Chapter 7. Suspecting He Was the One

 

Elsa watched Dustin from the second floor. The man was relaxing on the terrace, enjoying a cup of morning tea while reading a book. After finishing her work upstairs, Elsa went down to the first floor to continue with her other duties.

At that moment, Dustin entered the house, and the two of them crossed paths.

"Did you sleep well in this house?" Dustin asked, his voice gentle.

Elsa was slightly surprised that Dustin had spoken to her first, but she answered with a nod. "I think I'm starting to get used to living here," she replied with a faint smile.

Dustin suddenly noticed Elsa's neck, his brow furrowing. "What's wrong with your neck?"

Instinctively, Elsa covered her neck with her palm. "Oh, that... I don't know either. Maybe an insect bit me while I was sleeping," she said uncertainly.

Dustin gave a brief nod, then walked away without asking anything else. Elsa watched his broad shoulders as he disappeared. His body resembled the figure in her dreams, tall and muscular. But Dustin couldn't possibly be sneaking into her room while she was asleep, could he?

Elsa shook her head, dismissing the wild thought. It was normal for someone to have strange dreams, especially since she had made sure her bedroom door was securely locked before going to sleep.

"It must have been an insect," Elsa thought as she walked toward her room. "I need to clean the room just to make sure."

__

"Did you give her the medicine?" Dustin asked when Marley entered the study.

The servant nodded. "Yes, I gave it to her according to your instructions."

"Make sure she doesn't realize anything until she figures it out on her own."

"What if what happened before happens again, sir?"

Dustin slammed his book shut, startling Marley. He placed the book on the table, then fixed a sharp gaze on her.

"Who asked you to advise me? Just do your job and make sure everything goes according to my orders," Dustin reprimanded.

Marley nodded and hurried out. She walked anxiously until her eyes happened to catch Elsa cleaning her room. Marley decided to approach her.

"Elsa, what are you doing?"

Elsa glanced at her for a moment before continuing what she was doing. "I'm cleaning my room. There was an insect that bit my neck last night. Look, the mark is still red," she said, pointing at the bite mark on her neck.

"When you're finished, come downstairs and help me prepare lunch," Marley said. Elsa nodded.

Marley walked away from Elsa's room with mixed feelings. She hoped Elsa would be able to endure living in this place.

"There are no insects. This place is extremely clean. The ventilation and windows are all tightly closed," Elsa muttered after cleaning her room and finding nothing.

She then walked out carrying a glass pitcher to prepare enough drinking water for tonight so she wouldn't have to leave her room after dark.

"Are you finished cleaning your room?" Marley asked.

"But I didn't find any insects. Does that mean the insect only comes out at night?" Elsa wondered aloud.

Marley gave a faint smile as she watched Elsa pour water into the pitcher and place it on the table. "You never forget to bring water to your room."

"It's a habit. I often wake up in the middle of the night to drink water, so it's more convenient to keep some in my room," Elsa replied as she covered the pitcher.

"Oh, Elsa. I just caught some fish from the pond in the backyard. Please take them and clean them before we prepare them."

"Okay," Elsa replied.

After Elsa left, Marley pulled a small packet from her pocket and poured its contents into Elsa's drinking water. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I can't do much to help you," she thought guiltily.

*

Night fell, and the house once again became silent. Before going to bed, Elsa drank the water she had prepared. Lately, after drinking that water, she always felt extremely sleepy.

"Is there some kind of sleeping medicine mixed into the water in this house?" Elsa muttered, yawning widely before lying down. She quickly fell into a deep sleep.

In her sleep, that strange dream returned once again. At first, Elsa thought it was all just a dream, but why did the same dream keep appearing every night? Whenever she woke up, the center of her pants was always damp.

The next morning, her body felt uncomfortable. Her chest ached as though someone had squeezed it. "That strange dream keeps coming back. What's actually happening to me?"

Before she knew it, two weeks had passed.

The same dream continued to come every night, making Elsa increasingly suspicious. Dustin's behavior, which had gradually become kinder toward her, only deepened her suspicions. It had been six weeks since Elsa arrived, and for the past three weeks, she had been having the same dream every night.

That afternoon, Elsa did not relax in the backyard as she usually did. Instead, she decided to search her room, making sure the door was locked from the inside and could not be opened from the outside. After searching for more than an hour, she discovered a strange partition at the far end of the room.

She gently knocked on it. The sound that came back suggested there was an empty space behind the wall. Elsa then searched for a way to open it, thinking that perhaps it was a secret door.

"Can this be opened from the other side?" she wondered.

She went outside and searched for the other side of the wall, only to discover that it was adjacent to Dustin's study. Why had she only realized it now? Was it because Dustin's study was so large?

"There's no secret door here," she muttered.

Elsa returned to her room empty-handed and sat on the edge of the bed for quite some time. The dreams that came every night were too strange. She wanted to know who the man was, whether it really was only a dream or if someone was actually sneaking into her room.

"If it's really just a dream, why do the traces of his touch on my body feel so real that I can still feel them when I wake up?" she wondered.

With a determined look in her eyes, Elsa took a deep breath.

"All right. I'll stay awake tonight and prove it."