Danvers was in turmoil.
After preparing Bruce's bedroom, Danvers returned to her own room and tossed and turned in bed, her body feeling somewhat overheated.
She had no idea what had come over her today. Ever since meeting Bruce, her heart had not settled down. It was not entirely worry about her future, either. Indecent thoughts kept surfacing in her mind, growing increasingly intense.
Although she did not want to lose her current life, that hardly explained all these shameful thoughts. Thinking back on what had just happened, she had actually rubbed her body against a man's arm. She had actually tried to seduce a man.
Danvers would never even have dared imagine such a thing. What was wrong with her?
Was she yearning for a man?
Danvers touched her face. It was burning hot, and her body felt feverish too.
Bruce wasn't even that handsome. How could I possibly have fallen for him? But how else could I explain my behavior?
She entered her bedroom's private bathroom, undressed, and washed herself. Steam filled the bathroom, carrying a faint milky fragrance.
After showering for a while, Danvers felt a little calmer.
What had happened today left her baffled. Perhaps she had been too anxious and acted impulsively.
I mustn't act on impulse. Otherwise, Cousin Bruce will think I'm a frivolous woman, and he'll only look down on me.
He might even throw me out of the manor because of it.
"Danvers, you have to calm down!"
After her quick bath, Danvers wrapped herself in a nightgown and sat at her dressing table, brushing her hair before the mirror.
One stroke, then another. Danvers's movements gradually grew vacant, and a lush black rose appeared on her chest. She slowly left the dressing table and opened her bedroom door. Yet in the dressing-table mirror, Danvers was still sitting there. The Danvers in the mirror put down her brush and revealed an eerie smile.
"Finally, a little nudge was all it took for you to lose control? It really is your nature, buried deep in your blood."
In the study, Bruce was researching the origins of this world's mythology. Perhaps because the Rune Kingdom followed the Goddess of the Night Church, the Goddess of the Night stood above all other gods. She had already existed when the world was shrouded in night. Only afterward had light, lightning, storms, and the rest come into being.
Other countries might have different accounts of the gods they worshipped. After all, who would not want their own god to be the first and most powerful deity?
He glanced at a small mirror on the desk. This was his first careful look at this body's face. Its features were fairly well-defined, but the current hairstyle did not suit him. It needed a little trimming.
After briefly examining himself, Bruce picked up his book again.
Knock, knock, knock...
Hearing the sound at the door, Bruce lifted his head from the pile of books.
"The door's open. Come in."
Danvers leaned against the doorway in a silk nightgown, her cheeks flushed and her gaze hazy.
"What are you planning to do?"
Bruce glanced toward the door and froze, then asked as he looked at the wine bottle and two stemmed glasses in Danvers's hands.
Bruce had a feeling that his younger cousin Danvers might be about to throw herself into his arms.
Danvers wore nothing but a thin nightgown. With her milk-white skin exposed and the fresh fragrance of her bath lingering around her, Bruce could not help having a few dangerous thoughts himself, but he forcibly held them back.
"Cousin, your room's ready. I'm having a little trouble sleeping. Would you have a drink with me?"
Danvers swayed the wine bottle in her hand as she spoke, looking for all the world as though she intended to seduce Bruce.
"Uh, I don't drink."
Bruce waved a hand and turned his attention back to his book.
"Even if you don't drink, you can still have a taste. This is red wine from my father's private collection.
" Danvers entered the study and placed the glasses and bottle on the desk. As she bent over, her nightgown fell away from her body, and Bruce hurriedly turned his head aside.
Danvers clearly had no intention of letting Bruce off. She placed a hand on his shoulder and smoothly settled onto his lap.
Between the unmistakable sensation of her body and the young woman's alluring fragrance, Bruce was no saint. He could hardly remain unmoved with her sitting in his lap. His body soon reacted, and he could not resist glancing down.
A silk nightgown was nowhere near enough to conceal her body. One glance gave Bruce an unobstructed view. She really was wearing nothing else. This was far too tempting. A black rose was tattooed on Danvers's chest, looking so lush and vivid that he could not help wanting to kiss it.
Sitting on Bruce's lap, Danvers rubbed her long, pale legs together, strange little murmurs escaping her lips, as though she were aroused, or trying to entice him.
Who could possibly resist this?
Bruce inwardly lamented his plight. His hand had already moved toward Danvers's body beyond his control, and his head dipped lower and lower. The softness within his reach was drawing him in.
Tonight might well turn into a sleepless night.
Just then, however, an ill-timed knock sounded at the door.
"Cousin Bruce, your hot water is ready. Please take your bath soon."
Outside the study, Jessica knocked on the door, coldly watching Bruce and Danvers sitting entwined.
With her younger sister standing in the doorway holding her doll, Danvers immediately stopped moving. She got off Bruce's lap and stood to one side while Bruce pretended to read.
Bruce immediately breathed a sigh of relief as well. Jessica had arrived just in time.
"Cousin Bruce, you can take your bath now."
Jessica repeated herself in the same icy voice.
"Oh, right. I'll go right now. Thank you. You're so thoughtful, Jessica." Bruce put down his book and walked to the door with a smile. He ruffled Jessica's golden hair, then headed for the bathroom.
Thank goodness. I nearly lost control.
Bruce did not notice anything wrong with Jessica's tone. After all, something rather awkward had happened between him and her sister.
Having her hair touched by Bruce left Jessica looking displeased as well.
"Sister, what were you doing?"
Jessica stared at Danvers. Although she did not understand what had just happened and knew nothing about relations between men and women, she could tell that their actions had been very intimate. Her sister had never done anything that intimate with her.
Jessica's hostility toward Bruce deepened further.
Danvers seemed to have sobered up, looking dazed and confused. She pressed a hand to her forehead. Hadn't she just finished bathing and been brushing her hair?
"Huh? What happened to me just now?"
Suddenly, Danvers seemed to remember something, and she flushed all over, burning with heat and shame.
What had I been doing just now?
How could I do something so shameless?
Danvers could no longer bear to face her younger sister and hurried out of the study.
Something was very wrong with her sister. Jessica sensed it clearly. There was also a strange presence about her.
"What's wrong with my sister?"
"She must have been beguiled by something."
The Vengeful Spirit Doll in Jessica's arms stared after Danvers for a long time before slowly speaking.
"Beguiled? Then what should we do?"
Although Jessica was a bloodthirsty little girl, she still cared deeply about her sister.
"She's only been beguiled. It hasn't affected her much, so she should be fine."
The Vengeful Spirit Doll spoke, but a thoughtful look flickered in the doll's eyes.
To think there's another of my kind in the manor, one skilled at beguiling people. Who could it be? A ghost? Coming out at a time like this... Heh, it must be after that thing too. Hoping to reap the rewards of someone else's struggle? I went to all that trouble to kill the Waynes, and now you want to take advantage of me? Dream on.
That thing can only be mine!
The Vengeful Spirit Doll snorted inwardly, a calculating gleam flickering in the doll's grayish-brown eyes.