Certainly, given his powerful information network, there was a high probability that he knew.
‘Did he know everything and still hide it from me? Or did my father and Huan prevent the news from reaching me?’
In the past, I would have believed that everything Rastan did was for my sake, but now that the distance between our hearts had grown, subtle suspicion and distrust began to rise.
Ifrit looked at me and smiled very faintly, then soon changed the subject.
“I heard this when I met Her Imperial Highness the Princess last time. Of course, she said it was a secret… but since it’s about you anyway.”
Wondering what he was about to say, I raised my eyes and looked into his grayish-brown eyes.
“She said it seems you have an ability. That you can purify nightmares?”
‘So he noticed after all.’
Since he was asking while already knowing everything, there was no need to deny it awkwardly.
“How did Her Imperial Highness find out?”
“Who knows. She has quite capable informants, and she is very perceptive as well.”
That was probably true. However, since she only mentioned purifying nightmares, it seemed that even the Princess didn’t know everything about my ability.
“To explain in more detail what I heard that day.”
Ifrit’s smile deepened slightly.
“Her Imperial Highness is close with Duke Blake. She knew that he couldn’t sleep because of nightmares.”
“The Princess even knows that much?”
It was an unexpected fact.
However, since I didn’t know whether she was aware that Rastan was cursed, I remained silent and listened carefully to Ifrit’s words.
“But these days, she noticed that he looks like he is sleeping well, so she guessed that something had changed.”
It seemed that the change was obvious enough for others, not just me, to notice even if they saw him only occasionally.
“Moreover, when she heard that he suddenly became engaged to you, whose family is declining compared to House Blake, she said it confirmed that you must have an ability.”
“…”
In the end, I was flustered. Her guesses were all far too close to the truth.
Busy controlling my expression, I couldn’t say anything to Ifrit.
“Lyn, you told me before that you didn’t have any ability. I’m hurt.”
“Ah… At that time, I truly didn’t know either.”
“And even after you found out, you didn’t tell me.”
“There were many things happening during that time…”
Seeing the corners of his kind-looking eyes droop, I felt as if I had truly become a bad person.
“I’m sorry, truly.”
At that, Ifrit smiled faintly as if to say it was alright.
“Actually, I also have nightmares often. If you feel sorry, would you purify my dreams as well?”
‘Is that the reason he invited me today?’
I glanced at his eyes, but his pale, pure face only looked kind as always.
Seeing that face, it was difficult to suspect any ulterior motive.
‘If it’s just something like purifying nightmares…’
At that moment, I suddenly remembered how I had once tried to enter his dream not long ago, only to be repelled.
‘If he himself asks me to enter his dream, would it be possible then?’
At that thought, curiosity made my heart pound.
Moreover, if I entered his dream, I might be able to glimpse his thoughts or subconscious.
‘I will be able to confirm why I couldn’t enter last time, and whether he had any other intention in inviting me today.’
Thinking it was a good opportunity, I nodded calmly on purpose. At the same time, Ifrit’s face brightened with joy.
“Thank you so much, Lyn. How does it work?”
“First, when you fall asleep, your dream world will be created. At that time, if I also fall asleep somewhere not far from you, my ability will change your nightmares.”
Since he only knew my ability as something that purified nightmares, I didn’t mention that I could also alter dreams in detail. That way, he would lower his mental defenses more easily.
“I see. That’s really amazing. Then, could you do that? Today!”
“Right now?”
It would mean taking a nap here, so honestly, I hesitated.
But in the end, I nodded.
Part of it was because I felt sorry for deceiving him by saying I had no ability, but it was also purely out of my curiosity.
A short while later, Lis and I were guided to a guest room. There were two rooms right next to each other.
Since Ifrit and I couldn’t sleep together, it was so we could fall asleep in adjacent rooms instead.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I will see you in the dream soon, Lyn.”
Ifrit waved his hand at me and went into the room next door.
When I entered the room and lay down on the bed, Ris pulled over a chair and sat beside it.
“Honestly, I do not like the situation of you sleeping here, Madam… But you must have your reasons. I will guard you here until you wake up.”
“Thank you, Ris. Then I will leave it to you.”
Contrary to my worry that I might not fall asleep since it was daytime, drowsiness poured over me the moment I lay down.
I had eaten quite a lot for lunch, and even had wine with it, so it made sense.
‘It must be post-meal drowsiness. Well, that works out…’
And at the moment my eyes were closing, I saw Ris, still sitting there, slowly lowering her waist and resting her head against my side.
“She said she would guard me while I sleep… Does she also slack off on duty sometimes…?’
Before I even had time to think it was strange, I quickly fell asleep.
The entire world was dyed black.
It felt as if my body was sinking deeply into the darkness, like when lying on an extremely soft bed mattress.
For a brief moment, it felt like I could hear people talking very faintly from outside the dark world.
It also felt as if my body was being shaken irregularly.
And the next moment, I suddenly opened my eyes. For some reason, breathing was difficult, and I gasped for air.
“Gasp, gasp… Huh…?”
The place where I opened my eyes was dark. For a moment, I even blinked again, thinking I hadn’t opened my eyes yet.
I was clearly lying on a bed, but it wasn’t the room where I had fallen asleep earlier.
I could tell just from the extremely damp air, enough to feel like I was submerged in water.
“Ris…?”
I called out cautiously just in case, but I already knew that I was alone here. Since the moment I woke up, I hadn’t sensed anyone else’s presence.
‘Ris would never leave my side even for a moment while I’m asleep. What happened?’
As I quietly blinked, my eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and the structure of this place began to appear little by little.
Seeing that there was at least a faint trace of light, it seemed there might be a crack in a wall somewhere far away.
“The walls… they are stone walls.”
It looked exactly like the underground prison of some ancient mansion. And since it was this dark, it was certain that there were no windows.
‘I fell asleep in a perfectly normal guest room earlier, so where is this?’
Startled, I raised my upper body, and only then did I realize that not only was the air here damp, but it was also incredibly heavy, making me flinch.
Breathing was uncomfortable, and it felt as if my entire body was being subtly pressed down.
‘What’s this? Why did this happen…?’
At that moment, someone slowly walked toward me from the darkness.
“…!”
Since I had felt no presence and thought I was alone, I was startled by the sudden appearance of a person.
“You are awake?”
My eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, recognized his dazzling blond hair.
“Ifrit…?”
Thanks to my eyes adjusting further, I could see him rising from a chair placed in one corner of the room.
“Ifrit. What are you doing here…?”
“I was waiting for you to wake up. I put a special sleeping drug in the meal, and fortunately, it worked well.”
“What?”
Ifrit came to my side and snapped his fingers. Then, as if a lamp had been lit, my surroundings suddenly brightened.
Squinting my eyes, which had grown used to the darkness, I looked around this space. It was unmistakably an underground prison.
‘Yes, that’s right. Since it’s underground, the air is damp, and the walls are made of piled-up dark stone.’
I didn’t even have the time to wonder how, with a single gesture from him, the torches attached throughout the stone walls lit up all at once like switches being turned on, as I struggled to understand the situation I was in.
“Then, where is Ris?”
“Ah, even in a situation like this, you are worried about your maid. Don’t worry, I stored her safely in another room.”
‘At least she seems to be safe, but…’
Only then did I realize far too late that he had urged Ris to eat the same meal as me because he needed to put her to sleep as well.
And that Ifrit had probably taken an antidote in advance.
Although I didn’t know why he was doing this, it was certain that his intentions weren’t good.
At this moment, only one person came to mind.
‘Rastan…!’
It was almost laughable that I was thinking of him after making such a fuss about him being a demon and not being trustworthy.
However, the fact that he was a demon also made me trust his abilities even more.
I tightly shut my eyes and focused my mind.
Because thanks to my ability, which had grown even stronger recently, I could faintly sense Rastan’s presence if I concentrated, even when he wasn’t nearby.
However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t feel Rastan’s presence.
‘Huh…?’
Perhaps it was because Rastan was too far away.
‘Then, Ris? Sally? Raven? Jeff?’
I called out the people I knew one by one in my mind and tried to sense their presence.
However, strangely, as if the connection had been cut off, my ability didn’t work at all.
Perhaps my panic showed on my face, because Ifrit looked at me and spoke.
“You were trying to do something just now, weren’t you? It seems your ability isn’t limited to just purifying nightmares?”
“…!”
