Seamus let himself fall back onto the bed in his temporary room, sinking into the blankets as his thoughts refused to settle.

His mind kept circling the possibility of Andrew being involved in the fall of the Vampire Hunter Association and the Seven Great Covenants, and the more he turned it over, the more absurd it sounded.

Andrew was just a human.

The idea that a single man could cause that much ruin felt impossible, yet the conversation earlier had planted doubts that refused to leave him alone.

He sighed and covered his face with his hand, trying not to overthink everything. A sudden knock tapped lightly on the window.

He ignored it at first and reached for his phone, wanting to message his father to ask if he had already arrived in Lithium.

The knock came again, a little louder and a little more persistent, which pulled an irritated groan from him.

"Seriously?" he muttered as he sat up.

When he glanced at the window, his brows lifted in disbelief. Something long and green was tapping on the glass.

He stood, squinting as he approached, and only then realized it was a vine brushing repeatedly against the windowpane.

"What the hell is that?"

Muttering under his breath, he opened the balcony window and watched the vine retreat slightly before slithering downward into the garden.

Leaning forward against the balcony rail, he stared into the shadows below with growing suspicion.

He had no idea what he was looking at. Before he could investigate further, a woman's voice rose from the garden, soft and eerie in a way that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Seamus. You are Seamus, right?"

He stiffened. "Who are you? No. What are you?"

Far below, he heard Madeline groan in annoyance, though he still couldn't see anything.

The strange voice spoke again as if she were chatting casually across a coffee table.

"Madeline said something."

Seamus frowned, trying to find the source of the voice. "About what?"

"Just push him here," Madeline complained.

"Push what?"

he asked, and the moment the words left his mouth, the vine shot upward faster than his eyes could track. Seamus dodged backward with a startled shout.

"Madeline, what is this?" he snapped, trying to keep distance from the vine as it adjusted its aim.

The unfamiliar woman spoke with an amused tone. "Wow. He is fast."

The vine shifted again, and something began forming at the tip. The petals folded outward to reveal a flower with a small, fleshy mouth in the center.

Seamus froze. His brain did not give him anything helpful, only pure disbelief.

"Do not be scared," the creature said with perfect politeness. "I am Aconite, the Emblem of Enigma of Draemir House."

He stared at the talking flower, mildly repulsed but too stunned to form anything more dramatic. He simply nodded in silence.

"Right, what do you want from me?" he asked eventually, trying to keep his voice even.

Aconite's voice remained gentle and slow, carrying a warmth that naturally lowered his guard.

"Oh, we just want to talk. Madeline said you are interesting."

He felt his suspicion ease without meaning to let it, and he sighed softly. "Fine. Talk."

"Good," Aconite replied.

The vine moved at once, wrapping around him in a smooth, deliberate motion. Before he could react properly, it pulled him over the balcony.

Seamus shouted as he fell three floors toward the garden below, bracing himself for broken bones and humiliation.

Instead, he landed on something soft that absorbed the impact like a cushion.

He groaned and rolled onto his back as the vines settled around him like oversized hands arranging him in place.

Above him, the petals rustled like someone laughing quietly.

"See?" Aconite said cheerfully. "That was not so bad."

Seamus blinked slowly as he pushed himself upright. For a moment, he wondered if he had hit his head during the fall because the place he landed in looked nothing like a normal garden.

Towering trees surrounded him on all sides and golden petals drifted through the air in a steady, gentle curtain.

The ground was covered in flowers that bloomed in soft colors, creating an unreal, dreamlike landscape.

Somewhere among the trees, a woman's laughter echoed lightly.

He followed the sound and stepped into a small clearing. There, he found Madeline sitting across from one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

A table rested between them, elegantly set with tea and small refreshments as if this had been planned for days.

The woman gestured to him with a smile that looked warm enough to melt the petals around her.

"Come here, Seamus. I want to know you more."

He nodded without hesitation, almost as if something gently pushed him to comply, and he took the empty chair beside them.

The woman, Aconite, had hair that spilled over her shoulders in shimmering gold, the strands catching the sunlight like flowing metal.

Butterflies drifted lazily around her and seemed to linger near her face, as if her beauty pulled them in.

Her eyes matched her hair, a rich golden color that held the warmth of summer. When she blinked, they almost sparkled.

Seamus stared for a moment before the first thought slipped out of his mouth.

"Oh wow. I didn't think I would meet someone this beautiful."

Aconite giggled softly while Madeline kicked him under the table with a pointed glare.

"Thank you," Aconite said. "But this is not my face. This is Sarah."

Madeline clicked her tongue. "Yeah, Seamus. She likes stealing people's faces. Be careful with her."

"Sarah?" Seamus repeated as he rubbed his chin.

The name triggered a memory of the documents Isolde had given him about the experiments involving Lady Crow.

Since the blood pact, Isolde had started telling him everything, whether he asked for it or not.

"You have never met her?" Aconite asked. "That is a shame. I miss her."

Madeline didn't hesitate to cut in. "You are the one who made her an old woman who cannot feel happiness, so do not act sentimental."

Aconite did not respond immediately. Her attention drifted toward a butterfly that floated past her.

She lifted her hand, and it settled gently on her palm as if the world existed only for that tiny moment.

"Um," Seamus murmured, unsure how to respond.

Madeline leaned closer and whispered loudly enough to be heard. "Do not worry. She is an airhead half the time."

Aconite blinked and then looked back at them as though the conversation had vanished from her mind.

"What were we saying? Were we talking about someone?"

"About Sarah," Seamus reminded her, trying to understand this strange woman.

"Right. The cute girl," Aconite replied as the butterfly left her hand and floated upward.

"It is a shame she became so cruel and grumpy once she figured out how to make the smoke on her head disappear."

"Although Ulrich's method was very creative. He understands his own power well."

"Smoke in the head?"

Seamus repeated, already lost the moment the conversation started shifting in strange directions.

Aconite nodded as if this was the easiest thing to understand. "You know Ulrich's power. He tried to hold all of Sarah's negative emotions and memories because she was unstable."

"She was very beautiful and would have been a perfect wife for him."

"He loves playing family, but he hates unstable women. So he built Sarah into his idea of the perfect wife."

Seamus stared at her, still processing the words. Aconite simply laughed and waved a hand as if the entire thing was a fond memory.

"But in the end it backfired. It was so funny watching him get angry when his creation was imperfect."

The tone she used made Seamus's shoulders tense. She spoke of Ulrich like he was someone entirely different from the polite, composed man they had met earlier. That alone sent a small shiver through him.

Aconite noticed his discomfort and leaned back with a serene smile, as though that would fix anything.

"Do not worry. Ulrich is a man with integrity. He is wise and responsible most of the time."

Seamus had no idea how that was supposed to make things sound better.

Aconite shifted suddenly, her attention snapping back to him like a child spotting something shiny.

"Anyway, let us talk about you. What is your hobby, Seamus?" She rested her cheek on her hand, waiting.

"I don't think I have one. I was always busy working," he said, feeling awkward under her steady golden stare.

"Such a shame. A man who does not know himself."

Aconite shook her head slowly. "That is not good, right, Madeline?"

Madeline lifted her teacup and took a long sip before looking at both of them. "Don't tease him too much."

"I am not teasing. I am simply curious." Aconite tapped a finger on the table, thoughtful for a moment.

"We are the same, after all. I do not know anything about myself either, so I stole someone's life and made it mine."

Seamus froze mid-breath.

Aconite began humming a light, cheerful tune and drifted away from the conversation entirely.

Her smile softened into something peaceful, but that only made him more uneasy. It was like watching a deadly creature fall asleep with its jaws still open.

"What is wrong with her?" Seamus whispered to Madeline.

Madeline shrugged. "Do not ask me. She is just strange."

She sighed and lowered her voice. "Anyway, she actually wants to try having sex with you. She has never done it before."

Seamus nearly choked. "What? Seriously? Then why were we talking about Sarah?"

"Because she is like this," Madeline replied.

"Her thoughts jump everywhere. I do not even know what goes on in her head. But you should be careful. She might decide she wants your life too."

Seamus swallowed hard and glanced toward the blonde woman. Aconite's expression changed again, her eyes brightening as if someone had lit a lantern inside her mind. She focused on him with renewed interest.

"So, sex?" she asked, cheerful and direct, as if she had just offered him another cup of tea.

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