My eyebrow almost twitched at the blatant stroking of the inside of my wrist, but I managed to suppress it.
I couldn’t seem to relax until the very end.
Simultaneously, I instinctively tensed my legs.
I had no intention of meekly submitting to the Slave Bug or anything else, so I was ready to try to escape if necessary.
“This is just this once. I hope your condition is better tomorrow.”
“…Yes.”
But with those words, Igor obediently released my wrist.
His words implied that he wouldn’t let me off tomorrow, but for now, a wave of relief washed over me at the fact that I had escaped the immediate danger.
As I exited the bathroom and gained some distance, the breath I had been holding escaped me.
Even though my whole body was soaked with foam, I quickly grabbed my clothes first.
The bathroom was, unfortunately, inside my room, and there was no telling when Igor, having finished his bath, might come out.
I wanted to avoid encountering him in the space where the bed was, if at all possible.
“Ha, damn it.”
My hands were shaking like a leaf, causing me to slip several times as I pulled up my clothes.
My body seemed to be tense because I couldn’t focus and kept worrying about the bathroom.
‘Pull yourself together, please.’
I slapped one cheek and buckled the leather pants as the final step.
Perhaps because I had only been wearing a gown until just now, the sheer shirt looked surprisingly modest.
It clung to me a bit because my body was wet, but that was hardly a problem.
Click.
I roughly ran my hand through my hair to shake off the water droplets and opened the door.
As expected, Rod was silently guarding the entrance.
I probably would have been immediately caught, even if I had tried to escape, because of him.
“Where are you going?”
“He told me to bring wine.”
It was an excuse I had come up with after careful consideration.
As I brazenly stepped out of the door, Rod stretched out his arm to stop me.
His calm demeanor suggested he fortunately didn’t suspect my intentions.
“I will fetch it.”
“No, he told me to bring it myself.”
I ran my hand through my hair as naturally as possible and looked up at Rod, my expression asking, ‘You wouldn’t dare block your master’s command, would you?’
This method worked quite well, as expected.
At my confident attitude, he stared silently in the direction of the bathroom and then took a step back.
He seemed to briefly consider asking Igor directly but refrained, perhaps not wanting to bother him.
“…I will accompany you.”
“Suit yourself.”
My goal was to get out of the room right away, so I didn’t care whether he followed me or not.
Anyway, wandering around the mansion alone was impossible now, even because of Igor.
All I could do was escape the room and place my hopes on Chirpy.
“This way.”
Rod began walking right next to me, presumably to lead me to the wine cellar.
Since I had already spoken the words, I felt his sidelong glances as we moved.
He seemed to be having second thoughts, especially about me leaving the bathroom so quickly.
But that was the extent of it.
He quietly kept watch over me without any further questioning.
Creak.
A moment later, we arrived at the wine cellar, following Rod’s guidance.
A cool air was noticeable as we descended deep underground, and a subtle oak aroma lingered at the tip of my nose.
Under the dim lighting, wine bottles lined up along the walls, seemingly sleeping soundly.
The year and label were neatly organized on the tight lattice shelves.
“You should take this wine.”
“Oh, okay.”
I took only the wine bottle and wine glass he handed me and immediately turned around.
Normally, I would have been drooling at the sight of the many oak barrels, but now, I didn’t even notice the wine in my hand.
Perhaps because my mind was anxious, I was surprisingly uninterested.
With that detached attitude, I left the wine cellar and soon reached the door of the room again.
“…”
I hesitated to go inside, wondering if Igor was still there.
What if I opened the door and found him sitting on the bed, waiting?
The thought alone sent a shiver down my spine.
Seeing me hesitate, Rod eventually reached for the doorknob instead.
Click.
The door swung open, and the sight of the empty room came into view.
The first place I checked was the bathroom.
Since the door was half-open, it seemed certain that Igor had left.
“Hah.”
In that moment, the tension released, and my eyes closed with a deep sigh.
I had tried not to show it until the end, but I simply couldn’t hold it in.
“Looks like he went back first because he was tired.”
“…”
“If he wants anything, you can bring it to him. I need to go to sleep now.”
I roughly tossed the wine bottle and wine glass into his large arms and slammed the door shut.
Just before the door closed, Rod’s expression seemed subtly bewildered, but that was none of my business.
I figured he’d handle the wine himself.
I stumbled and flopped onto the bed, a wave of exhaustion washing over me as the strength left my body.
It made sense; I had been at the party just a few hours ago.
Even though I hadn’t arrived early and had come after sunset, it was still completely dark outside the window.
‘What a long, awful day.’
I felt like I would sink into a deep sleep right away, but I still had work to do.
“Chirpy.”
Chirp?
At my listless voice, Chirpy, who was hiding under the pillow, subtly crawled out.
It seemed to have been sleeping, as the fur on its side was slightly flattened.
“Can you look around the mansion for me? Very quietly.”
I nervously stroked the drowsy, half-awake spirit.
A soft warmth, different from body temperature, was felt through my palm.
As always, the warm and squishy feeling made me feel much more at ease.
In fact, if Chirpy turned invisible, it was highly likely that neither Igor nor Rod, who was A-Rank, would notice it.
There was a high probability that it wouldn’t even detect anything strange even if it passed right in front of them.
It wasn’t S-Rank for nothing.
But it was true that I was worried about sending this tiny creature out alone.
“You need to find a passage to get outside…”
But before I could even finish my sentence, Chirpy, who had turned into smoke, darted toward the door.
It wavered from side to side as if saying it would be fine and then slowly vanished from my sight.
It happened in an instant, giving me no time to react.
‘Wait, I still had more to say!’
I quickly checked the gap under the door, and fortunately, the shadow guarding the entrance showed no sign of movement.
As expected, it had safely slipped out without being detected.
“…Did it even understand me properly?”
At this point, I wondered if it just wanted to go outside rather than help me.
Chirpy had been somewhat capricious lately, which made me anxious in several ways.
Still, I had to trust it.
I nervously paced in front of the door for a while before finally flopping back onto the bed.
There was no point in racking my brain alone now.
I could only trust the spirit and wait patiently until it returned.
“How can I be falling asleep right now… My mind is so at ease.”
I rubbed my face into the blanket and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
At such an important time, my eyelids kept trying to close, inconsiderately.
Why did the blanket have to be so unnecessarily soft?
Blink.
My half-closed eyes, heavy with drowsiness, naturally drifted toward the window.
The perfect full moon in the sky was still casting its pure white light today.
‘How can it be a full moon every time I look at it?’
Come to think of it, I hadn’t recalled seeing a half-moon or a crescent moon even once since coming to this world.
I wasn’t constantly looking up at the night sky either, so it was quite strange.
“The timing is impeccable…”
My sleep-laden voice gently lingered in the room.
A forest on the outskirts, about an hour away from Moscow.
All that could be seen around were black ruins.
With the scorching flames and thick smoke, the forest was no different from a hellscape where one could not distinguish what was even an inch in front of them.
Although it was far from human habitation, only black ash was piled up for 2 kilometers around, with not a single tree standing.
In the center of the brutally destroyed forest.
Only the person who caused all this devastation stood there alone.
His pitch-black eyes, gazing at some point in the air, hadn’t moved for 30 minutes.
Do Soohyuk, he was just lost in deep thought, his mind wandering blankly.
The forest behind him was still burning fiercely, but he didn’t even seem to be considering withdrawing the flames.
‘I should have been next to him.’
Only those words kept repeating like a refrain in Do Soohyuk’s head.
Perhaps he was being spiteful because of Seo Inho’s subtly changed attitude after leaving the EX Dungeon.
No, he was definitely being spiteful.
To the extent that he preferred the time when they were in the dungeon.
At least there, he could act purely on his emotions without anyone interfering.
He could hold his hand, hug him, and touch his highly excited body as his heart desired.
That’s why when Seo Inho rejected his hand at the store, Do Soohyuk felt a twisted emotion for the first time.
His nerves were already frayed by the sight of him being friendly with the other two men.
Since it was a new feeling for him, he had no idea that it was jealousy.
In the end, he acted childishly, which was uncharacteristic of him, and the result, as seen now, was the worst possible outcome.
He was on the verge of losing Seo Inho because of a juvenile action he hadn’t even done during his puberty.
“Are you planning to burn everything?”
Just then, a familiar voice was heard from behind.
It wasn’t a particularly welcome voice, so Do Soohyuk showed no reaction.
This was the man who had let Seo Inho move alone when they should have been stuck together.
At first, he thought the two had moved to a quiet place, but for some reason, Cha Rui returned to the banquet hall alone.
By then, Seo Inho had already disappeared, and the man’s nerves were more than just sensitive; they were sharpened to a point.
To the extent that no one dared to approach him.
