IBWCD 15

Chapter 15

Upon returning to the mansion, Evelyn could not hide her bewilderment as she followed her assigned maid into her new abode.

“Is this really… the room I’ll be staying in?”

A bed surrounded by a heavenly canopy, carpets as plush as walking on clouds, furniture adorned with diamonds.

She stepped into a room she’d only seen when she’d been summoned to the Countess’s chambers, and even then it was far more spacious and opulent.

‘And it’s furnished exactly the same as the bedrooms in the North.’

For a moment it occurred to her that, being back in the past, she should expect the same, but this was a capital city mansion.

He was not a meticulous enough man to care about a place he stayed a couple times a year at most.

“Yes, this room was handpicked by the Grand Duke himself…”

In the midst of her momentary doubt, the maid, who came stiffly up to her, gave her an embarrassed look.

“Of course not, I love it.”

Evelyn smiled forcibly, and the maid, who swept her hand across her chest, bowed low and disappeared from the bedroom.

“Hoo.”

She wonders if she’s been given a time limit once again.

Since returning to the past, more good things had happened, but her foggy mind refused to calm down.

‘What were those words a moment ago…’

But she couldn’t continue the thought.

Her vision faded in and out of focus, and she felt herself becoming increasingly disconnected from reality.

“Ah…”

Sitting up in bed, Evelyn felt her body sink, and she collapsed into a deep sleep.

And as usual, the sleep, accompanied by anxiety and exhaustion, dragged her into a terrible nightmare.

* * *

[ha, ha…!]

In a distorted space where she couldn’t see a thing.

Something black, grim, and slimy was chasing her in a clump.

Terrified, she ran and ran, barefoot, tripping over something and getting up dozens of times.

[Aah! Go away, please…!]

Her breath filled her lungs. She felt like she was going to collapse at any moment, her heart pounding in agony and terror.

Then it happened.

A hand reached out from behind her and tangled her hair.

Her head snapped back, and she sprawled on the floor, tangled in something slimy, and rolled down the stairs.

[Ah, ouch!]

She opened her eyes, frowning as she landed on the hardwood. She rubbed the backs of her eyes hard, suspicious of her eyes.

The mass that had fallen with her began to take on a human shape, adding color to the otherwise black space.

Dazzling silver hair that glowed in the dark, green eyes like a goddess presiding over the earth.

[…….]

Standing before her was herself.

Or, more accurately, something that looked like her began to creep toward her.

*Cackle*

A strange sound assaulted her eardrums. Evelyn staggered to her feet, but her body wouldn’t listen.

Her entire body went rigid, starting with her toes.

Then the woman, who was now right up to her nose, laughed, an eerie, throaty laugh.

[Hehehehe! Gotcha!]

For a moment, her vision blurred. The creepy laughter was the only thing she could hear through her blurred consciousness.

* * *

Evelyn scrambled out of bed and sat up, just before the woman’s nails dug into her eyeballs.

“Hah, hah…”

She clutched at her sweat-dampened comforter and gasped for air like a drowning man rescued from the brink of death.

‘What was that? What the hell was that?’

She knew it was a dream, but there was something about it that didn’t feel right, something that didn’t fit with her anxious mind.

The dim moonlight slowly brought reality back.

Brushing back her damp hair, Evelyn sat on the edge of the bed and recalled Matthias’s last words.

“The more intense the contact, the better, but it’s only a band-aid, not a cure for the underlying cause.”

Demon magic and Holy power coexisted in Kalian’s body.

Matthias’s prescription was that she should allow his strong magic to flow within her and cleanse the tangled mess of her own.

It was only a day ago that she’d decided she needed as little contact as possible, unless it was unavoidable.

Now it was something she had to cling to.

“We’re each other’s cure…”

Choking back a weak laugh, Evelyn poured herself a glass of water to quench her thirst.

The slap on her cheek was reflected in the churning water. At the same time, her mind flashed back to the words Kalian had spoken in the carriage ride back to the manor.

“Perhaps my body cannot heal itself.”

A wave of questions rushed through her foggy mind.

In her last life, she’d had enough power to save a dying cat, but not to heal the wounds of others.

The only “human” she could heal was Kalian.

“Something was wrong from the start.”

A few days ago, when she tried to heal him with her hands on his runaway body, an aura appeared, but she couldn’t bring the color back to his eyes.

“It wasn’t until I made more intimate contact that he came fully awake.”

‘What if all of this was due to a failure to properly harness his magic? Couldn’t that mean he could draw on even more power if he restored it?’

Evelyn raised the goblet to her mouth as if to swallow the moonshine clouding the water. As the cool water slid down her esophagus, her thoughts became clearer.

Perhaps in this life, she could help him more definitively.

“If only I could break this curse once and for all.”

She bit her lip and sighed, burying her face in her hands and knees.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

Someone knocked on the door.

She flinched, startled by the unexpected sound.

His fragile heart, still reeling from the nightmare, jumped at the slightest sound.

“Who, who… is it?”

There was no answer, but she was too scared to stay.

The fear of something leaping out of the darkness, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her into the abyss, was overwhelming.

“We need to find out what that sound is.

As she lowered her knees and scrambled to her feet, she heard it again.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

This time it was a little clearer.

At first glance, it sounded like someone was deliberately making noise in the bedroom.

No, it must be nothing.

‘What could possibly be going on in the mansion?’

Pulling herself together, Evelyn turned around when she suddenly felt a strange gaze upon her.

“…..!”

She dropped to the floor, shaking.

She realized that there was a figure staring at her in a space so dark that even the moonlight couldn’t reach it.

Evelyn’s dilated pupils were pointed not outside her door, but at the doorway that led from room to room.

It was true what they say about being too surprised to scream.

Evelyn barely managed to open her stiffened mouth.

“Well, what are you doing there? I mean, how long have you been there…?”

From the color of his jet-black hair to the darkness of his nightgown. The corner of his mouth lifted as he leaned against the doorway, a darkness that seemed to envelope him.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

His gesture across the threshold was as languid and loose as the robe he wore over his pants.

“I was thinking too much.”

The rustle of the fabric made the fur stand up.

Evelyn stared at him, her clenched fingertips trembling slightly as he drew closer.

“I apologize, I didn’t mean to peek.”

Soon a shadow fell over Evelyn’s cowering head.

Moonlight filtering through the window illuminated his face as he held out his hand toward her.

“It’s a northern tradition to share a couple’s space this way, and I want you to know that I can come in at any time, even if it makes you uncomfortable.”

The meaning of his words was clear.

A space where he could take what he wanted, whenever he wanted, without anyone noticing.

“Do you ever…”

Her heart sinking, Evelyn didn’t take his hand, but instead hobbled to the bed on wobbly legs.

“You mean you’re going to share a bed with me tonight?”

As her body settled into the fluffy bedding, memories of their past bedroom antics came flooding back.

She didn’t feel particularly scared.

There’s nothing she wouldn’t do to survive.

Right now, she’s the one hanging on by a thread.

Just as Evelyn was about to sit up, the bed jerked violently. His face was right in front of her.

A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but it was not one of amusement.

“I’m sorry to hear that I look like an insignificant beast in your eyes.”

Stepping closer, Kalian tilted his head at an angle before her eyes.

Evelyn stared at him in disbelief. Before she could ask what he was doing, his hand closed around her chin and squeezed.

“I’m here to talk to you,” he added, glaring at her as she scurried away like a cornered rabbit.

“I am here to fulfill our promise to each other, to provide for each other’s needs.”

‘What she needed was the act of lifting the curse. How could it be any different than offering to share a bed?’

He stared into her questioning eyes, then leaned in so close their noses touched.

“You know what you’re thinking, but you don’t know what you’re thinking.”

Evelyn wanted to tell him that neither did he, but she couldn’t.

Because his outstretched finger had just pressed under her right eye.

She swallowed quietly, and the scent of herbs and his body odor reached her nostrils.

Her heart pounded in her chest and her mouth went dry at the familiar scent.

Rough fingers brushed lightly across her cheeks, making her skin prickle and her heart flinch.

‘Don’t be nice. You can pretend you didn’t see this.’

The corners of her eyes heated up with sudden regret. Before she knew it, Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.

“I think you can stop…”

Her instinct was to grab his wrist.

Anyone who saw her flushed cheeks could see her feelings for him.

“Even if I could…”

“Hold still.”

The heartless voice rang in her eardrums, unlike the gentle touch. The raised eyebrow showed a harsh judgment.

“I’m not so needy as to hold someone who’s afraid to make eye contact with me.”

With that, he applied the herbs to the wound on her wrist. It had already festered and hardened into a gaping wound.

Her throat rumbled once more as she tried to hold back her tears.

Sighing softly, Evelyn remembered the first time she had spent the night with him in her previous life.