For the first time in her life, Sophia despised the enormous scale of her father’s mansion. The place was so vast that even ascending the stairs felt like crossing an entire continent. She was not exaggerating. Those endless flights of steps proved especially difficult when she was hurrying to catch up with the devil himself. Normally the climb never bothered her, but today everything felt different.

When she finally reached the upper floor, her chest heaved with heavy breaths, as if she had just completed a full marathon. The hallway stretched out empty before her, showing no trace of the man who had seemingly disappeared like a magician. 

He did...