Ever since Ms. Bargot joined the task force, 

Ms. Bargot

 and Zich always hung 

out

 together. Even though Zich didn’t have much medical knowledge, Ms. Bargot 

seemed to be 

fond of Zich for sharing the formula to Igram’s cure, so she shared little bits of 

medical

 knowledge with him. It looked

 like she was

 one-sidedly dragg

ing

 him to places, but Zich also followed her without any complaints and listened to what she said.

And because of that, rumors about the two began to spread. Zich was a handsome youth 

from a

noble lineage, and Ms. 

B

argot was also a beauty. When such 

noticeable

 people hung 

out

 together, rumors 

began to 

naturally spread. There was a significant age difference between them, but that fac

t

only

 made their relationship sound more romantic.

Nosy people began to gossip and make 

conclusions

 about the two. 

B

oth of their efforts to quickly calm the Igram situation also played a significant part in improving their image. 

Although

gossip

 usually led to tarnishing one or both parties’ 

reputation

, hardly anyone talked badly about their relationship. 

“What are you looking at?”

As Zich was getting ready to make 

his

 final blow on Igr

a

m’s gradually dying existence, he noticed Hans staring at him and Hans asked

, “

Are the rumors true, 

s

ir?”

“What rumors?”

“You know, the rumors that you and Ms. 

B

argot are a couple.”

Hans didn’t ask just out of curiosity. He also didn’t have the smallest intention to intervene in Zich’s love life. He had simply asked because he 

still had some of

 his habits from his servant days.

‘If the rumors are true, then I will have to treat Ms. 

B

argot differently from other people.”

Hans had a different mindset than Snoc who was listening with his ears perked up

, excited to hear a 

heart-thumping story of fate

d

 love. Zich smirked like he knew Hans’ motive for asking such a question.

“There’s no need for you to treat her differently from before. And 

in

 the first place, our relationship is not that sweet.”

“Is that so?”

Hans nodded. If Zich said that was the case,

 he had no reason to ask further questions

. After hearing Zich’s response, Hans grabbed a disappointed Snoc by the back of his neck and got ready to prepare for the day.

Knock! Knock!

S

omeone suddenly knocked on the temporary shelter that Zich and his compan

ions

 were staying 

at

. Hans and Snoc’s expression stiffened. Most of the people who visited their shelter were soldiers who came to get Zich under Joachim’s orders. And most of the time, they didn’t bring good news. They 

wondered

 if Igram that was beginning to disappear was starting up a

 second wave

. However, Zich’s words made their worries disappear.

“It’s not a soldier, so don’t worry. They probably came to talk to me about something.”

Then Zich personally moved to open the door. Usually, Hans or Snoc opened the door when guests came, so his action w

as

 most unusual. But when they saw who was standing outside the door, they understood. They knew who she was by her all-black clothes and the cotton 

veil

 covering her face.

“Greetings, Mr. Zich. Did you sleep well?”

“Thanks to you, I was knocked out.”

“That’s a relief to hear. Sleep is one of the most important factors to good health.”

Ms. 

B

argot smiled widely.

“I am honored to have the fortune of 

seeing

 your beautiful face so early in the morning, but to what do I owe this pleasure to?”

“Fufu! You are so skillful with your words. If I didn’t still love my husband, I would have fallen

 for you

.”

Ms. 

B

argot covered her mouth with her hands and smiled lovingly. Hans and Snoc 

stole 

furtive glances at her

;

 she was beautiful enough to make their minds go blank.

“I’m sorry to intrude, but there’s someone 

I’d

 like you to meet. Ah, I have gotten permission from Sir Joachim of course. Since Igr

a

m is slowing down, he told me it’s fine for me to leave for a bit.”

“Someone you want me to meet? It’s a pity that it’s not a

n offer to go on a date

. But since you are the one doing the introduction, 

it’s more than enough for me

 to make time. I will get ready immediately.”

Zich went back inside the house and finished getting ready.

“Should we leave now?”

“Yes.”

Zich offered his arm, and Ms. 

B

argot placed her hand on his arm. Then he escorted her to the road. Anyone would have thought that the

re

was

 something going on between them. Hans and Snoc watched the two leave

 sticking

 side by side and thought the same thing.

‘

How can he act

 like that and still

say that they

’

re not in a relationship?

’

 *    *    *

Ms. 

B

argot led Zich outside of Ospurin. 

Fortunately, t

here was another gate

 near the quarantine area (used 

for moving corpses outside of the castle to burn them)

, so

 they didn’t have to walk t

hrough

 people unexposed to the disease

.

The outside

 was quiet without a sign of life. The area that was connected to the gate was also blocked from outsiders. Besides a couple of trees that waved under light breezes, the place was a meadow, colored with green grass. However, the slates on the ground indicated that the place wasn’t only for resting. It was a cemetery.

Zich glanced around the cemetery; they all had different names but the same family name: 

B

argot.

‘It must be the 

B

argot family’s cemetery.’

The cemetery was well maintained even after the family’s collapse. It proved that somebody was taking care of the place.

‘Ms. 

B

argot must be the one taking care of it.’

Zich glanced at her. Ms. 

B

argot moved and stopped in front of the two slates at the end of the cemetery.

—Alex 

B

argot—

—Luin 

B

argot—

Even without asking, Zich knew who they were. Besides Ms. 

B

argot, he looked down at the graves below him.

‘Are they 

her

 family members who died from the epidemic?’

“They are my family,” Ms. 

B

argot finally 

said

. Her voice was calm

, almost 

as if time lessened the affection she felt for her family. However, that wasn’t it. Time had simply changed a person’s sorrows into longing

, 

and she couldn’t erase the love she 

had for them in her heart

. Ms. 

B

argot placed her hand on top of the stone slab which had the name

Alex 

B

argot written on it.

“This is my husband.”

She quietly began 

her

 expla

nation

.

“He was 

much

 older than me, but we 

truly loved each other

. Even while my husband was busy with his business, he 

was always attentive to me

. I loved my husband for that. So when our love 

bore

 fruit

, I felt like I had the whole world in my hands.”

Ms. 

B

argot moved her hands to the slab which said ‘Luin 

B

argot.’

“She was such a lovely child. Always smiling, crying, and sleeping a lot. Every time Luin squirmed inside my grasp; I thought my heart would drop from her cuteness. I didn’t know until I had a child of my own and realized what a child meant to their mother. Luin was a child who made me realize why mothers care for their children so much.”

As if 

time hadn’t fully healed her sadness, her eyes soon watered, and a 

teardrop

 slid down her cheek. Then she took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears.

“I’m sorry. I can’t help it whenever I come to this place.”

“It’s fine.”

“The people I wanted to introduce to you are my family.”

She stood in the center of the two slates and placed her hands on both of them at once. It almost seemed like she was holding her husband and child’s hands.

“I don’t know how you 

obtained

 the cure to Igram, but thanks to that, I saw hope. Hope that we c

an

 beat all the 

infectious diseases

. Did you 

notice

that I’m 

wearing mourning clothes?”

“I was aware of it.”

“I swore at my family’s funeral that I would take these clothes off once we overcame all the diseases.”

It was

 basically an impossible goal

, but who could laugh at her?

“That’s why I wanted to show you my husband and child. I wanted to show them that thanks to you, we were able to accomplish a bit of our goal. I wanted to tell them 

that at the very least, no one would meet the same fate as them from Igram,” s

he said bitterly.

“Now that I think about it again, 

this might be very 

selfish of me.”

“No, that’s not true. You have done so much. No one would find fault in you for this.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled. As a mother 

and wife

, she shone blindingly.

“Let’s go back now.”

As if

 she was trying to forcefully brighten up the gloomy mood, she increased the pitch of her voice and 

stated, 

“Igram hasn’t completely disappeared yet. Let’s go and cut off its last breath.”

Ms. 

B

argot held Zich’s hands, and the warmth of her soft hands 

slowly spread

 to his fingertips.

 *    *    *

After returning to his temporary shelter, Zich l

ay

 on his bed. Hans and Snoc had looked at Zich 

with curiosity

 when he 

first

 returned with his arms crossed with Ms. 

B

argot, but after Zich slammed each of their heads down with a disciplinary punch, they turned their eyes away. But those punches probably 

didn’t make them change

 their minds.

‘Hmm, 

l

overs.’

Zich

 knew what Hans and Snoc were obviously thinking.

‘I guess that’s 

what

 it looks like to outsiders.’

Because Zich didn’t care 

about

what other people

 thought, he didn’t realize how other people might have looked at him and Ms. 

B

argot. Yet, to the point that it might shock and exasperate 

them

, Zich didn’t 

possess even

 an inkling 

of romantic feelings

 for Ms. Bargot.

Of course, it was true that since her first appearance, Zich’s gaze continued to search for Ms. 

B

argot, and he tried to gain her favor. However, the reason for that wasn’t something as sweet as romance but for something much more 

sinister

.

‘There’s a chance that she could be Fest.’

With the introduction of the cure to Igram, Ms. 

B

argot suddenly

 appeared 

and expressed her interest in Zich. She was extremely 

knowledgeable

 about infectious diseases and spouted words that Zich 

knew 

he had heard of in the future. Truthfully, she was the most likely candidate to be Fest among everyone he had met so far. Thus, Zich 

didn’t reject

 the interest she showed him and 

he instead 

welcomed it to observe her more closely.

However, he didn’t 

obtain

 much information so far. All he found was that she possessed a vast amount of knowledge and interest in infectious diseases, and that was it. Overall, she didn’t seem like a Demon Person.

‘I should observe her for a bit longer and then distance myself.’

This

 didn’t mean that Zich had gotten rid of his suspicions about her. He simply judged that he wouldn’t be able to find out more useful information by 

s

taying 

next

to her

.

Zich thought of the two suspicious figures

: 

Dracul’s previous knight and current butler, Shalom, and Ms. 

B

argot who lost her whole family in an epidemic—and then fell asleep.

*    *    *

A couple

 of days passed by. After 

a few more days

, Igram seemed to have completely lost its power. 

It

 could no longer 

bring

 fear 

to

 people’s 

faces

. 

During the

 previous day, even the lockdown and quarantine policies 

had been

 lifted.  

They had won against the disease

. 

People thought that Igram

 w

ould soon be

 done for good. However, the task force, including Joachim, didn’t let their guard down. They would only be able to fully relax after catching and beating all the diseases spreading around the region. Zich thought the same and headed to his temporary shelter again. As usual, he cared for the sick and made 

the cure

.

Then, suddenly, someone called out

, 

“Zich!”