‘Is there a reason why I shouldn’t go to the third floor at dawn?’

In the past, the head maid Mariben did not answer that question. However, based on what I heard during the handover this time.

‘At that time, the master is not in his right mind. He will kill anyone he sees.’

‘What? Then aren’t other places dangerous too? He could come down from the third floor, right?’

‘No, he absolutely never leaves the third floor.’

I should have just waited for morning on the second floor while being discreet.

But strictly speaking, where I fell now was the middle staircase between the second and third floors, so it wasn’t completely the third floor.

And the third floor was really wide, so wide you could run in the corridors. How did I end up getting caught like this?

“Hup!”

I covered Felix’s eyes with my free hand.

“There’s a nice scent.”

“O-Of course. It’s a scent that doesn’t bother you, master, right?”

I thoroughly sprayed the perfume given to the servants.

The refreshing perfume with a scent of wet grass was meant not to stimulate Felix’s sensitive nose.

In reality, there was nothing that Felix wasn’t sensitive about.

“Reniel.”

“Yes, master.”

I deliberately lowered my voice. When I returned to a woman’s body, my voice would become higher.

However, he didn’t seem too surprised that I, a man, had my ring removed and turned into a woman.

Well, even I thought we looked like siblings, so I guess it could be possible.

‘What does it mean to not be in his right mind?’

‘It’s a side effect of the sleeping pills the master takes to sleep.’

‘Is it sleepwalking?’

‘I don’t know exactly. How would I know something even the doctors don’t know?’

As the conversation with the head maid came to mind again, the sound of my heart pounding seemed to ring even louder in my ears.

If he’s not in his right mind now, wouldn’t the chances of him killing me be higher? Even if he doesn’t kill me, now that he’s discovered I’m a woman, won’t I have to quit my job as a servant?

Of course, I was planning to quit someday, but this soon?

And if I have to quit because of such an impure incident, will Felix leave me alone forever?

While working until now, I never even thought about embezzlement or such bad things because of the sufficient salary and welfare. Thinking that the people who left with letters of recommendation might have been in a better situation than me made me so scared.

“Reniel.”

“… M-Master. I really… didn’t come up here on purpose…”

My voice kept trembling, and I didn’t know what to say, but everything I said seemed to sound trivial.

“Your hand smells good too.”

“Ah…!”

Surprised by the unfamiliar sensation of him biting my palm, I shuddered, and he chuckled. Then, with his other hand, he removed my right hand that was covering his eyes.

“Master.”

I tried to look as pitiful as possible without avoiding his eyes, meaning ‘please spare me’.

However, his bright red eyes were flashing as if warning me, which greatly stimulated my fear.

“Why are you shaking? Is the floor cold?”

“O-Of course. The floor is naturally cold… Ah, wait! Wait!”

Soon, Felix picked me up and started moving.

Far away, my ring lying near the window on the wall was shimmering pitifully even in the darkness.

“Master!”

His steps were so fast that I felt like I would get motion sickness throughout the entire move.

Moreover, the unfamiliar long hair was swaying wildly, which felt really strange.

Since I hadn’t been a woman for a long time in my life, I wondered if this was just a dream.

Dong, dong, dong.

The grandfather clock announcing four in the morning was ringing through the third-floor corridor.

I felt as if the clock was ringing inside my head. My breathing became increasingly difficult due to confusion and fear.

Additionally, my abdomen pressed against his firm shoulder was more painful than I expected.

I wanted to struggle, but his arm tightly gripping my thighs below my buttocks was so strong that even the slightest movement was impossible.

“Master!”

When I came to my senses, I was being moved to his room.

The door seemed to have opened, but before I knew it, it was closed.

I always thought there was a big height difference between us, but I didn’t know the difference in our steps would be this much.

His room was the duke’s bedroom located in the very center of the third floor. I never thought we’d arrive here in such a short time.

As I was brought into the bedroom.

“Ah…!”

I was thrown somewhere just like that.

I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut, but it didn’t hurt.

Wondering why it didn’t hurt, I slowly took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Soon I realized that the softness touching my back was because it was a bed.

“It’s not cold here, right?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. But, master, why…”

Once again, he reached out his arm towards me and came closer.

“Master, have you been drinking?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“I can’t remember.”

Every time he spoke, the sharpness of whiskey seemed to sting my nose.

I don’t know how much he drank, but I felt like I might get drunk just from talking to him.

Wondering if he brought me to the bedroom to kill me, I looked around.

The room was a complete mess. Broken whiskey bottle shards were scattered in every corner of the room, and the cigar smell was terrible, as if he had been smoking countless cigars.

“You smell nice.”

“You smell like alcohol and cigars, master.”

Hearing that, he chuckled.

“I’m sorry! Please spare me!”

As soon as I said that, he grabbed my collar while laughing, and I apologized without even realizing it.

But the Felix I knew was a person who hated lying more than anything in the world, so I was still afraid.

Thud, thud thud thud!

“Master?”

He grabbed my shirt and tore off all the buttons of my vest. The sudden cold night air made goosebumps rise all over my body.

“Stay still.”

“Ah…”

My vision gradually became blurry with fear. If I had known I would die like this, I should have spent all my saved money before dying.

In the bank, the money I had diligently saved for 10 years was sleeping peacefully, accumulating interest.

Seeing his behavior of tearing off all my clothes just to confirm that I was a woman, I thought I was really going to die.

My clothes were hanging around my chest area, but fear was greater than embarrassment.

“Master?”

However, surprisingly, the next moment his hot earlobe touched my chest, and I instinctively curled up.

“Be quiet.”

He closed his mouth and stayed like that, as if trying to listen to something from my chest.

The weight pressing down was considerable, and somehow both my arms were raised and held.

“Don’t move either.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t answer.”

As he said, I didn’t answer or speak. Then he slowly released my arms and again quietly put his ear to my chest.

My heartbeat seemed to be beating heavier than usual, perhaps because the weight of his head was so substantial.

I don’t know how long I stayed motionless.

Only, with each breath, his hair tickling my chest was very distracting, and yet the unknown fragrant scent from his soft hair seemed to gradually ease my tension.

“Reniel.”

“Yes, mas-ter.”

His voice was much lower than usual, so I got scared, thinking he might be angry.

“Hair.”

“Yes?”

“Stroke it.”

“Yes.”

While wondering why he was ordering such a thing, I combed my sky-blue hair with my hand. Then he lifted his head to look at me and chuckled.

“Not yours.”

“Ah, yes.”

As his breath touched my skin again with his head on my chest, I felt a strange sensation of my body warming up and becoming sensitive at the same time.

Very slowly, I put my hand on his hair. The soft texture flowed through my fingers like water.

“The sound of your heart.”

His voice seemed to be getting lower and slower, as if drowsiness was overwhelming him.

“It sounds nice.”

Gradually, the strength was leaving his body, adding more weight onto me.

I wondered if his head was so full of thoughts that the weight of his head pressing on my chest was considerable, and if the part of my ribs where his chin was pressing would bruise.

Yet, because of his surprisingly normal reaction.

I tried not to disturb him while slowly stroking his hair.

After a while, when his breathing seemed to have calmed down, I slowly tried to pull my body away.

“How dare you…”

“I didn’t move!”

Although I had barely moved, he spoke irritably, so I hastily replied.

“Stay still.”

“…Yes, of course.”

My heart started pounding again, and I thought he might hear it near his ear.

I deliberately held my breath for a moment and waited for my heart to beat slowly.

However, even when I breathed very slowly and steadily, my heart continued to pound and couldn’t calm down for a long time.

After all, the person pressing down on me now was a madman who considered human life less valuable than a fly’s life.

Perhaps even if I die here with my neck twisted by his hands, I might just be buried in the backyard without anyone knowing.

“…”

I stroked his hair again, meaning ‘please don’t do that’. Then I heard a contented sigh.

I had to remain motionless like that, trapped, except for my hand.

After a long while, I heard a sound from far away.

Dong, dong, dong.

Around the time the grandfather clock chimed six o’clock.

I slowly pulled my body away.

Fortunately, the sleeping Felix was pushed aside more easily than I thought.

I left the room without looking back.

And then quickly, I took steps to find the ring I had dropped in the corridor.

Far away, the ring shimmering pitifully even in the darkness caught my eye. Just as I was about to quickly pick it up and put it on.

“Blue hair…? Reniel?”

Someone called out to me. I’m still in a woman’s form…!