Chapter 06……………………..
“I’m not sure… hmm.”
Irenes, whose thoughts were exactly the same as Yujire’s guess, finally spoke.
“For now, I really don’t know.”
“Nothing seemed suspicious when you visited the Marquis’ estate?”
Laseil, falling back into thought, asked again.
If the son had died in an accident inside the mansion, they would naturally avoid that location.
A space unnaturally blocked off would very likely be the problem.
“Sorry I’m not much help—ah!”
Irenes, about to apologize, suddenly exclaimed as if remembering something.
“They seemed to avoid using the third staircase from the left.”
Third from the left?
Laseil tried to remember the layout for a moment before giving up.
Using her head was not her area of expertise.
Instead, she looked at Yujire—who indeed explained.
“The Marquis’ mansion has three staircases.”
The mansion was so large that the guest rooms on the 2nd floor, the reception area, and the library each had separate routes.
The staircase Irenes mentioned was the one leading to the library.
It was a space mostly used by the Marquis family themselves.
“I never bothered with it since I had no business going to the library, but still…”
Given the situation now, it was plenty suspicious.
The staircase was steep and narrow—one wrong step and someone could easily fall.
“So that really might be the cause, right?”
It seemed they’d reached a conclusion.
But Laseil still had one lingering question.
“…If he fell by accident, could he have been injured that badly? How high was the staircase?”
“Slightly taller than the ones here. Their second floor sits at about the height of our third floor.”
Laseil glanced at a nearby staircase.
If it was a little higher than that—and if he fell headfirst—dying wouldn’t be strange.
But the real issue was why the family tried to hide it.
“Did the ghost say someone pushed him?”
Luzea, who had brewed tea and overheard the conversation, asked.
She probably intended to lighten the mood with a joke—but it didn’t work.
If anything, the thought that it might be true made the atmosphere heavier.
“…Even if not a ghost… maybe someone else pushed him?”
Irenes murmured with a sigh.
“Who would push him? And why—”
“What if it wasn’t intentional?”
Laseil spoke while arranging the pieces in her mind.
“Huh?”
“You know how kids sometimes play dangerous games. What if someone shoved him by mistake?”
“No kid would—well… actually, that could happen.”
Irenes, recalling the Marquis’ first son when they were children, stopped mid-refutation.
Now, the heir was known as a gentleman among gentlemen—polite to a fault.
But as a child, he had been the complete opposite.
He was so wild that even the servants openly called him “Monkey.”
He often injured maids or servants while playing rough.
So it was entirely possible he had accidentally pushed his younger brother down the stairs.
And for the Marquis family, hiding the fact that their second son died because of the heir’s reckless behavior would have been the better option.
“…If that’s true…”
Yujire sighed.
Just learning that the second son had already died was headache-inducing—but now this?
At this point she almost looked forward to discovering what other secrets this territory was hiding. (Though of course, she meant the opposite.)
“Is there any way to confirm it?”
“Make a haunted house. The second son already visited you, right? Add a backstory that he became a vengeful ghost haunting the place…”
Luzea froze mid-sentence.
Everyone else had fallen silent.
“I—I mean, I was just talking! You don’t have to take it seriously—”
“Isn’t that actually the best idea?”
“That’s the most reliable way to confirm it.”
It seemed like the best method both to lure the Marquis family and to confirm the second son’s cause of death.
“What? Wait just a second!”
Luzea—who had suggested it—looked like she regretted everything.
But everyone else had already started planning.
And because everyone had already encountered ghosts thanks to Laseil, the conversation flowed quickly without stopping.
“You’re seriously doing this?”
Luzea remained doubtful, but the others were completely serious—
especially Elian.
“How dare they use me like that?”
Elian didn’t particularly dislike the Marquis’ second son.
What she hated was that the Marquis family had engaged her to a dead man, all to soothe the regret of a son who never married.
There were limits to how much one could toy with another person’s life.
Perhaps because of that anger, the mansion they completed was truly horrific.
“Even if we clean this up, I don’t think I can ever live here again.”
That was Elian’s reaction upon seeing the house she used to live in.
Yujire reassured her by saying she’d hire her as an assistant if it came to that.
“What? No way! I’d rather live with ghosts than do paperwork!”
Elian hated paperwork slightly more than she feared ghosts.
While Elian and Yujire argued, Laseil inspected the mansion.
Everything had turned out exactly as planned—
Suspicious bloodstains by the stairs, creaking footsteps, crying sounds from somewhere…
Getting rid of the smell was the hardest part.
Paint would have been ideal, but they had no way to buy any on short notice.
So they had to use alcohol, jam, and any other red food from the mansion’s storage.
If Elian didn’t know odor-removal magic, it would’ve been a nightmare.
But it’s all done now.
All that remained was to wait for the Marquis family to arrive.
Yujire had already sent a letter, so they would come within days.
“If the atmosphere seems perfect for a confession, should we record it with a crystal orb?”
Yujire was already thinking about blackmail material.
“Is that really necessary?”
“Of course it is, Sir Jaen! What’s the one thing our ducal house lacks most?”
“…Empathy?”
“Well—yes that too! But more importantly, information.”
Now that she mentioned it, Laseil couldn’t deny it.
Over the next few days—filled with similar conversations—the Marquis’ reply finally arrived.
The Marquis’ eldest son, Ates, doubted the authenticity of the letter he had received.
The sender alone was suspicious.
The House of Lesean?
He had only ever exchanged polite greetings with them at social gatherings.
He had no memory of being close enough to exchange letters.
And the suspicious letter began like this:
[To Sir Ates Rimein]
At least they were decent enough not to start with “Dear.”
[We heard that Lady Elian, recently engaged to the young lord of the Rimein Marquisate, has come to our territory.
We had no intention of meddling in private matters, but several days ago, Lady Elian went missing.
Upon investigating, we learned she fled because she disliked the engagement.
As the lord of this territory, I am concerned such an incident may cause trouble.
Please come at once to assist in searching for Lady Elian.]
Should I go?
Ates already knew Elian was in that territory.
He had planned to retrieve her soon.
But Yujire was not the type to help others.
She was kind to her maids and guards—but ice-cold to outsiders.
So why…?
Ates glared at the letter and stood up.
Thinking about it longer wouldn’t solve anything.
The postscript irritated him further:
[P.S. It would be wise to prevent rumors that the Rimein family cannot even manage their own fiancée.]
It was essentially a threat—
come immediately or she would spread rumors.
Yujire, with just a little information, could turn the social world upside down.
Now that she held information about the Rimein family too, she could destroy their reputation within a day if she wished.
Damn it!
The letter was unusually polite, but at its core, still a threat.
Unable to contain his anger, Ates headed to the teleportation circle.
If he traveled by carriage, he might actually die of rage before arriving.
That cursed duchess!
The ducal houses had never once benefited his life—
not the Lesean Ducal House, nor the Siren Ducal House.
Long ago, when that incident happened to his younger sibling, it was also the Siren family’s fault for failing to keep it concealed.
If only Irenes Siren hadn’t known that child—
they could have erased his younger brother’s existence entirely.
Damn it!
Grinding his teeth over and over, he eventually arrived in Yujire’s territory.
Ates was about to head first to the lord’s residence—
but stopped in his tracks.
