chapter 27
It was a question I had expected.
‘It would be stranger if he didn’t notice.’
I had broken the charm on my bracelet to summon Lennox.
And he had witnessed the strange commotion at the viscount’s estate with his own two eyes.
“I waited because you seemed hesitant to talk.”
Just as Lennox said, I had hesitated to bring this topic up on the way to the duke’s mansion.
For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to say Karinne’s name aloud.
Every time I tried to speak it, a subtle discomfort rose in my throat.
That discomfort was fear.
An instinctive, unconscious urge to flee from what scared me.
I lowered the teacup I’d been holding onto my lap and muttered an excuse.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I’ve been meaning to talk, but I couldn’t get the words out.”
I quietly dropped my gaze. My face, tense with nerves, was reflected in the tea.
As I absently rubbed the surface of the cup with my fingertips, Lennox replied.
“That’s nothing to be sorry for.”
His casual response actually gave me courage. I carefully broached the subject.
“Have you ever heard of a spell that lets you swap bodies with someone else?”
Lennox’s red eyes widened slightly.
“Swap bodies? You mean a soul-switching spell?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never heard of such magic.”
He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his firm thighs. His hands were clasped together.
“But I’m sure of what I saw. I witnessed it with my own eyes.”
“Then you’ve figured out who tried to harm you?”
Of course.
I felt oddly tense, so I took a breath and opened my mouth to answer.
Or at least, I tried to.
“…Mmgh!”
“Olivia?”
Lennox looked at me with concern, but I couldn’t respond.
My voice won’t come out!
It was as if my lips had been sealed with wax.
My throat felt stuffed with cotton, and no sound came out.
A sensation as if some immense force were forcibly restraining my body.
Why? Why all of a sudden?
I shuddered at the suffocating pressure and struggled to resist, but no words would come. Eventually, I even started gagging.
“Mmgh, ngh…!”
“Olivia!”
Startled, Lennox quickly supported me as I doubled over, coughing and choking.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
I instinctively shook my head—and just like that, the pressure lifted.
‘What is this…?’
I tried once more to explain to Lennox, parting my lips—but again, that unknown force blocked me.
The sensation of my body being controlled against my will was indescribably horrifying.
Something’s stopping me from telling Lennox about Karinne.
The moment that hazy realization dawned on me, a heavy shock hit me hard.
Could it be… Karinne already cast a spell on Olivia’s body?
In that instant, my entire body broke out in goosebumps.
Considering Olivia had been drinking Kualum leaf tea for quite some time, it wasn’t an impossible theory.
I forced my breathing to steady and looked Lennox straight in the eyes.
“I don’t know who it was.”
As long as I didn’t mention Karinne’s name, I could speak normally again.
“But you said you saw them yourself.”
“They had their face covered.”
It was a weak excuse. Lennox gave me a strange look, but thankfully didn’t press further.
“However, they had an accomplice within the household.”
The Brien family’s butler. The man Karinne called Richard.
“You don’t know who that accomplice is either?”
“…No.”
I couldn’t reveal Richard either, so I revised my assumption from earlier.
It wasn’t just Karinne’s name I couldn’t say aloud.
I clenched my teeth, feeling sweat pooling in my palm.
I remembered the woman who had watched me flee with a cold expression.
Someone who didn’t want the truth to come out.
Someone who absolutely had to keep my mouth shut.
Someone capable of invading another person’s body.
If what was happening to me now really was Karinne’s doing…
It was terrifying. My heart froze, and it felt like all the blood in my body had drained to my feet.
But if there really was a spell on me, wouldn’t Lennox have noticed?
He had immediately seen through the marionette curse that had been placed on Viscount Brien.
“Your Highness.”
Suppressing my thundering heart, I asked,
“Could you check if there’s a spell on my body?”
Lennox’s expression froze for a moment.
But instead of asking why, he silently reached for the back of my neck with his fingers.
After a moment, he spoke.
“You’re clean.”
Haa—relief washed over me, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. My pounding heart slowly returned to its usual rhythm.
Thank goodness. Thank goodness.
Lennox patiently waited while I calmed myself down.
Then I returned to our conversation.
“The culprit seems to be able to swap bodies with anyone in the mansion.”
“Then it’s no exaggeration to say that the entire viscount’s household is in their grasp.”
I nodded, recalling the conversation between Karinne and Richard.
“…About the person who made me drink the Kualum tea… maybe they weren’t trying to turn me into a demon.”
The quick-witted man immediately caught on.
“The spell’s true purpose is to switch bodies with you?”
“I’m not certain, but…”
I clasped my hands tightly.
“To fully switch souls, there must be a requirement. If it’s not met, the body becomes strained and can’t sustain the switch for long.”
“And you’re guessing that requirement is prolonged consumption of Kualum tea by the victim.”
“Yes.”
“That’s a very plausible theory.”
Lennox rested his elbow on the armrest and propped up his chin, deep in thought.
“Of all people, why do they want your body…?”
His brow furrowed slightly.
“Could it be… they know you’re an Épure?”
“I don’t know how they found out, but yes.”
I nodded, a heavy weight in my chest.
“The power to swap souls…”
Lennox muttered, his gaze growing dark and heavy.
This wasn’t good.
All of my cards had been revealed to the enemy, while I knew almost nothing about Karinne.
I couldn’t even tell the one person who might help me who she really was.
This was a fight heavily stacked against me.
“That’s why I left the viscount’s estate. I felt it was getting too dangerous.”
I didn’t know when my body might be taken.
“Thank you… for coming to get me.”
“I just kept my promise.”
Lennox replied simply, and then handed me a blanket from the corner of the sofa.
“What’s this for…?”
“You’ve been trembling all this time.”
Me?
Only then did I notice my fingers, desperately gripping the teacup, were trembling slightly.
How did he even notice a tremble so subtle that I hadn’t?
“Your tea’s gone cold.”
The blanket softly rustled as he draped it over my shoulders. It was warm and comforting.
He then gently took the teacup from my hands.
“From now on…”
“…”
“Only drink proper tea.”
He emptied the cold tea and refilled it with fresh, hot tea. The cup he handed back to me was wonderfully warm.
The whole process felt incredibly natural.
So much so that I hadn’t even realized how close Lennox had come until I could feel his breath.
“If you can’t do that on your own, I’ll help you.”
My hands clenched tightly around the teacup he handed me.
“As your partner, gladly.”
His tone was so calm it bordered on dry.
But even those simple words began to settle the storm of fear inside me.
…I can do this.
I wouldn’t die miserably. I didn’t have to struggle alone to survive.
I can escape Karinne.
Hope rose up, overtaking fear.
I can live.
Not by succumbing to a doomed fate. Not by being dragged along the unchanging course of the original story.
I looked at the man I had chosen—who was bound to me by contract.
He lowered himself to meet my gaze, one hand gripping the back of the sofa.
“So don’t worry.”
In the quiet room, his whisper sounded exceptionally loud.
“Don’t be afraid.”
“I won’t be.”
Lennox’s eyes curved ever so slightly.
Suddenly, I felt warm.
I didn’t know if it was from the tea’s heat—or from the fleeting brush of someone’s warmth moments ago.
Viscount Brien’s Estate.
After all the commotion, the mansion was filled with a chilling air despite the bright daylight.
Part of it was due to the absence of someone who had left—but that wasn’t the only reason.
Around noon, when the sun shone directly overhead, someone’s presence quietly emerged in the empty hallway.
The figure appeared silently and gracefully crossed the central hall, climbing the stairs as if familiar with the place.
Their steps were elegant.
There was a fluidity to their movements—clearly shaped by years of disciplined training.
“…”
Eventually, they reached their destination and paused in front of a door.
A flawlessly white, smooth hand reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it.
The tightly shut door swung open.
The bedroom beyond looked much the same as always.
The woman who briefly scanned the room spoke in a subdued voice.
“She left in a hurry.”
