***

It has been a week since she has kept her eyes open.

She remembered that in the novel, on the morning of Valletta’s 20th birthday. Count Delight was killed.

But now, it has been a week since her birthday. Valletta squinted her eyes, and looked down.

[ After receiving the report, the guard came. Count Delight was covered with blood right from the doorway.

The more he went inside, the more he stepped into a pool of blood, and then he arrived at the dining room. The guard was frightened, and had no choice but to escape.

There were corpses whose limbs were oddly broken. And on top of it, papers were scattered all over, detailing the illegal affairs of Count Delight.

As if it was natural retribution.

And in the middle of the table, Valletta Delight was displayed. Her neck was strangely bent and her lips were disgustingly torn, as if she was forced to laugh.

In front of her were corpses piled up like a mountain and candles burning on top of the candlesticks. It looked no different from Valletta’s birthday cake. There were twenty candles that were all lit up. And that day was Valletta Delight’s 20th birthday. ]

In the novel, everyone’s end was written as if they were trying to use it for dramatic effect, so she remembered it.

So there’s no reason not to be afraid of that lunatic.

Valletta thought Reinhardt was her favorite character, but it was only in the novel.

She never wanted to meet a character like that in real life.

However, there have been some subtle differences from the novel. If this part changed, will it end quietly?

Valletta agonized. If that’s the case, she felt apologetic for what she had done to Reinhardt.

‘… But that look in his eyes was real.’

They really weren’t smiling. Or did he not have the need to kill Count Delight?

Due to her protection, he did not suffer as much damage, thus he might be less hostile. She took a deep breath.

“A week… has passed.”

This amount of time may be enough to start reassuring her. Reinhardt might be the master of the tower, but he might not be as crazy as he was in the novel.

Is there any other reason?

Did he have a change of heart? Valletta sighed, grabbing her hair.

In fact, there was nothing she could hope for if things were to end quietly. As she has been nervous all the time.

‘…… Then, all he needs to do is run away from here.’

Valletta sighed briefly. He, too, is now an adult, so it’s time for him to leave. Then the two will no longer be involved with each other.

“What a relief….”

She exhaled a sigh and laid back on her bed.

Her mind relaxed and became clear. She feels comfortable now as her agony has been resolved.

“But did she take the ingredients first?”

Valletta could not pay attention to the maid since she was thinking, but she said that she would return with her meal in an hour, yet two hours had passed.

‘Did she forget?’

It was already dark outside and the moon had arisen. She was so hungry as she used her energy for useless things.

“I should go and see.”

Valletta got up, wore her fluffy fur slippers, and carefully poked her head through the door crack.

The mansion was quieter than usual.

‘Is she still at the dining hall because my father did not allow it?’

She thought that maybe he doesn’t want Valletta eating alone in her room.

“… Where did everyone go?”

It was so quiet that she thought it was strange. Valletta slowly walked through the forlorn, gloomy corridor.

“… It’s time to organize things though.”

Is the mansion usually this quiet?

Since Valletta eats her dinner in her room, she has never been around the mansion during the early evening.

However, the gloominess was sending chills down her spine. She looked alternately at the stairs and the corridor where the candle lights were flickering.

‘Should I just go back?’

She paused and turned around. She looked at the way she came from and felt even more reluctant to go through the long corridor and turn back.

“She said she would bring my meal. She doesn’t even need to go hunting with a bow.”

Valletta complained.

If Count Delight would not allow her to eat in her room, she would have to eat in the dining room.

‘But Count Delight would usually inform me of his decision.’

Frankly, she was annoyed by his authoritative behavior. Had it not been for the bracelet, she would have already run away from the mansion a long time ago.

‘Is everyone really having a group dinner?’

At this point, anxiety started to crawl to her back.

It was strange after all, there should be no less than a dozen maids working in this mansion.

‘…… There’s no way.’

Valletta shook her head to dispel the worst assumption that came to her mind.

Isn’t it horrible? The worst case scenario.

Valletta’s worst imagination was no different from what she had been madly worried about for a week.

‘It’s been a week’, she thought again.

Unlike in the novel, a week has already passed.

Looking at the details, the world she lives in is already a lot more different from the novel.

Unlike the Valletta in the novel, she was not obsessed with Reinhardt and she didn’t love him maniacally.

Valletta in the novel also does not have special abilities nor is she engaged to the Crown Prince. Therefore, there is no guarantee that this world would flow similarly to the novel.

If it hasn’t happened even after a week has passed, isn’t it a confirmation that it won’t flow like the novel? Valletta thought so and nodded her head.

Her steps toward the dining hall slowed.

‘…… On the contrary, does it matter if things were to happen after a week unlike the novel?’

Another anxiety piled on top of anxiety. And eventually she remembered her worst assumption. Valletta’s slow steps completely stopped.

“Please.”

Valletta resumed her stalled step.

Please, I hope nothing happened.

She eagerly hoped that her worst assumption would just be her imagination.

Before long, she stopped in front of the dining room.

She perked up her ears, but she could not hear any screams coming from the inside.

Valletta grabbed the door of the dining room with some relief. Valletta took a deep breath, looked around her once, and pulled the dining room door open.

Through the slightly open gap, the chandelier was brightly lit and there was a bloody scent. She reflexively let go of the dining room door that she was holding.

The dining room door closed.

“D*mn, it’s not true, right?”

Valletta mumbled in a low voice and turned around.

She must be dreaming. It was clear that she must be having a terrible dream because she was living with this kind of worry.

‘I should sleep.’

Right from the beginning, it didn’t make sense that the mansion was so quiet.

As she desperately shook her head and turned back to return to the way she had come from, a light leaked into the dim corridor. To be exact, the light was coming from behind her.

Valletta’s steps stopped. Behind her was the door to the dining room, and Valletta did not open it. She could not open it because she was on her way back in the first place.

Like a human who saw Medusa’s eyes, she felt her legs gradually stiffening.

She couldn’t run away nor turn around to face the other person, even though there was a horrifying sensation coming from behind her.

“Oh no. You’re here, but you didn’t come in.”

“No, it’s my mistake.”

“If I knew you were awake, I would’ve invited you.”

“… I’d like to decline.”

“What brings you to the dining room?”

“… I was hungry. But it’s alright, I’ll just go back and sleep.”

She replied without looking behind her as her body hardened.

The stiffness of her voice could not be hidden. She could not bury her head in the sand, and they were having a meaningless conversation.

The difference from what she saw inside the dining room and what she was saying was ridiculous. However, she could not just go in there and calmly take out some food.

Valletta’s desperate answer made her hear a low laugh from behind her.

“Ah…… so that maid was Master’s maid.If I knew that, I would’ve kept it alive. It wouldn’t stop screaming and screeching, so I could not hear it clearly so I didn’t know……”

His words took her breath away.

That is because the omitted words could be easily guessed. Valletta raised her arms with difficulty and patted her face with her palm.

She could hear the sound of footsteps approaching but she continued to stay still.

She knew that she had to run away, but her feet would not follow. Then she felt breathing from behind.

“My admirable Master. It’s commendable how you’re desperately looking away, but if you don’t properly look at me, I’ll be very sad.”

Reinhardt’s fingers that are long and slender like a pianist, gently rubbed her nape, then stretched out his palm and gripped it.

“I want Master to look at me, so it’ll be sad if I accidentally break Master’s neck while gripping it.”

“You can continue what you were doing. But leave me out of it.”

Reinhardt, with his eyes wide open at Valletta’s cold words, burst into laughter.

“As always, Master is not only cold towards me but to others as well.”

She has already imagined the worst a dozen times in her head.

Even if it happened right in front of her eyes in a similar fashion, it was not enough for her to make a fuss.

Valletta gulped at Reinhardt’s exasperated voice. She doesn’t know why he still has a nice voice.

Reinhardt tapped Valletta’s shoulder as she silently stared ahead with her back facing the dining room.

“Look at me, Master.”

Her nape that he was gripping was cold, as if all it’s blood was drained. She slowly raised her head and turned around steadily.

Before she knew it, all she could see was his eerie red eyes under the swaying candlelight.

“That’s good, good girl.”

Reinhardt gently patted her hair.

How can she make this madman understand that it’s not good and it can’t be helped?

“I thought you were sleeping, I even covered it in a curtain and silently did it. I guess it was an unnecessary consideration.”

He tapped his finger in the direction of the dining room and a clear, transparent wave was spread over the dining room.

It was hazy, but she could see that there was something there for sure. There was a reason why there was no noise.

Valletta’s face distorted.

“Yeah. I made the wrong choice of not going to bed. I’ll pretend I didn’t see it.”

So please let me go back.

With that in mind, she looked Reinhardt in his eyes. Reinhardt giggled at Valletta’s words.

That skinny boy had become a man who is now a head taller than Valletta.

The shabby tunic disappeared, and he’s now wearing a robe made with high-quality silk that is waterproof, dust proof and flameproof made by a magician.

“You already had a peek, now you have to see it all the way.”

Valletta’s smooth hair stood up at the whisper in her ears.

It is said that a person’s chest smells sweet, but this person’s chest only smells bloody.

“It smells like blood.”

“Ah.”

Reinhardt exclaimed at Valletta’s words. Then he took off his robe, and the lower part of that dark robe was wet and damp. Pretending not to know what it was, Valletta tried hard not to look down.

Reinhardt flung his robe aside and wrapped it around Valletta’s shoulder. When his warm robe touched her cold body, funnily enough, her body quickly warmed up.

‘What is he doing now?’

Valletta blankly tilted her head and looked up at Reinhardt.

***