TTRIA 17

On the dawn he returned like that. As the end of the newly started day approached, Jeff headed to the annex again, but Cecil, who had been sitting on the windowsill waiting for someone, was nowhere to be seen.

He met Cecil again at dawn, four days after that. Half out of stubbornness, half out of habit, Jeff, who had headed to the annex, was able to face the back of the man leaning against the windowsill.

Fluttering black hair and a gracefully moving upper body. A white shirt stained by the colored glass of the wide-open window and the curtain swaying in the forest wind.

A melody flowed in, piercing through the intense visual that held him as if bound. It was as beautiful as the melody from before, but it was not as sad as that time. Rather, it was a mechanical resonance devoid of emotion, but was the fact that even that was beautiful the power of perfectly designed music? Or was it the power of the performer?

“……”

Jeff, drawn by the melody, emerged from the darkness of the forest and slowly moved his steps. His gaze remained fixed on the 2nd floor the entire time he headed for the half-open entrance. Despite the rather persistent gaze, Cecil, focused on his performance, seemed not to have sensed his presence.

No, perhaps he was aware and was ignoring it. Just as he had hidden himself for four days straight, he might have wanted to turn away from the visitor who had appeared so suddenly. Did he think that if he tried in vain for about four days, I would give up on my own? If so, Cecil’s strategy was as good as failed. Because Jeff was quite the patient type.

He would have visited the annex even if he had not been able to meet Cecil for not just four days, but over a week. Of course, by then, he would have searched the mansion grounds to find the unseen him.

As he thought that and grabbed the doorknob of the entrance. Jeff suddenly asked himself why he was trying to go that far. He gave himself an answer as he faced the 1st floor, where not a single speck of light entered due to the dark curtains.

Because. The reason I think I have to go that far is….

“Cecil Gray is….”

Because he is a bug with the ‘scent’ and at the same time, the only existence who has lived in the mansion his entire life.

Because if I break down his wall, I might be able to get a clue about the existence of the ‘bugs’ and the truth of the Gray family that uses them. Separate from the compassion or curiosity I have for the existence named Cecil, the biggest purpose of these footsteps was only that.

Yes, that is all it is.

“……”

Creeak—

Jeff, who had climbed the last landing, looked at Cecil. The performer’s gaze brushed past him, but even that was only for a moment. He smiled silently and leaned his body against the door. Cecil’s own space filled his tilted view. He was always the one to make idle talk, but now, this performance felt like the language Cecil was offering.

I wanted to ask where he had been and what he had been doing. I wanted to ask if he had been hiding because he did not want to face me, as I had expected, or if something had happened to him. But when I actually faced Cecil, who was immersed in his performance, I could not bring myself to open my mouth. Maybe I was a little drained.

Instead of offering a greeting, Jeff slid his body down and appreciated the performance. When the performance ended, he clapped. Cecil, who was looking at him with unreadable eyes, started playing again.

Then it seems he fell asleep at some point. When he suddenly opened his eyes, Cecil was not there. Jeff, who was looking at the afterimage of the colored glass stained with the warmth of the morning, straightened the sheet that had slipped off his body. It seemed Cecil had covered him.

“…It has a scent.”

It was definitely the unique scent that the ‘bugs’ emitted, but it was more fragrant than anything Jeff had smelled so far. That would mean that not all bugs emit the same scent. The ‘bugs’ born wearing human skin all have a scent, but among them, there must be beings with a special scent like Cecil.

‘…Finding such a being would be what the perfumer Wayne Gray wants most.’

Because finding the raw material for a scent is also a perfumer’s mission. Wayne, who was born with a genius sense of smell and instinctively protected the specialness of the scent his other half possessed, wouldn’t he try to find ‘bugs’ with a scent more captivating than Cecil’s? The reason for bringing ‘young bugs’ to the mansion under the pretext of a talent sponsorship program might have been to collect the scents of more bugs. What would be the use of the ‘bugs’ raised like that?

“In the case of Hugo Gray….”

Considering that Hugo, who had a scent that was not as special as Cecil’s, was at the university.

“Nothing happened. I just finished the work my hyung gave me and stopped by to deliver it. …I was out of town to procure the raw materials needed for <Vivlook>.”

“Is he for procuring raw materials.”

The special raw material that is the core of <Vivlook> is the ‘bug’. And they can probably recognize each other’s existence. Through the ‘scent’. The fact that they recognized Mila’s specialness and led her to the mansion could ultimately be understood in the same context.

‘Bugs’ with a not-so-special scent are used for the purpose of finding other ‘bugs’. On the other hand, ‘bugs’ with a special scent become the motif for <Vivlook> or are used as the raw material itself. I will have to find out more about how they become the raw material for the scent, but considering Cecil who returned covered in wounds on the day of the full moon, the possibility that physical violence was used cannot be ruled out. Blood and sweat, or perhaps tears. Could those have been the ingredients?

The existence of twins born with the scent is no different from a stroke of luck for Wayne. Because he can keep them locked up in the mansion and use them whenever he wants. But what about other bugs? How does he persuade other bugs with a special scent? How does he lead them to the mansion and use them as ingredients for his scents? In this case, would it be kidnapping instead of persuasion? If so….

‘…There might be beings similar to Cecil locked up somewhere in the mansion.’

There is a need to search the mansion in earnest. There may be more ‘bugs’ here than I thought. At the same time, I had to keep in mind the possibility of humans who became ‘sacrifices’ for the ‘bugs’. The desire of the ‘bugs’ is highly likely to be to harm humans and covet their blood. Just as the children who smelled the scent of blood from the wound did. And that day.

“Run, Jeff!”

Just as my uncle, Alan Walker, who had rushed at me with a hungry face, did.

“…Would you be the same.”

Jeff murmured as he inhaled Cecil’s scent that had seeped into the sheet.

“Would your instincts be the same.”

Cecil on that day was clearly tormented by the violence he himself had inflicted. He had a pained look in his eyes when he saw the dark blue bruises. The only time he had laid a hand on me was that one day. Cecil never approached me first or reached out his hand to me when I visited the annex every night. He just listened quietly from his spot.

…It would have been a chance. On a day like today, he could have harmed me while I was asleep. Instead of just covering me with a sheet like this, he could have created an opportunity to see blood. Why did Cecil not do that?

Just as I have a purpose for approaching him, is he also waiting for an opportunity? For me to let my guard down even more around him. Is he aiming for the moment when I am completely unguarded and relaxed around him? Perhaps, like the talented children, Cecil also….

Pfft, Jeff, who laughed dryly, stood up. He thought as he left the empty 2nd floor.

Cecil is Cecil. He is not Wayne.

But in the end, he too was a ‘Gray’.

“Mr. Lowell? Were you out somewhere since dawn?”

A servant asked Jeff as he entered the main building. Jeff, who smiled lightly, opened his mouth.

“Good morning, Laura. I woke up early today, so I went for a walk.”

“Oh my, you did? Then shall I bring tea up to your room?”

“I would be grateful if you would.”

“Yes, I will prepare it right away.”

The servant, who was about to bow with a smile, suddenly widened her eyes as if she had discovered something.

“But Mr. Lowell, did something happen while you were on your walk? There is a scratch on your face….”

“A scratch?”

Jeff followed the direction the servant’s fingertip was pointing and swept his left cheek. At that, his skin stung for a moment and a strange sensation was felt at his fingertip. He lowered his hand to check and furrowed his brow. A little bit of dried blood powder had rubbed off.

“It is not deep, but it seems to be quite a long cut…. Did you perhaps encounter a cat?”

“No. That is not it, …ah.”

Come to think of it, a tender tree branch had brushed against his face when he was passing through the forest. He had been lost in thought, so he had dismissed even that as nothing, but it seems the stimulus had been enough to scratch his skin.

“I think the culprit is a tree branch, not a cat.”

When he said it with an awkward smile, the servant had a dumbfounded expression.

“A tree branch? No, how can your face be scratched by a tree branch…. Hmm, no, never mind.”

The servant, who had been contemplating something, soon nodded her head as if in resignation.

“If it is Mr. Lowell, it is certainly possible. Seeing as the angle at which my neck is currently bent is similar to when I saw a bird sitting on a tree branch.”

“Haha, I do not think it is that bad.”

Jeff gave an awkward laugh and stroked his chin.

“It must have been that bad for you to get cut like that, right? Anyway, it is a relief that the wound is not that deep. It will heal quickly if you just apply medicine on time. I will bring up medicine with the tea when you go up. We cannot allow a scar to be left on that precious face.”

“Thank you, Laura.”

“You are welcome.”

Leaving the smiling servant behind, Jeff headed straight for his room. The sleepwalking guard who was standing guard in front of the door gave him a resentful look for a moment, but soon gave up and left the spot. It was thanks to the fact that he had already gotten used to Jeff’s nightly excursions, and in reality, the mansion’s interest in the sleepwalking had also died down. That was why he could come and go to Cecil’s annex every night without any restrictions.

Upon entering the room, Jeff checked the mirror. As the servant had said, a shallow cut was running long across his left cheek. It was more noticeable than he thought, but he did not think it was anything to worry about.

Until he faced the children, it was certainly so.

“Good morning, everyone. Are you ready to start class?”

When he offered his morning greeting as he entered the study, which was filled with the radiant sunlight unique to Colley. When he noticed that the gazes of the three children, who were sitting in their respective seats and had turned their heads, were directed at his left cheek. And when he realized that the temperature of those gazes was distinctly different from usual.

“……”

Jeff could tell.

That the real test had begun.