BID Chapter 7

At that moment, I noticed the duke’s eyes twinkling subtly, as if he found the situation intriguing. His gaze seemed to pierce through to us from behind. Bearing his stare, I gently pulled our intertwined hands downward, trying to keep the handkerchief hidden inside our grasp as inconspicuously as possible. Erhan and I moved as naturally as we could.

The duke and my mother didn’t follow us.

They seemed to have their own agenda, merely watching us disappear into the distance. My mother still had a face full of emotion, covering her mouth, while the duke continued to observe us with a scrutinous gaze.

“……”

Once we were away, only the sound of our footsteps echoed in the silence.

There must have been servants following us, but they moved so silently that it was eerie.

The corridors of the Serpentine household we passed through were gloomy and chilling.

Perhaps because the family dealt with spells and curses, the decorations were all quite ancient, and there were numerous objects whose purposes I couldn’t fathom.

‘Even the paintings are creepy.’

What exactly is this household? The sporadically placed paintings featured bizarre things, like strange beasts with pierced necks or monsters consuming half-sliced humans… And above all, there were numerous snake-related items. Throughout our walk, I saw an endless array of snake skins and taxidermy.

It was natural for me, not particularly brave, to feel frightened by such macabre decorations. Unconsciously, I gripped Erhan’s hand tightly, but he flinched immediately, startling me into letting go.

Thud. The handkerchief that had connected us fell to the ground.

“……”

Erhan stopped in his tracks and stared intently at the fallen handkerchief. His expression looked confused.

Contrary to my expectation, he picked up the handkerchief. Then, without holding my hand again, he continued walking ahead.

“Here.”

As a large door opened, the room I would be staying in was revealed. Unlike the gloomy corridor, the room was quite pleasant. Considering that I was a child, the furniture was appropriately low, though each piece was antique in style.

“If you need anything, just call anyone outside. They will do whatever you ask.”

Erhan said this as a servant stood quietly behind him. Normally, one might nod in acknowledgment to such a statement, but the Serpentine’s servants were different.

They stood there as if they wouldn’t move a step without a command, their absolute obedience and silent observation of me resembling eerily still puppets.

Moreover, it was hard to be sure if they were even looking at me, as their faces were not visible. Their puppet-like appearance, cursed and haunting, made me hastily turn away, only to meet Erhan’s gaze directly.

He looked exhausted.

His first impression was that of a pampered young lord, but now, he only seemed tired and worn out.

I stared back at Erhan, who had stopped managing his expressions. As I waited for him to suggest showing me around the mansion,

“Disgusting……”

…Did he mean me?

I looked up at him in disbelief, wondering how he could say something so offensive to my face. But Erhan’s expression was so wretched that it felt awkward to even question him. His eyes were twisted as if he was on the verge of tears, and the rims were reddening.

It was as if I saw Erhan’s true face through the cracks of a well-crafted mask. No words formed into sentences to come out of my mouth.

How can a child make such an expression? He dislikes me, so maybe he found my recent behavior disgusting, or perhaps he finds my existence itself revolting.

‘Why do you look so pained?’

Ironically, I, the recipient of the harsh words, was fine, but he who spoke them seemed more tormented. The brief emotions I glimpsed in Erhan were filled with self-loathing, frustration, agony, fear, and exhaustion.

I couldn’t say anything, and before I had a chance to respond, he turned and swiftly left the room.

Bang!

The door closed with a loud noise. The servants in the corridor remained still. After a while, I heard Erhan’s footsteps fading away, and then they became inaudible.

‘Should I follow him?’

His distressed departure weighed on my mind. Setting aside my need to make a good impression on Erhan, someone with such a troubled expression seemed likely to cause trouble. After a moment’s hesitation, I opened the door to follow him and nearly fainted.

“Do you need anything?”

A servant’s face was right in front of me.

Their face covered in cloth, bizarre patterns drawn in what seemed like blood-red ink.

“Master Erhan has returned to his room.”

The servant spoke mechanically. Glancing down at their feet, I was startled to see they were barefoot, with something padding their soles to mute their steps.

‘So that’s why there was no sound?’

Is this some kind of madness? What kind of treatment is this for a human?

This house, known for using wicked spells to ‘recycle’ criminals, now revealed a direct trace of cruel magic. It was disgusting and spine-chilling. I gazed at the servant’s face, then glanced down the darkening corridor as the sun was setting.

Wow, this is genuinely terrifying.

I wanted to follow Erhan, but I couldn’t muster the courage.

It was a scene where anything could jump out, and I felt that ignoring my fear and venturing out might lead to something terrible happening to me.

Creaking quietly as if I hadn’t meant to open it, I closed the door and clutched my fluttering heart. Then, I slid under the blanket and sighed deeply.

‘Can I really adapt to this place?’

Today had been a continuous stream of hard-to-accept events.

A new father, a brother, and this eerie mansion.

None of it was to my liking, yet Erhan’s expression still lingered in my mind.

However, my young, five-year-old body soon succumbed to deep sleep, and just before drifting off, I thought that life here might be rather quiet.

Of course, only superficially.

***

“Young master.”

There’s a sound.

“Young master. You need to wake up.”

“Young master” is the familiar term the servants use for me. I knew I had to get up, but my body resisted. Partly due to my inherently frail physique which required a lot of sleep, but also because I had had a dream for the first time in a while.

“Young master.”

“Alright, alright…”

Mumbling, I opened my eyes to see the sun-filled room. Then, the chilling face of the servant, something I couldn’t get used to.

The face covered in white cloth, with bright red spells where the eyes should be, made me instinctively flinch. But I quickly apologized and washed my face.

“Sorry for startling.”

There was no response.

A sign of acknowledgment would have been appropriate after my apology, but it seemed that wasn’t programmed into them. The servant merely pointed to the washbasin, set down clothes for me to change into, and then walked out of the room.

Even their departure was silent, but I was past the age of hiding under the covers, scared and surprised like a child. After washing, I wiped my face with a towel and looked into the mirror. The face in the mirror resembled white flour.

Pumpkin-colored eyes, just like my mother’s, and light brown hair with a hint of blond, probably from my father’s side, that slightly reddens in the sunlight. I combed through my messy hair that was sticking out everywhere.

“Hmm.”

My voice was starting to change, making it sound strange every morning.

I casually brushed my disheveled hair, which seemed to reflect the wildness of last night’s sleep, as it kept springing up.

‘Why did I suddenly dream about the day I first came to the Serpentine mansion?’

Looking back at that day nine years ago in my dream felt really odd.

“Fourteen.”

Now, I was fourteen years old. The days of awkward speech and inability to talk properly were long behind me. My mother no longer worried about my slow development, and contrary to expectations that I might not adapt well, I had already spent nine years as a member of the eerie Serpentine family.

‘Is it because Erhan is about to return to the mansion?’

In reality, Erhan was as good as absent from the Serpentine mansion, because the last time I saw him was in that dream nine years ago.