Chapter 7

Regina swallowed dryly. Her heart pounding, she stared at Noah’s hand, gripped with fear that he might transform into a monster at any moment. 

“…Miss Regina, is there something wrong with my hand?”

Noah’s slightly uneasy expression suggested her gaze had been too intense. Startled, Regina quickly looked up.

“Yes, what?”

“You seem quite interested in my hand. Your gaze is quite intense.”

Noah spoke while wiping his wet hand with a napkin, causing Regina to gape in confusion. Noah’s hand, despite being wet, was perfectly normal. Even when she closed her eyes and reopened them, it remained a human hand.

‘Why? Does water not affect it?’

“Miss Regina?”

Noah furrowed his brow slightly as Regina’s gaze lingered on his hand. Was she into something strange? He had let it slide because she was Margaret’s friend, but she had been on his nerves since their first meeting.

As irritation tinged Noah’s voice, Regina hurriedly offered an excuse.

“Oh, it’s just that your hands are very pale. I’ve been paying a lot of attention to hand care lately, so I couldn’t help but notice. My apologies.”

“…I see. Perhaps it’s because I usually wear gloves.”

“Oh, I see.”

Since calling a man’s hands pretty is hardly a compliment, he responded awkwardly.

Meeting Noah’s gaze, Regina found it difficult to control her trembling body, feeling a chill run through her. Despite maintaining a smile, cold sweat trickled down her back.

“It was a truly wonderful dinner, Madam. Thank you for inviting me.”

As it seemed the conversation with Noah would continue, Regina hastily changed the subject and addressed Mrs. Jenkins.

Despite Regina’s abrupt greeting, the baroness responded kindly with a warm smile.

“You’re welcome, Miss Regina.”

“Miss Regina, where will we be moving after dinner?”

Noah, wiping his lips with a napkin, gestured to the servant standing behind him. He took the gloves handed to him and asked Regina.

“Pardon? Oh, well….”

When Regina hesitated, Margaret answered on her behalf.

“Brother, we’ll be having tea in the garden.”

“Alright then. I’ll go upstairs to fetch the pistol I bought today. I promised to show it. Margaret, wait here. Miss Regina, excuse me for a moment.”

“Yes! I’ll wait, brother!”

Margaret responded excitedly to Noah’s words. To match the mood, Regina forced a trembling smile. Noah glanced at Regina before heading upstairs with Mrs. Jenkins.

Once they were out of sight, Margaret, who had been standing quietly, quickly linked arms with Regina.

“Let’s go, Regina. Having tea in the night garden sounds lovely, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s wonderful.”

As Margaret led her away, Regina looked back at Noah ascending the stairs. He still showed no signs of change. Perhaps everything was just her illusion or a mere hallucination.

“Miss, should I return the remaining water from the glass bottle?”

“Huh?”

Weary from the tension, Regina suddenly stopped at Emma’s voice.

-Thunk.

The maid, who was passing right behind her, couldn’t stop in time and bumped into her.

-Splash!

“Ah!”

Regina felt the sudden cold water on her back, gasped, and turned around. It was a maid with a headdress. While clearing the finger bowl, she had collided with Regina and spilled the water.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry, miss! Let me wipe it for you.”

“Oh…”

“Regina! Are you alright?”

The maid, shocked by the wet dress, hurriedly reached out to wipe it. But as Regina saw the maid’s hand reaching toward her, her legs gave out.

“Ah!”

Margaret, startled, supported Regina and then turned to the maid, her face paling.

“Are you okay?!”

The maid, who had tried to steady Regina, paused, sensing the strange atmosphere.

“…?”

Everyone was staring at the maid in horror. Following their gazes, she looked down at her own hand.

Water dripped from the maid’s elongated, wrinkled, and grotesquely curved fingers, which ended in long, black nails.

“Oh my, why is this…?”

Startled, the maid quickly hid her hand in her apron. Regina’s trembling gaze slowly moved to the maid’s face. When their eyes met, the maid’s eyes narrowed into a sly smile.

“Oh dear, I’ve been caught.”

The maid’s mouth stretched horizontally.

“…What?”

Margaret, who had been staring blankly at the maid, suddenly felt a shadow darken above her. She turned and met Regina’s terrified eyes.

“Regina….”

“Maggie! No!”

-Whack!

Regina pushed Margaret with all her might. Margaret, falling to the floor, looked up just as the maid’s grotesquely enlarged mouth swooped over her head. Everything moved slowly, each sharp tooth inside the maid’s mouth vividly visible.

“Ahhhhh!”

Margaret screamed from the depths of her lungs, her entire body shaking violently before she fainted.

“A-A scream!”

“Let’s run away!”

“Ahhhhh!”

As Margaret’s scream rang out, the other maids and servants began fleeing in terror. The sounds of dishes and items shattering on the floor echoed around. Emma, who had been frozen in place, suddenly came to her senses.

The monstrous mouth that had missed Margaret was now aimed at Regina.

“No, miss!”

Regina, seemingly paralyzed with fear, could only stare at the approaching monster’s mouth.

“No, no! Miss!”

Emma couldn’t think of anything else. Driven by the single-minded need to save Regina, she lunged at the monster, wrapping her arms around its leg. But the creature didn’t budge and merely stretched its head, mouth agape, towards Regina.

“No!”

The monster’s neck and hands elongated towards Regina. Emma, clinging to the creature’s leg, desperately reached out to Regina, but the monster’s mouth moved faster. It opened wide, ready to swallow Regina’s head.

“Miss!”

Emma’s terrified and desperate scream echoed.

As the cavernous, black mouth approached, Regina couldn’t think of running away and just stared at it with wide eyes. Her head throbbed, and tears streamed down her face in the face of imminent death.

“Oh, oh….”

However, just as the monster seemed about to close its mouth, it froze, its body stiffening. Already far from human in shape, it paused with Regina’s head half inside its mouth, then slowly lifted its head.

The monster’s saliva dripped onto Regina’s pale cheek.

As the shadow lifted from her face, Regina, tear-streaked and gasping, looked up. The monster, back in the maid’s form, bent its head at an odd angle, staring at Regina.

“You, what are you? I feel strange.”

The maid leaned closer to Regina, her eyes like black voids.

“Are you not human?”

-Bang! Bang!

The maid’s question was interrupted by a loud bang. The maid’s body jerked forward with a thud. Behind her, Noah stood, holding a revolver. He had rushed downstairs at the sound of screams.

Regina, collapsed on the floor, stared blankly at Noah running towards her.

In his hurry, Noah had pulled off the ribbon wrapped around the revolver’s box and threw it aside, pulling the trigger again. The monster, though hit, only staggered before turning its head to glare at him.

“Roar!”

A black hole appeared in the creature’s body, which quickly closed up, sprouting sharp teeth.

-Bang!

Noah fired again with a blank expression. The monster dodged, twisting its head and lunging at him.

“Roar!”

Moving faster than the human eye could follow, the monster slashed at Noah’s neck with its blackened claws. Noah dodged and blocked the claws with the revolver.

As the monster got closer to Noah, it sniffed the air, its black pupils contracting before returning to normal.

“Ah, such a sweet scent! Are you not human either?”

The monster, intoxicated by Noah’s scent, drooled.

Ignoring the question, Noah pushed away the creature’s claw and created distance.

“How many humans have you eaten? You seem to have recently emerged.”

The monster grinned and answered Noah’s question willingly.

“Only two so far. The maid and a young stableman she killed. But I will eat more.”

“Why? You should be able to endure for a while with just two.”

“Endure? Why? With food right in front of me, why should I endure?”

The monster tilted its head, confused by Noah’s question, then lunged at him. Overcome by the sweet smell, it trembled with excitement.

“You smell so sweet. Why? You seem tastier than humans.”