“Mm... So it’s the second day...”

Watching the sunlight slip through a gap in the curtains and into the room, Stano Bansen groggily opened his eyes and sat up in bed.

Last night, after his connection with Leticia was severed, he’d tossed and turned, thinking through what to do next.

He’d secretly hidden a piece of iron in Leticia’s body. Then he’d used her eyes to study the surrounding area and work out a rough escape route.

He might still be a kid, but he’d always made sure to study all kinds of things. As the eldest son of the Benson Family, Stano was set to inherit the title. He’d received a good education from a young age, and with his father being a general, he’d also picked up plenty of obscure knowledge.

“Ah... Too bad I don’t have any talent for divine arts. If I did, there’d probably be a better way.”

Ever since escaping that city, the face of his uncle had stayed with him, day after day.

He was probably no longer in this world, was he?

Whenever Stano thought about it, his heart gave a sharp pang. His uncle, who’d cared for him so much; who’d always thought of the family and the country; who, though he’d never measured up to Stano’s father, had still kept striving in his own way—was gone.

“Uncle, I’ll make sure to deliver what you entrusted to me.”

As he thought this in silence, Stano felt the connection quietly form. He kept his own basic awareness intact, then sent his vision far away.

There, his little Bamboo Pole was being held captive by a strange woman.

“Damn it...”

If they were in his own country, within the Benson Family’s territory, he’d send that woman to the stake as a Heretic without a second thought!

How dare she get in his way...

I’ll let you keep tangling with Leticia for a little while longer. Soon, this forest will swallow you up too.

...

And then another full ten days went by.

Stano still hadn’t been able to put his plan into action.

“Why?!”

Whenever he was alone, he let his emotions run wild, sweeping the things on the table onto the floor. “Why is this happening?!”

Why couldn’t he control that little Bamboo Pole’s body as freely as before?!

From the day he’d resolved to carry out his escape plan, Stano had noticed that something seemed to have changed in his connection with Leticia.

He could no longer take control whenever he pleased. His consciousness felt trapped in an invisible cage, while Leticia’s body had become a quagmire.

“What did you do?!”

He’d once questioned Leticia like this.

“What do you mean, what did I do???”

All he got in response was a baffled look from Leticia.

Afraid to ask too much and give something away, Stano could only let it go, disgruntled.

Why was this happening...

He kept turning the question over in his mind. He didn’t even notice when Leticia asked him, “Can you see what I’m doing here at night, too?”

As for Leticia, after ten days, the wound on her neck had mostly healed, leaving behind only a few scars.

The Black-Clad Lady had gone on and on about how leaving scars on a girl’s skin was a huge taboo and all that. But even now, Leticia didn’t think of herself as a proper girl.

After all, in her previous life, she’d been a grown man for twenty years. Getting her to easily accept her gender with all those memories still inside her was... quite a challenge.

Her relationship with the Black-Clad Lady hadn’t progressed much, but they now knew each other’s names.

The Black-Clad Lady was Ye Mi'ai Saint Rigg—a rather, um, distinctive name. After telling Leticia, Ye Mi'ai insisted that Leticia mustn’t call her by name. It seemed to be some kind of taboo.

Leticia didn’t really care. Her attention was mostly focused on the Demon Maid and her so-called “Bridal Garment” constitution.

The so-called Bridal Garment was a dark miracle, created through demonic power and said to rival the divine miracles of the Church. It connected the king and the duke’s daughter in Ye Mi'ai’s story, as well as Leticia and Stano.

Heretics of the Bridal Garment had what could be called the highest death rate of all Heretics. Not only did they risk being reported by the person they were linked to, but weren’t they themselves Bridal Garments, carefully sewn together by demons to make the world fall into depravity?

They were merely offering the person they were linked to a second chance.

Incidentally, the person being linked to could be either sex. It could happen to men or women.

So far, there had never been an exception.

“Have you heard of the Kingdom of Danba?”

Leticia shook her head, completely unfamiliar with the name. Ye Mi'ai’s laughter was low and hoarse, like a crow cawing over carrion. “The queen of that country is a Bridal Garment too. Heh heh heh. The funniest part is that the woman who put on the Bridal Garment completely forgot who she used to be. She thinks of herself as the queen of the Kingdom of Danba now.”

No one had discovered it to this day.

“Why do you know so much, Lady? And what kind of Witch are you?”

Ye Mi'ai didn’t answer Leticia’s question at all.

Since their conversations always took place at night, Stano knew nothing about them. He just kept silently fuming every day somewhere Leticia couldn’t see.

“Is that why you didn’t kill me? Because I’ve become a Heretic too?”

Leticia had once asked Ye Mi'ai that.

Ye Mi'ai had smacked her with a branch, then asked in a deeply mocking tone whether Leticia really thought she was a good person.

In that case...

And once again, the subject somehow went nowhere.

The daily etiquette lessons continued. According to Ye Mi'ai, if Leticia couldn’t even master these little skills, how was she supposed to survive in the future?

Leticia wanted to argue, but the problem was that arguing would definitely earn her a beating. So, for her own sake, she could only meekly give in.

After all, if she could make the nasty Witch a little happier, she might learn a bit more about the 【Heretic】.

“Hey, kid. What are you spacing out for?”

The hoarse, unpleasant voice dragged Leticia out of her tangled thoughts. She shook her head, put on a perfectly practiced gentle smile, and apologized to the Black-Clad Lady in front of her. “Sorry, Lady. I got distracted.”

“...”

Perhaps because Leticia’s manners had been so good, Ye Mi'ai fell silent for a moment and didn’t lash out violently as she usually might. “Pay attention.”

“Yes, Lady.”

In private, she still couldn’t help pursing her lips.

“All right. Come with me.”

With that, Ye Mi'ai turned and walked out of the house.

“Lady, is something wrong?”

“We’re going to town. There’s something I need to pick up, and you’re coming to help.”

Wait, had she heard that right?

“What are you staring at? Haven’t you been beaten enough already?”

She could actually go outside?!

Even Stano, who’d been in a foul mood this whole time, couldn’t help feeling surprised. Leticia wasn’t the only one.

“Ah, okay! Okay!”