Russell had seen Cecilia only three times at the grand duke’s mansion.

The first was when they were introduced—though she had barged in unexpectedly—the second was at a dinner that Grand Duke Jericho had insisted on, and the last was on their wedding day.

‘She’s so immature,’ he thought.

She seemed like a child under ten years old.

Even a ten-year-old from Lagos would be more mature than her.

She openly expressed her dislike for Russell.

Right in front of him, she threw a tantrum at Grand Duke Jericho.

At the dinner, she hardly touched her food in protest.

It was remarkable enough that she managed to get through the wedding without causing any incidents.

So when Cecilia made an excuse on Hoffman’s behalf earlier, Russell was genuinely surprised.

He wondered if something special had happened between her and Hoffman.

But even after asking Hoffman, there was nothing particularly noteworthy.

Cecilia had only arrived a few days ago, and as she said, today was the first time she had left her bedroom.

‘It’s curious that she sent back the grand duchy’s knights as soon as she arrived… What happened at the grand duke’s mansion over the past few months?’

Can a person change so much in just a few months?

He could tell, even from their brief conversation, that she was completely different from the Cecilia he had married.

The absurd suspicion even crossed his mind that Grand Duke Jericho might have sent a different person, a look-alike, to Lagos Castle.

But there couldn’t possibly be two people in the world who looked exactly like her.

She was a golden doll, even more beautiful than the rumors had suggested.

‘Could it be…’

The chair that had been rocking back and forth stopped.

‘Was everything she showed me at the grand duke’s mansion an act?’

That assumption would explain it.

‘She wouldn’t have had any reason to act in front of me… The person she needed to deceive was Grand Duke Jericho.’

The corners of Russell’s lips lifted.

‘Interesting.’

If that were true, she was a woman with an astonishingly sharp mind.

She was only twenty-one years old, yet she had managed to deceive both the cunning Grand Duke Jericho and the rest of the world.

‘Hmm…’

But there was still a problem that remained unsolved.

He straightened the tilted chair, stood up, and left his office.

As he walked through the hallway, he encountered a few people.

They merely nodded slightly to the lord and quickly went on their way.

Russell passed through the long corridors and stairs and arrived at the spot where Cecilia had lost her way.

The place was deserted, giving off a chilling air.

The sound of his footsteps echoed across the stone floor, reverberating in all directions.

He kept walking.

After climbing a short flight of stairs, he found himself in a spacious hallway that stretched out before him.

Along the hallway, marble columns stood at regular intervals on both sides.

The columns were so thick that it would take two people stretching out their arms to encircle one.

He checked the stones placed beside the columns.

Each stone was different in shape and size, and they all faced in different directions.

‘There are no signs of tampering.’

The cursed land of Lagos.

The curse of Lagos, where winter never ends, affects all living things on that land.

The animals grow wild, and the plants are infused with poison.

And among the people, some can awaken a special energy.

This was called ‘magic.’

Among those who possessed this energy, only a few carried on the knowledge.

This was known as ‘gramarye’.

Gramarye was a legacy of the fallen Lagos Empire.

After the empire’s collapse, everything from Lagos became taboo.

Over the years, gramarye was forgotten by the people.

Russell had placed a maze-like spell in this corridor.

If anyone entered, they would end up wandering aimlessly within the hallway, as if trapped in a labyrinth.

It was a simple spell, and even a slight disturbance of the stones would break the illusion.

But that was enough.

No one from Lagos Castle would dare come near this area.

After carefully inspecting the runes of the maze spell, he walked further inside.

He stopped when the dark red door at the end of the dead-end corridor came into view.