IKMHITM 10

࣪ ִֶָ☾. Chapter 10 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

Transferring all property and rights to an outsider who wasn’t even a family member would surely involve a complex and cumbersome process.

Eve understood that reality. However, she wanted to decline Madame Persona’s ‘help’.

She expected her to give birth within three years? Using a man provided by her?

“I am not a broodmare meant to produce children.”

“I apologize if I offended you. How could anyone treat the master of Belper like mere livestock?”

Madame Persona acted as though she had anticipated Eve’s repulsion all along.

“My suggestion is strictly for the master’s succession process. Once you give birth to an heir, no one will ever dare question Lady Eve’s authority. Even if a situation should arise… where your husband suddenly goes missing and his fate becomes unknown.”

It was a deeply meaningful remark. Eve felt she could guess how the late Serian would eventually be ‘disposed of’.

“I understand what you’re saying. Still, I’ll look for another way.”

“There is no other way.”

It felt like talking to a brick wall. Unable to suppress the sudden surge of suffocation, Eve pressed on.

“What if I can’t have a child? And there’s no guarantee I’ll give birth to a son, either. Do you plan to repeat this over and over until it happens? Swapping out men every time it fails?”

“Oh. Lady Eve will undoubtedly have a child.”

A chilling smile crept across Madame Persona’s lips.

Her wrinkled lips tightened for a brief moment, and her worn-down teeth gleamed in the light.

“And Lady Eve’s first child will surely be a son… There are no exceptions. Under any circumstances.”

Absurd! Eve wanted to retort, but this was Belper Mansion.

A place where portraits spoke, kettles housed ghosts, and garden statues came to life.

Every absurdities here were accepted as natural. Therefore, Madame Persona’s words were likely true, too.

The blood of Arno flowing inside Eve’s body was affirming it.

It’s fine. Whether to accept it or not is my choice.

Eve steadied her breathing, which had grown shallow from anger.

“I’ll think about it.”

The smile Eve managed to curve did not show her teeth.

Organisms with high survival instincts adapted quickly, too. It was because seamlessly melting into an ever-changing environment raised one’s survival rate.

Eve ignored the broom cleaning the front porch all by itself and sat down on a bench. Though she cast her gaze toward a camellia shrub as if admiring the flowers, her mind was frantically buzzing with thoughts.

Giving birth and raising a child in this mansion? Absolutely out of the question!

Even so, she wasn’t reckless enough to pack her bags and attempt a midnight escape right this second.

Belper Mansion harbored bizarre and terrifying powers. There was a strong possibility those powers would retaliate against her, so Eve had to tread carefully.

Fortunately, Madame Persona had inadvertently dropped a few hints.

First, a successor to inherit Belper Mansion was an absolute necessity.

Second, Eve was currently the only one capable of ‘producing’ that successor.

Third, the mansion would not kill her until she gave birth—even if she ‘accidentally’ left the mansion for over a week.

In fact, Kamien did say it would be fine.

According to him, the blood of Arno flowing in her veins would compel her to return to the mansion.

I need to test out how that works.

She had to leave the mansion. However, it couldn’t be done in a rebellious manner that would test the mansion’s patience.

Humans could suffer all sorts of agony without actually dying.

For instance, the worst-case scenario where only her life and reproductive organs were kept intact.

Much like the bizarre human anatomy models proudly displayed in the fourth-floor hallway.

Let’s find a plausible excuse.

Where could she go? Somewhere she could stretch out the one week permitted by the mansion to its absolute limits.

Lost in deep thought, Eve sensed a presence and turned around.

“Master.”

It was a maid she had never seen before.

“Someone is outside to see you.”

Who could it be now?

“I shall guide you outside. Please follow me.”

Eve tried to rise from the bench, then hesitated.

This maid… is she even human?

She wore a standard maid’s uniform and a neat headband, but something about her felt deeply unnatural. Looking closer, the maid’s shoes were worn backward.

No… was her entire pair of ankles twisted backward?

A few paces ahead, the maid abruptly stopped walking.

“Why aren’t you coming?”

“I don’t feel like seeing guests right now.”

“Why?”

“Why? Why? Why?”

Every time the maid repeated the question, the back of her head swelled up larger and larger. It wasn’t just her imagination; the headband she wore ripped apart like paper.

“Why? How did you know? Am I weird? We were the same, weren’t we? Exactly the same as the ones I devoured?”

The maid’s tone pitched wildly back and forth. It was as bizarre as a non-human mimicking human speech.

“I want to go out. Let me out. I hate this mansion. I hate being trapped again. I’ll kill them. I’ll kill everyone…”

By now, her head had grown as massive as a carriage wheel. The sound of cracking skulls and tearing flesh was hair-raising. Eve felt almost grateful she was standing behind her.

“Are you going to scold me, are you going to beat me, like before when you tore my skirt, hung me upside down, whipped me, shoved my head into the water until I couldn’t breathe, starting from my pinky toe—one by one—”

Thwack! Right before her eyes, the maid’s head burst open. Eve couldn’t even let out a scream.

Not a single drop of blood came from the maid, who had looked so human. She simply collapsed onto the spot like a wet paper balloon.

Wrinkling and shrinking down to a mere handful, the body seeped right into the dirt.

Only a faint stain remained.

“Master.”

“Are you alright?”

A hand steadying her shoulder finally helped her snap back to reality.

It was Kamien.

“It seems it got too full of itself after being freed for a moment. Lacking self-awareness and daring to step out of line.”

Kamien’s black shoes ground relentlessly over the stain, squishing it flat. It seemed he was the one who had eliminated the maid.

“My negligence. Lady Eve is a ‘new’ master unfamiliar with the mansion, so I should have paid closer attention.”

So that was what a ‘new’ master meant?

A usurper who had ousted the previous master’s family and claimed the mansion for herself.

“It appears I need to conduct a thorough housecleaning.”

“…Then what about me? What am I supposed to do?”

“I will exercise greater caution. So that whenever you call, I can run to you instantly.”

Kamien seemed to think Eve was blaming him. However, pushing away the hand he tried to wrap around her shoulder, Eve asked again.

“That’s Kamien’s job. What am I supposed to do?”

From this recent incident, Eve realized a grave miscalculation on her part.

A successor who might or might not be born three years from now, or an excuse to escape the mansion—none of those things mattered right now. Without Kamien by her side right this second, she couldn’t even guarantee her survival a few hours from now.

“…Next time, call the Garden Guards. Though they primarily respond to intruders, they will not disobey Lady Eve’s commands.”

“Ah. I forgot.”

“You are not yet accustomed to this. That is only natural.”

Kamien offered a fundamental solution alongside it.

“As I mentioned before, fill the Record of Ghost Stories. Once the master’s power grows and you can exert control over the mansion, such petty ghost stories will no longer dare to harm you.”

“Then help me out.”

Desperately, Eve grabbed the sleeve of Kamien’s jacket.

“Like you said, Kamien, I’m not from this place. I have no idea how many ghost stories exist, nor how to handle them.”

Her starting disadvantage was far too severe. Serian, having been born and raised in the mansion, must have seen and heard plenty. Perhaps the late Marquis Arno, who had recently died, passed down all that knowledge.

Serian even used some weird ability!

Though it was somewhat laughable that someone with those tricks had let his guard down and died at Eve’s hands anyway.

Wasn’t Serian’s case proof enough? Let your guard down for a second, and you never knew when or how you’d die.

This mansion was precisely that kind of place.

“There is no need to rush.”

The man, who had lived ten times longer than a normal human, drew a detached boundary simply because it wasn’t his own problem.

“You will get used to it in time.”

“I might die before then, you know?”

“I will not allow such a thing to happen.”

“It’s my life; I don’t want to entrust it to someone else and just sit around praying.”

Finding something amusing in those words, Kamien gave a soft smirk.

“It truly seems you have decided to abandon religion.”

“Probably because God doesn’t seem like the type to visit this mansion.”

“Even so, it would be best for you to keep wearing that rosary.”

Kamien lowered his gaze. Unlike his cool, aloof appearance, his uniquely feverish hand brushed lightly against Eve’s wrist, hovering right on the verge of contact.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･