05

Elsia suddenly came to her senses and was startled. She remembered leaving the secret club, but now she found herself in her room, wearing nothing but a chemise.  

Elsia lightly tapped both her cheeks with her hands.  

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, but the image of the man she saw at the club wouldn’t leave her thoughts.  

Wondering if lying down and closing her eyes would help her forget about him, Elsia lay on her bed, pulled up the covers, and closed her eyes.  

Yet, even with her eyes closed, the man’s face seemed to appear even more vividly.  

After that, she kept opening and closing her eyes until she could no longer remember his face, and eventually fell asleep.  

The man with blue eyes was approaching her more and more. At the club, he had simply passed by her….  

Seeing him come toward her, Elsia felt glad and reached out her hand, which touched the man’s cheek.  

Then his arm reached for her, gently cupping her cheek and soon stroking her hair.  

His touch was soft and warm. It seemed to calm her trembling heart a little.  

Gradually, his face began to approach hers, as if their lips might meet.  

Elsia hesitated, unsure whether to welcome him or push him away, but then she offered her lips.  

With her lips extended toward the man, Elsia opened her eyes.  

Startled, she sat up abruptly. Elsia tapped her lips with her hand, trying to hide her embarrassment.  

‘What on earth is happening?’  

She never imagined the man who wouldn’t leave her mind would follow her into her dreams.  

Flustered, Elsia pressed her forehead with her hand and suddenly noticed her surroundings were different from usual.  

It wasn’t the dark night she usually woke up to.  

Sparrows chirped, opening the morning, and sunlight streamed into her room through the window.  

That meant she hadn’t had the nightmare that tormented her every night.  

“To wake up in the morning after sleeping through the night without pain….”  

She had seen many doctors and taken many medicines to escape her terrible nightmares, but there had never been a night without them.  

But suddenly, she hadn’t had a nightmare? No matter how she thought about it, it was strange.  

‘All I did was find a man who matched me…. Could he be some miracle cure that freed me from nightmares?’  

Elsia shook her head.  

“That can’t be.”  

It made no sense, but there was no other explanation for why she hadn’t had a nightmare.  

“Could it be that desire overcame the nightmare?”  

Embarrassed, Elsia couldn’t deny her intense desire, but she didn’t want to admit it either.  

“Yes, it’s those eyes.”  

She blamed the eyes of her childhood friend from her nightmares.  

She told herself it was because the man’s eyes were the same color as those in her dreams.  

Though she felt the man’s gaze was similar to the child’s in her dreams, Elsia quickly shook her head.  

As expected, the very next day, Elsia had a nightmare again.  

So one thing was clear: she had to meet that man again.  

Elsia wanted to meet him again and see if she could spend another night without nightmares.  

* * *

“Can you take me there again?”  

A week later, Elsia visited Richel.  

“You said you’d only go once.”  

Richel sounded surprised by Elsia’s unexpected request.  

Apparently, Richel hadn’t expected Elsia to find a man with matching compatibility and spend a night with him.  

Of course, anyone who saw Elsia’s flustered reaction—breaking her glass and fleeing after meeting the man at the club—would have thought the same.  

“I meant to, but… now I want to go again and check something.”  

Elsia wanted to confirm her feelings. Whether it was just a one-time flutter, and whether she would have another nightmare.  

Although she knew she shouldn’t, she couldn’t control her rising emotions.  

“….”  

Richel just looked at Elsia with worried eyes, saying nothing.  

“I’ll take responsibility. I won’t cause you any trouble. Please?”  

When Richel didn’t respond, Elsia pressed her again.  

“Why? At least tell me the reason. What is it you want to check so badly that you keep pushing me?”  

Richel didn’t seem pleased, but as Elsia kept asking, she seemed about to give in and asked with a slight smile.  

“I want to meet that man again.”  

“That man? The one you matched with?”  

“Yes….”  

Richel looked quite surprised at Elsia’s answer.  

“Do you like him?”  

Richel’s expression wasn’t bright. It was understandable—Elsia was showing interest in another man despite being engaged.  

“I’m not sure. But… the night I met him, I didn’t have a nightmare!”  

“What?”  

Richel looked shocked.  

Richel had often given Elsia products that promised restful sleep or foods that supposedly helped her sleep, knowing her friend suffered from nightmares.  

But Richel knew that nothing had ever worked for Elsia, so she was naturally surprised.  

“No way… It must be a coincidence.”  

Richel didn’t believe Elsia’s words.  

“That’s why I want to meet him again. To see if it’s really because of him. Isn’t it strange to suddenly stop having nightmares?”  

Just thinking about meeting him again made Elsia’s heart tremble.  

She couldn’t do it without Richel’s help, so Elsia kept urging Richel, who was frozen in surprise.  

“Alright. Let’s go. I’ll get another invitation this time, too.”  

Richel, defeated by Elsia’s persuasion, agreed to help her again.  

* * *

Following Richel into the secret club, Elsia found the scenery familiar this second time.  

The strange men she’d seen before were still there, evidently regulars.  

But she was never interested in them anyway, so her gaze quickly moved elsewhere.  

Elsia lifted her glass and looked around, eager to find the man.  

After only a few scans, she spotted him, and her heart began to race again.  

Her heart told her the flutter she felt last time wasn’t a coincidence.  

“Go talk to him.”  

Richel, noticing Elsia’s gaze, suggested she approach him.  

‘Is it okay to speak to him myself?’  

While Elsia hesitated, Richel pushed her toward the man, and at that moment, her glass shook. The man shook his glass in return and approached Elsia.  

“We meet again. You must come here often.”  

Startled by the sudden conversation, Elsia glanced at Richel.  

Richel signaled her to keep talking and quietly stepped back.  

It seemed Richel was making space for Elsia to talk alone with the man.  

The thought of being alone with him made Elsia shy.  

“If you’re uncomfortable, should I leave?”  

The man spoke to Elsia, who kept staring at the floor without answering.  

She wanted to speak, but her voice wouldn’t come out. She was so nervous it felt like her throat was blocked.  

Even though she wanted to respond, she couldn’t, and Elsia felt frustrated.  

When she still didn’t answer, the man nodded and started to move away.  

At that moment, Elsia, without thinking, reached out and grabbed the man’s sleeve.  

He stopped and turned to look at Elsia.  

Following his gaze, Elsia saw her hand holding the end of his sleeve, as if she were asking him not to leave.  

“Oh!”  

Elsia let go of his sleeve, surprised at herself.  

She must have grabbed him out of a desire to spend more time with him.  

Embarrassed, Elsia drank her champagne in one gulp, trying to calm herself.  

But as the alcohol hit her, her heart started pounding even harder.  

“Adrian.”  

“Huh?”  

At the sound of the man’s voice, Elsia looked up without thinking and met his eyes.  

“Please call me Adrian.”  

Adrian didn’t avoid Elsia’s gaze, sending her a heated look.  

Or perhaps it was just her drunken eyes that made his gaze seem that way.  

Elsia avoided his gaze and spoke.  

“Call me Marie.”  

Since they met in a place where everyone wore masks, she probably didn’t know his real name.  

So Elsia couldn’t reveal her own name either, quickly giving the name of her closest maid. That was the only name that came to mind.  

“Would you like another drink?”  

Adrian looked at Elsia’s empty glass and asked.  

“Yes.”  

Elsia nodded unconsciously. She knew she shouldn’t drink more, but she didn’t want to refuse him.  

Adrian brought her a new cocktail glass.  

When their hands touched as she took the glass, Elsia felt a tingling sensation sweep through her body, as if she’d been shocked by electricity.  

She nearly dropped the glass, but Adrian was holding it, so thankfully it didn’t fall.  

If not for his hand, Elsia might have dropped her glass again.  

“Be careful.”  

“Thank you.”  

Elsia tried her best not to touch his hand as she took the glass.  

It seemed sweeter than what she usually drank at the mansion, and she felt more intoxicated than usual. No, she felt more intoxicated by his gaze than by the drink.