"What next?"
Lynn held his breath and asked, his attention fixed on her.
Black String Moon closed her eyes again, lowered her head, and parted her lips.
"Turn it clockwise until it won't turn any farther."
Lynn nodded, then took a deep breath. His expression settled into composure as he gripped the two fan-shaped ends of the winding key with both hands and said:
"All right! I'm going to start."
With that said.
Lynn gripped the winding key firmly and began turning it clockwise.
Almost immediately, the clicking of gears reached his ears, and the purple patterns on Miss Doll's skin slowly lit up as he turned.
Click, click, click, click, click-
Gears meshed, machinery turned.
The metallic clatter seemed to carry the feel of a steampunk Industrial Era.
Slowly, he kept turning.
The night was quiet.
Almost nothing remained in his ears but the meshing of gears and the turning of machinery.
Yet the metallic clatter, which should have been as grating as a factory's, somehow took on an indescribable softness in this quiet room.
The glow of the purple patterns on her skin illuminated her back, making it resemble the bud of a purple rose.
It was clearly a mechanical doll's body without a trace of warmth.
Yet Lynn gradually began to feel something unusual...
A humming.
As though some kind of flame were burning.
And at that moment, he finally understood why Madam Doll had worn such a confident, mysterious smile when she brought out the Doll Manual.
Because she had been right.
Without exception, the doll ladies of Doll Manor possessed exquisite beauty and nearly flawless looks. They had neither a devil's seductive allure nor a succubus's bewitching charm. All they had was the austere allure revealed by cold machinery and gears.
The flames within Lynn