She was certain she had dreamed.

‘…But I can’t remember the content.’

If that were the case, it would be better to forget even the fact that she had dreamed at all. The vague remnants left behind only caused unnecessary curiosity. But no matter how much she wracked her brain, she couldn’t recall any meaningful content.

May tried to shake off the frustration that wouldn’t easily subside as she picked up a duster. She had been neglecting the mansion’s maintenance, using the excuse of being mentally preoccupied lately. So today she planned to thoroughly sweep and clean every corner. After all, nothing cleared the mind like cleaning.

With the compass temporarily lent to Johan at his request, it seemed like the perfect time to calmly do something. She also intended to look for a medium to release her grandfather’s ghost. Although her enthusiasm had been dampened by what Dominic told her, she still wanted to try everything she could.

‘Anyway, finding something related to Grandmother might make Grandfather a little more at peace.’

Even if he couldn’t leave the mansion, it would be good if he could at least feel better, like when one straightens up after being slumped over.

May also belatedly recalled that her grandfather was a priority over creating a “vessel.”

‘Since Johan has been organizing the warehouse recently…. Should I start with the end room?’

Her black eyes looked toward the end of the corridor. Soon, her light footsteps headed toward that particularly dark-feeling place.

A place unusually devoid of sunlight in a mansion with many windows. A room where part of the wallpaper was blackened as if there had been a fire….

She had examined it early on, but after finding the compass, she left it alone due to an eerie feeling. It was a place where not much had been organized, and since there were many intact rooms and it didn’t seem particularly useful, she hadn’t mentioned cleaning it even after Johan arrived….

But now she thought it would be fine since her fear of the compass had lessened. It was the only place she hadn’t thoroughly examined, so there was a high possibility of finding a new medium to move her grandfather.

Soon, with slowed steps, a puzzled expression appeared on May’s face.

‘…Huh?’

It was because the door of the room she reached was slightly open. Unlike the dark corridor, some sunlight seemed to be entering the room. Seeing the faint beam of light seeping through the open gap, May reflexively approached and gently pushed the door.

…Creeeeak.

May’s eyes slightly crinkled at the sound of the rusty hinge crying. It was quite a chilling sound. But only for a moment, as she soon discovered a mirror placed alone in the corner of the room and opened her eyes wide.

She knew Johan had moved the mirrors somewhere….

‘So he put them here.’

Since there was no space in the warehouse, he seemed to have found a suitable unused space. She realized that the reason the door was open was because Johan had been going in and out.

Soon, her black eyes carefully examined the mirror. She suddenly remembered Johan saying “don’t look at mirrors for too long.”

‘But nothing happened even when I looked at them for a long time.’

She had mindlessly become scared then, but thinking about it, there wasn’t much to be afraid of. Come to think of it, while Johan was away, she had combed her hair looking in the mirror day and night. For some reason, her memories of that time were blurred….

Moreover, after returning, Johan had silently removed the mirrors without giving any further warnings. He still hadn’t explained the reason.

Therefore, May thoughtlessly picked up a small hand mirror that had caught her foot.

‘…Did Johan put this here too?’

As she picked it up, another mirror placed in front caught her eye. Belatedly raising her head, she noticed large and small mirrors that she hadn’t seen before, dropped in a row as if making a path. They were all the ones that had been collected in her room.

If Johan had placed them, they wouldn’t have been dropped like this….

Though she had such thoughts, May put down her duster and began to pick up the mirrors one by one. Partly because she needed to clean anyway, but mostly because her body moved reflexively the moment she caught a glimpse of her face in the hand mirror.

And finally, she reached the large mirror placed in a corner of the room. The mirror was reflecting the interior with its back to the window. Its clean surface looked somewhat dark, perhaps due to the backlight.

May’s gaze slowly rose. Two small feet neatly together, past the calves to the skirt hem… and the hand holding the mirror, finally her face.

May blinked at the eyes in the mirror she finally met. She hadn’t raised the corners of her mouth, and there was nothing to smile about….

‘…It’s smiling.’

Because her reflection in the mirror was smiling with its mouth corners stretched.

May unconsciously took a step back, but even faster than that, her eyes became cloudy. She had lost control of her body in an instant. However, the purple thought-form hiding inside her *terus did not flaunt its energy as before.

Having been constantly checked and pressured by the compass downstairs recently, it had cunningly begun to hide itself. Of course, it would be immediately discovered the moment it saw May, but….

“Just break something before that happens.”

The thought-form, using the host’s vocal cords to speak, stared blankly at the raised arm after finishing its words. It planned to damage this first, and if she still refused to mate after that, it would damage the other arm, and if she still wouldn’t listen, it would damage both legs.

…Or perhaps it could target the neck from the beginning.

The compass and the blond male are together on the first floor. Going there would be a stupid move. So… let’s go to the other male on the same floor.

The body that had reached this conclusion began to move slowly.

* * *

Knock knock.

Dominic raised his gaze from the documents at the knocking sound that broke his concentration. His ash-gray eyes behind his glasses were calmly settled, as if anticipating the visitor beyond the door.

And no sooner had he thought this than the door opened. That rudeness of opening the door before the room’s owner gave permission was now familiar too.

“…Dominic, what were you doing?”

She calls him by name, not “Mr. Lawyer.” This too was one piece of evidence obtained through recent experiences. That May was once again showing signs of abnormality.

“Work.”

Dominic replied curtly and lowered his gaze back to the documents with an indifferent face.

Although his suspicion had somewhat subsided, he had no intention of sleeping with her. If it had been simply about an aphrodisiac or something similar, he might have considered it, but after learning that it was desired by a strange entity rather than her, that conviction had become firm.

Johan had said that May would suffer more if they didn’t join bodies. But even he seemed reluctant to use that method if possible. The “bad scenario” he mentioned seemed to be a worst-case situation with a rare possibility of occurring. Probably said to make him leave the mansion.

Therefore, he had concluded that it was better not to deal with May when she became strange. In fact, when she was appropriately ignored, she would stare blankly before returning to normal.

Watching her cloudy black eyes become clear, she would blink as if she had just lost consciousness and then awakened. And she would act as if she had forgotten some of her previous actions.

So he intended to do the same this time. However….

“I’m busy.”

Despite conveying his intention firmly, there was no response from the other party. The silence was too heavy to think she had just become dazed as usual.

When Dominic belatedly raised his gaze, what he saw was a woman with a smiling face holding something. He easily recognized what she was holding.

‘…A paper knife.’

It was something that had been on a nearby table. May eventually brought it to her neck and calmly asked again.

“Dominic, are you busy?”

“……”

Dominic consciously stopped moving at that strange voice. Warnings he had heard before circulated in his mind.

“Since you seem to trust me somewhat now, let me emphasize again—if you ever encounter a bad situation, don’t show that you’re aware of that entity.”

“……”

“I mean act naturally, as you would normally. As you’ve seen by now, just because she’s temporarily lost control of her body doesn’t mean she’s not still my lady. That’s what you need to be most careful about.”

“Are you saying I should naturally give it what it wants?”

“Yes. If you give it what it wants, you can avoid immediate danger.”

When he heard that explanation, even though he acknowledged it, he couldn’t imagine a clear scenario. As mentioned earlier, he had planned to ignore such a situation even if it arose.

But…. The situation he now faced shook his composure.