“……”

May’s lips parted foolishly as she awkwardly stopped laughing at the sight of the man with his brow furrowed.

“Um….”

She saw the man’s eyebrows twitch at her change of expression. He soon shifted his gaze and narrowed his eyes as if unable to understand the existence of the object fidgeting near May’s face.

Johan, who was beside him, waved to May. Only when she saw his face with an inappropriate eye-smile did May come to her senses and belatedly grabbed the compass that had been floating beside her face.

“……”

Dominic let out a dry laugh at her frantic appearance.

“…This is ridiculous.”

At this muttered comment, Johan lowered his waving hand and shrugged.

“Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There are more things like that in the world than you might think.”

Things like ‘moving compasses,’ that is.

Dominic reflexively let out another hollow laugh. He had intended to question the man who had clearly committed a malicious crime, but what he got in return was an absurd excuse.

To summarize, ‘May has some kind of evil spirit attached to her.’ Not only that, but it encourages strange s*xual desires, and occasionally takes over her body and pretends to be her while talking nonsense….

It was an absurd story no matter how many times he turned it over in his mind.

‘It would be more plausible to say it’s delirium from drug overdose.’

Just as he had suspected.

Dominic didn’t believe in things like astrology that dealt with intangible entities. Furthermore, he didn’t believe in God, and thought there were no such things as ghosts or the afterlife.

But there was something he had already seen that made it difficult to dismiss this as nonsense. May, who had belatedly raised her upper body from the sofa, hurriedly put the compass in her pocket. An awkward smile hung on her face as she pretended nothing had happened.

Without taking his eyes off her, Dominic asked Johan,

“Why did you tell me that?”

“Because you asked me to tell you?”

“It’s the kind of story people usually make up excuses for. If that evidence hadn’t been visible, it would be an unbelievable story. In fact, even after seeing that, I’m still skeptical. If you were someone who could use magic, that level of deception wouldn’t be difficult. To me, it seems more plausible that you’ve addicted her to some kind of drug.”

“Hmm, I did consider making up an excuse. Convincing someone with such linear thinking as you is exactly the kind of thing I hate.”

“……”

“Even if that weren’t the case, there’s a certain risk in telling the truth. …But you showed your hand.”

His gently curved eyes remained fixed on May. His gaze, as if reassuring her not to worry, was so soft it was almost ticklish. Dominic frowned as he looked at the man’s profile. Sensing his puzzled gaze, Johan added plainly,

“I mean about sleeping with my lady.”

“……”

“While being wary of me, seeming to have a bad personality but burning with some strange sense of justice, and saying you don’t plan to leave right away….”

Johan trailed off and took out the cloth from his pocket, holding it out to Dominic.

Dominic instinctively grimaced as he took it. He couldn’t understand the meaning of the suddenly presented baby bib with quite dainty embroidery. When the worst assumption finally dawned on him, he glared fiercely at Johan.

“What is this?”

Before he could even ask if May was pregnant, Johan preempted him,

“You can’t pretend to be indifferent when you see that, right? You’d suspect my lady might be pregnant.”

Johan glanced at Dominic’s irritated look that seemed to say ‘What nonsense is this?’ and continued,

“I’m not blaming you. Generally, that’s the only conclusion one could reach, and it’s a natural reaction.”

“……”

“But right now, your common-sense reaction will be a hindrance. So I’m telling you to leave without stirring up my lady with baseless speculation when you don’t know anything. …That’s why I told you. I also told you the truth because you didn’t seem like the type to leave with just any excuse.”

“……”

“Things that will make you wear that face of incomprehension will continue to happen.”

Hearing those words, Dominic suddenly recalled the moments when May had been ‘unlike herself.’ The times when she hadn’t stammered or hesitated, but had smiled quite seductively while trying to seduce him.

The woman who had approached him stepping one by one on puddles of rainwater, stood over him, and reached out her arms had said she wanted him more than filling her stomach. More specifically, she wanted to sleep with him.

And when Dominic felt something strange about this and didn’t give her what she wanted, she would return to her usual self as if nothing had happened.

She didn’t seem to have a particularly shameless personality, yet she changed her attitude quickly and nonchalantly, as if turning over her palm.

‘…So those behaviors weren’t of her own will.’

He had thought that might be the case early on. But the cause being ‘something like a ghost’ rather than ‘drug addiction’? It was still an unbelievable story.

However, that absurd story felt like the final puzzle piece completing the picture. With the addition of that random piece, the situations before and after connected naturally. It provided a reason that made even previously unexplained behaviors understandable.

But for someone who didn’t believe in God, saying ‘God truly exists,’ even if you casually showed evidence, wouldn’t immediately lead to belief. This meant that while he might think the story could be true, doubts quickly rose again.

As Dominic silently furrowed his brow, Johan took back the bib from his hand and said,

“You’ve finished the task my lady asked of you, right? About the past. Since several days have passed, you should have had enough time to talk.”

“……”

“If you’ve done what you came to do, leave now. Let me say it again, your presence will only cause more trouble.”

“…I’ll decide whether I stay or go.”

“Ah, alright then….”

Johan, who had unexpectedly agreed lightly, immediately added,

“In that case, don’t interfere with whatever I do with my lady. Because I alone am enough to keep my lady from suffering.”

‘Whatever I do.’ Dominic easily understood what those words meant.

“…It sounds like you’re saying you’ll use a mentally unstable woman as a s*xual plaything.”

“Your choice of words is quite severe. Of course not. It’s merely an act of necessity.”

“…There’s an error in your logic. If something evil is truly attached to her body, and it desires s*xual *ntercourse… wouldn’t that *ntercourse ultimately lead to bad consequences? That’s what most people would think.”

As he spoke, Dominic’s gaze briefly rested on the baby bib in Johan’s hand.

“So how does taking her body by confronting it instead of avoiding it help her? If you had said you tie her up whenever she acts strangely, I might have understood. You’re just using this opportunity to satisfy your own desires. Aren’t you?”

“For someone who doesn’t believe, you’ve quite sharply pinpointed the core issue.”

Is this some kind of occupational habit? Johan burst into laughter and said,

“Because otherwise it would torment my lady. I’m not just talking about being feverish with s*xual desire. Though that state is bad too… if you don’t give it what it wants until the end, that wicked thing will start making threats. She might misstep on high stairs, strangle herself, or perhaps even jump into flames.”

Each assumption was more unpleasant than the last.

“…I can’t believe this.”

“I wonder if you’d still say you can’t believe it after seeing my lady injured.”

“……”

“Of course, I’ll prevent her from reaching that state. I hate seeing my lady hurt.”

Despite listing such terrible assumptions himself, Johan furrowed his brow as if truly disgusted and horrified.

“You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference when my lady is acting strange and when she’s fine… what’s real and what’s fake. If I hadn’t told you this, you would have eventually prescribed some psychiatric medication, wouldn’t you?”

“……”

“I guarantee you. Your suspicion and common sense will ultimately harm my lady in her current state.”

At his confident tone, Dominic’s eyes turned back to May. Her clear face now showed anxiety instead of the smile that had been there earlier. As their conversation lengthened, her wavering eyes seemed visible even from a distance. Her black eyes alternated between looking at Dominic and Johan before finally settling on Johan.

Desperate eyes looked at him. Once again, it was a moment where that trust was evident. She was clearly depending on this blond man.

“……”

He had clearly thought that this mansion’s servant was the impurity disturbing May’s peace….