TTRIA 14

The full moon event called ‘Eden’ was grander than Jeff had anticipated. Booths for medical treatment were set up throughout the vast garden, and a psychological counseling center was also prepared for vagrants who had lost their will to live. Clothing for adults and children, distinguished by gender, and cleaning supplies made by <Vivlook> were also provided. Some vagrants, upon receiving the high-quality clothes, even changed into them on the spot.

Above all, what captivated their attention was undoubtedly the food. All sorts of colorful fruits and sweet desserts. The food, prepared with fresh ingredients, was so splendid and abundant that it was reminiscent of a nobles’ banquet.

Meanwhile, Jeff, who was introduced as a private tutor, conversed with the children who were willing to be educated. He conducted simple tests with stories that might pique their interest and shared his own experiences about school life. Furthermore, he informed them of realistic paths to receive an education so they would not have to rely solely on Gray’s sponsorship.

Among them, the exceptionally bright children were guided separately to a representative. In the future, they would receive Gray’s sponsorship, like the talented children, and enter the mansion.

“You have worked hard, Mr. Lowell. It is a bit early, but shall I prepare a meal for you?”

Having finished his duties, Jeff returned to the mansion. A servant who had been moving about diligently inside approached him cordially.

“No, I am fine for dinner. I ate plenty outside. Please do not mind me and carry on with your work. And if there is anything I can help with, please let me know.”

“Not at all. The servants of the mansion each have their own roles. You must be tired since this is your first time participating in the event, so I will take my leave now. Please call anytime if you need anything.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The servant left the room with busy steps. Left alone, Jeff dragged his heavy legs toward the balcony. The sun-drenched garden was still bustling with a large crowd. Among them was the figure of Wayne, dealing with people with a gentle smile.

“…Like an angel.”

Those were the words the children at the event had used to describe Wayne. It was not just the young children who had been captivated by the beautiful and benevolent young master of the house. Without exception, everyone whispered about him. That Wayne Gray was a person like an angel. Some even called him the savior of Colley.

Tonight, Jeff planned to confirm the other side of that angel-like figure. He was curious if Wayne would still wear that leisurely face after the sun went down.

The event, which had started early in the morning, concluded before the sun had fully set. All the servants of the mansion moved about busily for the cleanup. Wayne was nowhere to be seen. It was only after Jeff left his room on the pretext of filling a water pitcher that he could figure out the reason.

Wayne was in the 3rd-floor banquet hall. He had arranged a gathering for the acquaintances who had attended the event. In fact, the real banquet was starting now. The spectacle that would unfold on the 3rd floor would probably be incomparably more luxurious than what was seen during the day.

However, one thing was a mystery: his shadow that would be revealed under the lights. Was there some special method to hide the shadow? No, perhaps the people attending the banquet were also in on it.

As the mansion bustled both inside and out, the time approached midnight. Jeff took advantage of the commotion and headed for the forest. He had internally considered infiltrating the 3rd floor but decided against it. It was better to wait for an opportunity in the annex than to get caught trying to clumsily disguise himself as a servant. It also seemed like a good chance to confirm the existence of the servant Wayne had mentioned.

Unlike the last full moon, there was not a single cloud in the night sky. The full moon, high in the sky, was also large and clear. His heart began to pound as he faced the sight he had been waiting for. Today, if he could just confirm Wayne’s shadow, the clue about the ‘scent’ would also be unraveled.

Jeff clutched at his thumping chest and faced the annex. He pushed the syringe he had prepared into the crevice of his sleeve. He had obtained one with a small amount of anesthetic just in case. Wary of the ego that could pop out from anywhere at any time, he approached the door, but even then, the ego did not show itself. Jeff, who had been quietly listening for any signs of presence, carefully turned the doorknob. The door opened with ease.

“……”

Jeff stared at the interior of the annex, into which the clear moonlight seeped. The space, not even equipped with minimal furniture, was far more desolate than he had expected. Click. He carefully closed the door. The windows, covered by dark-colored curtains, did not let a single sliver of light through. Come to think of it, only the 2nd-floor window had white curtains fluttering. The space Wayne used was likely only the 2nd floor.

Jeff lit a lighter and went up the stairs. The 2nd floor he faced presented an unexpected sight. The wide-open space looked like a study, a bedroom, and a music room combined into one. One wall was occupied by a huge bookshelf filled only with books. On the wall where the wardrobe and desk were placed, three violins were enshrined. The bed was oddly situated alone in the center of the space, and the empty space next to the door was occupied by a refrigerator and a small table.

Jeff slowly looked around and muttered.

“This is less like a perfumer and more like…”

It was like the workshop of an eccentric musician. And indeed, the variety of sheet music scattered on the floor was considerable. It was an excessive level for something enjoyed as a hobby. Hadn’t the performance he actually heard been excellent?

“…Strange.”

Thinking back, it was strange. With such performance skills, he must have played the violin quite seriously. Wayne’s fingertips were clean without a single scratch.

“That’s right. His skin is fair and his hands are very soft and clean. His voice is nice and his way of speaking is gentle too.”

Mila had certainly said so too. But on the night of the last full moon, weren’t the fingertips that grabbed his wrist strangely rough and hard?

“Is it just my imagination.”

He might have maintained it well on the outside, but it could be different to the touch. Jeff dismissed it as nothing and looked around the interior. The first thing that caught his eye was the bookshelf. The tightly packed books were of various genres. However, there were no books related to perfumery. It was somewhat puzzling, but it was understandable if one considered it as separating work and rest.

The three violins fixed to the wall differed in size and color in sequence. It seemed he had decorated the space with the ones he had handled as he grew up. On the desk, a case that looked luxurious at a single glance was placed. It was black, the same color as Wayne’s hair, and was probably the violin he was currently using.

Just then, as he was staring at it blankly for a while, the characters engraved on one side of the case caught his eye.

[Cecil. G]

The name engraved on the small gold plate was Cecil. And the ‘G’.

“Cecil, Gray?”

It must have meant Gray. Judging by the form and handwriting of the engraving being the same as those engraved on the writing instruments used in the mansion, it was highly likely that the owner of the violin was one of the people from the Gray family. Jeff tried to recall the Gray family portraits hanging in the banquet hall to find a similar name, but it was not very easy.

In any case, the instrument before him seemed to have been inherited from a predecessor. If this had been Wayne’s, his initials would have been engraved. On the other hand, if one associated it with an artist’s unique disposition, it was also possible that he had simply named a cherished object. And considering another possibility,

“…He might have named it after his muse.”

Since Wayne said a servant, who was like a muse to him, stayed here, perhaps this violin belonged to that muse. Could his name be ‘Cecil’?

Jeff stared blankly at the initials engraved in beautiful handwriting before turning his gaze away. The remaining space on the desk was filled with various items, including sheet music. The only thing Jeff, an amateur in musical instruments, could recognize was the rosin. Other than that, it was full of things he didn’t even know what they were used for.

Afterward, Jeff checked the scattered sheet music and books in order. The gaps in the bookshelf, the desk drawers, and under the bed. There was nothing that could be a clue to the ‘scent’ and the ‘insect’. Also, there were no traces of the servant presumed to be the muse. As far as Jeff could see, this place was used strictly for a private hobby.

“This is strange.”

The fact that there were no traces of the servant who was said to stay here. The only thing that could be inferred as his possession was the violin, wasn’t it? But even that could not be certain.

“Did he perhaps lie?”

Was the whisper he heard when he first encountered the ego really Wayne’s? If so, why would he go out of his way to mention a muse? Isn’t the justification excessive for a mere excuse to block an outsider’s access? In the first place, he could just limit the permissible areas of the mansion, and how many people would dare to defy the master’s warning anyway. The fact that he would go so far as to make up an excuse to block access to the annex, could it be because there is something he wants to hide?

“…So many secrets.”

Tsk, Jeff clicked his tongue and checked his wristwatch. The time was already approaching 2 in the morning.

Since Wayne was sensitive to scents, it was clear he would be discovered if he stayed on the 2nd floor. Jeff left the 2nd-floor window slightly open and exited the annex. He immediately plunged into the forest and found a suitable location. It was a spot where he could hide between the trees and watch the figure heading towards the annex. As if to make up for the last full moon, the moonlight penetrating through the forest was exceptionally clear. It was the perfect day to check the shadow.

Jeff held his breath and waited.

The time was already approaching 4, but Wayne did not appear.

“……”

‘Just a little, just a little bit longer.’

He passed the time, trying his best to manage his anxious heart.

Then it seems he fell asleep for a moment. When he suddenly came to his senses, the clock was pointing to 4:50.

Could he have returned in the meantime? Jeff, who had scanned his surroundings, cautiously headed inside the annex. The interior was quiet. Holding his breath and leaning his body against the wall, he went up the stairs, and the view of the 2nd floor came into sight. Wayne was not among it.

“Ha…”

Don’t tell me he has no intention of visiting the annex today. Should I have tried for an opportunity in the main building instead? Come to think of it, that was right. There was no way he would relieve the fatigue of the banquet in the annex. Curses naturally escaped through his dry lips. Why hadn’t he thought a little more carefully? How could he be so pathetic for not even properly considering one possibility.

Moreover, even if he hurried right now, the sun would be rising by the time he arrived at the main building. After the moon sets, there is no point in checking the shadow. Stupid fool. Jeff scoffed at himself with a self-deprecating laugh. It was the moment he turned around with the feeling of a defeated soldier. He felt a presence at the 1st-floor entrance.

‘Don’t tell me…’

Jeff, who had stopped breathing, checked below the stairs. From beyond the half-open door, the sound of slow footsteps could be heard. At the same time, an immense scent washed over him.

“……”

…Wayne. It’s Wayne. Wayne finally came!

Jeff, who had hastily climbed to the 2nd floor, dove into the wardrobe. He covered his mouth with two trembling hands. Holding his breath, he stared at the floor visible through the crack of the door. The faintly seeping light was not yet that of the sun.

Thump,

Thump,

Thump.

The sound of him dragging his feet and laboriously climbing the stairs echoed. As if he could barely control his body, excessive force was put into every single step he took. Jeff checked the light that had settled on the floor with a glaring gaze. The temperature of the light that passed through the stained glass of the window was gradually changing.

…Please, please!

A little faster…!

With every step that echoed on the stairs, his heart pounded like crazy. The sound got closer and closer, and the concentration of the encroaching scent grew thicker. Finally, when the presence reached the crack in the wardrobe, which was not even the thickness of a single finger, he saw the edge of the white sheet fluttering.

Thud—!

The sheet that had been fluttering in the air fell to the floor. It was accompanied by a dull thud. Jeff blankly stared at the scene unfolding beyond the crack. Scrape, the fingertips scratching the floor were soaked in blood. The light that landed on the back of his veiny hand was no longer that of the moon.

“Ha, ugh… heuu…!”

A thick fragrance flowed out between his pained gasps for breath. His right hand came to rest on top of his left hand, which was tensed as if in a convulsion. Scrape, scrape, scrape. Unhesitating fingers clawed deeply into bare skin. Red scars piled up one by one on the skin that had seemed so flawless.

“……”

Jeff’s hand that had been covering his mouth fell powerlessly. With that small movement, the door creaked open, widening the gap. The narrow view expanded, and light poured into the wardrobe. Jeff swallowed his breath at the sight of the person he was now fully facing.

“……”

The man huddled and trembling under the white sheet was Wayne.

The man sobbing in pain was undoubtedly Wayne Gray. He could not even think to straighten the disheveled sheet and scratched furiously at his skin, which was blotched with blue bruises and wounds. As if he was desperate to inflict pain upon himself. Like a madman obsessed with a compulsion.

“Heuk, heuu, euk…”

Why was he in such a state? The young perfumer who gave opportunities to the vagrants and poor talents of ‘Colley’, who shone with talent superior to his predecessors. Why was a man with such a brilliant background sobbing like that? So pitifully, like a child.

“……”

The light from the warm-toned stained glass enveloped the huddled man as if to soothe him. Even while wrapped in the cradle of light, the man shivered from the cold. Freed from the constraints of the full moon, the shadow that could not tell a lie followed the actions of the body. It was as if light and darkness were holding onto each other and sharing their pain.

Creeak—

The wardrobe door opened. The sound of rough panting ceased at once. Thud, Jeff, who had stepped onto the floor, looked down at the back of the man who had stopped moving. He could hear the sound of a heart pounding erratically. He could not tell if it was Wayne’s or his own.

“……”

Jeff carefully bent his body. Wayne’s head, stiff while huddled, moved rigidly. A blue gaze met his skin. Jeff did not make eye contact. He just pulled up the disheveled sheet and covered him up to his head. So that his vision was completely obscured. So that his fragilely exposed skin was covered. So that he could not see anything, so that he could not do anything. So that he could not torment himself.

But he could still see the clasped hands trembling. He was about to raise his blood-soaked fingertips to scratch, so Jeff reached out his hand, telling him not to. He held firmly onto the convulsively twitching hands and forced the trembling to stop. Then, the movements gradually subsided. Around the time his ragged breathing also began to find stability.

Jeff quietly stood up and left the annex. He could not ask anything.

As he headed for the entrance of the forest, he suddenly felt a gaze. When he looked back, he saw the eyes of a black dog in the darkness beyond the annex. The ego, which had always shot fierce glares at him, was looking at Jeff with an unreadable expression. Not barking, not rushing at him. Just quietly.

Afterward, he did not know how he managed to escape the forest. When he suddenly felt his eyelids grow heavy and grimaced, he realized it was because he had exited the forest and was facing the sunlight. The mansion, with all traces of the event gone, was as elegant as usual. It felt as though he had been wandering in a hazy darkness just a moment ago. The peaceful scene unfolding before his eyes made all the events of the early morning feel like a dream.

Jeff blankly turned his gaze as if to shake off the lingering feeling. At that moment, he saw someone walking out from the maze that bordered his vision.

“Jeff? What are you doing?”

“……”

It was Wayne.

“Tea, teach, teacher, are you no, not feeling well?”

Benjamin, who had been restlessly hovering nearby, asked cautiously. Jeff lifted his head and looked at the boy. Worry was evident in his tearful eyes. When Jeff just stared without any answer, that expression deepened even more.

“M, Mr. Lowellll…”

Just then, Mila, who had been watching quietly, approached and cautiously extended a hand.

“Teacher. I think you overdid it yesterday.”

The girl said as she covered the back of Jeff’s hand with her small one.

“How about we stop class for today and you get some rest?”

Daniel just propped his chin on his hand and stared blankly at him. Benjamin and Mila. And Daniel. Jeff, who had looked at the three children in turn, pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“Yes. I think I should do that.”

Jeff added, rubbing his temple with one hand.

“I can’t have you kids catching my germs.”

“Don’t say that, teacher, you are clean.”

“Tha, that’s right!”

Benjamin also nodded his head vigorously at Mila’s firm words.

“Thank you for comforting me. I’m sorry, but I’d like you to spend the rest of the time studying on your own. Would that be okay?”

“Yes. We will. Don’t worry.”

Jeff patted the heads of the two children who nodded obediently and stood up. Daniel blinked his light brown eyes, following Jeff’s movements. When Jeff met his gaze and smiled, the boy also grinned back. Then he followed Jeff out of the classroom and asked brightly.

“Are you sick, teacher?”

Jeff chuckled and slowed his steps.

“A little?”

“Where and how are you sick?”

Swish, swish, his small body moved here and there, examining Jeff’s body. His gaze lingered particularly long on the back of the hand holding the documents. It was the hand that had been injured. Jeff, feeling the gaze, bent down and met Daniel’s eyes.

“My head. My head hurts, Daniel.”

“Why? Why does your head hurt?”

“I wonder. Maybe it’s because too much information came in. I think it’s overloaded.”

Daniel, who tilted his head with a puzzled expression, asked.

“Is it just your head that hurts?”

“Yes.”

“Are you perhaps hurt somewhere and that’s why you’re in pain?”

To that question, Jeff smiled and replied.

“Why? Do you wish I was hurt?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m asking if you wish for me to be hurt.”

The child’s expression hardened for a moment. It was a face that had never expected to encounter such a reaction. Jeff, who was staring blankly at the nervously shaking eyes, smiled gently and patted the child’s shoulder.

“I’m kidding, Daniel. As if you would. You’re not a monster.”

“Ah…”

Daniel could not hide his trembling eyes and moved his lips. Jeff swept back the child’s hair and whispered lowly.

“Don’t tremble, Daniel. If a monster ever appears in the mansion, teacher will protect you.”

“A monster, you say…?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? A monster in human skin, I mean. It’s a pretty famous rumor in town, isn’t it? That ‘they’ live in the mansion.”

Daniel bit his lip tightly without a word. Jeff patted the child’s drab hair once more.

“Of course, it’s probably a rumor made up by people who are jealous of the Grays…. But I got a gun just in case. So I can shoot ‘them’ dead at any time.”

“……”

“So if you ever sense anything strange, run to my room. Got it, Daniel?”

Teacher will definitely protect you, he added, and Daniel smiled faintly.

Returning to his room, Jeff collapsed onto the bed as if he was falling. A crazed laugh leaked through his parted lips. He had expected it, but he never imagined it would be such a mentally deranged family.

“Jeff? What are you doing?”

The Wayne he had met in the maze was just as he had been when he was praised as an angel. He was neat and beautiful, and had a bright face that seemed to know nothing of pain. His blue eyes, sparkling in the morning sun, were filled only with joy. Unlike the someone who had collapsed in the annex, writhing in pain.

“Jeff, what’s wrong? Are you conscious right now?”

The moment he faced that clear face, Jeff realized. The word ‘half’ that had once come out of his mouth. It had been meant in the literal sense. That half was Wayne Gray’s muse and the servant of the annex.

“…Yes. I just came to my senses and was being rude.”

Wayne Gray is a twin.

He has a twin brother, like a decalcomania. And this mansion was hiding that fact perfectly.

“Haha, ha, ha…. Hugo Gray. That son of a bitch…”

There was no way Hugo, who had lived as an adopted son, would not know that fact. He knew everything and yet condoned it.

The existence of the twin that the Grays were hiding.

That his own scent was not simply the scent of <Vivlook> perfume.

To confuse Jeff, who had reacted to ‘that scent’. He had brought up the <Vivlook> perfume to hide the fact that ‘that scent’, ‘that body odor’, was a characteristic that indicated ‘that existence’. In reality, <Vivlook> imitates and uses ‘that scent’, so it would not have been a wrong statement.

Then why did Hugo lead him here? Did he really bring him here just hoping for the role of a private tutor? No, in the first place, what is the reason a private tutor is needed? If the purpose is simply basic education, couldn’t they just hire the family’s dedicated tutor? Moreover, there are plenty of places for basic education. There is no reason to conduct education inside the mansion. Nevertheless, the fact that they hire a new private tutor each time and bring them into the mansion.

“…It must mean there is a reason they need to bring in a new person.”

For instance, a living sacrifice.

“Is that why you wish for me to be hurt? To eat me?”