The Uninvited Guest Of The Haunted Mansion (37)

For a moment, silence flowed between the two.

Blake set down the papers he had been holding and stared straight at Serenity.

“So, what do you want to hear?”

Serenity parted her lips several times. But words would not easily come out. There were many things she wanted to hear; in fact, so many it was a problem. She couldn’t decide what to ask first.

After a brief moment of thought, Serenity swallowed.

For now, putting everything else aside.

“That arm, what happened to your arm?”

Blake’s arm was perfectly fine, as if what she had seen in the painting had been a dream. There wasn’t even a trace of the mutation.

He smiled.

“I think I mentioned it. It’s the process of assimilation.”

“I heard that. But the arm, I mean…”

“Are you asking if kissing you, my lady, restored it to normal?”

He nonchalantly voiced what Serenity hadn’t been able to say.

“…Yes.“

Serenity felt her throat grow hot for some reason. She squeezed her eyes shut and answered in a small voice.

‘Why is he so matter-of-fact about it?’

Was he skilled, or simply used to it?

In any case, the embarrassment belonged to Serenity.

When she peeked open her eyes, Blake was propping his chin with one hand, lost in a faint reverie. His pale amber eyes rolled once as he stared into the air.

“Well. It’s a bit quick, but does it matter?”

He muttered softly, then quickly lifted the corners of his mouth into a faint smile and asked casually.

“My lady, haven’t you always thought something was odd?”

“Odd in what way?”

“Why I am different from ‘them.’”

Serenity froze in place. Rather than answer, she stared at Blake with apprehensive eyes.

The man let out a soft chuckle.

“Don’t be so guarded; I told you, I won’t harm you.”

“How…”

What was his intention in bringing this up to her? He already knew that fact beforehand?

Serenity strained desperately to read his intent. With dry eyes she scrutinized his face obsessively. That was until Blake stood up and without warning began to unfasten the buttons of his dress shirt with a casual flick.

“Eek! W-what are you doing all of a sudden!”

Serenity, unable to hide her embarrassment, frantically covered her face and shouted. But Blake did not stop; with an expression of complete nonchalance he continued his actions.

‘What is this? What is he doing? Should I run away?’

A red alarm bell rang in Serenity’s head.

It was then.

“My lady, look.”

A low voice flowed from above her head.

“You should watch.”

It came again, urging her.

Unlike the half-panicked Serenity, his voice was so calm it bordered on serene, and Serenity, frozen in place, could do nothing but blink.

“…“

A few minutes passed. When Serenity slowly lowered her hand from her face, she became rigid for a different reason. The first thing that caught her eye was the unbuttoned shirt and, between the opening, a black scar.

No, could that be called a scar?

It was something spreading from the left chest, precisely around the heart, but calling it a mere scar felt wrong. The skin was split like charred wood, and along the deep grooves a chilling red aura pulsed. In short, it was something utterly inhuman.

“What on earth is this?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not a wound.”

Blake said casually and buttoned his shirt back up.

“How should I put this…”

“…“

“To put it simply, I’m a being that’s relatively ‘less’ assimilated into this world. It’s true I was born here, but at least I recognize that the place I live in is twisted.”

“…Yes?“

“Like the gardener who cuts off living people’s limbs instead of branches, or the librarian who strips raw skin to make book covers. It’s grotesque, isn’t it? They don’t look pleasant at all.”

Blake’s face twisted faintly; he looked displeased, as if recalling something unpleasant.

“You knew about that?”

“Wasn’t it obvious?”

The man asked with a puzzled expression.

“Why we were born like this, I don’t know. Chance? It’s been too long to figure it out now. But exceptions or mutations exist everywhere, don’t they?”

Mutation.

Could it really be explained with a word like that?

“I describe it as having a self.”

Blake sat back down and tapped his temple with his fingertip as he added.

“Sadly, though, I’ve never met another exception besides myself. Except for you.”

“…“

“Either way, among all those dreadful things I happened upon a handsome face, so isn’t that quite fortunate for you?”

The last remark was playful in tone.

*Meanwhile, Serenity felt as if something had struck her over the head. Her mouth hung *
open, and yet no words came out.

An Anomalous being who recognizes that he is an Anomalous being.

It was something she hadn’t known even after ten returns after death (time loops).

Endless questions kept piling up in her head, but few could be formed into words to throw at him.

Blake nodded calmly, as if understanding Serenity’s reaction.

“I have my reasons too. You know, my lady, there’s no need to force yourself to understand this twisted world.”

He was right.

This place couldn’t be understood by common sense in the first place. She hadn’t expected to hear that from an Anomalous being, of all people.

Blake curled his lips into a crooked smile.

“But unfortunately I’m being assimilated into this world very slowly. This is the proof.”

Only then did Serenity’s gaze return to Blake’s chest. Now that she thought about it, when his arm and eyes changed in the odd occurrence, didn’t they display a similar color?

“The more I’m exposed to the twisted phenomena, or the more time I spend facing ‘them,’ the more my body changes. In the end I’ll lose myself and become like them. Probably.”

He spoke of something horrific in a calm tone.

“Then what about earlier?”

“If you hadn’t been there, I’d probably look similar by now. That place’s contamination spreads especially fast.”

He looked down at his hand and lightly clenched and unclenched his fist.

“That’s why I need you, my lady. More precisely, I need an ‘outsider’ like you. Contact with you is the only means that can stop my assimilation.”

“…Did you just call me an outsider?“

He knew that much too?

“Did you think I wouldn’t even notice that? I told you, I’m the only one in this world with a self.”

“Huh.”

Serenity let out a hollow laugh. She had known this man was different from other Anomalous beings, something special, but she hadn’t imagined his nature would be like this.

Only then did some of his previously incomprehensible behavior begin to make sense: the way he oddly separated himself from the other Anomalous beings, or how he perceived danger the same way Serenity did.

“I don’t know how you feel, but I’m quite satisfied with my appearance as it is, so I have no intention of becoming one of them. They’re hideous.”

Feigning offense, he pouted as if to say there was no need to ruin such a handsome face that way. Serenity, unsure how to accept a man who kept up such nonchalance in a serious moment, wore an awkward expression.

“So I’ll make the offer again.”

He smiled.

“I’ll help you escape, and in return you’ll prevent my assimilation in the meantime. How about it?”

“Prevent my assimilation by doing what, exactly?”

“By yielding you to me whenever I want.”

Blake’s amber eyes narrowed into a curve.

“I told you, I do find you desirable, my lady.”

She hadn’t realized it meant this.

Serenity felt her mouth go dry. First the hand, then a light kiss, then a full kiss. If her understanding was correct, the stronger the contact, the greater the effect. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved he wasn’t after blood or flesh, or to be overwhelmed by the sudden flood of information.

Blake let out a low laugh as he watched Serenity’s confusion plainly showing on her face.

“I hadn’t intended to reveal it like this, but seeing how things are unfolding, it seems I can’t afford to be leisurely.”

He tilted his head and tapped the armrest with his fingertip. A silence, as if waiting for an answer, stretched on.

She understood the man’s intentions completely. If everything he’d said so far was true, it was a deal with nothing for Serenity to lose. She had resolved she would even give up her life to escape this place.

‘But…’

Serenity lifted her gaze from the floor after a long moment and stared silently at Blake.

A question suddenly crossed her mind.

“Let’s say we help each other. Then what happens after I escape?”