The Fog That Devours
Sylvien walked down the corridors of the imperial palace, lost in thought.
The Emperor was completely broken.
No one knew exactly when he had first started taking the drug, or how long he had been this far gone.
The problem was that not only the Emperor, but the Empress as well, had become addicted.
They were so thoroughly ruined that neither could manage state affairs any longer.
Prince Argon’s wanderlust had grown worse by the day, to the point he was rarely even in the palace. In the end, the task of stamping the royal seal had fallen to Consort Teresa.
It was laughable.
A woman who had once been a commoner now held the highest authority, deciding the great and small matters of the empire.
“Duke, where are you headed?”
Sylvien turned around.
Approaching him was Lilienne, daughter of Consort Teresa and the Second Princess.
“It’s so difficult to see your face these days.”
“My duties have been rather heavy. My apologies.”
“Have you given any thought to my proposal?”
“If you are referring to the matter of remarriage, my answer remains the same as before.”
Lilienne let out a scoff.
“I truly cannot understand it. Is there a better match for you than me, Duke? I’m curious just how long you intend to put off remarriage.”
Marriage proposals poured in like a tidal wave from every corner of the continent, yet Sylvien showed no interest whatsoever in taking a new wife.
“People might misunderstand and think I simply cannot forget my former wife.”
It was nothing more than empty mockery.
No one actually thought that. After all, Sylvien Valentino had treated his wife like a stone.
Sylvien simply smiled without a word. The conversation ended there, and he turned away. He walked on with calm, measured steps.
‘Cannot forget?’
No. He had forgotten.
Not long after his former wife’s death, Sylvien had returned to his daily routine.
There were moments when she crossed his mind, but that was all.
Perhaps because he had lost every precious person in his life since childhood, death had become familiar to him, and he had grown skilled at shaking off its shock.
But when had it been?
About two years ago, Sylvien had been poisoned for the first time in a long while.
Yet such incidents had happened so often that he barely reacted. He didn’t even call for a physician. He simply drank a bottle of antidote and continued working.
As he calmly read through his documents—
Sylvien whipped around.
There was no one there.
Only empty air, without even a trace of transparent warmth.
Yet her voice continued to echo.
From deep within his old memories.
Yes.
That was right.
She had told him it was truly arrogant and foolish.
Had he thanked her then?
There was no need to search his memory.
He clearly hadn’t.
Sylvien laughed bitterly. Or at least, he thought he did. But no laughter came out.
There were so many words he had never said. Far, far too many.
Sylvien rang the bell and summoned the butler. He gave his order.
There were days like this sometimes. Days when, while living his life as if nothing was wrong, an old wound would suddenly throb like a festering boil bursting open.
Was this forgetting? Or the inability to forget? Or the process of forgetting?
He didn’t know.
“Call that physician.”
The palace where the physicians stayed. After giving the order to the attendant, he sat on the sofa and waited.
Soon, the door flew open.
“Your Grace the Duke?”
A woman’s voice, breathless as if she had run, reached him. Sylvien turned his head. She entered with an excited expression on her face.
A physician from the Eastern Continent who had suddenly appeared one day.
This was the doctor who had cured the Empress’s severe skin disease.
The woman hailed as a genius was a few years younger than Sylvien. She had smooth ivory skin, deep black hair, and black eyes—an exotic beauty.
Since the opening of trade with the Eastern Continent, people with black hair and black eyes had flooded in like a tide.
Their appearances were captivating, their knowledge vast, and their goods ingenious and useful.
Thanks to that, perceptions of those with black hair had naturally improved.
If the borders had opened even a little earlier, Canna’s life might have been different.
Perhaps that was why. Every time Sylvien saw this woman, he thought of Canna.
“I have a request.”
She gazed at him with an enraptured face.
“Please speak. Anything at all.”
A few days later, Canna finally arrived at the Bryzk territory.
“Welcome. I received word from Her Majesty the Queen.”
“So this is the rumored mercenary serving as her escort.”
The lord seemed quite interested in Ren. He openly looked him up and down.
“I hear your skills are quite remarkable. Would you have any interest in taking the knight order entrance test?”
“I do not.”
“What a shame. Think it over while you stay here.”
Seeing even the lord covet him like this, it seemed Kallen had indeed made quite a name for himself in the mercenary world.
After that, peaceful days passed.
Or so she thought.
The incident happened without warning.
“My lord!”
A knight of the lord’s castle burst in with a report.
One hour ago, a sudden Black Fog had swallowed the village before vanishing.
In that brief time, the village had fallen into chaos.
Fortunately, a priest had been in the village at the time. He had done everything possible to prevent the fog from spreading into homes, but he had lost his life.
“The priest was attacked by an infected and killed.”
“This can’t be.”
The lord’s face turned deathly pale as he received the news in the middle of dinner.
“But fortunately, Lord Orsini, who was passing through the territory, joined the fight and eliminated both the infected and the monsters!”
Clang!
A fork fell to the floor.
The knight turned in surprise.
“Physician? Are you all right?”
“Yes. My apologies.”
Canna smiled sweetly and wiped her lips with a napkin. A servant quickly brought her a new fork.
She lifted her wine glass with perfect composure and asked,
“So, has he returned to the capital?”
“No. Many of the knights sustained minor injuries, so he came here for treatment. He arrived with me.”
Orsini was in this very castle right now?
The lord seemed equally shocked. He shot to his feet. His astonishment, however, carried a very different meaning from Canna’s.
“You’ve brought him well! Do we not have the finest physician in the land right here? Physician Tatiana can treat them!”
The knight puffed out his chest with pride.
“Yes, I told them that the greatest physician in the Yalden Kingdom was staying at the lord’s castle.”
“……”
“So they came to receive treatment from you, Physician.”
Did I do well? The knight’s eyes sparkled, clearly seeking praise. Canna felt the sudden urge to throw her fork at his face.
At that moment, the clueless Lord of Bryzk stepped forward.
“Physician Tatiana, this is a good opportunity for both me and for you. Building a connection with the Addis family would greatly benefit your career.”
“Indeed. Let us go together now, Physician. I will guide you to the injured men’s quarters.”
Canna’s face turned deathly pale. This was an unforeseen crisis.
Should she say she wasn’t feeling well?
But she had just been happily chatting with the lord and eating dinner.
She couldn’t reveal her relationship with Orsini either. That fact was a top secret known only to the Queen, Princess Joanna, and Crown Prince Alexei.
So there was only one option left.
“Very well. I’ll gather my tools from the medical room and join you.”
In the end, she had no choice but to escape the castle.
“I will accompany you.”
“No, there’s no need for you to go to such trouble. Just tell me which floor.”
After shaking off the knight, Canna hurried to her medical room. She spoke to Kallen, who followed close behind.
“Ren, I have a favor to ask.”
At the very least, while she was still in this castle, she could not allow Kallen to encounter them.
There wasn’t a single knight from the Addis family who wouldn’t recognize Kallen.
“What is it?”
“While I’m treating the knights, go to the cook and ask him to prepare roast turkey.”
“Roast turkey at this hour?”
“Yes. I ate only a little earlier and now I’m hungry. I want to eat after I finish treating them.”
“You can just order a servant to do that. My duty is to escort you.”
“I want you to watch the cook make the roast turkey. To make sure no one puts anything strange in it.”
Kallen stared at her with a strange look.
“Since when have you been so sensitive about poison?”
“New people have entered the castle. What if some madman puts poison in my food to stop me from treating the Addis knights?”
“You’re being paranoid.”
But since poisoning a physician in charge of key personnel was something that actually happened from time to time, Kallen grumbled yet still obeyed her.
Roast turkey took a very long time to cook, so it would buy her enough time.
‘That should be enough time for me to slip out of the castle.’
Once she got away, the best course would be to ask the Queen for assistance.
“Are you Physician Tatiana?”
But her plan crumbled into nothing.
There was a knight waiting for her in front of the medical room. He wore the uniform of the Addis Knight Order.
A woman?
Had there been a female knight in the order?
As far as Canna knew, there hadn’t been. She must have joined after Canna disappeared.
That was probably why. The knight didn’t recognize her and said,
“Lord Orsini Addis is inside. Please treat him first.”
What? Who did she say was inside?
Canna tried to step back, but the knight quickly grabbed her back and pushed her forward.
“Go on in.”
Unable to resist the force, Canna’s body lurched forward. The moment she entered the room—
Click.
The door closed behind her.
“……”
The room was silent.
In the chamber lit by only a single candle, moonlight spilled through the darkness and illuminated the man on the sofa.
Canna swallowed hard, holding her breath.
There, a red-haired man lay stretched out with his long legs extended.
“Are you the physician?”
A tired voice drifted out at that moment.