"···." "···."

Shiver.

Irene’s hand, still gripping Aslan’s collar, trembled like a leaf in the wind. For a moment, she was speechless.

She had spent nearly half her life sharpening the blade of revenge. The target of that blade was right in front of her. Yet why... why was she rendered mute, unable to speak, like a fool who had swallowed honey?

It was a phenomenon she couldn’t even understand herself.

"It may have become a habit..." "···."

Irene bit her lip tightly.

It was absurd. Aslan would never believe that. But at the same time, it was the closest thing to the truth.

Because of a habit.

Because of a fear of change.

Even though she knew that neither her father, who wanted her to keep acting like a villain, nor the Aslan of the past were around anymore, she couldn’t break the inertia. She couldn’t stop herself from continuing down the path she had taken.

She wished someone would stop her.

But who?

Who could possibly stop her?

No one dared to, because they were afraid... No, because they were disgusted by her. How could anyone touch her?

With a clenched jaw, Irene released her grip on Aslan’s collar and spun around.

"I’ll take the experiment later. I promise, don’t worry. I’m not running away." "Don’t go, sis." "Let go..." "Stay here tonight. You’re sleeping at the mansion." "Let go..." "This isn’t a suggestion or a request, it’s a command from the head of the family. You called me to a mandatory meeting last time, but now you plan to ignore my command?" "···."

Aslan’s large hand gripped Irene’s wrist. She was held in place, unable to move.

She could have easily twisted his weak grip and thrown him off if she wanted. She could have ignored him and dragged Aslan out of the room. But for some reason, her body refused to budge.

At that moment, it felt like... perhaps she wanted him to hold her back after all...

"You’ll be in your old room." "I don’t want to go there..."

She was thinking about why she left this house in the first place. Why she had escaped.

She hated that room, the one that made her shudder every time she lay down. That was why she ran away.

"If that’s the case, there’s nothing else to do." "···."

Aslan sighed, scattering Irene’s disheveled hair. There was no other way if she didn’t want to sleep in her old room.

"Guess you’ll have to sleep here together." "···!?"

‘What is this...?’

Irene, lying in bed with a flustered face, could not hide her bewilderment.

She wasn’t alone.

She could hear the rustling sounds of sheets and skin brushing together beside her. Irene remained stiff, unable to move.

"Ugh! I can’t sleep..." "Charlotte, hush. Aslan’s sister is trying to sleep." "Oh, I thought I smelled something nice... I guess it was your sister’s scent." "It’s called a fragrance, not a smell..." "Aren’t you still awake, Yuria?" "Mm...?" "Then, shall we quietly chat until we fall asleep? Let’s be careful so we don’t wake her. What do you think, Charlotte?" "Ughhhh... Mmm, slurp... Phhfff..." "···She’s already asleep." "Let’s just go to sleep." "Mm..."

The constant chatter coming from both sides, above and below, filled the room. Irene squeezed her eyes shut, pretending to sleep, and let out a deep sigh.

So, this was what he meant by ‘sleeping together’...

When Aslan said it with such a strange look on his face, she had expected... No, feared the worst, but this wasn’t what she had anticipated. It was certainly still "sleeping together," but not in the way she thought...

‘What a fool.’

Sighing inwardly, Irene ground her teeth as she slid her face deeper into the covers.

How annoying. She had complained about being scared and reluctant to sleep in her own room, and now she was shoved into a room with all the kids gathered together.

Of course, here, she was supposed to be the one helping to take off her mask. Aslan had guided her here, and now, he left without a second thought, making it feel like the most cruel thing he had done to her.

‘But... why do I feel so drowsy...?’

She slid deeper into the bed, feeling her eyelids grow heavy. Irene’s consciousness began to blur as she sank into sleep.

It was strange.

She had thought that, after all that had happened in the Vermond Mansion, she would never be able to sleep there again. But now, in this terrifying and creepy place, she thought she couldn’t even manage a simple rest.

The sounds of the kids rustling, and the whispered giggles that they tried to suppress, mixed with their peaceful breathing, surrounded her. As she listened, Irene began to forget that this was the place she had feared for so long.

It was warm. Peaceful.

For the first time in a long while, Irene found peace in the very place that had once turned her into a monster. She sank deeper into sleep.

‘Ah, I was sleeping so well...’

Suddenly, Irene’s eyes snapped open, and she squeezed them shut again.

She had finally managed to fall into a deep sleep, but something had woken her up, pulling her back into consciousness.

‘Ah? But I can’t move my body...!’

As she reached to pull the blanket back over her, Irene realized her arms wouldn’t move. Not just her arms—her legs and body were completely still. Even when she tried to scream, her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

‘Sleep paralysis!’

Ah, this was why she hated sleeping in this damn mansion...

Cursing Aslan, who had made her sleep here, Irene closed her eyes and began to count in an attempt to calm herself.

It was just a temporary phenomenon. It would pass. It would be fine... she believed that as she counted, but by the time she reached 100, Irene’s body shuddered as she felt someone approaching.

‘Is it the kids...?’

Charlotte or Yuria?

Or maybe one of the guards?

She was uncomfortable with someone invading her bed, but at this moment, it was the least of her concerns.

Sighing in relief, Irene opened her eyes just as she felt a hand gently brushing her hair from the back.

"···!?"

It wasn’t a child’s hand.

It was much larger, an adult’s hand.

The hand gently combed through her disheveled hair, tilting her head to the side, and at that moment, a small voice whispered into her ear.

[Hide yourself.] "···!?"

Irene’s whole body trembled at the low voice. What was this?

It was a voice she had never heard before, yet oddly familiar at the same time.

[Close your heart and silence your voice. Later, you must hide yourself so completely that you forget who you are.]

[Until when...?] At that moment, another voice echoed in her other ear, trembling.

As soon as Irene heard it, she immediately realized it was her own voice. And at the same time, she understood.

This wasn’t just a dream.

‘My memory...?’

The memories she had briefly glimpsed in the inner world that day.

This was surely one of them.

She had forgotten it consciously, but her unconscious mind had cherished it deeply.

Why she had forgotten. Why she had to forget—she had forgotten all of that, but now, that memory was slipping back into her mind.

[Someone you can trust will appear. Just wait until then.]

[What if they don’t come...?]

[They will come. No, they must...]

At that moment, the voice grew fainter and more indistinct.

Irene’s eyes shot open.

"Ahhh...!" "Sis, calm down." "Ha! Hah! Hahhh...!"

When Irene opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Aslan’s pale face, gazing at her with a pitiful expression, his neck gripped tightly.

And the hand that had been strangling Aslan’s neck...

"Ah! Ah!? I’m sorry...!"

Aslan’s face grew paler, almost lifeless, and only when Irene realized what she had done did she immediately release her grip from his neck.

There were clear handprints on his neck, and on her arm, where she had scratched it in her unconscious state, deep gashes marred her skin.

The moment she saw this, tears flooded from her eyes.

"I’m sorry! Hic, I didn’t mean to hurt you...!"

"Come back home, sis. It wasn’t as bad as you thought at the mansion, right?"

"This is what you call ‘not bad’?! I had those weird dreams, and I ended up hurting you like this...!"

"I’m fine. Just come back. It’ll get better little by little."

"Hic...!"

Irene buried her face in Aslan’s chest, her long-suppressed tears finally pouring out.

‘I understand now... Aslan is truly on my side...’

The blade she had sharpened for revenge was no longer needed.

This was the moment when Aslan became her true ally.

"I can’t come back... yet."

And with that realization, Irene understood she could no longer stay at the mansion for a while. She had hoped that today would be the end of it, but the brutality ingrained in her for so long would someday hurt Aslan.

Her only ally.

She would hurt him, and she would regret it.

"Will you come back someday?" "Mm..." "Then that’s enough." "···."

Those words were a relief beyond measure.

Irene pressed her head into Aslan’s chest and drifted into thought.

‘So who was the person in my dream...?’

Who was the owner of that deep, resonant voice? And who was the ‘trustworthy person’ they mentioned?

She felt like she was falling into confusion.