After waking up, Seraphina didn't want to remain locked inside her room. She called for a maid, hoping for a meal or at least something to drink, though since morning the maids had barely bothered to check on her.
To her surprise, one finally arrived — but she wasn't alone. The Duke stood quietly behind her.
Something felt off.
"I heard you fainted in the streets," he said.
But then, beneath his words, Seraphina caught something else — a thought she wasn't supposed to hear:
"She's certainly grown into a beautiful noblewoman. I hope she has a bright future, despite those eyes."
She blinked, wondering if she was imagining things. No one had come to her room until now, and she never expected the Duke himself to visit. Yet he knew something she didn't.
"Yes," she replied carefully, "I wasn't feeling well, so I went out hoping to clear my mind. I didn't want to trouble anyone, so I went alone. But things didn't go as planned — some drunk commoners started teasing and harassing me, and before I knew it, I lost consciousness."
The Duke nodded. "I see. A mercenary came by and said he recognized you because of your eyes," he said aloud.
Again, Seraphina heard another thought:
"He even offered to be her knight, but let's not tell her that. That boy has been here every two hours asking to see her."
She froze.
"Your Excellency… what—" she began, but stopped when she saw the confusion on her father's face. He didn't realize she could hear those words.
"May I meet him? I want to thank him properly. He saved my life."
The Duke hesitated. "I can arrange it, but you must be accompanied by a knight. You never know what he might do."
And then, once more, the hidden thought came through:
"Your Excellency, huh? When will this girl finally call me father? Well, it's all my fault for not being there all these years."
Seraphina nodded slowly, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her cloak. The thought of meeting the mercenary stirred a strange mixture of gratitude and unease within her.
The Duke left the room without a word, his presence as cold and fleeting as ever. Moments later, a knight appeared at her door — the one her father had personally assigned. Without delay, they set off.
Their destination was a secluded chamber within the estate, one the Duke had reserved in advance. When Seraphina arrived, the mercenary was already waiting, seated in silence, his expression unreadable.
During the quiet ride through the estate grounds, something strange began to happen. Seraphina heard whispers — faint, impossible fragments of thought that weren't hers. It was as if voices floated around her, tangled between truth and lies.
Even more unsettling, she began to see it — a faint red shimmer surrounding those who twisted the truth. Their words echoed falsely in her ears, but the meaning behind them unraveled in her mind with startling clarity.
It was as though the air itself was speaking to her. Revealing what should have remained hidden.
And deep inside, Seraphina realized something terrifying.
Her eyes were changing.