Diana and Irwin stood frozen, as if their minds couldn't process what had just happened.
Rudy trembled on the bed, his fingers twitching with pain.
The doctor panicked, rushing forward to intervene but before Ivaan's eyes, the last fragile thread of life connecting Rudy to the world snapped.
A flat, unbroken beep rang out.
The doctor stepped back, pale.
"Time of death: 3:47 p.m."
Diana turned to Ivaan, her voice trembling with fear.
"Did Rudy die because of us? Was it because we tried to look into his memories?"
Ivaan met her eyes. He saw the guilt into them. The fear.
Then he glanced at Irwin and said quietly:
"The survivor's death was already decided .The moment he arrived here… his fate was sealed. This wasn't our fault."
But even as he spoke, Ivaan remained still.
His black-gloved hand slowly closed the book.
On its cover, the living eye blinked once… and then shut,
as if in mourning.
And then another second,
A pendant slipped from Rudy's hand.
No one else noticed it ,no one else saw it fall.
But Ivaan did.
He picked it up carefully. It was still warm,
as if clinging to Rudy's final breath.
Inside the pendant was a faded photograph…
A girl with kind eyes and a soft smile.
"Lia," Ivaan murmured.
"That must be her. She won't take the news well."
In front of his eyes Rudy's body covered with white sheet.
He turned and left the room, his presence lingering like a shadow.
Without a word, Irwin understood the unspoken command and stepped toward the doctor.
The door closed softly behind him.
Ivaan was gone.
---
Ivaan sat in his study chair, staring at the closed book.
The faint scent of roses lingered in the air familiar, haunting.
He held the pendant in his gloved hand.
"Lia," he repeated, almost inaudibly.
Then
A soft rustle.
A movement behind the curtain.
His eyes narrowed.
In a single motion, he unsheathed his sword and slashed forward.
Fshhhk.
The curtain split open
And behind it… a trembling little girl.
Adla stood frozen. Her tiny body shook with fear.
She tried to stand but her legs gave out, and she dropped to her knees with a soft thud.
A moment later, she burst into tears.
Her small hands flew up to cover her eyes, as if hiding could undo what just happened.
The room filled with the sharp, high-pitched wails of a panicking child a sound so shrill it could peel wallpaper.
"Hai hai! Stop crying Adla, stop crying!" Ivaan shouted, flustered.
Even the cold-hearted master of shadows had met his match…
A crying little monster.
But Adla didn't listen.
Her sobs only grew louder, echoing like a banshee with no off-switch.
"IRWIN!" Ivaan shouted.
Within seconds, Irwin arrived confused, breathless.
"What in the world ,why is the gardener's little sister in the master's room?! And why is she crying?! And what happened to the terrifying master? Why does he look… defeated?"
Boiling with barely contained rage, Ivaan turned to Irwin with a dangerously calm smile.
"Irwin," he said through clenched teeth, "would you care to explain how this child got in here? And why she was hiding?"
Then, with a firm hand on Irwin's shoulder, he added:
"Also… make her stop crying. Immediately."
In that instant, Irwin felt his soul leave his body.
"That hand… it felt like Death itself had tapped my shoulder."
"Oh Lord, save me."
Ivaan returned to his chair, massaging his temples in exhaustion.
On the other side of the room, Irwin scrambled to pacify Adla, trying everything short of juggling.
After half an hour, her cries finally faded to sniffles.
Just as silence settled in, Ivaan called out to her his voice cold and unreadable.
Irwin's heartbeat stuttered.
"Is Master trying to make her cry again? Is he enjoying this chaos?" he thought, panicked.
Adla, still hiccuping, looked up with puffy eyes.
Ivaan's gaze remained steady.
"Why were you hiding here? How did you get in?" he asked.
Adla glanced nervously toward Irwin, her small fingers tangled together.
"Brother... he changed," she whispered. "He acted weird… he doesn't love me anymore. His eyes turned black… and he shouted."
Her voice shook.
"He wasn't like this yesterday morning. He changed."
She broke down again, her little face buried in her palms.
The words were fragmented, childlike but chilling.
The gardener's eyes… turned black?
Irwin's expression stiffened.
Even in her innocent stammering, she had revealed something terrifying.
Ivaan's eyes darkened.
"Irwin. Place the gardener under investigation immediately. And tend to Adla."
His voice was flat. Final.
"Also, call the other subordinates. I want a village meeting about Darkskin tonight."
Irwin nodded, straightening up as the air in the room grew heavier.
Whatever was happening…
it had just escalated.
-------
The meeting was held in the evening, just as Ivaan had ordered, near the edge of Darkskin.
The moon had begun to rise for its nightly duty, spilling silver light like a velvet curtain across the land. Its glow cast a luminous halo around Ivaan's figure, making him appear almost divine.
In the wide yard of the estate, several vintage cars stood in quiet rows, engines ticking softly as they waited for their master. Irwin followed closely behind Ivaan as they departed for the bell tower, where the gathering would take place.
Red roses along the path gleamed under the moonlight, their petals shimmering like blood and silk.
Inside the car, Irwin began presenting the day's report as he settled into the driver's seat. Master Ivaan sat silently in the back, his gaze fixed on the passing scenery.
"The gardener has been taken into custody," Irwin said, hands on the wheel. "He's not allowed to meet anyone. Magician Jihan performed a checkup on him nearly two hours ago."
Ivaan remained calm, eyes scanning the world beyond the window.
Irwin continued, "The gardener's sister, Adla, is currently under care. Miss Lin is babysitting her."
At the mention of the forgotten maid's name, something shifted in Ivaan's expression. He recalled the fleeting image of her life thread frayed, trembling, on the edge of snapping.