Later, my strength drained completely and I let my body go limp with a ‘whatever happens, happens’ mentality. In between, I heard the footsteps of passing people along with sounds of held breath, seemingly surprised.

‘What must people be thinking when they see us?’

My head was bowed so deeply I couldn’t see anything. If I had to guess, they were probably quite shocked at the sight of a perfectly fine estate servant being carried on someone’s shoulder like a freshly hunted deer.

Still, being carried on his shoulder like a sack was more tolerable than I’d expected. Aside from all the blood rushing to my face, it was a fairly convenient mode of transportation. As we were strutting through Schwein’s estate like that, an angry voice rang out.

“What on earth is all this commotion?”

The moment I heard it, my heart seemed to drop. Because it was Schwein’s voice that made my heart flutter no matter how many times I heard it. 

I was so startled my body jerked up involuntarily. Fortunately, thanks to Thadeus holding me firmly, I avoided the disaster of falling to the floor.

‘My face isn’t visible anyway, so Schwein won’t know it’s me. So right now I’m not a person… I’m a doll… No, I’m a sack…’

While I was brainwashing myself, Thadeus and Schwein were engaged in a war of words.

“If you have a mouth, say something.”

“I’ll explain everything later.”

“No, that’s going to be difficult. I need to know the cause of this commotion right now.”

“…My fiancée.”

“What?”

“My fiancée. This woman.”

“You had a fiancée? You didn’t say anything to me until yesterday.”

“Because I didn’t have one then.”

“No, what kind of nonsense is that?”

The longer their conversation went on, the louder the murmuring grew. Suddenly I’d become Thadeus’s fiancée, and I wondered if we could escape the estate safely after causing such a commotion. But there was no other choice. Nothing but hanging quietly on Thadeus’s shoulder like a sack.

So I cheered for my love Schwein while also cheering for Thadeus on the other hand. He was detestable Thadeus, but what could I do? 

I could only survive if he survived. Surprisingly, the first person to back down was Schwein, not Thadeus.

“I can’t just let this go. You’ll have to explain properly.”

“I know. I’ll talk after I go and come back.”

From behind, I heard a servant’s voice worrying whether this was okay. Even though the two were close friends, as a Marquis family, Schwein would have difficulty treating Thadeus of a ducal family carelessly. Then I heard Schwein’s voice answering something, but it had grown too faint to make out.

We didn’t say anything even as we left the estate and walked through the front yard. The silence pressed down heavily on my entire body. I’d been quiet like a dead mouse, but I finally spoke when the estate entrance came into view in the distance.

“Will this be okay?”

“What?”

“Just, you know, everything. Bad rumors about you will snowball and spread.”

“I’ve never lived caring about that stuff.”

“Still…”

“If you’re really worried, go explain. That the maid stuck with me was you, Clea.”

“…”

“If you can’t do that, don’t worry about it in the first place. I’ll take care of everything myself.”

Anyway, nasty Thadeus never knew how to speak nicely. But strangely, why did his words feel like comfort? Like he was saying not to worry.

‘But there’s no way Thadeus would say something like that for my sake. Don’t delude yourself.’

Thadeus completely left Schwein’s estate and only set me down on the ground when we arrived at a secluded alley where people didn’t pass.

“Ugh…”

I’d been upside down too long and the world was spinning round and round. My head throbbed—the ride quality was definitely far worse than a carriage. When I couldn’t stand properly and swayed, he grabbed my wrist, unable to watch any longer.

“So what are you going to do now?”

I couldn’t go home in a maid’s outfit, so first I had to find Luina who was holding my clothes. If Luina hadn’t gone home, she’d be somewhere around here.

“Uh, um… First I need to find a red cloak.”

“It’s right over there.”

Looking where Thadeus pointed, I saw Luina wearing a red cloak, her face pale as she looked at us. Seemingly sensing that the situation was going strangely, she began backing away slowly. 

Then when she decided to run away in earnest, Thadeus dashed out at high speed. Luina was caught by him before she could get far.

“Aaaah…!”

Thadeus lifted the hood part of Luina’s red cloak into the air. When her vision was blocked, she flailed with her hands stretched forward. It looked like he was bullying her to anyone watching. Unable to bear it, I shouted at Thadeus.

“Luina is my friend. You don’t need to go that far!”

“In case she runs away.”

“She’s just startled. Because you and I are together.”

When Thadeus stopped grabbing and lifting the red cloak, Luina’s face, which had been hidden by the cloak, appeared. Her face looked full of bewilderment.

Making eye contact with me from midair, Luina seemed to want an explanation of what this situation was. Right now. To do that, getting rid of Thadeus from in front of us came first.

“Thanks for helping. From now on I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Don’t forget. The contract we made.”

Thadeus murmured lowly. That one sentence brought tension back. His sticky gaze tangled with me, and when that moment felt like a very long time, he turned back the way he’d come.

Only after Thadeus completely disappeared from view did Luina approach me. Her voice, mixed somewhere between bewilderment and surprise, continued.

“What on earth happened? And what’s with that bizarre getup?”

“Let me change clothes first and I’ll tell you.”

We climbed the mountain near Schwein’s estate. Fortunately, my original clothes were well hidden by Luina in the grass. I buried the maid’s outfit Thadeus had gotten me deep in the ground. 

Luina, who’d waited calmly until I finished changing clothes and burying the maid’s outfit, finally started pressing.

“So what happened? Hm?”

I couldn’t keep my mouth shut forever. When Luina’s gaze pierced me directly, I let out a deep sigh.

“When I arrived at the estate, it happened to be the room where Thadeus was sleeping.”

“And?”

“At first I thought it was Schwein and just tried to check his face. But suddenly my body became strange.”

“Your body became strange? How?”

Even with Luina, would it be okay to say the next words? 

I hesitated for a moment. Though free romance between grown adults before marriage wasn’t such a big flaw, I’d boasted too much in front of her until now.

Like how I’d never give my first time to anyone but Schwein, or how if not with someone I loved, I’d remain chaste my whole life without marrying. 

Plus I’d mixed bodies with Thadeus, whom I’d badmouthed every day, so how strange would that look?

“Why are you cutting off your words and making people curious?”

“Well, so…”

“Don’t worry and speak comfortably. You know I keep my mouth shut. I won’t carelessly tell anyone.”

“I…”

My mouth absolutely wouldn’t open. Still, for Luina who’d waited for me, I forced myself to take a deep breath. Since I was taking so long, tension had already appeared on Luina’s face too.

“What could it be that you’re hesitating this much? Don’t tell me you even slept with Thadeus?”

“…How did you know?”

“What?”

“I slept with him. With that guy. Multiple times even.”

Luina’s mouth fell wide open. Her eyes shook, swept up in shock. After being unable to say anything for a while, she shouted.

“No, why…! You said you liked Schwein?”

“I do like him. I still like Schwein!”

“But? Why did you sleep with that guy then?”

“My body suddenly changed strangely. Like I was in heat or something. I wanted it, but it wasn’t my will!”

As I spat out the words with my own mouth, reality hit belatedly. So, I’d mixed bodies with my childhood friend Thadeus. Had s*x quite thoroughly. At first a hollow laugh came out, then later the laughter dried up.

‘I really went all the way.’

I buried my face in both hands in despair. What should I do now? Would I fall to an existence less than his bedmate for a month? It was a moment when I came to hate myself terribly.

“Clea…”

Luina suddenly hugged me tightly. Her warm hand stroked and patted my back.

“I’m sorry. This is all because of me. Because my magic was immature.”

I was the one who kept persuading Luina when she said no. So how could I blame her saying it was her fault?

“No. If I hadn’t been so stubborn…”

“How are you now? Nothing different from usual?”

“For now… I think I’m okay.”

Luina urged me several times to definitely tell her if anything strange happened in between. 

Meanwhile, outside grew darker and darker. It was a world where everything had sunk into darkness except for the moon and stars illuminating the night sky.

‘My parents are probably desperately searching for me right now, aren’t they?’

I’d barely gotten away from the maids with the excuse of going out briefly. I expected a storm of nagging to pour down like heavy rain.

“I should go home now.”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

We went down the mountain together until halfway, then split up and walked separately. As I’d expected, when I didn’t return even in the middle of the night, my parents and servants had come outside desperately searching for me. I heard their voices from far away.

“Clea! Where are you!”

“Miss Clea, where are you!”

“Miss! Please answer if you can hear us!”

As the voices searching for me grew closer, I felt like tears would come. Why was today so long? I waved my hand toward them in the distance and shouted.

“I’m here!”

“Ah, Miss…!”

The servants who discovered me came running in a rush. Mother collapsed in shock and Father froze like stone.

In the carriage going home, my parents didn’t say anything to me. They seemed to have much to say but were holding back.

After enduring the silence that made my skin prickle, we finally arrived home, but without time to rest I was dragged to Father’s study. Father, looking back at me, spat out a thunderous roar.

“You’re a grown child—what time is it that you’re wandering around this late!”

“Clea, do you know how worried your mother was? Leaving the maids behind. Saying you’d return soon. If you don’t come back until late…!”

Mother seemed choked up and held her breath briefly. Then she continued in a trembling voice.

“What would I think! Hm?”

I was already feeling gloomy, and being scolded on top of that made me want to cry. But since I had nothing to say even with ten mouths, I just repeated that I was sorry.

The punishment handed down was a 5-day ban on going out. Even if someone came to the house, I couldn’t meet them. And I promised and promised again to always go everywhere with maids.

‘This much is still bearable. At least it’s not becoming a nun.’

As I sighed deeply enough to sink the ground, my dedicated maid Rachel asked me.

“Miss, shall I prepare bath water?”

Since Rachel had been with me since childhood, she keenly found what I needed. Indeed, when feeling bad, soaking in a bathtub filled with fragrant oils was the best.

“Yes. Prepare it.”

Then suddenly today’s events came to mind. Thadeus had bitten and sucked my body for half the day, so my whole body was full of his traces. If the bathing maids attending me discovered this, it would definitely reach Father’s ears, and then things would escalate beyond repair.

“N-no!”

“Pardon?”

“I will bathe…! But today I want to wash alone.”

“But… Miss, you’ve never bathed alone until now…”

“It’s fine. Bathing isn’t a big deal anyway. Just… I’m in a bad mood and want to be alone comfortably.”

“Poor Miss…”

An emotion tinged with pity appeared in Rachel’s eyes. She probably thought I was dispirited after being scolded by Father. After hesitating, she soon nodded. Kind Rachel would definitely worry about me all night, but I also had to preserve my life.

“I’ll let you know when the bath is ready. I’ll be outside the door while Miss bathes, so please call me anytime you need.”

“Thank you, Rachel.”

Shortly after, at the word that the bath was ready, I took off the clothes I was wearing and entered the bathtub. The perfect water temperature and subtle flower scent lifted my mood.

“Ah, this is really nice.”

While everything was perfect, if there was just one thing that bothered me, it was the splotchy, mottled traces all over my body like spots.

‘Thadeus, this guy… just how roughly did he do it? There’s not a single intact spot left.’

Clearly, each time he left traces on me, I too had trembled with pleasure. Even though I clearly recognized that fact, I didn’t want to accept it. That the me at that time wasn’t the me in my right mind. That I was another being bewitched by magic.

“What should I do from now on? Do I really have to go out every time Thadeus calls?”

Unless I’m under a spell again, I absolutely couldn’t mix bodies with him in my right mind.

But having been indebted to Thadeus, if I changed my words now, I didn’t know what disaster I’d face. Unable to do this or that, I just sighed deeply and lay down comfortably in the bathtub.

‘It’s not like things will change just because I worry anyway. Just… I’ll think about it later. It’ll work out somehow.’

If he tells me to come out, I can say my body hurts. I can make up excuses somehow. As my whole body entered the bathtub, the hot water embraced my entire body. The fatigue in my body that had been throbbing like I had a fever seemed to melt away in an instant.