Chapter 188.

At my question, the person rummaging through the second drawer loomed to a halt. Startled and unmoving, his body immediately stiffened towards me.” Ah, male female.”

Fully masked, it was never possible to confirm the face. But the shaken blue eyes can’t be hidden with a mask.

“What are you doing.” I asked stiffly.

The maid accidentally shook her shoulders and spat out.

“That, that …… Emily asked me to organize my room during lunch. I just want to get out of here.”

“Yeah?”

It wasn’t a no at all. Because you can’t clean a spacious room alone every time, Emily.

“Fair enough excuse.” Thinking so, I absently head that way.

“Get out of the way.” At the short order, the maid flinched and moved away in front of the dresser.

I sat back in my chair and browsed the dresser and the still-open drawer. Nothing was missing. Because it wouldn’t have been aimed at it in the first place. But the pretense of probably confirming it came. I suddenly looked at the mirror on the dresser and clenched my teeth reflexively. Because if that wasn’t the case, a new scream seemed to well up from the immediately open mouth. In order not to kick the stiffness out of my body, I said slowly.

“…… You don’t need to do it anymore. Don’t go out anymore because you have to get ready to go out.”

“Ah …… yes, I know. Miss.”

I heard a rustling sound behind me. The maid seemed to greet belatedly and turned around. Looking at the mirror, I couldn’t see anything, so I could only speculate with my voice. ‘Just go out like that, please ……’

Sweat dripped from the hand that rested on the dresser. The maid took a step. I breathed a sigh of relief inside. At that moment.

“…… But, miss.”

The maid who thought she would just leave the room suddenly spoke to me.

“Why did you look at the mirror from just now …… and say that?”

It was hard to swallow the scream, but it couldn’t stop the fluttering pain in my shoulder. Breathless with fear.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Then floated back up and grunted and turned my head. The woman stood in a state only a step away from her.

The room was so silent that not even a gasp could be heard. Though her eyes met mine, the maid didn’t speak again, looking straight at me. It was as if she no longer wanted to continue the act.

I was hopelessly titanic and opened my mouth. Because it was the only thing that could be done.

“…It’s amazing.”

The maid cocked her head.” What is it?”

“It’s not a vampire, why don’t you look in the mirror?”

“Iben.”

The low summons caused the maid’s eyes to curve into half moons.” Sure enough.”

The maid, no, Iben raised her hand and removed her mask.

“You know, Penelope.”

Iben smiled as beautifully as the illustration in the game. The look of her that showed her face in a dignified manner, instead, she lost her words, and it was me who turned white in my head.

“…… What did you do?”

“What?”

“Dad suddenly made me eat lunch in the greenhouse.”

“If you noticed, I didn’t tell you to slow down, Penelope.”

Iben replied with an innocent smile. Crying and laughing each time, the stuttering, fragile face felt bewildered. I squeezed my taut vocal cords harder.

“Have you decided to put away the pretense of being in my presence now?”

“Do you?”

Iben asked bluntly with an amused expression.” Pretend you don’t know who I am and decide to let it go now?”

“You’re not standing in front of a mirror?” She frowned at my answer.

“It was a mistake. I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“It’s really, it’s annoying to be back too, there’s nothing I want ……” She raised her hand and wiped my forehead. As if in thought, she stopped talking for a moment and turned her gaze to me all at once.

“…… But Penelope.”

“Perhaps you have come back too?”

It was a question without understanding its meaning. But before I could finish my answer, Iben narrowed his brow and muttered.

“No, no. If it’s coming back, I used it before I came. It won’t even be a bar mitzvah. ……”

“You know how horrible it would be for me to die, but it wouldn’t be that stupid. So?”

Looking anxiously at the corners of my mouth and saying inexplicable things, Iben suddenly asked me. I didn’t have any answer, just looked at her like that.

“…Then who are you? It’s too different from the Penelope I know.”

Iben frowned and looked at me again, smiling crookedly with the eyes of a stranger.

“Why? In the past, apparently, returning to the Duke’s presence without having met you …… makes everything better.”

“How is it different?”

Finally, looking at the day that opened his mouth to ask, Eben dutifully answered.

“Now you can’t be jealous of me, be kind and kill me.”

“Even if I don’t have to be brainwashed …… you can’t stand the attention of your family at all I, Penelope.”

She correctly chanted about the real Penelope and I was frozen. How did she know that, the mind boggles. No matter how much of a hidden villain, was Iben more than just a debut character in the game?

So …… is Iben crossing over as well?”

But that family was quickly stopped. Then there’s no reason to write the line “Are you back too?”” Thanks to you every time you mess up, it’s really easy to compose the Duke in your hands.”

In the midst of frantically racking his brain, Iben repeated his thoughts in a nice voice like a prankster. I accidentally raised my head to look at her. Iben smacked her lips and smiled prettily.

“How nice, your father and Oraby.”

Creepiness dominated my entire body. I held my breath. Seeing scared here didn’t pay off at all.” But why?”

Yvonne looked at me, who hadn’t budged, and lowered her head again. But her neck wasn’t just tilted, it was turned almost as if she had broken it.

Plop, plop, plop. Creepy sounds rang out one after another. Iben, who stopped at an angle of over 90 degrees, said.

“I don’t seem to remember the past …… You seem to know everything.”

“Trying to avoid it and admitting it’s a farce …….”

“Because I saw who you really are in Solo.”

I forced my shivering body to respond quickly.

If not that, the corpse-like woman immediately rushed at me as if to force me to tell the truth. This assumption that it might be crossing over came after it completely disappeared from my mind. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have broken my neck like that like a monster.

“Of course, my truth popped out last time.”

My answer seemed convincing, and Iben blinked. Trying to just get past it was temporary.

“But you. You haven’t even spilled my guts to anyone, have you? Not like you.”

“Why, Penelope?”

“You have nothing to be afraid of …… Am I afraid this time?”

Iben giggled, as if all too aware of his own strange mouth, and eyed me. I lost my warmth and barely opened my quivering lips.

“…… Does it matter?”

“Hmm?”

“I told you last time. What you’re here for is none of my business.”

“Hmm ……”

My words seemed genuine, and Iben drooled. I looked straight into a blue eye that felt no warmth and struggled to speak.

“I’m getting out of here anyway, so do what you want. Take the Duke.”

“No way.”

Pfft, pfft, pfft. Another creepy sound, and Iben lifted his head. I couldn’t help but avert my eyes.

“Because you acted like that, everything went bad.”

“I have nothing left ……”

“A peace of mind because a man couldn’t catch you. Thanks to your blessing, brainwashing doesn’t work well anymore.” Iben, who had fully recovered his head, interrupted me triumphantly and muttered. The clear expression looked like a heartbroken child.

“It’s fun to see your twisted face every time someone, someone precious, is taken from you …… Now why can’t all this be done at will?”

“That’s not what I know either. I don’t brainwash those people like you do, Iben.” I desperately backtracked.

“Knowing who you really are I’d rather let it go than get in the way of everything.”

“True. That’s true, but …….”

Nodding, Iben quickly blushed. The conversation shared so far had been mischievous, she asked coldly, the expression wiped from her face.

“Where are the shards?”

“What shards?”

“The lenses you stole from me.”

The blunt question caused my heart to sink. What happens when you ignore the question and let it go is dark before your eyes.

Iben swam back at me in a brisk voice.” Give me mine back, Penelope. Then, as you said, you’ll let go.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

I suddenly let go. Although I didn’t trust Winter, the thought of handing over to him the idea that I had first drawn from the Duke’s hand was such a blessing.

Eben’s eyes thinned. In the eyes that were creepy like snakes again, I wolfed down the food and opened my mouth.

“Ah. I think I threw it away when I picked up something …… back. Didn’t work for me.”

Shrugging, I held up my hands. I don’t know if the argument that I don’t have the shard will fool her.

Iben asked something else directly.” How does ancient magic work?”

“Magic?”

“The magic you wrote back then.”

“I didn’t write that.” I unconditionally took it off.

Since it wasn’t a crossover, it was an absolutely unexplainable phenomenon.

“You wrote it, didn’t you?”

“Uh-huh. There was a wizard who went with me. Was there a mistake about what he wrote?”

“Winter Belldandy?”

I’ve heard that the game still doesn’t know who the wizard is in the setting ……

I strained to lift the corners of my quivering mouth and smiled.

“The Marquis of Belldandy? no. It’s the wizard who works up there, his name is Rain.”

“Preaching work? Aha.”

Iben seemed to catch on and only touched his hand.” That’s how it came out ……”

She grunted . Hair stood up.” I’ve got to go beg Winter right now.”

First just to avoid this. I made that kind of determination and returned her gaze with a nervous look.

Iben, who looked at the consistent me as if she had been thinking for a while, suddenly smiled sweetly.

“Then flaw, Penelope.”

Then with amazing speed, she took something out of her pocket “Di-Ani 29.”(Mantra)