Chapter 432

“Yep. We’re here.”
The door opened with a word from Maid Liz. A spacious room was revealed. The bed, which could sleep five, and other furnishings were as luxurious as if they had been made by craftsmen of the period.
A muffled exclamation escaped Asel’s lips.
“— and.”
“You two are welcome to stay in this room. If you need anything else, please press the button under the light. The nearest maid will come.”
When she was done, Liz bowed politely.
There was not a speck of dust in the room, as if she had cleaned it herself. The windows let in the morning light and overlooked the beautiful gardens of Acalucia.
“Thanks, but it’s a damned spacious mansion.”
I smirked with both hands in my pockets.
And it wasn’t just because I was assigned the nicest accommodation I could have imagined. It took me almost 15 minutes to get here. We didn’t move buildings, we didn’t go back and forth, but 15 minutes is a lot of time.
“It’s probably more so because we have so many private rooms, and once you’re adopted, the room you’re given is yours until you die or abandon the Acalusian name.”
“Kya, that’s one hell of a welfare package, you’re not from a big family for nothing.”
“I, too, am honored to be a part of Acalusia, and I’m going about my business. By the way, is Asel well, and shall I bring you some new clothes after all?”
“Blood, I don’t need it!”
Asel’s face flushed at the violent consideration that had just come in. If it were me, I’d be tempted to slash my stomach if that happened to me. Liz smiled, covering her mouth at the passionate reaction.
“Hoo hoo, I see, I’m glad you’re comfortable.”
“Yikes. You know how to laugh.”
She had no original expression, so it was surprising to see her smile. Honestly, I thought she was a mechanical doll until she ripped off Asel’s panties.
I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Oooh, horrible.
“Well, I’ll just fill it up with supplies and get out of here. Do you want to use the safe, too?”
“Nope. I don’t really have anything.”
“Okay, just give me a minute, then.”
Liz started stocking her room with toiletries and drinks she’d packed ahead of time.
Watching her back, I poked Asel in the side.
“Hey. That girl seems to have a crush on you.”
“Well, what do you mean, Ronan, that’s not possible.”
“You don’t understand the psychology of women, man. It’s called maternal love. If you’re ugly and you act like an asshole, you’re just being an asshole, but if you’re a half-assed asshole like you, you’re actually making them want to take care of you. One piss and you’ve got the girl, not bad, Asher.”
“Ew, ew, ew, don’t do that!”
Asel’s face is now indistinguishably red from his hair.
As I stared back and forth between him and Liz, an idea popped into my head.
“Yeah, I want you to ask her.”
“Moo, are you asking me what?”
“What the hell, man. Don’t you think it’s a little odd that I didn’t ask you to poke around in the basement? By the looks of it, you’ve been working here for a while, so you must know something, and if you ask me about my husband, that’s even better—”
“We’re all stocked up, so get some rest.”
We were whispering and talking when Liz, who had just finished her work, walked over and said hello.
Asel shook his head with a look of no way, but when I made a fist to show him, he quickly relented.
Taking a deep breath, he called out to Liz.
“Hey, hey–Liz!”
“What’s going on?”
“Da, nothing else, I’m just so curious—what in the world is in the basement that the Lord told you not to go in?”
“What? You mean the basement?”
Liz blinked her big eyes. I crossed my arms and waited for her response.
I could still see Adrian’s stern face as he asked me to stay away.
Liz nodded in understanding as Asel explained.
“Well, that’s certainly something you’d want to know about.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah—you didn’t say why, is there some kind of critical facility there?”
“I don’t really know. The basement is basically out of my cleaning zone, so I don’t think I go in there more than once a year, but Young Ae has been coming in and out a lot lately, so maybe she’s just saying that out of old age.”
“By Young Ae, you mean Ms. Erzebet?”
“Yes, it is. The maids are pretty much the talk of the town. In fact, it’s not just that they come in and out, it’s almost like they live in the basement.”
Liz had been staring at Asel’s face the entire time they were talking.
It was clear from the sweetness in his eyes that he had a crush on the dwarf.
Asel raised an eyebrow.
“Well, what’s in that basement?”
“I don’t know the details because I’m just a maid. It’s a full-time job to take care of the area I’m assigned, but rumors abound. It’s where they imprison those who defy Akalusia, it’s home to man-eating monsters—the most popular rumor is that there’s an entrance to the treasury in the basement.”
“The entrance to the treasury—? Isn’t Erzebet free to enter at will anyway?”
“No, no. The treasury of Akalusia is only accessible to the patriarch, so the maids, who like to talk about such things, like to tie rumors of the treasury to your behavior and come up with theories, such as that you are searching for the treasure that will bring the dead Lady Adeshan back to life without her knowledge.”
“——Adeshan.”
I gritted my teeth. It was a ridiculous story, but it was hard to deny when I remembered Eri’s condition in the parlor.
Suddenly, Liz’s expression darkened.
“I’m sorry to say, but the crash of the lion statue at dawn—— may have been caused by you.”
“Neh?! What does that mean?”
“As you can see, she’s not normal right now, and I know it’s hard to imagine after what she’s just been through, but she used to be known for her impeccable grooming and manners, even in the world of nobility.”
“Well. I’m well aware of that.”
I nodded in agreement. The Erzebet I remembered was never such a twit. She was the kind of girl who used to say that elegance begins with looks.
“He was polite. He was basically a really nice kid.”
“That is correct. But since Lady Adeshan’s return, you’ve been completely broken. Normally, no matter how excited she was, she would never have used such harsh magic on a guest of the House.”
“That’s right,” I said, “I didn’t think it would be right in front of me. Is he that hysterical with Liz or any of the other maids?”
“No, but you’re leaking physical life force without realizing it, and it’s affecting the entire mansion. Three days ago, the chandelier in the main foyer fell down and had to be replaced, and I’m guessing that lion statue—.”
Liz dragged her tail. Asel’s eyes widened.
Suddenly, Adrian’s words to himself echoed in my head.
– I never thought I’d break that one, though—.
The words were muttered in passing, but I remembered them clearly. The accident was certainly unnatural, and Liz’s comment about doing things unconsciously left open the possibility that it could have been intentional.
“Shadow.
There was another element that added to my suspicions. A shadow had watched us from inside the mansion’s window shortly after the lion statue fell. It was a long way off, but now that I think about it, it seemed to have a similar build to Erzebet. An uncomfortable suspicion grew in me.
“—I apologize. I’ve been presumptuous, and I’ll do my best to make it right, so please don’t hate her, she’s just going through a rough patch.”
“I get it, Liz just wanted to warn us in her own way, and I’m sure Erzebeth doesn’t hate her, and she’ll be careful.”
“Thank you, and I’ll leave you to it, but if you need a new outfit, Asel, please call me right away.”
“Why, it’s fine!”
Asel waved urgently. Liz, huffing and puffing, covered her mouth and left the room.
The door closed, the footsteps faded away.
Asel breathed a sigh of relief.
“Whoa—I can finally relax. This is the longest I’ve ever talked to a girl.”
“I cursed.”
I stretched out on the bed with a cigarette in my mouth. An ornate chandelier hung from the ceiling, like a scaled-down version of the one in the lobby.
Damn, that’s ugly to hear that it fell.
Asel, hanging his robe in the closet, said hesitantly.
“—Is this really what Young-ae did?”
“What.”
“Oops, I dropped the lion statue–it was scary, but it didn’t look like him.”
“You’re the front-runner for now, Asel. How’s your test tomorrow?”
“—What the hell, Ro, didn’t you accept Ronan’s offer to help you?”
Asel’s eyes widened to the point of bulging. Somehow, I thought he would accept the test graciously, but he was expecting my help.
He chuckled, slapping the pause button.
“It’s your test, why would I help you? If Erzebet is the culprit, I wonder what will fall this time. Maybe the roof will come crashing down and tear you to shreds.”
“Heeeeeewwww—!”
“It’ll work out somehow, so just get some rest. Miss Adrian’s not an idiot, and she’s not going to tell us to kill each other on a whim. The way the challenge works, you always have the advantage.”
“Well, surely you’re not going to go straight to Dalian to risk your life?”
I didn’t answer. It wasn’t that I was trying to pick out anything in particular, but there was just too much to wrap my head around. There were too many strange things about this Acalusian estate.
A suddenly fallen lion and shadow.
A gazoo that hides something.
The Silent History of Adeshan.
Erzebet, a widowed woman.
Basement.
I opened my mouth to take a drag on my cigarette without lighting it.
“Asel. I’ll be right back.”
“Uh, where are you going? Isn’t Ronan tired?”
“I’m going to go smoke a cigarette. I’m going to sleep for a while, so I need to charge up before I go. I’ll be back in a few minutes, so don’t get too sleepy.”
I puffed up and down on the hookah in my mouth.
Asel looked relieved when he was told they would be back soon, and he went to bed.
“Well, then—okay, you have to come quickly because you don’t want to ruin your condition.”
“In times like this, I’m just scared, so just tell him to come here. I’m coming.”
With those words, I left the room. The damp morning air hit me hard. I felt like I needed to see it with my own eyes to make sense of it.
Before I could take five steps, I heard snoring from behind the door.
****
“Ah.”
I had no idea how much time had passed.
Asel opened his eyes, feeling a little tired.
“—Ronan?”
I called my friend’s name, but he didn’t answer. His voice echoed like he was in a bathtub.
Asel gulped as he looked around nervously.
“Well, well, well!”
Ronan wasn’t the only one missing: his plush bed was gone, as was the window that looked out over the estate. He lay on a cold, hard stone floor that reeked of mold. Darkness lurked all around him, with no light to be found.
“Haa—haa—!”
I didn’t understand what was happening. White breath dispersed with each sharp exhalation. It was unbelievably cold for early summer.
“Cold, cold.”
Asel opened his collar. As he rose to his feet, he could see a long corridor, stretching as far as the eye could see, with no windows.
It was a new place to me, but I felt like I knew where it was.
Asell staggered to his feet and muttered, his voice shaking.
“——basement.”