“Ave… Ave… Aveline!”

“Huk.” Aveline inhaled sharply and jolted from her stupor.

Looking up, she found Clara staring at her with furrowed brows, worry etched across her face.

They were having dinner in the servants’ hall, seated at a long table that could accommodate ten on each side but now held only the two of them. The others had already retreated to their respective rooms, with a few stragglers scattered at other tables across the dimly lit space.

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been spacing out this entire time,” Clara inquired, her voice edged with concern.

Aveline bit her lip and looked down at her plate, the food barely touched. She reached for the glass of water beside it and drained it in one long gulp, as if trying to wash away whatever unease had lodged itself in her throat and heart.

She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and exhaled heavily.

“Are you going to tell me now?”

Aveline looked at her with hesitation.

‘Should I? Should I tell her what I saw? What occurred this afternoon?’

She wavered, uncertainty gripping her.

‘Would she even believe me?’

“The truth is—”

“All right, everyone, time for bed now. Go on, off with you—we have an early start tomorrow.” Mrs. Hedrig’s voice suddenly rang out from the doorway, dispersing the lingering servants.

“Back in our room,” Clara whispered, eagerness bright in her eyes as she leaned closer. She clearly wanted to know what had her friend so distracted.

“Actually, it’s nothing,” Aveline said dismissively, though she felt a wave of relief wash over her. “I was just remembering my mother.”

She was privately grateful for Mrs. Hedrig’s timely interruption.

****

“Are you absolutely certain it’s nothing?” Even after they’d gone to bed with the lamp extinguished, Clara still pressed her about her well-being.

‘Just like Bridget,’ Aveline realized, and a pang of longing struck her heart. She missed her former companion dearly and hoped Mr. Nox wasn’t making things difficult for her.

“Really, now go to sleep,” Aveline reassured her.

Clara studied her face in the darkness with obvious apprehension, then reluctantly turned away.

As the night deepened, Aveline finally heard Clara’s breathing even out into the steady rhythm of sleep. As for Rosie, she had been asleep long before they’d returned from the servants’ hall—she must have been exhausted from her day’s work.

Aveline lay awake, watching the sheer white curtains billow gently by the open window. Streams of moonlight poured through, doing little to dispel the darkness that pressed against the room’s corners. She couldn’t help but recall what had happened that afternoon.

—–

‘Grand D-Duke!’

Aveline gasped, clutching at her racing heart. As she stared into his piercing blue eyes—eyes that seemed to bore straight through to her soul—she found herself instinctively taking a step backward into the shed.

With wide, unblinking eyes, she watched him intently, as if afraid he might do something terrible at any moment.

Seeing her reaction, Casimir slowly furrowed his brows. The expression only added to the menacing impression Aveline already had of him, and her trembling intensified.

As he slowly opened his mouth to speak—

[Your Grace, have you found the rope?]

Baron Elfon’s voice broke the tense silence from somewhere in the distance. The sound acted as an anchor for Aveline’s overwrought mind, helping her regain some composure. She glanced toward the side of the doorway where a coil of rope hung on a hook, then back to Casimir.

Casimir moved slowly into the shed, as if worried about startling her further. He reached up and took the rope down from its hook. After retrieving it, he didn’t immediately leave. Instead, he stood there, staring down at the rope in his hand.

Aveline swallowed hard, trying desperately to steady her breathing.

[Your Gr—]

[I don’t know what you heard, but I don’t eat humans.]

Then he turned and walked away.

[What took you so long, Your Grace?]

Baron Elfon’s voice sounded from just a few steps away from the shed.

[There was a rabbit inside. I was afraid of startling it.]

As their voices faded into the distance until they could no longer be heard, Aveline exhaled deeply. She stood there for a long moment, trying to compose herself, then fell silent, staring intently at one spot.

‘Why did he sound sad?’

The question lingered in her mind as moonlight continued to spill across her borrowed bed, offering no answers.