The Uninvited Guest Of The Haunted Mansion (47)

Her tongue tangled.

When she swept the small tip of her tongue across his mouth, the scent of blood that Blake hadn’t even swallowed yet filled her mouth. A pungent, sticky, metallic smell.

‘Strange…’

Serenity had never tasted another person’s blood, but she was sure it wouldn’t taste like this.

Not just anyone, but kissing the Anomalous being from the rumor, and doing it of her own accord. It wasn’t her first kiss, of course, but forcefully pouring it onto an unconscious man felt truly strange.

She clumsily moved her lips and explored every corner of his mouth. Even as their saliva mingled, the vibrating smell of blood showed no sign of fading.

‘Is this… actually okay?’

How long has it been? Just as breathless Serenity slowly tried to pull away, as she lifted the torso that had been pressed against hers, something grabbed her lower back firmly.

“Ugh.”

“Is it over?”

Before she knew it, Blake had opened his eyes.

‘Since when?’

She couldn’t tell whether to feel relieved that he had come to or embarrassed that the kiss she’d initiated so one-sidedly had been completely read by him.

In the end, Serenity hesitated and tried to step back. Well, she meant to. If Blake hadn’t been holding her waist so tightly and refusing to let go, she definitely would have.

Blake, with his bright yellow gaze slowly sweeping from her pupils to her lips, lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile.

“I thought I was dreaming.”

It was a gentle voice.

“To think you were personally bestowing kindness upon me.”

“…I was just thinking Your Excellency might be okay.“

Serenity, eyes wandering as she murmured softly, fell silent. To be precise, she couldn’t continue. After all, one of Blake’s eyes, whom she’d met up close only belatedly, was completely dyed red. They were less than an arm’s length apart. It was close enough to observe the unsettlingly shimmering scarlet pupil.

“…Is it turning into a fairy tale?“

“Probably; it’s likely the effect of being directly attacked by them.”

The gap was close enough to hear his breath. His voice, almost tender to the point of softness, was low as if growling.

‘So a mere kiss won’t do.’

Unable to hold his gaze for long, Serenity dropped her eyes slightly. The deformation around his neck seemed a bit lighter, but it was so slight she couldn’t tell if it was an illusion. The blackened, twisted flesh still showed no sign of returning to its natural color.

Blake followed her gaze and laughed softly again.

“Worried about me?”

“That’s obvious.”

Serenity, pretending not to be nervous, answered as if incredulous. If this man vanished right now, she would be at a loss for what to do. Moreover, if he were to suddenly turn on her like other Anomalous beings and try to kill her, she wouldn’t be able to handle that either. Still, setting aside all such stakes, she wasn’t shameless enough to be unmoved by a man who had bled to save her from death.

Thump, thump, thump.

The pulse beating beneath Blake’s skin was clear.

It wasn’t a beat born of excitement or anticipation but felt unstable, like a prelude to an imminent explosion.

When Serenity lifted her gaze again, the man was smiling with his usual expression. If not for the red pupil, she might have mistaken him for his usual self.

‘Even in this situation he can smile, this man.’

As if reading that look, Blake spoke.

“If you’re so worried about me, isn’t there one way?”

“…“

“Are you ready to surrender yourself to me?”

They were close enough to hear each other’s breathing. His tone was endlessly kind, yet the yellow-and-red gaze just an arm’s length away felt sinister enough to devour her. The hand holding Serenity’s lower back crawled slowly up her spine. Beyond the thin slip covered in dried blood, she could feel the rough texture of his blood-streaked skin.
Startled, Serenity instinctively clenched the hand that gripped his shirt.

“…You mean that I can help Your Excellency, right?“

“In abundance.”

Though her throat wasn’t being strangled, Serenity somehow felt suffocated.

“Then… It’s fine.”

Serenity nodded slowly. What followed happened in an instant. No sooner had she given permission than Blake pulled her by the back of the head and covered her lips. It was completely different from the kiss in the painting’s strange scene, more explicit and urgent in its movements.

His cool teeth alternately bit her upper and lower lips. Reflexively, when her lips parted, his tongue thrust in without missing the gap. The blood scent that had barely faded made her head spin.

“Ugh.”

The hand that had been pulling the back of her head slid down toward her nape. It felt too rough and cold to be a human hand. Serenity involuntarily shivered at her shoulders. Saliva rising from the root of her tongue mixed with blood in her mouth.

Each time his broad tongue slid over his even teeth and enveloped Serenity’s small tongue, a wet, rubbing sound struck her ears. Blake pushed his tongue deeper. The hand gripping her waist forbade Serenity even the slightest backward movement, as if determined not to give an inch.

“Uh, huff.”

A muffled sound echoed from deep in her throat. The man’s movements were excessively persistent. He twisted his tongue as if quenching a long-held thirst, stimulating Serenity’s tender mucous membranes. She felt as if her breath were being stolen. In the brief gaps she managed to gulp for air, it wasn’t enough. Her head spun.

Her arms supporting herself trembled. As if noticing, Blake raised his torso and flipped them so she lay on the bed. The soft sheet touched her back.

“Huh.”

A faint moan escaped between Serenity’s teeth. She should have felt more comfortable, but instead the weight pressing down added to the pressure. Without exaggeration, a dizzying feeling as if she were being devoured by him overwhelmed her. Having invaded Serenity’s space, he continued to press her as if he were meant to be there.

Could one die from a kiss? She was at her limit. When she thought her breathing was so insufficient her mind might go hazy, his lips slowly parted. A thread of saliva stretched like silver thread and snapped.

When the tongue that had filled her mouth was pushed out, stale air rushed in. Serenity filled her chest and gasped in excited breaths. Her heart pounded so roughly she felt it in her throat.

“Haa, huh…”

“What if this is enough to tire you out?”

Blake’s voice nearby sounded lascivious. Was he laughing? She was too out of it to tell. Serenity realized for the first time that a mere kiss could be this overwhelming.

When she opened her blurry eyes, a man was watching her from the dark room. His face was cast in deep shadow. Whether due to the room’s darkness or her blurred vision, his expression was hard to read, but one thing was clear: the chilling pupil with which he looked at her.

Suddenly Serenity felt this scene was familiar. She flushed and panted, and Blake looked down at her. Before long she realized this was a scene she had often seen in her dreams.

What was it like in those dreams?

Serenity definitely recognized this man…

“Blake.”

Yes, she called him that.

Not ‘Duke’ or ‘Your Excellency’ or the like.

Calling him Blake.

Before Serenity could even be surprised at the word that slipped out, the man’s reaction was a step quicker. His yellow-and-red eye flickered for a moment. It was a chilling, sinister look that couldn’t be called a mere glint.

“…Like that.“

He let out a short laugh.

“Should I thank you for kindly provoking me?”

Serenity had no idea what mistake she’d made. Her consciousness’s edges were blurred, and the man before her looked unnervingly familiar. That was why.

A large hand gripped her shoulder as if to press. She trembled briefly at the rough texture that couldn’t be called human.

“Gah!”

Before she could regain herself, teeth sank into the nape of her neck.