I took a step back in shock, my hand nearly dropping the bracelet. But before it could slip from my grasp, I bumped into something soft yet firm.
I didn’t even get the chance to turn around or draw a breath of horror before two slender arms slid around my waist from behind.
The cool tip of a nose brushed against my neck, and a chin settled lightly on my shoulder.
I felt goosebumps and involuntary shudders racing down my spine. A soft voice rasped into my ear.
"Careful." Her breath was so warm against my skin, almost ticklish enough to make me squirm. "You’ll drop them."
My entire body went stiff. "Ju... Juli?"
"Mhm." She sounded pleased — far, far too pleased. Her fingers clenched ever so slightly around my abdomen.
Slowly, I lifted the bracelet again, staring at the loop of pale nails with growing dread. It took me a moment to find my voice.
"These... these are real..."
"Yes," she whispered fondly, and the way her mouth was pressed against the shell of my ear was doing something to me I didn’t understand.
"Y-You took them out of real people..."
"Yes."
Her breath brushed my ear again. I squirmed again. This was too much. My head was spinning. My heart pounded wildly in my chest.
And the worst part was that I couldn’t even pinpoint the reason. Was it because of what she was admitting to... or because of the way she was whispering it into me?
Just then, I felt something soft slide along the other side of my neck. Her forefinger started tracing absent circles on my collarbone.
I swallowed.
"...Juli."
"Hm?"
"W-Why...?"
She let out a quiet, breathy chuckle.
My brain was screaming at me to shove her away— no, to run. To get as far away from her as possible. But I couldn’t do either.
For some reason, I was frozen in place like a deer caught in headlights.
Her arms constricted around me a little more before her long fingers slid down to settle over my hand, which still held the bracelet.
"Do you know what trophies are?" she murmured. "Hmm?"
Oh god.
Oh my god.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUUUUUCK—
Every survival instinct I had was telling me to get the fuck away from this woman who was tightly hugging me like a lover while calmly confessing she collected human fingernails.
But my body still stubbornly refused to move.
Juliana’s hand slid pletely over mine, gently guiding the bracelet upward so it dangled between her fingers.
With her cheek squished against my shoulder, she tapped one particular nail.
"This one is from a man who called me a slut because I led him on and then refused to sleep with him. I was in a bad mood that day."
Then she tapped another.
"This one is from a moner woman who was very annoyed at me for kicking her dog because it got in the way of my jog. Can you believe the audacity?"
My breathing fastened as she tapped yet another nail.
"Oh, this is my favorite!" she tee-heed. The cute giggle sounded all the more sinister in the middle of this revelation. "This one is from Roan! Do you remember that moron? The boy from House Virel. One of your family’s vassals. I didn’t really want to risk it, but he was pestering me sooo much. Some people just get on your nerves, don’t they?"
My blood curdled.
Roan Virel.
Oh, I remembered him alright...
Back when we were children, Roan’s death had been a rather big incident.
The boy had supposedly slipped out of his bedroom window while trying to climb onto his balcony during a storm.
He apparently had a strange habit of doing that for reasons no one quite understood. Some said he did so because he liked looking at the stars.
Regardless, that particular night, he had slipped and fallen, breaking his neck on the courtyard stones below.
Our entire household had buzzed with the news for weeks.
My family called it a tragic accident.
At least, that had been the official story.
Right now, my throat felt painfully dry.
"You’re... joking," I muttered weakly.
She had to be. She wouldn’t kill a noble, right? What if a proper investigation had been launched? What if someone had suspected the accident to be a homicide?
What would she have done then?
Juliana tilted her head against my shoulder, her soft hair brushing against my jawline.
"Why would I joke about something like that?" she asked in a tone that was genuinely puzzled.
My brain short-circuited.
I... I needed to get away.
But from behind me, she gently rotated my wrist so the bracelet shifted between her fingers and mine. The nails clicked together like porcelain beads.
"That," she said, tapping another one, "is the one I think you’ll like the most. Guess whom it belonged to?"
I had absolutely no capacity left to respond.
After a short pause, she answered herself.
"Rexerd! And yes, before you say it, I know. I cheated a little there. Technically you were the one who killed him. But it was going to be my kill eventually. Besides, that man was so disgusting that I simply wanted a reminder of his death."
She fell quiet for a few seconds.
When she spoke again, however, her voice was strangely uncertain... and almost shy...
"So... um... d-do you want it instead?" she asked.
That did it.
Something inside me just snapped.
Bile rose in my throat as I covered my mouth and shoved her back.
I myself staggered forward, nearly tripping over my own feet as I lurched out of her embrace. My stomach twisted as I bent over, breathing hard through my fingers.
"Holy— what the hell is wrong with you?!" I shouted.
Behind me, Juliana remained exactly where I had left her. For a moment, she looked mildly surprised.
The bracelet still dangled loosely from her fingers, the pale nails again clinking softly together as she tilted her head.
"...You’re reacting rather strongly."
I spun around, still holding a hand to my mouth. I really felt like I would throw up at any moment.
"Reacting strongly?! You’re wearing a bracelet made of human fingernails, Juli!"
She narrowed her gaze.
"You do know I was originally planning to add you to my collection, right?" she said calmly. "But now I’ve decided I won’t. I’m only showing this to you as a sign of trust."
My eyes widened.
I didn’t even know what to say to that.
As I looked at her — looked at the way she casually ran her fingers through the sides of her white hair, at those calm blue eyes, at the faint curve of her bow-shaped lips... I realized she was enjoying this.
And even worse... she really believed what she had said about this being a sign of trust.
That was when I remembered something important.
There was something seriously wrong with this girl.
Her insanity wasn’t some cute quirk or eccentric personality trait. Fuck no. She was certifiably insane! A genuine psychopath who could kill someone on a whim...
Yes, I had always known that.
But seeing it like this... seeing her... her trophies with my own eyes made it feel horrifyingly real.
And yet... there was something else.
Hearing her say she had decided not to... umm... not to add me to her collection... I don’t know... it made my chest throb in a pletely different way.
A part of me was deeply repulsed by her. But another part of me was... strangely relieved... almost... glad?
Oh my god. There’s something wrong with me too! — I realized it with a dawning sense of fear.
No, seriously. What the hell had she done to me?
Because I definitely didn’t remember ever being attracted to crazy girls before.
...FUCK.
I shoved the thought away— no, not shoved, I flung it into the darkest corner of my mind and hoped it would stay there.
And before Juliana could say or do anything else, I rushed past her and bolted out of the room.
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