Eleonora’s mansion was the same as when she left it. Among the mansions of aristocrats and middle-class people everywhere, her mansion boasted a magnificent and colorful appearance that was different from the other mansions that appeared ordinary.

There was no sign of anybody in the mansion. This is because the first thing Noah did, after realising she had entered Eleonora’s body, was to fire all the mansion employees. The mansion only had around ten members of staff in the first place. After all, Eleonora was not an ordinary human, but a witch who lived with the power of magic and machines.

This of course meant that the mansion was a carefully designed giant machine itself. It was a witch’s fortress, filled with all kinds of traps, defensive walls, and attack magic in every corner of the house, comparable to Eleonora’s country house in Sorent.

As Noah moved to stand in front of the door, an antenna on the door stretched all the way up towards her face. It was an automatic device that recognized faces and opened the doors only to people that had been authorized by Eleonora.

Click, a picture was taken.

The gears on the door began to interlock with each other and a nameplate disc went around and then slowly stopped. Clear letters appeared on the nameplate one after another.

1. A. – Master

Eleonora Asil, Master. It meant the owner of this house. The antenna also examined and recognised Kyle and Muel’s faces.

1. L. – Unwelcome

UNKNOWN

The machine still worked perfectly, even though it was two years since the last time it was used. Noah was interested when she saw the word “unknown” in thick red letters after detecting Muel’s magic.

“You’re an uninvited guest, sir.”

“…. About five years ago, I was forced to take a picture here.”

Noah laughed, and went through Eleonora’s memories, and stopped the device. Kyle opened his mouth to speak when the door of the mansion opened wide.

“Well, Miss Noah, you did a great job today, so have a good rest.”

“What?”

Noah turned to him in surprise. 

“I will come early in the morning tomorrow to pick up Muel. You did a good job in figuring out how to work the door.” 

Noah grabbed Kyle who had stepped back as if to leave. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Huh?” 

“Do you have an urgent business?” 

“… That’s not it.” 

Then it’s good. Noah dragged Kyle inside without giving it any more thought. Even though she wasn’t pulling him hard, Kyle easily followed her. 

“Why are you in a hurry to leave after coming here? Let’s eat dinner.” 

“… Surely you’re not asking me to serve dinner?”

“I’m not that shameless. Of course, I would not say no if you did.”

Kyle laughed and stopped walking.

“Miss Noah, it’s late, and you should not be letting a man into a house where you live alone…”

“Just one hour. “

Noah didn’t understand what Kyle was trying to say, but this time she wanted to be a little stubborn. Noah grasped Kyle’s uniform sleeve.

“I don’t have to eat dinner. I’ll just go to bed.”

“…….”

“I’ll wash up as quickly as possible, and I’ll go to bed in ten minutes. Can’t you stay for an hour… no, can’t you stay for half an hour?”

Noah didn’t care if Kyle thought she was being childish. Noah desperately needed Kyle now. There was only one investigator who gave her a sense of security in this world, and that person was Kyle. It was more of an instinctive rather than a romantic feeling.

No matter how many restriction devices they put on her, if Noah remained alone with Muel, Noah was worried that the inhumanity of the dragon would emerge again in her at any time. Also, Kyle was the only one who knew that she was Noah Park in this world.

Kyle looked at her face for a moment and soon nodded. Noah was barely feeling relief when Kyle checked his watch and said harshly.

“Then I’ll stay until 8:00. I’ll give you 30 minutes to eat and 30 minutes to wash and change.”

“….You don’t have to.”

Time was ticking away so Kyle clicked his tongue and then quickly pushed inside and closed the door.

It was dark in the mansion. However, at the sound of Noah’s footsteps echoing on the marble floor, all the magical devices in the mansion began to spin, recognizing that the owner of the house had returned, although it was only a shell. (As she was Noah, not the real Eleanora)

The light bulbs on the chandelier in the central hall lit up one by one, and the thick curtains that hung on both windows opened.

The clock boldly signaled 7 o’clock.

Noah had experienced this bizarre and mysterious mansion several times two years ago.

The first time she stepped into this mansion she was still in a state of confusion

At that time, this place was huge, empty, and unfamiliar. Not only that, but this was a deadly space.

When Eleonora’s dead body was left alone in the middle of the dining room, it was cold and completely dead, but as soon as Noah opened her eyes in Eleanora’s body, it became alive. Noah was really surprised when she saw the mansion moving by itself as if it had a will of its own.

A mansion where, when the owner dies it dies and if the owner lives so does it, wasn’t that creepy?

This was also a reason why she had abandoned this comfortable place and ran away to Sorent, as soon as she had woken up in Eleonora’s body.

Noah wondered if Kyle would change his mind so she dragged him across the hall to the second floor.

***

“… Sir Leonard?”

Kyle wasn’t in the bedroom when Noah finished in the bathroom. Noah wondered if 30 minutes had already passed, but when she spotted the uniform jacket on the chair, Noah didn’t think Kyle had left.

‘Then where did he go? Did he go to clean up?’

“There’s no one here. Where is he?”