The conversation between Ethan and Maria continued smoothly. Ethan chattered in his usual way, asking about everything, commenting nonstop. Maria answered with practical kindness, as if she was used to this kind of talk with strangers.
But Niklaus, on the other side, ate in silence. He wasn't part of their lively interaction—he just observed the general atmosphere. Until Maria decided to direct her words to him.
Maria, in a calm but subtly curious tone: "You don't seem to talk much."
Niklaus raised his gaze to her for a moment, then answered quietly, without showing particular interest.
Niklaus: "I don't see a reason to."
Maria gave a short smile, but didn't seem bothered by his lack of words. She just continued arranging cups on the table, as if that was her way of keeping things normal.
But after a moment, he looked at her, studied her features briefly, then said in a low but clear voice: "It seems hard to take care of this place alone... especially with children."
Maria stopped moving, as if his words had struck something unexpected.
She raised her head, looked at him with eyes carrying a hint of surprise, then shook her head quickly, as if completely dismissing the idea.
Maria said in a hurried voice: "No... I don't have children. There are no children here."
Niklaus kept looking at her for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the nearby corner where that little girl was still standing, her black eyes watching him in complete silence.
But when he looked at Ethan, he noticed something strange.
Ethan didn't see her.
He was busy with his food, with his talking, and never once glanced at the corner where the girl stood.
Was she hidden?
But she didn't seem like a ghost. She didn't seem like an unnatural entity. She was completely real. Only... no one else saw her. No one but him and Maria.
He looked at Maria again, noticed her expression carried a hidden tension mixed with fear. As if she hadn't expected anyone else to see the girl.
He didn't care. He dismissed it entirely.
After Niklaus and Ethan finished eating, Maria pointed to the rooms she had prepared for them. She was pleasant in her manner, her tone carrying only practical calm. But the tension from Niklaus's words was still clear on her—her hands moved nervously.
Ethan, with a cheerful smile as he placed his hand on the table: "Ah, dear lady, we only have enough for one room. But you're offering us two? Are you sure?"
Maria: "No problem. I'll take the price of one room. You can use separate rooms."
Her words were natural, but Ethan saw unexpected generosity in them. And since he wasn't one to refuse gifts, he gave a small, exaggerated bow.
Ethan, with a light laugh: "You're an angel of this frozen land. I'll be forever grateful!"
When he looked at Niklaus, he found him silent, uninterested in the conversation, as if he hadn't been part of it from the start.
But Ethan wasn't about to let him off that easily.
Ethan, with a sly voice, patting his back lightly: "My little brother, say thank you to the kind lady. Don't be so stiff!"
Niklaus raised his gaze to him for a moment, then turned to Maria. He said with complete clarity, in a calm tone that carried no extra emotion.
Niklaus: "Thank you."
The word was brief, but not empty. For him, it was entirely enough.
Ethan gave a sly smile, but didn't drag out his comments. Maria bid them goodnight before each went to their room.
When Niklaus opened the door to his room, it was unexpectedly clean for an inn that hardly ever had visitors.
The wooden walls were dark, the floor made of sturdy planks, the bed small but meticulously made. The blankets were thick enough to give warmth in this harsh weather.
On the side, there was an old table with a small lantern, emitting a faint light, as if trying to resist the night's darkness that had begun to creep through the small window.
He sat on the bed, feeling for a moment that the place was quieter than he had expected. But it wasn't real rest—just an empty space free from the usual chaos.
He looked at the magical storage ring on his finger.
Magical tools were expensive. Not only because they were complex, but because they required special techniques that only a few possessed. Magical potions were also very rare, as alchemists were even rarer than mages themselves.
For that reason, anything magical was more valuable than it appeared. Obtaining it meant overcoming many obstacles.
Niklaus looked at the small window in his room. The air was still, and night had completely engulfed the place. But the sky was full of stars glittering freely, unlike in the capital where lights completely blocked them out.
He contemplated the scene for a moment. There was a strange feeling when looking at that open celestial void—something like calm, but not true calm. Just an empty space to sink into thought.
Then he remembered that little girl he had seen. She looked clearly like Maria, which made him assume she was her daughter. But if that was the case... why did Maria deny having any children?
The girl didn't seem like a ghost, but she was hidden by concealment magic. As if someone wanted no one but him to see her.
Then he remembered what the man who directed them to the inn had said—Maria wasn't from the village. She had come years ago, living here alone, and no one knew much about her.
But this, strange as it was, wasn't worth thinking about.
Niklaus turned off the lights and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes for a moment. Night had tightened its grip on the village, and a heavy silence dominated the atmosphere.
But with the development of his skills, this stillness wasn't real to him.
His perceptive abilities had clearly improved—his hearing had become more sensitive, his vision more precise, and his senses picked up the smallest vibrations in the air. As if the world around him had become clearer than what ordinary people saw.
And that was why he noticed those faint sounds coming from outside the room.
Footsteps barely audible, but there. Moving slowly, very cautiously, as if walking across the floor with no desire to leave a trace that might expose them.
But Niklaus didn't move. He showed no reaction. He just kept up his act of sleeping, keeping his breathing calm as if nothing was happening.
Then...
The door opened slowly, as if whoever stood behind it didn't want to make any sound that might draw attention.
When the faint moonlight crept through the window, a face appeared just enough to reveal—Maria.
And suddenly, in a single moment, Maria moved quickly. She was holding a knife, and her intention was perfectly clear—to stab Niklaus.
But she never had a chance.
With lightning speed, Niklaus grabbed her hand before she could get any closer. Then he used his strength to throw her to the floor. The knife fell between them, and the sound of it hitting the wood was the only thing breaking the silence in the room.
Maria, despite having fallen, didn't stop. She tried to attack again. But...
Easily, Niklaus took the knife from her hand before she could use it. Then he pushed it away from her without any real effort.
It was completely clear—her skills weren't good enough to pose a real threat. This wasn't the attack of someone experienced in combat—just a desperate attempt.
He looked at her for a moment, then said in a low voice that carried clear weight.
Niklaus: "Even killing an ant would be hard for you with those skills."
Maria, who seemed unsettled, didn't appear angry. She was closer to panicking.
Maria, in a disturbed but pressured voice: "How could you see Adele?!"
Niklaus paused for a moment, watching her features. So the girl's name was Adele.
Then he answered with absolute calm.
Niklaus: "It seems the magic hiding her isn't strong enough. That's all."
Maria's eyes widened further, as if she was hearing something she hadn't been prepared for.
Maria gritted her teeth and said: "But I didn't see any sign that you were a mage... Are you here to capture her?!"
Niklaus sighed, then released her. He stared at her for a moment, then said in a low voice.
Niklaus: "I don't know her. And I don't care about capturing her."
Maria looked confused for a moment, as if she hadn't processed what was said.
But after she calmed down a little, she rose from the floor and looked at Niklaus closely. And then she noticed something she hadn't seen before.
Now, Niklaus's face was fully exposed. It wasn't covered by his cloak's hood as before.
Maria seemed to be trying to analyze his features—he looked fifteen or sixteen, taller than she had expected. But when she raised her hand to examine his face, she realized something else entirely.
Her internal thought: His face... sharply carved, a pointed nose, a small mole under his eyes...
But when she reached his eyes, she froze. As if she had seen something she shouldn't have.
She said in a trembling voice: "Your eyes..."
They were crimson. Red in a way that wasn't natural. Not just a dark shade or a faint redness—a permanent bloody glow, like an ember that never went out.
Maria's expression made it clear how terrified she was. Even her hands trembled.
Niklaus grabbed her hand and pulled it away from him, then said in a low voice that carried a clear warning.
Niklaus: "I'm not interested in your little secret. But if you want to kill someone, you should practice more."
But when he looked at her again, he saw that her expression still held that terror he didn't fully understand.
He couldn't immediately work out the reason, but there were two possibilities.
Either his red eyes had shocked her because she had never seen anything like them. Or she... knew something about him. Perhaps she recognized him as the so-called Prince Niklaus.
He was about to say something, but Maria suddenly started speaking, her voice trembling, as if she wanted to finish the conversation quickly and leave the room.
Maria, with clear hurry and confusion: "I'm sorry... just don't tell anyone about Adele."
Then she tried to leave the room, but couldn't.
Niklaus grabbed her wrist, looked at her intently, then said coldly.
Niklaus: "I think you know something about me."
Maria stopped for a moment, as if the words had struck her directly in the depths of her thoughts. As if she had run into something she wasn't ready to face.
Then she said quickly: "No... I don't know anything."
And she left the room with deliberate quietness, as if trying to control her panic before it fully surfaced.
Niklaus didn't stop her. He let her go without trying to prevent her. But he was certain she knew something about him. Something he wouldn't let pass unnoticed—he would extract it from her in the morning.
After the sound of her footsteps faded down the hallway, he looked at the floor where the knife had fallen.
It was an ordinary kitchen knife. But what made it different was the pungent smell emanating from it—a lethal poison, fast-acting. Not just a weak substance, but something carefully manufactured.
Niklaus sighed, then bent down and picked up the knife calmly. He wrapped it in a sturdy cloth and pushed it under the bed, out of sight.
Maria walked quickly to her room. She entered and locked the door with the key. She took deep breaths in and out.
She looked at Adele, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed. She approached and held her hand, while thoughts clashed in her head.
From the start, when those two people entered the inn, she hadn't felt at ease. And she had been right. The younger one wasn't just anyone—he was the person the organization was looking for. Definitely. With red eyes she had never seen in her life.
She never believed they were brothers in the first place. Especially when she saw Niklaus's face—he looked nothing like Ethan, not even by a fraction.
From the moment Niklaus entered the inn, she had felt discomfort around him. There was an unfamiliar energy. Not magic that could be easily recognized. Not the usual power she saw in mages or knights. It was something else entirely—something that made her feel an unclear disturbance.
And now, as she looked at Adele, she remembered how Adele had looked at him. Adele hadn't been silent as usual. She had looked at Niklaus with bright eyes, as if she saw someone unlike anyone else. And that made her feel growing anxiety. Especially when she realized that Niklaus had seen Adele. That was nearly impossible, even for a high-ranking mage.
She had used all her magic, created high-quality magical potions, and had Adele drink them so no one could see her. And that was what made her decide to kill him before he discovered more, or brought trouble to them. Especially since she had been running from the organization for years.
That organization—the one even afraid to speak its name.
She had served in the organization for years, and had been forced to join it in the first place. Her years there were the worst she had ever lived.
The organization wasn't like any ordinary group. It was a secret entity. Something bigger, something terrifying beyond imagination. An organization that lived on violence, on experiments, on the relentless search for absolute power. No mercy, no escape—only submission or death.
They don't leave those who betray them alive. They don't let anyone who runs away go unpunished. They don't let anyone who knows their secrets live a single peaceful moment.
And they weren't hunting her just because she escaped. But because she took from them the thing they cared about most. Not ordinary interest—but their experiment rat. Which was none other than the little girl she had rescued. The girl who had been part of the organization's schemes.
And if they found out that the person they both feared and were searching for was here... the problem would be even bigger.
Why did they fear him so much and search for him at the same time? She never knew. But she had to be very careful now. This person needed to leave immediately—or die. Before he attracted the organization to her.