“Mmm…”
The chirping of birds disturbed my ears. My whole body felt heavy like I had caught a fever. When I barely managed to lift my heavy eyelids, I saw the bright view outside the window. I stared at it blankly, then suddenly bolted upright.
“Oh my goodness, I need to get to work!”
I had no idea how late it was. Ralph was already sharpening his claws looking for any excuse to find fault with me, and now I had been absent without notice. It wouldn’t be strange to say I was truly a dead person walking.
I hurriedly got up from the bed and looked around the room to find the door, but no matter how I looked, it was an unfamiliar scene I’d never seen before. The Herlin family specter from that night had disappeared somewhere and was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did that man move me to this room?’
He seemed like he wouldn’t care what happened to me, so this was an unexpected side of him. Not only had he moved me to the bed, but he had even kindly tucked me in with a blanket.
“That’s not what’s important. I need to get to work as quickly as possible.”
I opened the door and left the room to find a long corridor stretching ahead. I quickened my pace and went down the stairs at the end. Fortunately, I could see the entrance to the annex I had seen yesterday.
I hurried out and went up to the dormitory to change clothes. Whether everyone had gone to work, no one remained. I wasn’t sure if I should consider this fortunate, but I changed into work clothes. Without time to check the hour, I ran to the kitchen, but the place that should normally be bustling was cold like someone had poured cold water on it.
In situations like this, there was usually one reason.
‘Ralph the head chef must be in a terrible mood today.’
With very high probability, that mood was likely related to me. I imagined turning around and running away, then held back a deep sigh that wanted to escape and entered the kitchen.
As expected, Ralph looked extremely displeased. He was frowning so deeply that I could see the people working in the kitchen watching his mood. When I took one step forward, Ralph turned around at the unfamiliar presence. His expression becoming even more fierce was instantaneous.
“Well, well, who do we have here? Isn’t this Miss Eliat who has already been absent without notice twice?”
“…I’m sorry, head chef.”
“What time is it right now?”
I checked the wall clock and it was already past nine o’clock. Today I was on morning duty, so I should have arrived at the kitchen by at least six o’clock to prepare breakfast. That meant I was a whopping three and a half hours late.
“Nine-thirty.”
“You know I wasn’t really asking for the time.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Do you think I’m a joke? Two days ago you were absent without notice, yesterday you treated my words like complete nonsense, and now you’re late? Just how far do I have to tolerate your rudeness?”
Ralph snapped angrily and frighteningly. A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth. He looked like he had been searching for an excuse to torment me and had caught me at just the right moment.
“I heard you weren’t even at the dormitory last night. What were you doing all night that you’re only crawling in to work now? Don’t tell me you were late because you were in heat spreading your legs for men like the rumors say?”
I hadn’t intended to think of him, but Ralph’s words brought back memories of what happened at dawn. How I had cried out and gushed fl*ids at his every touch. Like a well-trained beast, just thinking of him seemed to make the area between my legs grow slickly wet.
“…It’s not like that.”
“For someone like that, your answer is a beat too slow. Besides, your attitude right now doesn’t look sorry at all.”
“I’m truly sor…”
“Eliat, I’m not asking you to give me parrot-like answers! I’m telling you to apologize with your whole heart…!”
What exactly was I supposed to do here?
Curses rose up at Ralph’s behavior. But if I got angry here, today’s work would be ruined. If I took today off too, this month’s salary would already be missing about two days’ worth. The salary was already tight for my whole family to live on, so I had to earn even a little more somehow.
“I don’t know what kind of sincerity you want, head chef, but I’ll work twice as hard as others to make up for being late today. And from now on, I absolutely won’t be late or absent without notice again. I can really promise you that.”
For a moment, a dark streak of desire flashed through Ralph’s eyes. He licked his lips with his tongue and smiled in a disgustingly creepy way.
“If you’re that sorry, stay behind alone after work today. I’ll check with my whole body just how sorry you are.”
“……”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? I gave you such a good opportunity, don’t tell me you’re hesitating?”
“That would be difficult, head chef. I’d rather you make me work twice as hard as others today…”
Ralph’s face turned ashen, then quickly flushed red. The eyes that had shown disgusting desire became fierce enough to tear me apart right then, and the hand that had been stroking his chin trembled as it wandered through the air.
Finally, Ralph couldn’t contain his anger and swung his hand.
Smack!
I could hear people around holding their breath. As my head turned, I unconsciously bit the flesh inside my mouth. I tasted the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth. At the same time, the cheek Ralph had hit ached like it might fall off.
‘He really has a heavy hand.’
I turned my head back and looked straight into Ralph’s blazing eyes. Seeing me appear calm without crying seemed to twist his mood even more.
Ralph raised his hand again, but right behind me came the sharp sound of breaking glass. When I turned my head, I saw Emily with a surprised expression along with glass fragments scattered on the floor.
“Oh, I’m sorry…! My hand lost its strength…”
At her words, Ralph seemed to finally realize what he had done. His raised hand trembled, then slowly lowered. Then he shouted at me with a voice full of anger.
“Get lost right now, Eliat, if you don’t want to get hit on the other cheek too. There’s no place for you in this kitchen!”
“I’ll come on time tomorrow, head chef.”
“I don’t want to hear it, so get the hell out!”
Now that things had come to this, it didn’t look like anything would change even if I stood my ground. Rather than provoking Ralph’s anger further, it would be better for me to disappear early.
I gave a slight smile to Emily, who was looking at me from far away with a worried face, to show her I was okay. Then I left the kitchen without regret.
‘In the end, today’s wages will be cut. How many days has this been now… I need to send as much money as possible when I can work…’
After endlessly blaming myself, my aimless steps headed toward a quiet mountain path. My hungry stomach cried out for food, but going to the dining hall would mean facing Ralph and other people again.
It was uncomfortable to shamelessly eat without working, and unpleasant to receive the stares of people ready to tear me apart with groundless rumors. I didn’t feel like staying comfortably at the dormitory either. It was better to spend time like I was dead in a place where no one knew me.
“I wish today would never end…”
I looked up at the clear sky without any worries, then got up when the red sunset began to color the edge of the sky.
And I quietly moved my reluctant steps toward the eastern annex where the Herlin family specter was.
***
Perhaps because I had been outside all day in the full autumn weather, my body felt cold. My head was spinning and my throat was scratchy, and I seemed to feel chills and fever.
Regretting too late that I hadn’t dressed warmly, I wrapped my arms around my body. This wouldn’t make things better, but I wanted to hold onto even the slightest warmth.
“I can’t catch a cold… If I get sick and can’t work again, that would be a disaster.”
The time I had promised to meet him was midnight, but I arrived at the annex much earlier than usual. He was a man I didn’t even want to associate with, but there was something among his words that I absolutely had to verify.
“Want me to tell you something interesting? Even this act you so despise—if I don’t do it, your body will eventually go into heat and lose its mind.”
“Ngh, what do you… mean…?”
“Think carefully. When midnight approaches, you flutter your lower parts like a b*tch in heat, then see how you change after my hand touches you.”
‘It is strange indeed. The day after that man touched my body, the strange symptoms disappeared completely. Then when night came again, my body would heat up once more… To return this body to normal, I need to find out the reason.’
While lost in thought, I arrived in front of the golden door. Just as I reached the door and was about to knock, I heard a low voice.
“Just come in.”
When I opened the door and entered, I saw him looking out the window. His face was as flawless and handsome as yesterday, without a single flaw.
His eyes, which seemed to gaze at nothing in particular, were steeped in emptiness, and his sharp nose bridge was straight enough to cut through the air. His silver hair, which looked soft at first glance, glowed mysteriously in the sunset light.
‘So beautiful people really do exist in this world…’
A story I had heard long ago suddenly came to mind. In the village where I lived, people would often disappear—children and adults alike would vanish without distinction, so people used to say a demon had appeared