The moment Lance heard Irene’s voice from the washroom, his mind went blank, and the unnatural heat inside him erupted completely.
His first reaction was to shut Fox down.
Eyes bloodshot, he grabbed the white towel from the table and walked toward the washroom.
The closer he came, the more clearly he caught the faint scent in the air.
Irene’s voice sounded unusually soft and playful from inside.
“Brother Lance, could you pass me the towel?
And don’t peek like you did last time.”
Lance answered stiffly and stopped in front of the door.
“I’m opening it.”
Irene cracked the door open and reached one hand through.
Steam mixed with the faint scent washed over Lance.
The last of his reason gave way.
He put the towel into Irene’s hand, then pushed the door open.
Irene stared at him in shock.
Everything happened too quickly for her to understand what was wrong.
Still overwhelmed by the murloc blood’s side effect, Lance moved toward her and forced a kiss on her.
Irene resisted at first, frightened by how feverishly hot he was and by the strength with which he held on to her.
The situation quickly spiraled.
Irene had feelings for Lance, and although she did not understand what had come over him, after her initial resistance she stopped pushing him away.
Before the encounter could go any further, a voice suddenly came from the bedroom.
“Young Master Lance!
I brought the murloc blood you asked for!”
A scream followed.
Lance jolted and, for an instant, regained some clarity.
The washroom door stood wide open.
Bonnie was frozen near the bedroom entrance, struggling to hold a small bucket of fresh murloc blood as she stared at Lance and Irene in disbelief.
Irene’s face went crimson.
She shoved Lance away, hurriedly covered herself, and fled his room with her head lowered.
…
Lance stood there in a daze.
‘What just happened?’
His head felt muddled, and he could barely remember the previous few minutes.
Worse, the burning agitation inside him was already rising again.
“Young Master Lance…
I-I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t mean to see anything.”
“Really, I’m sorry…”
Bonnie set the murloc blood on the floor and turned as though she wanted to flee the room.
Lance moved faster.
He pressed the door shut and locked it.
Bonnie’s face instantly went pale.
“Young Master Lance, I won’t tell the First Madam what I saw…”
She backed away with a pleading expression, frightened by the state he was in.
Lance did not answer.
His reason collapsed again beneath the murloc blood’s side effect.
He grabbed Bonnie.
What followed was not consensual.
Lance, no longer acting rationally, forced himself on her.
…
An hour later, Irene sat blankly on the edge of her bed.
She had dressed again, but she still felt unsettled and physically uncomfortable.
‘Brother Lance…
why did he suddenly become like that?’
‘Or…
has he always liked me?’
Irene frowned and instinctively reached for the silver bracelet she normally wore.
Her wrist was bare.
“Oh!”
She suddenly remembered that the bracelet was still in Lance’s washroom.
It was the only keepsake her birth parents had left her when she was very young, and she had always guarded it carefully.
Only the confusion of tonight had made her forget it.
After thinking for a moment, Irene stood and returned to Lance’s room, uneasy despite herself.
‘He shouldn’t act like that again…
right?’
Even Irene could not make sense of what she was feeling.
She tried the door.
It was locked.
“Hm?”
Surprised, she leaned closer.
A faint, tearful voice came from inside.
“Young Master Lance…”
It was Bonnie.
Irene’s face immediately drained of color, and her body began to tremble.
She stood outside the door for a while before finally walking away, hurt and disappointed.
…
By the time Lance silently dressed again, it was close to midnight.
Bonnie was still on the bed, unable to completely stop crying.
The sight left Lance deeply troubled.
Lance had finally recovered his senses.
He restarted Fox.
[Body scan complete.
Your current physical condition is healthy.
The unknown substance has now been completely metabolized.
You do not need to worry about the same thing happening again.]
Fox continued.
[The scan also shows that your Constitution has increased by 0.1.
This appears to be another effect of the murloc blood.
The increase occurred together with the side effect and was not included in my earlier estimate.]
[Physical Attributes]
Constitution: 0.6
Strength: 0.7
Agility: 0.5
Lance looked at Bonnie, who was still crying.
Now that the murloc blood’s effect had passed, the harm caused by what had happened was impossible to ignore.
Lance had gained another physical benefit from the murloc blood, but Bonnie had suffered for it.
She was an ordinary shepherd’s daughter from Quiet Valley.
Whatever this world’s customs expected of a personal maid, she had clearly not been prepared for what happened.
She had been frightened and had tried to pull away, yet her position left her too afraid to truly resist her master.
In the end, she had been reduced to an outlet for Lance’s loss of control.
That was simply how cruel this world was.
“Bonnie…”
Lance tried to make his voice gentler, but the words still came out stiff.
Lance gave a self-mocking smile.
“Bonnie.
To be honest, I never expected anything like this to happen tonight.
You may think I’m trying to avoid responsibility, or even lying to myself, but none of it was under my control.”
“You don’t have to explain, Young Master.
Really…
it’s all right.”
Bonnie spoke haltingly with her head lowered, her voice still choked with tears.
“The day before Father sent me to the castle, Mother told me what being a personal maid could mean.
Aunt Xili told me the same thing after I arrived.
So…
it’s all right.”
“I’m just…
hurting a little.
Really.
That’s all.”
Her tears fell again.
…
After a while, Bonnie forced herself to her feet.
“But I’m your maid.
This is something I’m supposed to accept.
I probably don’t even have the right to feel hurt.”
She tried to smile.
On her tear-streaked face, the expression looked painfully forlorn.
“I’ll go get you some more candles.
You’re almost out.”
Lance caught her arm before she could leave.
“Wait.”
Bonnie immediately stiffened.
Lance shook his head.
“You may not understand yet, but after what happened tonight, I think you have to make a choice.”
“A choice?”
Bonnie looked at him uncertainly.
“There are three periods every week when you’re away from my side,” Lance said quietly.
“That’s when you report my situation to Nancy, isn’t it?”
Bonnie’s face went completely pale.
“I know you have no power to disobey the First Madam’s orders.
But you need to understand something too.”
“If I say a single word, you won’t be my personal maid anymore.
Nancy won’t care what happens to you after that.
She’ll simply find someone else to watch me.
As for what happens to you afterward, I think you understand your own position better than I do.”
Bonnie stared at him, frightened.
“Before tonight, I might have treated all of this as though it didn’t matter,” Lance said sincerely.
“But now I don’t want you to be hurt any further.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“I know being trapped between Nancy and me makes things difficult for you.
So listen to me instead.”
“I’ll keep you safe.”
“And I’ll keep your family safe too.”
“I promise.”
Bonnie looked into Lance’s eyes for a long time.
At last, still hesitant, she slowly nodded.