The Young Supporter of Darkness

“Count.”

As soon as Count Philbert came out of the office, the count’s aide, who was waiting outside, walked right along with him.

“Did the conversation end well? By the way, who was the child who just went in?”

“Who could it be.”

Tsk, the count clicked his tongue and continued.

“A distinguished imperial family informant.”

“Ah. She is the new lady of the Bertrand Grand Duchy.”

The count abruptly stopped at the aide’s answer. And he glared at his aide with fierce eyes.

“The new lady! Don’t say that. Because they will get divorced soon anyway.”

Count Philbert frowned as he recalled what had happened in the office earlier.

‘Seeing how young she was, she must have been firmly educated by the emperor!’

Count Philbert was rather frightening looking.

That’s why unfamiliar children get scared.

Far from being frightened, the child hadn’t told him several times that she was above the count.

Judging from such boldness and eloquence, the emperor must have been educating her for a long time.

“Everyone didn’t know that and just moved on.”

When Daphne was away earlier, the count, who had come for the first time in a while to the Shadow Castle, almost fell in surprise.

It was also surprising that Kael, His Grace Grand Duke Bertrand, married a princess sent by the emperor.

“Thanks to Milady, the castle has brightened, so it’s good. Honestly, it was too somber before that.”

“She always greets us when she sees us, and to be honest, I’m a little proud.”

“What a good lady she is! Don’t say that, Count.”

Not only servants, but also the Bertrand knights, Bree, Selma, and Skitt. And what was worse.

“Isn’t our baby so cute? Don’t trip after you see her a little later.”

Even Zegman had turned completely over.

Didn’t even the same vassal, Viscount Acmel, side with the princess.

“Keugh!”

Count Philbert clenched his fists. After all, why would a princess come when he was away due to a large-scale subjugation.

“If I had been there, I would never have let this marriage happen!”

“We thought we’d shorten the engagement and break off the marriage.”

The aide said soothingly to the count.

The count nodded as if his aide was right, but could not straighten his distorted face.

“Everyone fell for it.”

Count Philbert recalled Daphne, whom he had met earlier.

Certainly, the pink hair and golden eyes created a dreamy yet mysterious atmosphere.

The way she was holding the candy jar was like a fairy that came out of a children’s book.

She would surely be an outstanding beauty when she grows up.

In addition, the child’s appearance was enough to break the will to fight.

“But she’s an informant sent by the emperor!”

Count Philbert shouted to himself. He can’t. He can’t let himself fall for it.

‘The emperor is no ordinary fellow.’

This emperor was even more vicious than other emperors.

He was displeased that the empress’s family had power.

So he killed the empress who helped him rise to the throne in front of his son and destroyed the empress’s family.

Then he brought a commoner woman from another country who had been his hidden lover and placed her in the position of empress. By then his lover already had Claire in her stomach.

Due to this, the emperor now wielded omnipotent power more than ever before.

It was Kael’s leash that such a vicious wretch chose.

‘I must never let my guard down.’

Count Philbert wiped away his sweat and made a vow.

He will never fall for it.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“Is His Grace doing well?”

Daphne murmured. Three days have passed since Kael left.

This meant that three days had passed without any progress in Daphne’s relationship with Count Philbert.

‘It’s fascinating.’

For three days, Daphne was very busy dealing with the affairs of the castle, which had been a wreck by the longtime absence of a lady of the house.

Seeing young Daphne working so hard, Count Philbert thought his doubts had been alleviated for a moment.

“I am not deceived.”

In a moment’s absence, he appeared again, igniting his fighting spirit. And then he would keep an eye on Daphne like, show me another flaw.

It was like a child shouting with his whole body, ‘I will hate you, I will hate you!’

“Mmm.”

Daphne stretched her arms forward.

It seemed difficult to get close to the count in ordinary ways.

‘But I can’t blow up a hot spring again like I did with Viscount Acmel.’

Of course, she remembered the locations, but wouldn’t it be a little too much if it exploded in a row like that?

“What shall I do?”

There was one more concern.

The building that only appears during the red moon.

It was to find the very building that Flora had found.

‘I can’t leave the castle.’

Naturally, Daphne was forbidden from leaving the castle until the red moon set.

But she couldn’t send Leon or any other knights.

Each and every one was an important force now.

‘As expected, I need someone.’

She needed one more person to move and die at her will.

Mariel was her lady-in-waiting, so this time she needed someone to use a sword and ask for information.

‘…They’re qualified, though.’

She wondered if she could find them.

The person Daphne thought of was a person who was very good at hiding.

Even Daphne, who knows the future, thinks it is hard to find, and Flora met all of them by chance and got help.

‘It’s not that there’s no way to find it, but I’m reluctant.’

Daphne sighed heavily.

Her thoughts were tangled up in her head. To make matters worse, she began to feel hungry.

Growl!

Daphne furrowed her brows, grasping her stomach that made a loud noise.

‘Oh, really. I’m hungry all the time now.’

It was too late to eat something. It was the middle of the night, even though the windows were blocked.

But to eat nothing.

Growl—!

Her stomach was in such a mess.

‘I saw Bree bake a lot of bread earlier.’

It was a late-night snack for the knights and servants who stayed up late, and a lot of round bread was baked and stuffed into a basket.

‘Should I just eat one? A glass of milk would be perfect for that.’

Growl!

Her stomach replied.

Yeah, let’s eat.

Daphne made up her mind and moved.

She jumped off the sofa, lit a lantern, put on a shawl, and went out into the hallway.

It was too late to wake Mariel up, so she was going to go to the kitchen herself.

“Uh, errrr. Ah! Phew, Milady, it’s Milady.”

The knights she encountered were surprised, but were visibly relieved when they confirmed that it was Daphne.

Adne seemed to be wandering the hallways without a lantern again today.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to the kitchen because I’m hungry.”

“Why didn’t you ask for a maid? We will accompany you, Milady.”

Daphne shook her head at the words of the knight.

These knights had to pay more attention to patrolling the castle now than to take her to the kitchen.

It was because a demon that suddenly appeared might attack the castle.

“It’s okay, I’m just going to the kitchen.”

The kitchen was just a few steps down.

After telling Daphne to shout if anything happens, the knights began to patrol again.

Daphne, wearing a shawl, moved quickly.

She was going to put something in her stomach before her stomach rumbled again.

‘There seems to be more tension than usual.’

Since it was the period of the red moon, there seemed to be tension everywhere in the castle.

Daphne blinked as she looked at the barred windows.

‘That’s why there were so many secret passages.’

She thought it was only necessary when there was a war or when an assassin infiltrated, but there were also demons.

Somehow unsettled, Daphne clutched her shawl. She should hurry up and go get some bread.

How many more steps did she take?

“Huh?”

Something caught on the boundary between light and darkness.

‘What is it?’

It wasn’t a person. But it wasn’t an animal or a demon. There was something on the dead-end wall.

Daphne approached the wall.

There was a very thin gap. You normally wouldn’t have spotted it.

However, now the moonlight was blocked by a board, and the number of lights that were normally lit was small.

So she was able to detect it.

Daphne’s lantern light drew the dark gap with light and shade.

‘Is it a secret passageway?’

That’s weird. There wasn’t anything like this on the map that Kael drew for her.

Daphne’s head tilted to the side.

‘But if you think about it, there might be a secret passageway that Kael doesn’t know.’

Since it’s such an old castle, there were times when secret passageways were made and then shut down.

If it was one of those passageways, even Kael wouldn’t know.

“Should I tell Kael later and block it completely?”

Or should she save and make another passageway?

As soon as she put her hand in the gap with such thoughts, Daphne’s body leaned forward.

“…??”

Daphne, who rolled forward without any chance to scream, blinked. The lantern she was holding in her hand was rolling away.

‘Why is it open?’

Suddenly, the secret passage door opened and she rolled inside.

‘Don’t you usually have to move a device or do something to open these secret passages?’

You can’t open it just by touching it with your hand!

“Ugh, what is this?”

Daphne, who picked up the lantern and put on her shawl again, grumbled.

She’ll have to tell Kael to block this door when he comes.

With that in mind, she put her hand on the door again.

“…??”

It didn’t open this time. There seemed to be no door in the first place.

She tried knocking and shouting, but it seemed it couldn’t be heard because it was blocked by the thick stone wall.

‘I can’t. Let’s go all the way.’

If you go all the way, you will either go outside or arrive in another room.

Or there was a high possibility that the secret passageways were connected.

‘If it’s a closed place then, umm, let’s think about it then.’

Maybe it’s because it’s an unrealistic situation where you come to eat a late night snack and suddenly get stuck in a secret passageway.

She was strangely unperturbed.

‘Ah, I’m hungry.’

She came out to eat a late night snack, but what kind of disaster was this?

Daphne walked forward. It was good that she didn’t have to worry about getting lost because it was a single path.

How long did she walk like that?

A room appeared.

“Look at that. It’s connected to another room.”

Daphne opened the door triumphantly and froze.

Strange letters were written all over the room, all the way to the ceiling.

Although she couldn’t read it, Daphne knew what it was.

A dead language that exists only as a record.

It was neologism, the characters of the gods that had now disappeared.