that may have caused the issue."

"That's the cause?"

"It's only my guess. The truth is sleepwalking isn't all that common, and there aren't many books that cover it in depth. Just brief mentions."

"So even what you're telling me may not be the actual cause."

"Yes. My apologies."

The doctor bowed his head as if he had nothing more to say.

But you couldn't blame the man for not knowing the cause of a disease no one had figured out yet.

"Then what should I do?"

"There are cases of it resolving on its own, so we'll need to watch a little longer. We'll need someone with her every night for the time being."

After wandering all night, Iberin had simply gone back to bed and dropped off to sleep again.

She should have been exhausted after walking all that time, but she looked like someone who'd slept deeply through the night.

"Come to think of it, the staff have mentioned seeing a ghost."

The doctor suddenly looked like he'd remembered something.

"A ghost?"

"Yes. Not many had seen it, so it was just small talk going around."

"When did people start saying that?"

"Now that I think about it — it really was from the day Rozelia gave her the holy power."

"So this really is a condition that came from the demonic energy being neutralized."

Lyssel's face crumpled.

The guilt on his face was so thick the doctor didn't dare say a word — he just bit his lip and held back what he might have said.

"She'll be all right. The lady is strong, sir."

He'd thought everything would be fine once the demonic energy was neutralized.

He couldn't stand how naive he'd been.

---

Iberin smiled bashfully the moment she opened her eyes and saw Lyssel's face.

It was strange — by now Lyssel should have been up and working, but for some reason he was still asleep.

She thought it might be the first time she'd seen him sleeping.

Even so, she tilted her head, puzzled.

Was he tired?

Her eyes were open, but knowing how light a sleeper Lyssel was, she stayed where she was for a long while so as not to wake him.

Knock, knock—

"Ah?"

It had been a peaceful moment, but when Lyssel didn't come down at all, Pons came up himself, and the knock at the door instantly woke him.

Lyssel locked eyes with Iberin — who'd been staring straight at him — and shot upright.

"Your Highness, it's Pons. May I come in?"

"C-come in."

The door opened and Pons stepped through.

He looked a little surprised at how disheveled Lyssel still was.

"You were still asleep?"

"Still?"

"It's nearly…"

Lyssel asked, baffled, then glanced at the time and flinched.

He'd finally realized he'd overslept.

Pons was surprised himself — Lyssel had always kept time like a knife's edge — but he ended up letting out a small laugh.

"Must've been quite tired."

"…"

"You hadn't come down, so I was worried something had happened. Take your time getting ready and come down whenever you're set."

With that, Pons stepped back and slipped out.

"Iberin."

"Yes?"

"I need to wash up and get going."

"Yes. Go ahead."

Lyssel's eyes darted around.

Iberin, who normally slept sprawled out cold, was awake and watching him.

It was already mortifying enough that he'd overslept, but when her gaze caught on the buttons of his shirt, Lyssel's face flooded red.

"Pfft. Fine, fine."

It was as if she'd caught his thoughts — only then did Iberin get up.

A flicker of mischief rose in her, but she held it back.

"I'll get ready too, so let's go down for breakfast together today."

"Let's."

"How did you even oversleep?"

"Hm."

"Well — thanks to that, I had a nice time."

"You did?"

"Yes. I got to look at your sleeping face to my heart's content."

"Ah."

"I'd love it if you overslept again sometime."

A bright peal of laughter.

Iberin walked out of the room laughing.

Not even knowing who'd kept him up all night.

---

Iberin's sleepwalking showed no sign of letting up; it just kept happening, the same way each time.

Apart from that, Lyssel was holding it together.

The rumors about Lecashe had gotten a bit ugly, but being insulted was the same either way.

There was one strange thing, though.

"There was nothing like this when you were on the trip?"

"No, nothing."

"Hmm. So something else is causing it, then."

They'd shared a bed during the trip too, but Iberin hadn't wandered.

Which meant whatever was happening only happened at the estate —

and they had no way of knowing why.

"Wouldn't it be better to tell Lady Iberin honestly?"

"But."

"You need to know about an illness to have the will to fight it."

"Sleepwalking happens without conscious awareness, doesn't it?"

"Either way, sir, it's a change happening to her, and I believe she has a right to know. It's not a problem you should keep hidden."

"…Understood."

His honest preference was to hide it as long as possible, but the doctor wasn't wrong.

It was while he was sitting at Iberin's side that —

Crash—

A huge noise erupted from outside.

Lyssel looked out in alarm and saw something burning.

"I'll watch over Lady Iberin, sir. Please go check."

But his body wouldn't move easily.

Something in him said he shouldn't leave her side.

When Lyssel hesitated, the doctor pushed him toward the door again.

Only then did Lyssel reluctantly move.

Something had happened on the estate grounds — it did need to be checked.

If monsters had appeared, Lyssel would need to be there.

The loud noise had jolted other staff awake too; people were buzzing.

Iberin's sleepwalking was still a secret, so Lyssel ushered her into her room briefly and stepped out.

Even then, Iberin kept trying to open the door and leave, but the doctor was guarding it, so she only paced in circles around the room.

But then —

Whisper—

From the empty space outside, the window slid open.

For a second he thought it was Lyssel, but there was no reason for him to come in through the window.

On top of that, a thick killing intent rolled in.

The doctor was just a doctor, but the chilling pressure of someone meaning to kill carried a sharper weight than he would've imagined.

"Wh-who's there!"

The doctor cried out reflexively, startled.

Unable to move, he could only turn his head to check the window, and a dark figure was silhouetted against the floor.

"Hngh."

The moment he saw the shadow, the doctor's breath stopped.

The dark figure advanced without hesitation and swung something.

"Ahh!"

He shouted as he flinched and curled in on himself — and in that instant, white light burst from the ring Iberin was wearing, and the dark figure was thrown backward.

"Hk."

Just as the figure, thrown off, was about to swing again —

The door flew open and Lyssel crashed through.