The Uninvited Guest Of The Haunted Mansion (46)

So, Serenity thought it was the exit.

Crash!

The mirror shattered into pieces with a loud crash.

No sooner had Blake struck and shattered what looked like the exit than the glass blocking Serenity’s way also broke apart. Serenity stared in a daze.

What Blake had smashed was not an exit but a mirror disguised as an exit. At the same time, it was the only mirror that did not reflect Serenity’s figure.

…Duke?

Instead of the apparition beyond the mirror, the real Blake stood before her. And a beat later, a pungent smell of blood rushed over her.

The pale figure that had been holding Serenity screamed and was sucked into the broken mirror.

How did he know? How!

Hundreds of fake Serenities staggered to their feet. They glared at Blake with narrowed pupils, eyes wide.

“What a sick sense of humor; what are you doing asking a question with no correct answer?”

Blake, on the contrary, smiled nonchalantly.

Serenity, who had been staring up at him in a daze without fully grasping the situation, recovered a beat late and hurriedly rose to support him.

“A-are you all right?”

“As you can see. And you, milady?”

“It’s not ‘as you can see’; I’m not okay!”

“You haven’t passed out and attacked me yet, have you?”

“That’s not the point…”

“So, milady?”

“I- I’m fine…”

“Then that’s fine.”

Is that what’s important right now?

Serenity was left speechless by the absurdity. To think the first thing he did, while bleeding profusely from his limbs, was check on her condition.

Even if this man needs me.

Regardless, Blake examined Serenity with his sharp yellow gaze, confirmed she had no wounds, and gently covered her head.

Meanwhile, the mirror that had been shattered by Blake’s blade began to piece itself back together. A ‘figure’ with a twisted face grumbled.

Ah, boring! You found out too quickly, too fast!

If we’d been just a little slower, wouldn’t we have nearly died?

Blake shrugged.

“You underestimated me. Did you think I was so stupid I couldn’t find the real one among them?”

—

“…Oh, could it be you didn’t trust me either, milady?“

Serenity subtly avoided the glance that met hers.

“Even to me they looked exactly the same…”

There wasn’t a single difference except for the clothes.

She swallowed the words and bit her lip. Looking down at her, Blake laughed with a deflating sound.

“How could you not tell? It’s all plainly visible.”

He spoke as if it were obvious, and for a moment Serenity seriously wondered whether he had mind-reading powers. She concluded that he didn’t, though.

She was just rolling her eyes in bewilderment.

“Cough.”

Blake let out a light cough and spat black blood.

“Your Grace!”

“Oh dear, your condition is pretty bad.”

“You only noticed that now?”

He frowned as he scanned his tattered limbs and side. The shirt that had been white until they reached the fifth floor was now so stained it was hard to make out its original color.

“Right now, of the Duke’s limbs only one arm and one leg are intact.”

Whether it was numbness or sheer mental strength was hard to say. No matter that he was an Anomalous being, it was astonishing he was holding onto his mind while parts of his body had been torn away.

Around that time, the figures of Serenity that had been dying in various ways vanished, and images of Serenity in pajamas and Blake in rags began to appear in the mirror.

There, you won. The prince won!

What a cunning prince. I thought he was just stupid, but he’s even sly!

The figures seemed quite displeased that Blake had ultimately won their unfair wager. Some of them cried out loudly to play another game.

“Shut up. Hand over the shard right now.”

Her head felt like it would split. Serenity grabbed her temple with the arm not supporting Blake and spoke sharply.

Then, in an instant, the mirror room fell silent.

A few seconds passed in the chilling stillness.

Then, with high, cackling laughter, the figures began circling the two. The sight of Blake, smeared with blood yet grinning, and Serenity, hair and clothes in disarray and giggling, was thoroughly repulsive.

We can’t help it. We give rewards to clever intruders. It’s our rule.

It really was too easy a wager!

One of the figures in Serenity’s likeness slapped a hand out of the mirror. In its pale palm lay a piece of mirror that sparkled with many colors.

Serenity snatched it away as if looting it.

The figure giggled as if it found the whole thing amusing.

A clever and smart outsider isn’t bad.

It’s interesting, it’s fun!

I hope we can play again!

“Open the door, now!”

Serenity realized for the first time she could make such a growling sound. No wonder; the smell of blood had been so strong it made her dizzy. She could feel hot, damp blood soaking her thin pajamas and clinging to her bare legs and stomach.

This damned ghost story, this damned manor.

“Your Grace, are you all right? You mustn’t lose consciousness.”

“I’m okay for now.”

Blake answered in fragments, his face beaded with cold sweat. Serenity’s expression hardened as she inspected his ashen face. The area around his neck, extending from the thorn-pierced shoulder, had grown dark. Between the split strands of flesh, a red mark stood out clearly.

’…the Assimilation.’

Realizing that made her even more anxious.

“I said open the door quickly!”

The mirror figures watching Serenity shout began whispering among themselves. Those who had glanced at the two folded their arms and tilted their heads.

You entertained us, so we’ll give you a reward.

The cunning prince, the foolish princess; we’re curious what will happen next!

We’ll give you a reward, so make good use of it!

In the next moment, the mirror warped and distorted on its own, and a familiar scene reflected across from them.

‘Bedroom.’

It was Serenity’s room, the safe zone.

The mirror figures all pointed toward the safe zone and stepped aside in unison, as if urging them to go inside.

The wound is deep. You can’t delay. The prince will become a monster. Monsters don’t recognize the princess.

He’ll not recognize the princess and will kill her!

Cunning prince, monster prince!

Serenity skimmed the giggling figures with an expression of disgust. Her blood boiled at their attitude; they had made this mess in the first place and now acted as if they were being generous.

‘Calm down, the opponent is an anomalous being.’

Serenity forced herself to look away from them and checked on Blake.

“Duke, can you walk? Hold on a little longer.”

Blake seemed to be muttering something, but his words were hard to hear. The dark mark had spread a little more than before. There was no time to delay. Serenity supported him and stepped into the mirror.

In the blink of an eye the space flipped, and when they came to, the two of them were standing side by side in the middle of the bedroom.

However long they’d spent in the mirror room, it was already night outside and thick darkness had settled. Through the thin curtains, only the midwinter moonlight dimly illuminated the room.

Serenity hurriedly laid Blake on the bed.

His right arm was still dripping blood, and blood welled up from the thorn-pierced shoulder, side, and leg. Now that she looked, a rapid mutation was occurring from the places where the thorns were embedded. It seemed that as injuries accumulated, the transformation also accelerated.

He now seemed almost unconscious.

‘I should remove this first.’

Serenity bit her lip out of habit.

“Your Grace, please wait just a moment.”

She got up and hurried to fetch scissors and bandages from a corner of the room. Fortunately, some bandages and medicines she’d hidden from the doctor’s view remained.

Kneeling at the bedside and staring at the thorn-pierced wound, Serenity rolled up her sleeve. There was no other way.

“Gasp.”

She pulled hard and a rush of blood gushed out. Serenity grimaced, quickly packed the wound with gauze, and wrapped a bandage. Her pajamas had long since been soaked and ruined by his blood.

“Is it… okay?”

Fortunately, after wrapping the bandage the bleeding seemed somewhat under control. But that wasn’t the immediate problem. The signs of mutation spreading from his shoulder had now begun to reach under his jaw. She hadn’t lifted the fabric to check, but it was clear the thorn-pierced side and leg were the same. Blake’s ragged breathing sounded oddly muffled.

‘What should I do now…’

A memory flickered through Serenity’s mind as she bit her lip.

“I’ll help you escape, and in the meantime you’ll stop my transformation. How about it?”

“Stopping the transformation means…”

“You hand yourself over when I want.”

There wasn’t much hesitation after that.

Serenity climbed onto the bed, grabbed Blake’s cheeks with both hands, and kissed him deeply.