Lucerne loved the water, one day he had jumped into a waterfall while being chased by an assassin sent by his cousins, narrowly escaping death. Since that time, he felt a sense of sanctuary in the water.

He was soaking in a large marble bathtub that would fit four or five people. He lifted his head, pushing back his hair from his eyes. As he slowly closed his eyes, he felt a sense of foreignness and lifted them.

Poor noblewomen standing in a row. And… … . . That maid, hugging the laundry with tears running down her eyes.

‘She was crying so sadly.’

There was only the sound of tears falling like raindrops; other than that; she had been silent. If she was already so sad, she would never be able to withstand what was to come.

‘This mansion is going to swallow that woman.’

If you had nothing to be desired, you were sold. It even happened to himself.

Like when he gave her the cloak he cherished. But if there was a problem… … .

“Why did it stand?’

It couldn’t be. His penis stood tall–in shock, he rose from the water. Out came a large body woven with strong and perfect muscles, and in his center stood his penis swollen like a rod.

‘This can’t be happening.’

‘Look, Lucerne. If you’re a sincere and faithful child, there’s no way you’ll get an erection after seeing these bad things. You can’t commit a crime against the family. An illegitimate child must not leave seeds. If you get an erection, I will whip you.’

A devastating memory came over him. Lucerne frowned and came out of the bathtub, putting on a gown roughly. His body froze. He heard a very faint sound.

“Who is it?”

Lucerne whispered. There was no sound behind the door, Lucerne was going to call an escort, and he realized that it was quicker to deal with it himself. He snapped his finger.

“Shadow, find the suspicious guy.”

Dark shadows came out of the blue, covering the floor. Shadows were the beasts and guardians of the Cartier family.

It was the ability that only the blood of the Duke of Cartier had, which was only passed down to Lucerne–like his red eyes.

Then, the shadow twisted its body like a beast with a tail and ran towards someone hidden in the darkness.

“Ahh!”

The target assassin screamed and fell from the ceiling. When Lucerne beckoned, the shadow put the man down. There was a sound of his shoulder blades cracking.

“Who sent you? Among my cousins, was it Marco or was it Jacob?”

Lucerne whispered fiercely. The assassin pulled out the knife and rushed to Lucerne. Lucerne avoided the man running like a bull.

“Really.”

The assassin’s neck was sandwiched between Lucerne’s arms.

“This is how they say hello to the family.”

Lucerne squeezed it.

“In this family, this is my best regards,”

The assassin trembled.

Crunch.

The assassin with a bruised neck fell to the floor.

“You didn’t give up; he chose the right person.”

As an assassin’s last attack, he swung the dagger even though his neck suffered. Lucerne grabbed his man’s arm and broke his wrist. Picking up the dagger dropped by the assassin with his left hand, Lucerne stabbed the blade in his opponent’s back.

“Argh!”

There were sounds of soft flesh being torn apart and bones fracturing. Lucerne moved the shadow at the same time.

“Shadow.”

Then the shadow made a screen to protect Lucerne’s body. Lucerne’s gown did not become stained from a single drop of blood.

Lucerne looked numbly at the body of the assassin, trembling as it was.

“Fuck, I’m even more excited.”

Lucerne gritted his teeth. He smothered a cigarette as he leaned against the bathtub. It has been his long-standing habit that his excitement rises temporarily after killing a person. He moved his body, and his blood circulated more.

‘Why do I keep thinking about her?’

That woman with blonde hair. He had to admit her appearance was impressive—even for him—who was not very interested in the beauty of others. The image of her with water on her bosom strangely aroused him.

“Shadow.”

At Lucerne’s call, the shadow beast fell from the ceiling.

“Melt it and eat it.”

He jerked his chin, pointing to the dead body. Then the shadow made a small shrieking sound and began to swallow the body from his toes.

The body began to disappear little by little from the feet. However, the speed was so slow that it was only visible after close observation.

He saw his penis was still standing up,

“It’ll take a little bit of time until the shadow eats the whole corpse.”

Really, this was his first time.

“I don’t have a hobby like this in front of a dead body.”

He made a low groan. It was a voice of pleasure mixed with discomfort.

***

“Lucerne de Kayas, reporting on April 16, 998 in the imperial calendar… … . There are no women in particular proximity.”

Elisha muttered in a soft whisper.

“Special monitoring target, reported on May 15th. No wife, no concubine, possibly homosexual.”

“The forty-third spy disguised as a courtesan. Access failed.”

Elisha recalled the reports she had read about Lucerne. He was a thoroughly ascetic man. To a strange extent.

Even he was extremely disgusted with marriage, to the extent that he hated the head of the ducal house for pressuring him to marry.

In the end, he was unmarried even when Elisha died. Usually, a nobleman married at the age of 18 upon becoming an adult, so it was unusual.

“It’s here… … ,”

Elisha stopped. The passage led to four doors. And the nearest passage…

That place… … . It was Lucerne’s room,

‘The place where I hid several times in my previous life and cried.’

It was pure coincidence that Elisha found this room.

Two years from now, an aristocrat who would become a collateral like Elisha would go crazy.

At that time, Elisha was twenty-two years old. It was a time when, under Jacob’s direction, she was working on doing the double ledger. At that time, she was given a private room on the second floor to herself because she had to concentrate.

‘Someone? Anyone? Please save me!’

Even that day, she was at her desk until dawn, as usual, and doing heavy work. Then, she dozed off and woke up, only to find smoke everywhere.

Later, Elisha learned that the young noble lady who went to the first floor broke the window and escaped.

‘The stairs are already on fire,’

Elisha jumped out in confusion. The moment she was teetering on the verge of death, Elisha miraculously discovered it.

‘Why is the fire not moving and burning this painting?’

It was a snake painting titled ‘Head’, which was hung as if showing off its arrogance in front of the stairs on the second floor.

‘There’s wind coming from there!’

Elisha ran into it as if possessed. Then, by chance, Elisha’s fist struck the black snake in the middle and-

Pop.

A secret passage was opened. Elisha hid her body in the pathway.

Soon the fire was tamed, and Elisha made an excuse about how she survived; she was hiding in the uppermost attic and opened up the window by the roof.

Elisha’s well-being wasn’t important to anyone, so no one was interested. When Jacob saw Elisha, he swore that she was a lucky bastard.

‘Since then, this secret passage has become a space only I know.’

As it turned out, the secret passage was connected throughout the residences and to the main mansion. It was also connected to the second and third floors, mainly used by the family members.

Among them, there was one room that Elisha found. It was an empty room that no one used.

‘At the time, I couldn’t even imagine the identity of the resident of the room… … ,’

When Elisha reached her mental limit, she would often stay in the room she had found. There, she sobbed until she swallowed her tears secretly at dawn. Then at dawn, she contemplated suicide several times.

‘It turns out that the room where I even decided to die in was Lucerne’s room.’

At that time, Lucerne rarely came to the mansion, so she thought it was an empty room. She didn’t know how weak she became when she found out about it later. The room was like an empty tiger’s den.

‘But, tonight I… … . , Even if I know there is a tiger, I am going into its cave.’

Once I encounter Lucerne, let’s stay calm. Elisha mumbled.

Elisha’s pace stopped. Elisha’s hands counted here and there and drew her maps with her head. This was the destination. Elisha leaned against the wall.

“Ah!”

It was that moment. Elisha lifted the hem of the long cloak over her shoulder. There was a pool of water under her feet. Elisha managed to prop herself up against the wall. The wind extinguished her candle.

“Oh, come on… … .’

And when Elisha opened her body, what he heard in her ears was an ominous sound.

Riiiiiiiiiip-

Elisha’s eyes widened. The lace on her bosom and the fine part of her pajamas was hung on a protruding stone.

‘My pajamas.’

It was cool from her breasts to her thighs, where her pajamas were ripped. Elisha closed her eyes. She held her clothes precariously and knocked on the door.

The secret passage opened silently. The smell of cigarettes entered her nose as she stepped through the secret passage.

‘It’s dazzling… … .’

The sound of dripping water tickled her ears. A light came into her eyes. Elisha was in the closet, where it was empty.

She went outside. There was a person in the bathroom.

“Ah.”

Elisha’s grip was released. Her tight ripped pajamas revealed her bra. With a cloak on her shoulder, Elisha saw a distant sight.

“What is… … ,”

She doubted her eyes.

‘Special surveillance target, Lucerne de Kayas.

There seems to be a high probability being a pervert.

Still, there are no women around. Sexual function is normal… … , Confirmed.’

In Elisha’s past life, the report that she read one day in her previous life came into her mind.

Elisha was now watching Lucerne lean against the bathtub as he sucked on a cigarette and masturbated. Underneath his feet was a body covered in a sticky black substance.

Craaackle-–

The Shadow made a crackling sound.

‘What am I looking at now?’

Elisha, who had gone through all sorts of hardships, was also embarrassed, but she couldn’t help but peer harder and frown.

Because, Lucerne-

***