Feed her an aphrodisiac? At this absurd assumption, Johan let out a short hollow laugh and said,

“If I had, would I have left her behind? For whose benefit?”

“……It’s better not to deny it.”

His tone suggested he was already convinced. Johan strongly shook off the man’s hand. It wasn’t just because he was irritated by the outrageous misunderstanding.

From the second floor, in the direction of May’s room, an unsettling energy was stealthily approaching. The compass in his pocket also began to buzz more violently, as if it had sensed him.

“……I can guess what misunderstanding you have, but let’s talk about that a little later.”

No sooner had Johan finished speaking than a familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the second floor. Her light, graceful steps seemed as joyful as if she were dancing. The face finally revealed felt strangely unfamiliar despite being the one he had been longing to see. It was because the eyes that happily examined the two men downstairs weren’t solely May’s.

The dissonance was obvious at a glance.

However, it was also a cunning and clever mimicry that someone who didn’t know her wouldn’t notice anything unusual. It was fundamentally different from being possessed by a ghost.

‘Is this the ‘different attitude’ father mentioned?’

If so, he shouldn’t let it know that he had noticed. Even if it was temporary, if it had gained enough control over May’s body to manipulate it, it could harm her body as his father had warned.

The small foot half-perched on the highest step seemed precarious. Johan suppressed his anxiety and narrowed his eyes as he met her black eyes.

“……My lady.”

“……Ah, Johan!”

Soon, as the woman happily called out his name, the dissonance he had been feeling disappeared. But….

What had been pooling inside May’s stomach was now surging large enough to cover her entire lower abdomen. It had abnormally expanded its territory in the few days he had been gone. Johan’s eyes slightly creased at how it didn’t even bother to hide its presence. Not hiding despite the compass revealing its energy….

‘This is troublesome.’

But he couldn’t show any sign either. As May came trotting down the stairs, Johan forced a smile and asked,

“Did you fare well while I was gone?”

“Yes…!”

But the momentary relief at seeing her cute nodding face was short-lived.

“It was difficult when even Aiden left the mansion… but fortunately the lawyer came, so it was fine….”

At her words, spoken with a broad smile, Johan’s smiling face visibly stiffened. Naturally, he looked at the man standing beside him, who was also staring at Johan. Without avoiding his eyes, Johan asked,

“Did something troubling happen?”

“Yes, like before….”

“……”

Like before. There was only one thing he could guess. Johan took his eyes off the man and smiled gently at May.

“……So that means you received ‘help’ from that man too?”

At his deliberately casual question, she answered with an innocent face,

“Yes. Fortunately, the lawyer also wanted to help me like you, Johan….”

The expressions of both men crumpled simultaneously at hearing that voice.

* * *

Johan was the first to break the uncomfortable situation. Pretending to be fine, he smiled and handed the compass to May, then left, using the excuse of changing clothes. However, his footsteps were heading not to his own room but to May’s.

Johan bit his lip, recalling one by one the cases of thought-form possession he had heard from his grandfather.

‘Its influence on her mind has definitely grown.’

This meant May had reached the point where she didn’t feel discomfort at experiencing strange s*xual desires. She had clearly been assimilated into the thought-form’s intention to create a ‘vessel.’

In other words, she was now in a kind of hypnotic state cast by the thought-form. When it temporarily took control of her body, it brainwashed her into thinking its will was May’s own thoughts.

Now, when s*xual desire arose, May would seek someone to satisfy it instead of hiding and enduring it. Judging by the situation, that seemed to have already happened….

“It’s not that you’re not qualified, you’re just doing this to indulge my stubbornness…. Right?”

Recalling May who had handed over the compass with eyes full of trust, Johan’s face contorted with self-reproach.

‘It’s because I took the compass away.’

If he hadn’t, the thought-form wouldn’t have influenced May’s body to such an extent. Johan opened the door to May’s room and clicked his tongue as he saw the large mirror attached beside the bed.

Moreover, there were several small hand mirrors placed on the desk. As if she had brought in all the mirrors in the mansion.

Before he left, she had been a woman who, with a pitifully frightened face, even hid the one in her pocket in a drawer when he cautioned her not to look at mirrors.

So those mirrors were nothing short of clear evidence. Evidence that May had been deeply influenced by the thought-form.

With a heavy heart, Johan quietly spat out a curse.

“D*mn it….”

It was then that his eyes caught something other than mirrors.

Next to an empty embroidery frame, an old cloth showing traces of time was neatly folded. It was what the compass had been waving in front of Johan’s eyes.

Squinting one eye, Johan approached with large strides and picked it up.

‘This is….’

As he did so, the folded cloth unfolded, and two strings dangled and swayed down. The form that couldn’t be discerned when it was fixed in the frame now clearly imprinted in his eyes.

“……It’s a baby bib.”

His voice, easily stating the correct answer, was completely stiff.

When had May started embroidering? Searching his memory, it seemed to be from when he first decided to leave the mansion. So there was a reason the compass had shown him this.

‘Was she already under its influence from then?’

Johan clicked his tongue as he realized this.

Self-contempt boiled within him for not noticing May’s condition despite hearing his father’s warning. Blaming his feelings for May or Aiden’s interference was just an excuse.

Johan soon crumpled what he was holding in his hand.

‘……I have to free her.’

The determination that settled in his eyes quickly pushed away his self-reproach. Now was the time to convert even his self-contempt into strength to eliminate the thought-form.

The sense of mission, which had been light when he first sneaked into the mansion out of interest in something that seemed powerful, and when he tried to leave the mansion out of frustration at the situation not going his way, now carried more weight than ever before.

Instead of following the precursors of singularity like flowing water, as he usually did when feeling ‘coincidence,’ Johan finally caught the divine revelation that May had told him came down frequently.

It was a moment both similar and different. Because he was filled with the thought that it didn’t matter if his own pain or sacrifice followed in doing what was best for her.

Johan’s eyes shone as he firmly gripped what he held in his hand.

‘I can’t let my lady who trusts me suffer. ……That would make me a wicked servant.’

* * *

May’s face noticeably brightened when she saw Johan come down after changing clothes.

“Aren’t you tired? Don’t you need to rest?”

Dominic, who had been with her, raised his eyebrows at her brightened complexion. Though the agitation quickly disappeared, his gray eyes had been sunken all along.

“……Why has that man come back? Isn’t he the employee you mentioned before? Didn’t you say he quit?”

“He did quit…. He, well, came to help me for a while….”

“……”

This was something he couldn’t overlook, having been in the position of providing that damned ‘help.’ He was already beyond suspicion and into certainty, especially since the two had openly discussed what had happened between him and May right in front of Dominic.

Just that alone was abnormal. The story of taking an aphrodisiac and having s*x being used as a casual conversation topic.

However, the woman with the blank smile didn’t even know what the problem was, looking at the blond man with a face perfect for being taken advantage of. It was as if the illusion of a wagging tail could be seen behind her.

“Have you eaten? Um… should I bring you something to drink?”

‘This is ridiculous.’

It was impossible to distinguish who was the master and who was the employee. Moreover….

“What about you, my lady? You didn’t skip meals while I was away, did you? Would you like me to bring you some tea if you’re thirsty?”

Acting as if his earlier crookedness had been a lie, the man with a gentle face was naturally stroking his master’s hair. A hollow laugh escaped at the sight of him caressing the waves and tucking them behind her ear.