Inside the reception hall of Black Thorn Security Company.
Klein took Leonard's place on the sofa, chatting with Christina with his usual expression.
Judging by her tone alone, Christina seemed more or less normal.
"Probably over a month ago," Christina said. "My family kept saying that I was getting worse, that I was starting to look stranger and stranger."
"I thought it was because Lanevus still hadn't been caught, so I neglected myself."
"I wanted to come ask you for help several times, but my husband always locked me up, saying I was in too poor a condition to go out—"
Klein wore an impeccable smile and nodded approvingly.
Inside, however, he was screaming.
Ma'am, your husband kept you home after you became like this. That's true love right there.
Still smiling, Klein watched the flesh beneath her skin churn and squirm, her features twisting out of place, her right eye shifting above her left.
It reminded Klein of Morien and his offspring.
Still, perhaps because he had grown accustomed to them over the past few months, he felt that the Morien Family's Insect Brood looked better.
As they talked, Christina's skin began to melt. Her face warped like a wax figure exposed to heat, slowly dripping downward with gravity. Her severely displaced features became even more distorted, and her eyes slid down to her neck.
Even her previously normal tone changed.
"My family watched me closely. I barely managed to sneak out—"
She probably did not realize it herself and still tried to say something to Klein, but her vocal cords had already fused with her neck, making it difficult to produce any normal sounds. Her voice was always sticky and slurred.
At that moment, Dunn Smith entered the reception hall with a solemn expression, holding a square box