Kishiar’s words carried an unmistakable meaning without needing to use any direct terms. Yuder quietly met the gazes of dozens of people now looking at him with expressions slightly changed from before.

And so, the first shared meal in Peleta came to an end. As those with full minds returned to their own spaces, the butler Enk appeared once again. She came accompanied by someone Yuder had not yet seen.

“Duke, Baron Aile. This is Margaret. She’s in charge of managing the inner quarters. Margaret will guide you both to your bedroom. I’ll excuse myself here. I hope you have a pleasant evening, and if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.”

Margaret bore a striking resemblance to Enk at first glance, but she looked much younger.

Enk’s daughter, perhaps?

Margaret gave a deep, polite bow, and her first words, spoken with a smiling face, were:

“I was informed that our esteemed guest would be staying in the inner quarters, so I prepared two bedrooms in advance. However, just now I judged that one likely wouldn’t be necessary. Would it be alright if I act accordingly?”

Her words were shockingly direct, yet perhaps because of the goodwill conveyed through her eyes, they didn’t come off as rude.

“Yes.”

When Yuder nodded, Margaret turned on her heel and confidently led them deeper into the inner fortress.

The destination—the Duke’s bedroom—was located far deeper than the dining hall. What stood out was how, the deeper they went into the fortress, the fewer people there were. Especially once they entered the floor containing the bedroom, even the faint sense of distant presence vanished entirely. Aside from Margaret, not a single trace of another person could be sensed.

It felt as if a clear line had been drawn, saying no one should pass beyond this point.

It’s a different feeling from how quiet it was when I visited in my past life... Still, it’s unusually silent.

Yet Kishiar and Margaret seemed completely accustomed to the situation.

“You must be tired from coming all the way to Peleta. Please rest well.”

Arriving in front of the Duke’s bedroom at the utterly silent top floor, Margaret opened the door, gave them one more courteous bow, and left. As even she disappeared, the noisy atmosphere from the dining hall just moments ago seemed like a dream—the air now completely still.

Yuder stood by, briefly staring past the empty corridor, when a low voice came from beside him.

“That thing I said at the end of the meal earlier. Were you surprised?”

Yuder turned his head. Kishiar hadn’t entered the room yet and stood leaning against the open door with arms crossed, watching him. Yuder raised one brow at his faint smile.

“A bit late to ask that now, isn’t it?”

“That it is.”

Yet he asked anyway. Perhaps because, unless it was spoken aloud, there remained some slim chance—a what if. Sensing Kishiar’s reasoning, Yuder replied.

“I expected you to say something like that while we were here. But it was a bit more...”

“More?”

Yuder reached toward the strand of hair falling over the man’s tilted forehead and continued.

“Hard to explain. But it did feel... strange.”

“In a bad way?”

“No. Definitely not.”

His fingers brushed back the golden hair from Kishiar’s forehead. Watching the man, who quietly closed his eyes and accepted the gesture like a gentle lamb, Yuder recalled the emotions he had felt throughout the day. How should he put it?

“The odd feeling I’ve had since setting foot in Peleta... I think it reached its peak at that moment. It was just... strange in a sudden, unfamiliar way.” 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Strange.”

Kishiar repeated the word.

“Yes. I suppose it’s because I never expected I’d return to this place.”

Even after pushing the hair back into place, Yuder didn’t withdraw his hand. Kishiar didn’t say anything to move it either—he simply stood there, letting Yuder’s touch linger.

This was Peleta Castle, and yet here they were, doing this at the very boundary between the hallway and the bedroom with the door still open. That, too, struck Yuder as peculiarly strange. But at the same time, the strangeness felt oddly natural.

Then, Kishiar slowly opened his mouth.

“There’s only the Duke’s bedroom on the top floor now. But originally, the Duchess’s room was here too. When I came here, I had # Nоvеlight # the two rooms half-merged into one space, and the distinction between them disappeared. At the time, I needed a small office space I could work from while bedridden, and I thought I’d never need a partner’s room for the rest of my life.”

“......”

“Even though now there’s only one bedroom left, everyone still remembers that there used to be two.”

So the response he’d given Margaret—about one room not being necessary—was meant in that way. Those red eyes peeking out beneath long lashes seemed to say: If it makes you even slightly uncomfortable, you can still go downstairs now.

Yuder let out a long breath as he looked into those eyes.

Kishiar la Orr always gave him a final, final option to retreat. As if to ask, Even if I do this—will you still keep moving forward with me?

No matter how much had changed inside Kishiar, that deeply ingrained habit had not yet been shaken off.

And in the end, Yuder’s answer was always the same.

“Tell them to remember.”

“......”

“You did call me your precious guest, didn’t you? And as you said, I’ve come a long way. So now I’d like to rest in the place where I feel most comfortable.”

Yuder smiled at the man standing there as if to block the door.

“I’d like to go in now. Would you mind stepping aside?”

Kishiar’s eyes wavered with a mysterious light. He stood up straight, and like that moment long ago when he’d said he felt a thrill, he laughed with a face flushed with exhilaration.

“It’s an honor to welcome the first guest into this place like this. Please, come in.”

Yuder stepped over the threshold, past the man who greeted him with a hand to his chest like a valet. Just one step—and yet, it brought with it the strange sensation of something welling up inside.

Inside the Duke’s bedroom, everything was tidily arranged, as if Kishiar had only just left yesterday. Though everything was different, something about the room's arrangement and overall atmosphere reminded Yuder of his bedroom in the Capital.

No... to be more precise...

The bedroom Kishiar used when he was still a prince. Yes. It felt closer to that.

Though not as extravagant as the palace, there was a certain wall here that felt eerily similar to one he had seen there.

On the surface, it looked like a normal wall, but it could be moved to isolate someone inside—that very same wall.

As Yuder silently stared at it, Kishiar walked up and tapped it deliberately with a finger. Instead of a heavy thud, the sound was oddly light. It was clear proof that it was not made of the same material as the other walls in the castle.

“Looks like you figured out what this wall is the moment you arrived.”

“Does it serve the same function as the one in the palace?”

“Yes. It was designed to shut off the bedroom and the adjoining office in case of an emergency. Aside from Nathan, no one else can operate it.”

Yuder realized the wall divided the bedroom and the small office. Just as Kishiar said, the two spaces originally made for separate individuals had been merged into one, and the dividing wall was naturally inserted between them. Anyone unaware of the secret would think it was simply a practical partition to separate the space. It was subtle, yet the intent was unmistakable.

Even knowing it was now a wall without purpose, Yuder felt a strange heaviness in his chest.

“Is that why no one other than Margaret is allowed in here? For isolation?”

“That’s right. When I was sick, I needed to avoid too many people trying to make contact. So I limited the number of people who could enter from the beginning.”

By designing it so that no one else was allowed in from the start, Kishiar could be isolated without suspicion if anything happened. He must’ve established that rule from the very moment he arrived in Peleta—for that one purpose alone.

The fact that he, despite being someone who let anyone dine with him and showed deep affection for his retainers, had so completely separated that from his secrets—was utterly Kishiar.

“As for this bedroom, if Nathan and I are both away, Margaret alone is allowed to manage it. That’s the rule.”

“...And now that I can enter too, that makes one more.”

At those words, Kishiar smiled brightly.