‘How strange.’

These past few days, her body felt unusually light. May felt somewhat uneasy even as she swung her arms full of energy.

Had the compass, pretending to be docile in her pocket, decided to stop causing mischief? After making her suffer from heat almost every day recently?

‘I hope it’s not trying to lull me into a false sense of security before striking…’

Her suspicious eyes glared at her own pocket.

It was then that the man beside her spoke,

“You seem to be feeling better now.”

“…Pardon?”

Looking at May’s puzzled eyes, he continued.

“Dizziness, headaches, nausea, abdominal pain, arrhythmia, chills, coughing…”

“Ah…”

“…You’ve been experiencing these alternately, haven’t you? Ever since I came to the mansion.”

The man, with a slightly mischievous expression, added that he was glad she hadn’t shown such symptoms in the past few days.

Though his voice didn’t particularly fluctuate, it clearly contained kindness. Blinking at this, May nodded with a dazed expression.

“Yes… Strangely, no… I’ve been feeling good recently…”

She also felt embarrassed, realizing how many lies she had told him.

And belatedly, she remembered that Johan had tidied up quite a lot of the mansion while she was experiencing these strange symptoms.

‘Come to think of it, all the places I couldn’t reach because of my height have been cleaned…’

The windows she had only cleaned as high as she could reach, not having the presence of mind to get a ladder right away, were clean all the way to the top when she looked today. This was despite her telling him he didn’t need to do hard work during the probation period.

‘…He’s a good person.’

Her black eyes began to sparkle as she looked at the man. Although she hadn’t expected much because he generally seemed indifferent and often showed a casual attitude, he was quite a diligent and capable servant.

May forgot her resolve not to extend Johan’s employment and gazed at him quite fervently.

“Was, was cleaning the windows difficult…?”

The man answered nonchalantly to her question, which she asked while fidgeting with her hands.

“Not particularly.”

“Oh, thank you for organizing the study too… It’s much neater and better after you organized it, Johan…”

To her repeated thanks, the man replied with an indifferent face that he was ‘just doing what a servant should do.’

And hearing this, the admiration in May’s eyes deepened.

‘He’s really a good person…!’

Because the only presence around her for years had been Aiden, who only chose to say and do mean things, such common sense kindness felt even greater than it actually was.

But May, not realizing this far, looked up at him with sparkling eyes like a dog that had let down its guard. And without hiding her admiration, she opened her mouth,

“Um, Johan…”

In her mind, she was worried that the compass might be trying to lull her into a false sense of security… But May tried to push away such worries and asked the man.

“…Would you like to go out together?”

Her usually gloomy face was rarely bright. Though due to years of being ignored in the ducal household, she immediately looked nervous after blurting out such a question.

“We, we could eat something delicious, sightsee… Oh, and see the sea up close! It’s pretty even when viewed from the house, but a walk by the seaside… I think it would be nice…”

Her habitual rambling was filled with undisguised expectation. After staring at that clear face for a moment, the man slowly nodded.

* * *

Having finished preparing to go out, May spoke to the compass she held in both hands.

“Don’t follow me today…”

If someone saw her warning an inanimate object like this, they would surely point fingers saying she was completely mad. But May warned repeatedly with a serious face.

“Please…”

In fact, it was closer to a plea or request than a warning…

May sincerely didn’t want to share her first outing since entering the mansion with this strange object. She didn’t think she could do anything comfortably with this in her pocket.

Moreover, what if she fell into a strange state outside the mansion? She wouldn’t be able to easily make excuses about being sick then. May’s face became even more desperate as she imagined herself being dragged away by the security forces, accused of being a pervert.

“…Huh?”

And the compass, which had been continuously vibrating as if to say her plea was futile, finally surrendered. Clank, like it deflated. The chain drooped.

Looking somewhat sulky, it entered the drawer on its own in that state. May’s face brightened at this.

“…Thank you!”

And in response to her loud expression of gratitude, a puzzled question came from behind.

“For what?”

Johan, who had already finished preparing to go out, was standing at the door staring at her. Startled by his golden eyes landing on the open drawer, May answered.

“I was thanking my, my body condition…”

After hurriedly making this excuse, she quickly closed the drawer and smiled awkwardly.

“Because now I can go out and play with Johan…”

“……”

The man’s eyebrows twitched briefly at those words. As he didn’t respond, silence filled the room.

“……”

Cold sweat was running down her back. May, who would normally have babbled unnecessary words trying to smooth things over, stood frozen like a mouse before a cat, staring at the man. If he had seen what just happened, there was no other excuse she could make.

And it was Johan who broke the continuing silence with a raised corner of his mouth. He spoke with a somewhat amused face.

“If you’re all ready, let’s go out.”

“Yes…”

And May felt a bit uneasy at the man’s face she glimpsed for a moment. Because she had briefly seen the mischievous energy in his golden eyes.

‘It must be my imagination, right…?’

* * *

“Wow, Johan! Look at that!”

What was in the place her small hand pointed to was usually nothing special. Things like large statues for tourists, that sort of thing.

But the woman marveled at them as if she was seeing some new invention. Tall trees were tall, she said. Yellow flowers were yellow, she said. Her face was unnecessarily bright as she kept calling his name for such trivial reasons.

‘…What a strange woman.’

She chattered excitedly, but when there were many people around, she would cling silently with a nervous face, just like a timid dog. It seemed she still had no awareness that she was the master and he was the servant.

Well, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t a bad sign that she was opening up in any way.

Johan recalled what he had seen just before leaving the mansion. The woman making a request to the thought-form, and the thought-form obeying that request.

It was characteristic of these things to try their hardest to stick close to their owners. After all, they needed to be close to exert their influence.

But once again, the common sense Johan knew was shattered. He let out a hollow laugh, recalling the compass entering the drawer on its own. To observe it more properly, he needed to get closer to the woman.

An interested gaze followed the small woman. The oblivious woman was still chattering excitedly.

“It’s my first time walking by the sea, and I love it so much!”

There was no way the man who was just following indifferently could be a very interesting conversation partner, but she talked enthusiastically on her own. If he occasionally threw in appropriate responses or questions to keep the flow going, she would eagerly latch onto them.

Her beaming face was like white bread. Coincidentally, her black eyes looked similar to those of a large dog walking nearby. Johan looked at the woman without bothering to voice his rude thoughts.

“I’ve been busy cleaning since coming here. Before, Aiden said he would take me for a walk by the beach… Hmm… but that was suddenly canceled… I ended up quitting soon after, though…”

‘Was she really a dog…?’

It was a statement that made him wonder. And hearing again the name he had heard often enough to become familiar with, Johan made a peculiar expression. Despite having moved to this mansion quite a while ago, the woman’s dependence on that name was quite high.

She would mention her former master without any particular awareness. ‘Aiden told me not to laugh like this.’ ‘Aiden told me not to let my hair down.’ Like that.

Putting together the words she uttered as casually as breathing, it seemed her former master was quite a strict person. Recalling her saying he scolded her for clothes that barely revealed her ankles, he seemed like an old man.

‘Hmm…’

Johan raised the corner of his mouth, vaguely imagining the woman’s strict former master who had an excessive number of prohibitions. Suddenly, he thought it might not be bad to usurp the position of that fussy old man.

Seeing how she had started to open her heart just because he did some cleaning, it didn’t seem difficult to take that place.

‘And if that happens, it would be easier to get rid of the thought-form. She’s unexpectedly cautious right now.’

It was when he was thinking this…

The woman walking beside him suddenly grasped his arm.

“Um, Johan…”

When he turned his head to the side, he saw a face that had turned pale. Johan raised his eyebrows at this sudden change.

‘But the compass is in the mansion…’

The purple energy that had been gathered in her lower abdomen was raging fiercely.