"Explain yourself. Where did all these bite marks come from?"
"Isolte, I think you should calm down..."
"I'm already perfectly calm."
"Then put down the sword first."
"Listen to you. How could I bear to hurt you? I was only joking."
"..."
Isolte cupped Hilde's face, a dangerous glint flickering in her eyes.
She suddenly felt that the single room she had prepared for Hilde earlier really might come in handy. Otherwise, at this rate, some wicked woman would surely steal Hilde away and lock her in a dark little room, robbing her of her freedom forever.
Only she could protect Hilde.
"Come on, Isolte. Isn't this all your fault?" Hilde said helplessly.
"What did I do?"
"That time before. Have you forgotten?"
"But I didn't bite you this much. I only bit you a few times."
"Is the number really the issue?"
"Anyway, however many times she bit you, I get to bite you that many times too. Spread them yourself..."
"Stop. I think someone's outside."
"..."
Nina, who was eavesdropping outside the door, jolted and hurried away on tiptoe.
She abandoned her trip to the bathroom and burrowed into bed in her room, trembling with fear that the two women whose secret she had stumbled upon would rush out to silence her for good.
If Isolte and Hilde both came after her, she figured she was as good as dead.
But no one came looking for her, even when she finally succumbed to drowsiness and fell fast asleep beneath the covers.
Early the next morning.
Ars City was just as lively as it had been the day before, with an endless stream of visitors filling its streets and alleys.
Isolte, Hilde, and Nina walked side by side through the streets, taking in the bustle of the