María stood outside the mansion, her feet sinking into the damp ground as the morning breeze brushed against her face.

  ‘I hate mornings…’ María thought sourly.

  In front of her, a sleek black carriage with golden embroidery waited. The horses and wheels gleamed, as though even the dust had refused to touch something so luxurious.

  ‘Since when did the carriage get this fancy? No, wait… where do these vampires even get so much money?’ María wondered, a shiver of unease running through her.

  Beside her, Aria stared at the carriage with a cold, distant expression, as if none of it were particularly special. María glanced down and adjusted her plain dress, trying to steady her nerves. Aria’s orders had brought her here, but she still didn’t know why she had been chosen.

  “Are we leaving without guards?” María asked, confused.

  “Esmeria is with us,” Aria answered curtly. “She’s in my shadow.”

  María felt a chill creep down her spine at the mention of that name. She cautiously lowered her gaze to Aria’s feet. The girl’s shadow, which should have stayed still and obedient under the morning light, moved.

  It was just a slight tremor, like something breathing beneath its surface.

  María swallowed hard and stepped back, but Aria’s voice broke the tension.

  “Are you just going to stand there?” Aria asked emotionlessly, turning her small face toward her.

  “N-no, I’m coming, Aria,” María stammered, clumsily climbing into the carriage.

  Once inside, María settled onto the dark velvet seat, trying not to make any noise. The interior smelled of polished wood and leather, a scent that always reminded her of expensive things she wasn’t allowed to touch.

  Across from her, Aria sat with her hands folded in her lap, staring out the window, as if María didn’t exist at all.

  The silence between them was so thick it was suffocating, but María was used to it. After two years, it was obvious: they would leave in silence… and come back in silence.

  ‘This is going to be so much fun…’ María thought sarcastically, shifting in her seat to find a more comfortable position.

  “Is that how a servant like you is supposed to sit?”

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  The voice of Esmeria—cold and sharp as a knife—made María’s heart stop for a second. She sat up straight at once, as though an invisible whip had lashed her back.

  “S-sorry,” María murmured, unable to stop herself from glancing at Aria’s shadow. Again, that black shape seemed to quiver, as if Esmeria were shifting inside it.

  As María adjusted herself, a frustrated thought crossed her mind.

  ‘The first time we traveled with Elizabeth and Esmeria in her shadow, she didn’t say anything! But now suddenly she’s bold enough to scold me.’

  Before the irritation could take hold, Aria’s calm and steady voice cut through the air.

  “Leave María alone, Esmeria.”

  The silence that followed was even more uncomfortable. Though Esmeria didn’t reply with words, Aria’s shadow grew still, as if the threat had dissolved.

  “Understood,” Esmeria finally muttered, her quiet voice seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

  María let out the breath she’d been holding and, in an attempt to distract herself, turned her attention to the scenery that was now moving along with the carriage. Outside, green meadows stretched as far as the eye could see, lit by the soft morning sun.

  It was a beautiful, tranquil view.

  But even so, her mind couldn’t sit still.

  “Where are we going?” María asked suddenly, unable to contain the small doubt growing in her chest.

  Aria turned her head slightly toward her shadow, and as if on cue, Esmeria answered immediately.

  “We’re going to a nearby town. They sell things there that noble girls tend to like.”

  María’s stomach dropped.

  ‘No, no, no!’

  She swallowed hard as a wave of discomfort washed over her. If there was one place in the world she never wanted to step foot in again, it was that one.

  “Is something wrong?” Aria asked abruptly, her gaze sharp and focused on María. Her eyes missed nothing. “Your face changed.”

  “N-no, nothing’s wrong…” María replied, trying to sound natural, though the tremor in her voice betrayed her.

  “Your breathing has also quickened. It wasn’t like that a moment ago,” Aria added with the same cold detachment, as if she were listing facts.

  María gave a nervous smile, scratching the back of her neck.

  “R-really! It’s nothing, Aria. Don’t worry.”

  Before she could finish, Esmeria’s voice came again from the shadow, softer but with a dangerous undertone.

  “Are you going to ignore a direct question from Miss Aria?”

  María froze, her skin prickling as though an icy hand had traced its way down her spine. For a moment, she was certain that if she didn’t answer, Esmeria would do something she’d regret.

  “Stop, Esmeria,” Aria ordered immediately, her tone slightly sharper than before.

  The shadow grew still again, and though the threat seemed to subside, the weight on María’s chest remained. Esmeria was dangerous, even if she couldn’t be seen.

  “Speak,” Aria said, her gaze fixed intensely on María.

  María clenched her hands in her lap and looked down.

  Even though María was fully aware that Esmeria wasn’t someone she could trifle with, not even under Aria’s protection…

  If there was one subject she didn’t want to talk about, no matter the cost…

  “C-can I… not answer that?” María murmured, her voice trembling. “It’s… personal.”

  For a moment, nothing happened. Though Esmeria emitted no threatening presence, Aria’s gaze remained on her, analyzing every gesture, every word.

  Finally, Aria nodded calmly.

  “Very well.”

  María blinked, surprised, and let out a shaky sigh of relief. She hadn’t even realized how badly her hands were trembling until she saw them.

  “Th-thank you, Aria…” María muttered.

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