HH Chapter 35

Carrying him up the stairs, Haylan flung open the door leading to the second-floor hallway. The hallway, lit only by minimal light, was very dark and chilly.

And at that moment, Haylan stopped in his tracks, staring at something he’d never seen before in the hallway.

A shadowy figure flickered like smoke. Empty eye sockets stared straight at him.

“…….”

Haylen slightly lowered his gaze and looked down at Chahyun’s ear. The torn wound was still red and unhealed. It seemed like what he had said about the “ghost” yesterday referred to this.

‘It was real. I thought he was talking nonsense.’

The figure’s head tilted slightly downwards towards Chahyun. For something that was said to charge straight in, it didn’t rush at them; instead, its movements seemed somehow cautious.

“……!”

Chahyun, stirring slightly in his arms, reached out and wrapped his arms around Haylan’s neck tightly. Haylan, who hadn’t even got startled when he saw the shadowy figure, now flinched and looked down at Chahyun.

A warm heat transferred to his skin. He could feel the steady beat of a heart against him. The life force of a living person.

The lingering figure, as if giving up, turned and passed through the wall. The shadow dispersed and disappeared somewhere.

“……?”

Dealing with that being was a matter for later. His priority was to return this troublesome burden to his rightful place.

The door to Chahyun’s room was open. He must have left without properly closing it when he snuck out.

As Haylan laid Chahyun down on the bed, he immediately settled into a comfortable sleeping position.

Such carelessness. 

An amused smile touched Haylan’s lips as he looked at him.

“…….”

Haylan looked down at his sleeve, which Chahyun was still clutching, and with a troubled expression, he gently pulled it free and turned away.

Before the sun fully rose. Before his body changed back. He, too, had to return.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

Early in the morning, Haylan woke up from a short nap and noticed something strange about his body.

His clothes didn’t fit.

The pants that usually reached his ankles now only reached his calves, and even his shoes were too small. There was no other explanation unless his clothes had shrunk overnight. He immediately turned to check the time.

9 AM. It meant that more than three or four hours had passed since he lost consciousness. It was strange that he had slept until this late. Moreover, the sun had already risen, so why hadn’t his body shrunk back to its usual size?

Displeased with his ill-fitting clothes, Haylan pulled the cord beside his bed. Shortly after, a knock came.

He opened the door, and the head butler was standing right there. Haylan stared up at him silently, and the perceptive head butler immediately noticed the change. His eyes widened.

“You seem to have grown a bit.”

“You see it too?”

Haylan asked, his voice laced with a hint of excitement. The head butler blinked repeatedly, looking confused.

It was impossible. His young master had lived in that same form for a little over 500 years and hadn’t grown an inch during that time.

“Ah. I must be dreaming.”

The head butler, with a bewildered expression, came to an absurd conclusion. Recently, the number of people spouting nonsense in his house had increased, as if foolishness were contagious. Haylan recounted the events of the past week.

“Pardon? You’re saying you become an adult every night after midnight, Young Master?”

“And my magic tools malfunction every time.”

Haylan slightly adjusted the pendant around his neck, and his appearance briefly returned to its original colors. It was a sight even the head butler, who had cared for Haylan for over 30 years, had rarely seen. There were even people in the mansion who were completely unaware of Haylan’s true eye color.

He should have found his own appearance unfamiliar since he hadn’t looked this way much, but perhaps because it was his natural state, it felt perfectly normal. 

For a moment, the head butler’s gaze, struck by cognitive dissonance, wavered.

“I’ll have to modify the magic tools again.”

“Not for now.”

Haylan adjusted the pendant again, returning to his less conspicuous appearance.

“Do you also believe that this physical change is due to the guest, Young Master?”

“There haven’t been any other changes.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

The head butler’s expression was even more troubled than Haylan’s. He finally understood why Haylan had been acting so differently for the past week.

He’d opened the library, which he’d always used alone, to the guest, and had even helped the guest with his studies. It felt unnatural how he had been going along with everything Chahyun wanted without much protest.

Then, the head butler’s gaze fell on the bag of cookies on the bedside table.

‘He thinks that’s the cause.’

That’s why he had requested the ingredient analysis. The head butler blinked slowly. Haylan, too, briefly glanced in the direction of his gaze. It was convenient to have someone around who understood what he meant without lengthy explanations.

“Do you think it’s magic?”

“It must be.”

Magic has existed since ancient times, with little documentation remaining. Since it was a phenomenon that no one, not even himself, had ever heard of, it was highly possible to be ancient magic.

“Don’t worry about it for now. There are a few more things I need to check. More importantly, what is Chahyun doing right now?”

“I believe the guest is still asleep.”

“At this hour?”

Both he and Chahyun had slept in late today. While it was understandable for Chahyun, it was surprising that he himself had slept soundly until the sun was high in the sky…

“Oh, and what would you like for breakfast, Young Master?”

“……What?”

Haylan realized that the change Chahyun had brought wasn’t limited to his body.

“Aren’t you having breakfast?”

He’d never eaten breakfast in his life, yet it had become a matter of course in just a week.

It wasn’t just one meal a day, but three full meals, dragging Haylan along each time, so it was natural for the servants to react this way. That man’s obsession with meals was truly extraordinary.

As long as Haylan had a blood supplement once a month, he didn’t need to eat anything.

“Ha….”

It was absurd. In just a week, Chahyun had made breakfast a natural part of their routine. He had tamed not only him but all the servants in this mansion.

“Bring him to me when he wakes up.”

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

[Main Quest Condition Achieved!]

Ugh.

As soon as I opened my eyes, a window popped up, blocking my vision. I stared blankly at it and read the message.

[Haylan’s current affection points are 100.]

[Haylan seems to think of you as an ‘interesting person.’]

‘What, suddenly?’

I yawned widely, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand.

[Write the first monthly report and send it to Odin.]

‘Report.’

I was still too dazed, more stunned than happy that the quest I had been worrying about had cleared itself.

That wasn’t the only strange thing. After tidying myself up and going outside, I saw the clock hands were already positioned between 11 and 12.

‘Whoa. I slept until this late?’

And….

“I’ll let you go outside. You said you wanted to go out.”

“Huh?”

I stood there, dumbfounded, rubbing my eyes in front of Haylan. I wasn’t usually very perceptive and didn’t notice changes in others easily. 

But even I could see that Haylan now…

“I’m coming too. I need to buy new clothes.”

…seemed a little taller?

The mansion wasn’t that far from the downtown area. It was about a thirty-minute walk from the train station.

However, there were confusion spells placed along the way to prevent people from realizing the mansion’s location. Therefore, most people were completely unaware that there was another path beyond where the streetlights ended

‘What a nice day.’

The sky was clear, and the air was fresh. It was a bit chilly, but at least it wasn’t raining or snowing.

A sign at the train station read ‘Peristene.’ This city was as bustling as Asileth. People were bundled up in thick clothes due to the cold weather.

‘Hidden in plain sight… it’s really crowded during the day.’

Would the vampires tormenting Haylan ever guess that he was hiding in such a populated city?

‘I have to be careful, we might run into them anytime, anywhere.’

Aside from their pale, bloodless skin, vampires looked almost identical to ordinary humans. I hadn’t seen any vampires other than Haylan and Odin, but I was sure they also looked like ordinary people.

“First, we need to buy Haylan’s clothes. He can’t walk because he doesn’t have shoes that fit.”

“Very well. In the meantime, I need to go to the grocery store to buy some necessities.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

“It’s better to move separately if we want to be on time.”

“I see. Oh, I also need to stop by the post office and I want to buy some cookies at the bakery. And if there’s time, I want to browse the bookstore too.”

“You should go to Helsico’s Attic for cookies, not anywhere else.”

“Is it good there?”

“Their prices are reasonable.”

Reasonable prices are important. I nodded seriously, deciding to memorize the name of the store.