Child of the night.

In the heart of Tembarr Castle, the gathered faces all turned in unison toward Elen. Without hesitation, she rose from her seat with grace and performed a lady's curtsy.

"Nice to meet you, Lord Ruel. I am Elen Vanclift."

"My daughter. Isn't she adorable?"

As Elen introduced herself, Lovell butted in with a smug, boastful smile. Elen’s brow twitched slightly in quiet protest. And Lovell, ever the show-off, didn’t forget to add, “Keep your distance from my daughter,” to Ruel.

Elen shot him a look—*you’re the one who said I should stay quiet*—but Lovell just grinned, eyes sparkling with pride as he stared at his daughter like she was the whole damn show.

"Wait… the daughter of Hero Lovell…?"

Ruel’s arm froze mid-motion, eyes wide with shock. Then, slowly, Lorea finally noticed Elen’s presence. Her face twisted in disbelief, and she shrieked—

"Y-you’re… the princess!?"

"Wha—?"

Lüür couldn’t help but worry at how wide Lorea’s jaw had dropped, and instinctively reached up to lift it.

"Lüür, must you be doing such a thing to me? This natural disaster!"

"Oh—sorry. I thought your jaw had actually unhinged…"

She quickly pulled her hand back. In that moment, Lorea slipped free from Lüür’s grasp.

Tez sighed, rubbing his temples like his head was about to split, while the King watched the whole scene with a smirk, as if this latest chaos had just made the day more entertaining.

"Y-you’re… the princess… what do I do…?"

Still flustered, Lorea landed on the floor, scrambling to her feet, and the Great Spirit Hōze sighed in exasperation.

"You, just moments ago, were wreaking havoc somewhere—scratched me, wrecked the palace furnishings. Honestly…!"

"Th-the palace…?"

Hōze told Lore, whose body trembled violently, that the place she’d been just moments ago was the Spirit Castle.

Hearing that, Lore visibly stiffened.

“Hōze, over there…”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“H-h-h-your… Highness…”

Lore was so frozen she couldn’t even move her mouth.

Elen chuckled, watching Lore drip with cold sweat.

“Calling her ‘Your Highness’… well…”

When Rüel asked, Elen replied, “My mother is the Spirit King.” Not only Rüel, but all the guards—those who hadn’t known—stared in utter shock.

“Understood. What you just heard is to remain strictly between us.”

The guards all snapped to attention in unison. Gadiel, seemingly already aware, kept his gaze fixed on her.

“W-why would the princess be here…? There are cursed ones here, aren’t there!”

When Elen turned toward Lore’s startled voice, Lore flinched and straightened up abruptly, eyes locking with hers.

“You were looking for that royal family, weren’t you? You found them, right?”

“H-hey… the princess… is she really… with cursed ones…?”

“Haven’t you heard from Hozé and the others? Why are you searching for them?”

“Huh!? Wait—”

Lore finally seemed to snap back to her original purpose.

The Great Spirit had been furious—claimed the Helgner royal family had tried to reach for the daughter of the goddess. Lore stared at Elen, disbelief in her eyes, and Elen simply said:

“What’s your name?”

“W-well, I am Lore, Keeper of the Night, at your service!”

Lore hopped forward on two legs, flustered, bowing low—Elen blinked. The movement wasn’t catlike, not quite, and everyone in the room froze, staring. Lore, however, seemed utterly unaware.

After finishing her introduction, Lore wiped her forehead with one hand, letting out a soft, exaggerated sigh—like she was brushing away sweat.

She was so flustered she probably didn’t even realize what she was doing.

My attention wavered toward her antics, but I snapped myself back.

Funny, really. Only the pure-hearted can form contracts with spirits.

When bloodshed and royal squabbles flare up, spirits tend to vanish. Most spirits just seek pure joy. The ones who take interest in humans? Usually those types.

So how many of them would actually agree to help with wars between races? Not many.

Only spirits deeply tied to humans would ever get involved in such conflicts.

Fighting among spirit mages is naturally just clan warfare. That’s why spirit mages are few and far between—precious, they’re called.

Then there’s Lore, a rare spirit with black fur, known only as such. The name woven into the House of Helgner. The only one among spirits, a truly rare existence—something I’ve heard whispered about.

A spirit said to keep watching over the descendants of the human they once bound to, even after death.

"You’re the spirit who guarded the Helgner royal line, aren’t you?"

"Y-yes..."

"You were in Helgner Kingdom, weren’t you? Do you know what the king’s thinking?"

Elen’s direct question made Lore’s ears droop.

"Forgive me… ever since Lyul was nearly killed twelve years ago, I haven’t come near the castle…"

"So there hasn’t been a spirit in Helgner Kingdom all this time?"

……

Elen took Lore’s silence as confirmation, finally understanding why she’d been targeted.

After hearing about events in Vanclift territory, perhaps she’d been trying to seize the benefits of it.

From Lore’s words, Elen mentally pieced together everything that had happened. If Amiel had been found, all that remained was to bring him back. But she couldn’t help but doubt things would go so smoothly. Sauvel, watching her silent and thoughtful, asked with concern, “Is something wrong?”

“No… just…”

“What is it?”

Prompted by Sauvel’s gentle nudge, Elen finally spoke.

“Something… feels off.”

“Off?”

If the prince with pale hair had been hidden out of shame, and the royal family had cut ties because of it, that made sense. But something deeper felt buried. She couldn’t shake it.

Elen sensed that Lore was hiding something, and stared at her intently.

Lore froze, sweat dripping down her face as she realized it.

"Um... could you not blame Lore too much? I'll tell you myself..."

Elen looked up at Rüül, who stepped forward protectively, shielding Lore with his arm.

As Elen stared at the man who looked just like Gadiel, Gadiel—sitting far away—suddenly stood, then began walking toward them.

Elen and Lore flinched, instantly stepping back from Rüül.

Gadiel’s expression was faintly sorrowful. Elen couldn’t help but feel her chest tighten.

"Lord Rüül. You’ve just been told by Lovell, haven’t you? Please stay away from Elen."

"Y-yes...?"

Something about the way Gadiel was looking at Rüül made Elen feel uneasy. Like he was terrifying.

Gadiel gently urged Rüül back onto the sofa. But Lore, crouched at Elen’s feet, stood her ground defiantly against Gadiel.

“You! A cursed thing like you—stay away from Rüül!!”

Lore bristled, fur flared in fury. Gadiel looked at her with a sad expression.

“Sorry….”

He stepped back from Rüül. And then—what was this? The black mist surrounding Gadiel seemed to grow faint, just a little.

(…Huh?)

Elen and Lore stared, stunned. Was it just their imagination? But Lore seemed to notice it too.

“Rüül… is the same face?!”

You could almost hear the question: *Now you notice?* But the truth was, thanks to Lovell tightening the barrier, the mist had grown so thick that even the king’s faces had blurred into one another—nearly indistinguishable.

I swear my jaw must’ve unhinged completely, the way Lore was gaping with eyes and mouth wide open.

Seeming to notice the king wasn’t visible anymore, she turned to Lovell.

“Apparently, because I’ve tightened the barrier, the curse has… condensed into one spot, so to speak. The concentration’s gotten so thick, even spirits can’t tell faces apart.”

“S-so that’s how it is…”

I could’ve sworn the king sounded a little down after hearing that.

Gadiel looked stunned too, glancing at Elen and blurting out:

“…Elen, you can’t see my face either, can you?”

Elen, startled by how forlorn he sounded, blurted out immediately:

“I *can* see you, Father. Maybe it’s thanks to your blood.”

“S-so that’s it!”

Gadiel’s face relaxed with relief after I’d explained it roundabout—he seemed to finally get it. Lore, watching, didn’t look warm at all.

"…So what’s the big deal if Elen’s face is visible or not?"

Gadiel flinched at Lovell’s voice, cold as winter air.

The king, witnessing this, sighed in disbelief.

"Such a petty soul."

The king’s words seemed to echo the unspoken thoughts of everyone nearby.