Anne finally found herself standing in front of the door.

Even though the man had been so terrified of this room, whatever was inside clearly wasn’t anything good.

But just like how a button labeled “Do Not Press” is practically begging to be pushed, human curiosity—and that deep-seated urge to rebel—had drawn her here.

No, that wasn’t the only reason.

There were smaller, subtler motives. The kind that couldn’t be put into words.

Like...

Her intuition.

From the moment she set foot in this village, something had felt wrong.

She kept feeling like something was lurking in the shadows. But whenever she turned to look, there was nothing there.

After meeting Ailuka, that unsettling feeling only grew stronger.

It was as if something far more terrifying was hiding beneath Ailuka’s cheerful, innocent smile.

And the more terrifying it was... the more people couldn’t help but want to peek.

Like the serpent that tempted the first child of man with the apple.

“...I’ll just take a look.”

Anne placed her hand on the doorknob.

The cold touch grounded her somewhat.

She held her breath and listened for a moment—Ailuka was still busy in the kitchen.

And so—

She turned it.

With a faint scraping sound...

The door opened.

Anne peeked into the room.

And then—

Her pupils contracted.

...

From the moment she’d entered this house, the air had carried a faint floral scent.

Anne recognized it as perfume—she used it herself from time to time.

But the moment the door opened, that scent became overwhelmingly strong.

No... it was suffocating.

Like several bottles of perfume had shattered in the room all at once, the cloying fragrance flooded her lungs.

Even so, it couldn’t mask the stench that lay beneath.

The smell of blood.

Thick. Overpowering. Clinging.

Anne saw it.

In the dim room, under the flickering light, a few moths circled the lamp above, constantly fluttering toward the flame only to be blocked by the cold glass cover.

Under that light, on a metal bed, a girl lay motionless.

Completely naked.

From the soft swell of her chest all the way down to the skin just above her most private place ran a massive, grotesque gash. Her insides spilled out in a tangled mess. The blood had long since stopped flowing—Anne could see the blackened membranes over her organs.

The girl had been gutted.

“Urgh—!”

The visceral shock churned Anne’s stomach.

She clamped a hand over her mouth and staggered backward—only to step in something slick and wet. It splashed all over her.

Blood.

The floor was covered in it. Thick pools of blood flowing across the room.

No wonder the stench had been impossible to cover.

There was no way that much blood had ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) come from a single person.

Then where had it all come from?

“Ah... kukukuku...”

Just as Anne’s thoughts began to spiral, she heard something.

A hoarse, rasping voice, like it was being squeezed out from deep in a throat.

Like the groan of a demon.

Anne stiffly lifted her head.

And froze.

The gutted girl wasn’t dead.

How could she still be alive, even with her insides sprawled across the bed?

It was as if Anne’s presence had stirred her—she slowly turned her head to look toward the door, toward the maid.

“Kuku...”

Her face was white as a sheet. Her eyes lifeless.

Anne couldn’t tell if the girl could still see, but her face was turned toward her, lips twitching weakly, like someone clinging to life trying to form words.

But it wasn’t a cry for help.

It was—

“I love you...”

The girl’s mangled face twisted into something resembling affection, and from her cracked, dry throat came that bizarre, tender whisper.

“I love you...”

“I love you...”

“I’m sorry... I love you...”

“Uuhhh... I love youuu...”

Her voice echoed around the room like a haunted wind.

It made Anne’s skin crawl.

And just as she was about to turn and flee, ready to throw caution to the wind—

A familiar voice rang out.

“Ara~, Master found out already.”

The weeping stopped instantly.

Like a crying baby catching sight of the monster that eats children—it shut up in an instant.

“...Ailuka.”

Anne turned her head.

It took so long—she could hear the bones in her neck creaking.

“Sigh... Why did Master have to open that door?”

Ailuka held a tray with tea, letting out a soft, resigned sigh—like a child whose secret had just been discovered.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen until later, you know.”

“Later...? What do you mean...?”

“I mean...” Ailuka giggled. “Everyone has to receive my boundless love.”

Just like they did.

She casually tossed aside the teacup and smiled sweetly—then lifted her shirt in front of Anne, baring her stomach.

—On her pale abdomen, beneath her cute pink underwear, a dark human face was embedded in her skin.

Anne didn’t need time to guess whose face it was.

She’d seen it recently.

—Ailuka’s mother. Exactly like the portrait.

“I love you...”

“I love you...”

The face howled in agony—but even so, the only words it uttered were that same loving phrase.

As if it could no longer say anything else.

“Oh, and this one too~.”

Ailuka turned around.

On her back—was another blackened human face.

—Her father’s.

“I love you...”

“I love youuu...”

That aging face was drenched in tears, clearly suffering unimaginable pain—but his lips curled into a wide grin as he repeated those words over and over.

The distortion of it was terrifying.

“What is all this...”

Anne instinctively backed away, desperate to distance herself.

It was only now that she truly understood—compared to the gutted girl behind her, it was Ailuka’s smiling face in front of her that was the true horror.

“First, my beloved mother and father. Then, my dearest A’de. After that, the kind neighbors who always helped me. And next...” Ailuka turned toward Anne, counting on her fingers like a child listing off her favorite candies, eyes twinkling with joy. “Next is you, Master.”

“You see? I have so many people to love! I’m just so happy.”

“Ailuka, snap out of it, all of this—”

“I am lucid.”

Ailuka smiled as she cut Anne off.

“In fact, I’m very grateful to you, Master.”

“...Grateful? To me?”

“Yes. It was you who taught me what true love really means.”

“...What—”

Anne’s mind went blank for a moment.

“I taught you?”

“Of course. That day, by the lake—you’re the one who explained it to me, aren’t you?”

Ailuka raised her arms, overjoyed.

“True love is above everything! It's boundless! It’s the right to possess the one you love, no matter what! Isn’t that what you told me?”

“When I got back, I told the God all about your teachings—and the God really admired your ideas, Master!”

“...The God?”

“Yes! The great, merciful, all-loving ruler of everything in this world—the Love God, of course.”

Ailuka extended a hand toward Anne and smiled.

“So... will you accept my love too, Master?”

“...Love... God...”

Anne’s thoughts were in disarray.

Too much. Too fast. Too many twists battering her sanity.

But thanks to her lifelong training and experience, she managed to wrestle her thoughts back into order.

And what she found was...

The worst possible conclusion.

“Ailuka, you...”

Anne lifted her gaze, staring at her in dazed disbelief, her voice trembling even without her noticing.

“...Did you get corrupted by a Dark God?”