Mary awoke from her sleep with a start, her eyes wide open, her face twisted in discomfort.

Despite having just woken up, her breath was ragged, and the blanket on the bed was soaked with cold sweat, as though she'd just undergone strenuous exercise.

‘This is gross...’

As she tried to calm her breathing, Mary sat blankly in bed, her eyes drifting towards the window.

The sky was still dark, with no hint of the sun yet. It was early dawn.

Maybe it was because of the unfamiliar bed. Or maybe...

"......"

Mary’s gaze turned towards the corner of the room, where Zeri lay asleep among the baggage.

Mary had woken up from a nightmare, tossing and turning in her sleep.

And the nightmare, of all things, had involved Ken.

It was a cruel vision of her being abandoned by Ken.

Right after she had awakened, Mary's heart had been pounding with fear, and she immediately thought of Zeri, the succubus.

But Zeri appeared to be sleeping soundly, still bound by the Mana-Absorbing Stone chains that Ken had specially prepared.

‘It must have been because of the unpleasant conversation we had during the day.’

After all, anyone could have nightmares.

Back when she was being trained by her father as a child, such nightmares were common.

Having a nightmare didn’t necessarily mean a succubus had manipulated it.

But the nightmare she had just experienced was so vivid, so distressing, it almost made her question whether it had been caused by Zeri.

It was a dream she didn’t want to revisit, nor did she want to think about it ever again.

And when she considered that it might have been a premonition, a chill ran down her spine.

‘I need to clear my head.’

Mary decided not to lie back down and headed straight to the bathroom.

She reached for the magical tool made of water and fire spirit stones, letting some mana flow into it.

Then, by a pre-arranged magic circuit inside the spirit stone above her head, warm water began to flow down on her.

The perfectly warmed water washed over her, providing comfort to her body.

‘It was... just a simple nightmare.’

Even as the pleasant warmth washed away her discomfort, her mind replayed fragments of the dream.

The most emotionally painful memory she'd had until now was Ken's funeral.

The news of his sudden passing left her feeling cold, yet also burning with grief.

It was as if her mind had gone blank, her vision blurred, and the ground seemed to flip beneath her.

The nightmare she had just experienced was almost as distressing.

To be abandoned by Ken was utterly cruel.

Not a separation by death but the knowledge that he was still alive yet unreachable.

Somehow, it felt more painful than the idea of his death.

The problem was, the contents of that nightmare weren’t entirely implausible.

If, by some unfortunate chance—by the worst luck imaginable—those events unfolded...

It seemed like a plausible enough future to follow.

Nightmares often progress naturally, and this one had an unsettling rationality that made her head spin.

Mary tried to let go of those troubling thoughts under the warmth of the water.

So that, after the sun had risen, she could greet Ken with a smile without the burden of such unpleasant memories.

As the sun rose, the group ate an early breakfast and quickly packed their things to leave the village they had rested in briefly.

If they didn't hurry, they wouldn't reach the next village before dusk.

The journey afterward was much like the day before.

While they walked, Zeri would whine, and Mary would use an ice hand to carry her along.

Ken, Raphne, and Emily walked in the lead, taking care of any monsters they encountered.

However, one thing was different today.

Mary kept watching Ken's back with uneasy eyes.

Ken was exactly the same as always.

Raphne clung to him, being affectionate, and Emily would scold her while still sneaking close to lean on Ken herself.

Normally, Mary would join in those moments somehow, but not today.

Today, Mary found herself holding back.

When she watched those three laugh together from behind, the contents of last night’s dream kept surfacing in her mind.

"What a lovely couple."

Sitting atop the ice hand, seemingly used to the cold now, Zeri spoke with a calm smile.

"It seems Mary was right. What's important isn't his feelings but the love you have for him."

For some reason, Zeri’s words today affirmed what Mary had said yesterday, rather than being rude like before.

“What’s suddenly brought this on?”

“Hm? What do you mean? Just making small talk because I'm bored.”

“Yesterday, you said something else... You asked who Ken loved the most.”

“That was just pure curiosity, I swear. Wouldn't you be curious too? After all, he's engaged to three people at the same time."

Zeri gave an apologetic smile, her body swaying slightly in her restraints, as if trying her best to appear remorseful.

“Ask any passerby, and they’d probably think the same thing. It’s incredibly difficult to love three people equally.”

“……”

“Really~ I’m saying I’m sorry, alright? I admit I was wrong yesterday.”

The question Zeri had asked yesterday.

Until this morning, Mary had believed it had been deliberate.

She thought Zeri had done it with the intention of making her have that nightmare.

That’s why she’d insisted on staying close, using her fatigue as an excuse.

But now, seeing Zeri apologizing, she seemed genuinely remorseful for her rude comment.

That it hadn’t been intentional.

That it was merely a pure, innocent curiosity.

‘...I'm the one who offered to carry her with magic, after all.’

Upon reconsidering, Zeri had merely complained about being tired—it was Mary who’d chosen to carry her alone.

Maybe she was just looking for someone to blame for the nightmare.

"Hey... you know."

"Hmm?"

Was that why?

“...What do you think about this?”

“What was that?”

Mary felt like she wanted to let out her complicated feelings.

And among the people she was traveling with right now, the only one she could openly talk to about this...

Was Zeri.

Not Ken, Raphne, or Emily.

She couldn’t share these feelings with those three.

“How do you feel?” Mary asked, her voice trailing off.

“About what, exactly?”

Since this morning—or maybe ever since she received Zeri's question yesterday, or even since she woke from the nightmare—Mary had had a knot in her chest.

Slowly, she cautiously confided in the demon girl beside her.

“Do you think Ken really loves us all equally?”

It was such a simple fear.

In truth, just as Mary had responded yesterday, it didn’t matter who Ken liked more.

What mattered was how much Mary loved him.

But still.

She couldn’t help but wonder.

That was simply the nature of love.

To want to be loved as much as you loved, to want to be as important to him as he was to her.

It was a simple desire.

A curiosity born of that desire.

A fear.

And to Zeri van Perlione—

A succubus who thrived on human desire, a higher-ranking demon known as the Conductor of Lies—

It was a feeling she understood all too well.

"You’re curious too, aren’t you?"

And when a human showed even the slightest doubt—

It was all too easy for Zeri to sway their emotions to her advantage with a hint of mana and her charming voice.

“I could help you out a bit, you know.”

The demon girl smiled sweetly, and Mary’s anxious eyes sparkled.

“Am I doing it... like this?”

“Mhm, yes, that’s it. Oh, there, not a circle but a triangle. The circle goes inside the triangle since that’s where the mind’s meant to be.”

Later that night.

The group once again reached the village just before the sun dipped below the horizon, avoiding having to camp outside.

But as the night grew deep, Mary did not go to bed. Instead, she sneaked out of the room with Zeri.

They headed to a clearing at the village's edge.

Relying on nothing but moonlight in a place where few people passed by, Mary drew lines on the ground according to Zeri’s instructions.

It was a magic circle.

A diagram that amplified the effects of magic or assisted in casting it.

Mary knew about magic circles very well, having competed for top marks at the academy.

But the design and symbols used in this demon-specific circle were unfamiliar, and she struggled a bit under Zeri's guidance to complete it.

“Do we really need to go as far as drawing a magic circle for this?”

“Whose fault do you think it is? If it's too much trouble, how about removing these chains?”

“Like I'd actually be able to.”

“Then stop complaining and hurry up. I’m dying to know the answer too.”

The reason Mary was helping Zeri draw this magic circle was simple.

Zeri had offered to use her dream magic to reveal Ken’s true feelings.

Of course, it wasn't without conditions.

While it was indeed Zeri’s curiosity that had sparked the idea, she was still helping Mary.

In return for using her magic, Mary would have to carry her with the ice hand for the rest of the journey.

Maybe it was because Zeri had requested this compensation that Mary didn’t doubt her.

Not just Mary, but anyone would see Zeri as simply an opportunist gaining something for herself while satisfying her curiosity.

Zeri wasn’t doing this solely for Mary.

So, Mary never considered that Zeri might have ulterior motives.

—Perhaps.

It was also because of the alluring mana woven into her voice that made Mary drop her suspicions.

Once charmed, no human could ever realize it.

Mary obediently continued drawing the magic circle as instructed.

“Ooh, good, good, see? You can do it.”

“Phew… Is this all the preparation?”

“Yep, now all that’s left is simple. Come here and channel some mana into the Mana-Absorbing Stone on these chains.”

“Mana? How much?”

“Hmm, about the same as you’d use for a mid-tier earth spell, like ‘Biventusia.’”

“Would such a simple dream spell really require that much?”

“If you want to argue, go complain to your fiancé who made such a troublesome sealing chain.”

At Zeri’s sharp glare, Mary blushed slightly, oddly pleased by the mention of her fiancé.

Noticing the change in Mary’s expression, Zeri stared at her for a moment before Mary cleared her throat and approached the demon girl.

“I’ll channel the mana now, so let’s get this over with quickly.”

“Don’t worry. This is my specialty, after all…”

Mary gently placed her hand on the violet Mana-Absorbing Stone.

And with that touch—

Zeri's grin widened as she watched the small cracks she’d prepared all come to fruition.

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