“You there.”

“Yes…?”

“What about your family then?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about my family…?”

I worried that trouble might belatedly fall on my family, and my anxious expression seemed to frustrate him, making him furrow his brow. His voice came out more irritated than before.

“Is there a mage in your family?”

“Uh… I can’t know that.”

“Why not?”

“My mom was an orphan too, and we siblings all have different fathers. Those so-called fathers just provided the seed – I have no idea what kind of people they were…”

He suddenly punched the perfectly fine wall with his fist. With a thud, dust scattered from the ceiling like snow flurries. My nose started tickling and I felt like I might cough any moment, but somehow I felt like I’d get in trouble if I coughed thoughtlessly here. I nervously watched for his reaction, and when I saw the swirling dust settle on the floor, I carefully spoke up.

“If you don’t have any more questions, may I go now? I came here because I wanted to know why my body changed strangely… but it seems fine again now. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go back and pretend nothing happened from the beginning…”

“Says who?”

“Pardon? Oh, of course… it’s not okay if I’m the only one who’s fine – I meant when we both agree…”

“After mangling my hand like this. Don’t you have any shame?”

He held out his finger to me. But the bite marks I had left were completely gone, healed cleanly. The metallic smell of blood that had lingered in my mouth earlier seemed like a lie.

“It looks fine though…”

“It’s not fine at all. So you need to be punished.”

“Punished?”

“Don’t want to? You said earlier you’d do anything if I spared your life.”

Why did I say such a thing? I had thrown out whatever words I could to beg for my pathetic life, and now I was caught by the scruff of my neck. I had no choice but to answer reluctantly.

“Yes… If you spare my life, I should do anything.”

“Then come to the first floor of the east annex every night. But you have to come before midnight.”

With those final words, the man waved his hand dismissively, looking annoyed. Worried that other trouble might arise if I lingered awkwardly, I hurried out of the room.

“I think I got through this safely for now…”

Fortunately, I wasn’t scolded as severely as I had worried. However, my exhausted body was already a complete mess. Not just my body, but my mind seemed to have no intact parts either. 

At least the excitement that had been tormenting me had subsided, but the area between my legs burned like it had been scorched. Walking was agony because of it.

‘But what kind of punishment does that man plan to give me every night?’

Just thinking about what lay ahead for me made my heart feel gloomy. What could his intentions toward me possibly be?

If his purpose was simply to take my life, he wouldn’t have told me to come to his quarters every night. I tried to think about whether the women who had disappeared before also went to meet him nightly, but nothing came to mind.

“He definitely asked about magic earlier, right? It might be related to that. But… I don’t know anything about magic at all…”

That wasn’t the only mystery. The whereabouts of the disappeared women remained unclear. Even Rebecca, who had vanished just yesterday, hadn’t returned, so it might only be a matter of time before I ended up like them too.

If I imagined the worst case scenario, they might already be dead, or they could be barely clinging to life somewhere in the east annex he mentioned, in some inhuman state. Whichever was the truth, it was truly horrifying.

‘For now, I’ll buy as much time as possible while trying to uncover the man’s identity. I still don’t know if he’s human or the specter from the rumors. And depending on the situation, if things seem okay, I’ll consider escaping too.’

Just when I finished organizing my thoughts, I arrived at the dormitory where I stayed. Through the window in the corridor, I could see the world gradually brightening. 

I had been worried about what excuse to make if I ran into anyone who was awake, but fortunately no sounds came from inside.

I carefully turned the door handle and entered the room. But of all people, Emily happened to be awake.

She glared at me with suspicious eyes. Since we had fought the day before, she couldn’t ask me directly, but I could tell what she was thinking just from her expression. Why aren’t you sleeping and wandering around outside at this hour?

‘Where should I even start? But what if telling Emily about what happened today gets her involved in something bad?’

My head became complicated. With my foggy mind from not sleeping a wink for nearly two days, no good ideas came to me. At this rate, I might just make verbal mistakes instead of apologizing. So I ended up avoiding her flying gaze, unable to meet it any longer.

“Ha…!”

The sound of a low, hollow laugh was starkly audible. I knew now was the right time to clear up the misunderstanding with Emily, but it seemed better to close my eyes for just a little bit and talk with a clear mind after waking up.

Swallowing my silent apology, I laid my exhausted body on the bed. I still felt her piercing stare, but darkness came over me in an instant.

***

How long had I been asleep? In the deep, deep darkness, I felt something strange. It was a chilling sensation, like someone was touching my body. Even though I was too tired and tried to ignore it and go to sleep, I simply couldn’t.

When the hands that had been gently kneading my chest began to become increasingly blatant, I finally opened my heavy eyes.

“Mmm…”

The first thing I saw was head chef Ralph, grinning with both corners of his mouth pulled up, groping both my br*asts with lecherous eyes.

When our eyes met, perhaps gaining some confidence, he twisted both peaks of my br*asts with his fingers. My n*pples, swollen from all the torment, hurt painfully.

“Kyaaaah!”

Startled by my scream, Ralph hastily covered my mouth. When his pot-sized large hand blocked my mouth, no sound could escape. No matter how hard I tried to remove his hand, I was no match for Ralph’s strength.

“Mmph…! Mph, mph!”

“What’s wrong? You like it. I just want a little taste before work starts, okay?”

Ralph’s filthy tongue licked up my jawline wetly. Goosebumps rose where his tongue left its trail. I had disliked the unidentifiable specter of Herlin estate, but honestly, this man Ralph was even more horrible. No, beyond horrible – he was disgusting.

When I struggled violently, Ralph couldn’t hide his delighted smile, like he had found an amusing game. Perhaps intending to stimulate me more, he slowly dragged his tongue up to my earlobe, took it in his mouth, and chewed it with his teeth. Both my n*pples and ear tips became hot like they were burning in fire.

“Mmph, mph, mph…!”

“Ah, this feels so good. What should I do to you now? Hm? You’re struggling like this now, but once you taste my c*ck, you’ll spread your legs begging for more.”

Ralph burst into hearty laughter, seemingly satisfied with his own words. He didn’t care how disgusted I looked at him and continued babbling.

“You feel so well like this, so surely… you’re not a virgin. If you haven’t had your as$ f*cked, should I be your first? It’s a shame I didn’t bring enema supplies, but we’ll make do.”

Every single word he said was truly vulgar. I had known that he usually looked at his coworkers’ bodies with lecherous eyes or touched their br*asts and b*ttocks pretending it was an accident. 

Even when people wanted to confront him about it, everyone had endured it because going against Ralph, the head chef, would make it difficult to work at the estate.

But I had no idea he was this depraved. How he had hidden this true nature until now was truly beyond comprehension.

When I looked at Ralph with a horrified expression, he grinned and slowly moved his hand that had been groping my chest downward. The chilling sensation like a worm crawling lingered on my thigh. That lasted only briefly before his fumbling hand disappeared under my skirt.

Whether this kind of behavior excited him, Ralph kept flaring his nostrils and puffing out harsh breaths. The loose front of his pants began to reveal itself, standing up stiffly. It was nothing short of a disgusting silhouette.

“Damn, I need both hands to enjoy this properly… Eliat, you choose. Will you get pounded to pieces while tied up all over? Or will you listen to me and get it as gently as possible?”

I wanted to immediately slap Ralph’s cheek for pretending to be merciful while offering insane choices. But that was only what I felt in my heart – I was currently lying pinned under him, unable to move an inch.

To avoid provoking Ralph as much as possible, I obediently nodded my head. At this, Ralph smiled, revealing his yellowed, rotten teeth.

“What? You want to get pounded to pieces?”