WAV 13

chapter 13

Vincent stared at Ethan blankly, as if he had just realized something.

“Well.”

But Ethan only looked at him with a strange expression and gave an unrelated answer.

“…It’s like she’s become a completely different person.”

Muttering vaguely, he looked down at his hand, which was still held out in the air.

— You’re Sir Douglas’s son? Your name was… Eren, right?

From their first meeting over ten years ago until just recently,
Edith Blake had never once spoken to him formally.

Not even after he became the duke’s adopted son and was officially added to the family registry.

— Excuse me, but who are you?

— I just figured it out on my own.

And yet, strangely, after waking from her coma, she had not spoken casually to him even once.

Even though she must have heard enough about their relationship from the servants.

‘And that reaction…’

It was only for a moment, but he clearly saw her shut her eyes tightly, fear written all over her face.

He had only tried to remove a flower petal stuck in her hair.

But she reacted as if she were facing trash that meant to harm her…

At that moment— crack, crack.

“…!”

At the faint sound, Ethan snapped out of his thoughts.

Had cold energy leaked out unconsciously?

The flower petal resting on his palm was frozen stiff, covered in white frost.

With a hardened expression, he stared at it for a moment before clenching his fist.

Crunch—

Even without much force, the small, delicate petal crumbled easily.

He opened his hand again and shook the remains onto the floor without hesitation.

He did not realize that the gesture looked almost irritated, as if he were shaking off filth.

— …I didn’t see her.

— I didn’t go to Ezenia today to meet her.

Back in my room, I replayed my conversation with Ethan.

“Ruelin disappeared, huh…”

I didn’t care what the male leads did with the female lead, as long as it didn’t harm me.

But if she suddenly vanished, that was a different matter.

That meant the novel’s storyline had gone off track.

‘Edith disappeared when I possessed this body. And now Ruelin too.’

Isn’t that suspicious?

“I need to check this for sure.”

Before, I had only planned to go out vaguely—to test my ability and look for clues about my possession.

Now, I had a definite reason to go.

“Tollen.”

Remembering the place where Edith had died, I collapsed onto the bed.

“I need to wash…”

I had to remove any possible pollen completely because of the allergy.

But everything felt bothersome, and sleepiness washed over me.

Facing the male leads in my not-fully-recovered body must have drained more mental energy than I thought.

“…I knew they’d be completely useless.”

No wonder I hadn’t liked a single one of them while reading the novel.

I hadn’t expected much, so I wasn’t disappointed.

But just then, something from earlier came to mind.

— Did you come into contact with flowers?

— You’re allergic to pollen.

Ethan suddenly reaching out and removing the petal from my hair.

And me instinctively freezing and squeezing my eyes shut…

“Ugh, why did I have to panic there?!”

The embarrassment I had briefly forgotten came rushing back. I thrashed around, hitting the pillow.

“Still like this…”

Trauma really is terrifying.

It had already been over ten years since I was beaten by the boys listed as my brothers in the family registry.

And yet, the fact that I still flinched at the smallest movement from someone bigger than me meant I hadn’t truly escaped it.

“Ha…”

A deep sigh escaped me, weighed down by self-loathing and reality hitting hard.

Then I glared at the ceiling as if Ethan were standing right in front of me.

“…Why are you suddenly acting friendly? It’s disgusting.”

Removing a flower petal from someone’s hair.

It was too trivial to even call kindness.

And yet it felt unpleasant.

Was it because I was too immersed in Edith’s situation?

Or was it a trace of guilt?

“Don’t try to change or anything. Just keep acting the way you always did.”

Unlike the novel, I hoped the male leads wouldn’t feel even a little guilt seeing Edith alive again.

Because—

“…That way, I won’t feel guilty when I ignore you later.”

68%

Ethan’s rampage index had risen slightly from yesterday.

‘It was definitely 64% yesterday.’

The female lead who had suddenly disappeared.

The longer they failed to meet her, the worse the male leads’ condition would steadily become.

And I had no intention of caring.

The next day.

The chance to test my original ability came sooner than expected.

“Good morning, Miss.”

Following the butler into the room was Eston.

My eyes widened.

96%

“You…!”

Her rampage rate had shot up overnight.

So high that it wouldn’t be strange if she lost control at any moment.

I jumped up from the bed and pointed at her. The butler looked startled.

“M-Miss? What’s wrong?”

Only then did I catch myself and force my voice to calm down.

“…Butler, Nancy. Could you step out for a moment?”

“But, Miss. Young Master Ethan ordered us to check whether your allergy has improved—”

“….”

“I-I will wait outside the door!”

Without saying another word, I picked up the decorative vase on the bedside table.

The butler gasped and rushed out of the room. Nancy followed right after.

Click.

The door closed, leaving only me and Eston inside.

“….”

As the situation unfolded much like yesterday, Eston looked at me in disbelief.

But as expected from someone on the verge of rampage, her face was terribly pale.

I walked up to her.

“You.”

“….”

“I clearly warned you. And yet you used your ability again, didn’t you?”

At my words, Eston frowned.

“Are you saying that I, the duke family’s personal healer, am not allowed to use my ability?”

“You’re about to rampage.”

“W-What…!”

Her brown eyes trembled violently.

Her already pale face turned white as paper.

She looked like she might collapse at any moment.

‘Or maybe she’ll soon spew black demonic energy and try to bite me.’

Still, true to her nature, Eston straightened her back and glared at me.

“…Don’t you think that’s an extremely harsh thing to say to an employee who came early in the morning to heal you?”

“If we’re talking numbers, you have about 4% left.”

“How would you even know that—!”

She stopped pretending and shouted sharply.

She must have realized by now that something was seriously wrong.

“From your toes.”

I traced the air slowly from her toes upward with my index finger.

Then I tapped near her forehead.

“Up to here.”

“…Huh.”

“You’re filled with black demonic energy, and it reeks terribly. How could I not know?”

“Th-that…”

Unlike yesterday, when she snapped back quickly, Eston’s face was now filled with confusion.

She seemed unable to understand how someone unawakened like me could know about demonic energy erosion.

It was a natural reaction.

But even that looked like arrogance to me—the arrogance of the awakened.

“Why? Did you think having an ability was a privilege only you could have?”

I twisted one corner of my mouth mockingly.

“Awakened…? Did you awaken?”

Her brown eyes widened as much as they could.

“B-But Miss, you already finished your second growth phase. How could you awaken this late—!”

“Shh. You’re too loud.”

I frowned and cautioned her.

“Whether I awakened or not isn’t what matters right now, Eston.”

“….”

“Look at yourself.”

I spoke coldly and pointed to the full-length mirror beside her.

Still looking displeased, she turned her head.

At that moment—

Drip. Drip.

“Ah…”

Just like yesterday, blood began dripping from her nose.

But unlike yesterday, there was no red color in it.

It was pitch black and sticky, like dirty oil.

A typical symptom of a body completely consumed by demonic energy.

“Hh… Hh…”