Leaning on the candlelight, I descended the dark stairs and passed down the corridor. The hoot of an owl tapping outside the window sounded unusually eerie.

Though the candle’s glow was faint, Reid walked with familiarity to a specific spot in the library and stopped.

He handed me the candlestick and stepped back.

“Third shelf from the top, twentieth book from the left. Pull out the reddish-brown one.”

I obeyed. A leather-bound book with a small lock—it was clearly an old diary.

“Looks like it holds ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) secrets of the mansion.”

“Correct.”

It was a secret clue I had deliberately avoided to prevent going down the death route. But in the imprisonment route, secrets apparently reveal themselves naturally.

I realized anew that I was steadily progressing along the imprisonment route.

“Where’s the key?”

“On the second floor.”

Reid led the way.

At the mention of the second floor, I thought of the Countess’s room, but it wasn’t that. We stopped before another door a bit apart from her room.

‘Was there a room like this?’

Even the embossed pattern on the arched wooden door felt unfamiliar. The corridor I had visited diligently for a week suddenly seemed strange.

Inside was a bedroom decorated brightly in beige and gold tones.

The only furniture was a massive canopy bed dominating the center, and all the decorations came in pairs. The feeling was immediate.

“A couple’s bedroom?”

“Yeah.”

He approached a landscape painting on the wall. Hidden in the corner of the only unmatched item in the room was a small key.

“Here.”

Handing me the key, he stepped away to lean by the window as if giving me time to savor the moment.

I plopped onto the bed and unlocked the diary’s clasp.

[ You have gained access to an important clue. Secrets of Heisenberg Mansion are revealed.]

Yes, please tell me quickly.

[ Audio data ‘The True Owner of the Mansion’ is playing.]

‘The True Owner.’

A clichéd title perfect for secrets or truths. Yet a strange chill swept my nape.

Perhaps it was intuition.

Soon, a man’s voice started to resonate directly in my mind rather than my ears. The content was incoherent.

— She, wearing a white veil and wedding dress, was the most beautiful bride in the world. The moment the vow to be eternal partners echoed through the hall, my heart trembled beyond endurance.

What a proud fool. Was it really that good?

— But why isn’t she my bride?

What?

— I first learned jealousy. A worthless man occupied the seat beside her, and I was so envious I wanted to kill him.

Wait, that’s odd...

— So I killed him and locked her away.

...What did you say?

— This mansion is a paradise for only her and me.

— If we spend eternity alone here, she will inevitably come to love me.

Crazy.

— But why? She slowly went mad.

— The gentle woman started screaming and crumbling at the sight of me. Thinking more time was needed, I extended my visits: a week, a month, a year. Seeing no effect, I chose to visit every ten years. After all, our time is infinite.

...This is madness.

— As I thought, finally after the third decade, she welcomed me. Her voice told me she had missed me so much, and her soft body in my arms was sweet. So I accepted her wager.

A wager?

— The loser is the one who confesses love first. She said if she lost, she’d become a loving wife and stay in the mansion forever. If I lost... I’d give her all my magical power.

Ah...

— A wager with everything at stake. But one kiss from her made me ready to bet everything.

— That’s how our wager began.

[ Audio data ‘The True Owner of the Mansion’ has ended.]

“......”

Let’s calmly piece it together.

So this mansion wasn’t originally the Countess’s ex-husband’s property, but that of a mad archmage who kidnapped the Countess. Therefore, the true villain of this imprisonment story isn’t the Countess but...

“......The Guest.”

I muttered.

“Did you call, madam?”

I lowered the diary onto my lap and looked up. Reid had stealthily taken position right before me.

The moon cleared the clouds and poured light through the window. Bathed in moonlight, his appearance gradually changed.

His silver hair grew long, absorbing the night’s darkness, and his sea-colored eyes darkened with red as if stained with blood.

[ Dungeon owner ‘Chaos Evil Reid’ appears.]

The pure white moonlight was a spotlight shining as the dungeon owner made his entrance.

He smiled and said,

“Actually, the villain who killed your ex-husband and locked you up is me.”

“Wow, that fits perfectly.”

“Pretending to be a mourner is just roleplay for the wager with the Countess.”

“Wow, I see.”

“Actually, the dresses and jewels piled on the second floor are all courtship gifts from me. The face in the damaged portrait on the third floor is probably mine too.”

“Wow, that figures.”

“Of course, even this couple’s bedroom isn’t really meant for a couple.”

“Wow... ah.”

I quickly got tired of pretending to be shocked. Feeling my expression fade in real time, I silently cried,

‘Word Spirit, what kind of dungeon did you make?!’

My god gave no answer.

Meanwhile, Reid sat beside me and touched my earlobe.

“Tired? Want to sleep?”

His hot breath poured down my nape. With arms wrapping tightly around my waist, I fell onto the bed in his embrace.

Yeah, for now, I just wanted to sleep.

✠

It swayed. Constantly.

Sometimes swept away, sometimes swallowed.

Thinking maybe this was a wild, tossing sea, I parted my lashes wet with sweat.

In the dark, our eyes met, shining faintly like a yo-yo. His gaze, as if watching me for a long time, was blood red rather than sea blue.

That color suits him.

Suddenly I thought again. He must be the only one in the world who can shake me this much.

Of course, the feeling is mutual.

With every prolonged gaze, tenderness deepened above my waist. This time too, he slowly leaned over to kiss my face.

His black hair rustled, softly tickling my cheek. I brushed it aside with my fingers and accepted his lips.

The soft, tender feeling pressed from my forehead down past my eyes and nose to where my breath escaped.

The kiss, gentle enough to melt and fragile enough to break, deceived the lower parts. Impulsively, I lightly bit his lips during the kiss.

Instead, he apologized.

“Sorry. Did it hurt?”

“......”

No, it didn’t.

I felt him paying careful attention and spoke honestly.

“You...”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you get tired...?”

“Exactly.”

“......”

“I don’t know either.”

He laughed pleasantly, the sound annoyingly smug.

“I really don’t know.” 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

When I looked at him firmly, he comforted me gently. Of course, only upwards.

“Can’t bring exhaustion with you as a bound guardian?”

“......Ah.”

Hearing his regretful mumble, I recalled the cause of the problem. It was the paired skill.

“That’s right... bound... healing... something like that... sigh...”

“Ah, so this is the effect of bound healing?”

“Ah... I learned it backwards...”

“Then you don’t get tired? That’s kind of exciting.”

“......”

Again, his voice resonated long in my ear. I was too tired even to glare.

“You’re annoying. You...”

“Sorry.”

“If you keep doing that...”

“Yeah.”

On impulse, I said something.

“I should use Divine Descent...”

“Don’t. It’s scary.”

Whispering with a voice utterly unafraid, he took advantage of the situation.

His solid body pressed close against me. Although large enough to cover me, somehow in this moment it felt like I was buried in his embrace.

Tender gestures and full sensations easily entranced me. My lashes fluttered as I hugged him tightly.

Through my arms, I felt a faint tremor running along his spine.

While he exhaled long breaths into my ear as if emptying all the oxygen from his chest, I struggled against my drooping eyelids.

His warm, heavy presence pressing down on me urged sleep on.