Chapter 18
“Eh? Follow you?”
I asked innocently, then spoke sternly.
“Sir Sian. A lady like April does not follow after another young noblewoman.”
For a moment, I grew tense. Could it be that he noticed me staring at Yeniel and following after her?
“I know. You wouldn’t have followed her so simply. It’s just… I wanted to ask. Why would a person from such an old noble faction end up drifting over to the Emperor’s side? What I mean is—when the ‘moment comes,’ what will you do?”
Sian’s voice dropped heavily.
“My lady, it would have been better if you had followed Lady Devnoa.”
“Why would I follow Lady Evelyn?”
I recalled that the villainess Evelyn’s family name was Devnoa.
“Lady Evelyn keeps people around just to amuse her, but at least she’s honest. Lady Yeniel, on the other hand, is… precise.”
“Precise?”
“Being precise isn’t always a good thing. Most people like you, so you’ll probably be favored… but, forget I said this. However Lady April thinks, the debt has been repaid.”
I realized he was speaking of protecting him earlier as repayment for Max shielding him.
“Since we’ve rested enough, let’s search this room for clues.”
Ending the conversation, Sian moved toward the secret cupboard.
“Then, Sir Sian, are you also precise?”
“…I don’t know.”
It was a lie.
‘He’s such a terrible liar.’
I didn’t know what being “precise” truly meant in this story, but one thing was clear: Sian was the type whose feelings always showed plainly on his face.
Unfortunately, nothing was found inside the cupboard.
“This was the only place left to search in this room. Was there anything else besides the medical kit? Any devices?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Then maybe the medical kit itself is the key.”
No, that wasn’t it.
I opened the case.
“April wants to play with the medical kit!”
“Haa… Just be careful not to break it.”
I carefully removed each layer of the kit and set them down on the floor.
At the very bottom lay a button made of gemstone.
“What’s this? Wait. I’ll press it.”
Sian tensed up, then pressed the button in my place.
For the record, I wasn’t planning to press it anyway.
Clang!
From above, a doll’s head dropped from the chandelier.
In that brief instant, I saw its entire grotesque face. Sian, however, only saw a dark and unpleasant thing fall from above.
“What in the—urgh.”
Seeing the head’s horrifying details, Sian swallowed back a scream.
Let’s just say it was grotesque.
“It might be a monster. I’ll check if it moves… fortunately, it’s just a doll’s head. What a disgusting hobby.”
Pushing me behind him, Sian grit his teeth.
“Now I understand. ‘Grant eternal rest.’ It means to pacify a vengeful spirit. Lady Yeniel is safe. Sir Max must bring back the rest of the pieces.”
“Rest of the pieces? What are they? April wants to know too!”
“This is a fragmented doll, a practice from the early Empire.”
Of course, I didn’t understand.
But Sian kindly explained.
“Back then, people feared that those who died with resentment or thirsting for revenge would return as spirits. To prevent this, they made dolls in the likeness of the dead, cut them apart, and hid the pieces.”
“Why cut the dolls? Doesn’t that hurt?”
“They feared the spirits. They were afraid of revenge.”
Surprisingly, Sian patiently explained instead of snapping.
“Just as we are now being attacked by a great magician’s revenge, they feared harm from the dead. The most important piece is the heart, believed to hold the soul. Even if the body isn’t complete, with the heart alone, eternal rest could be granted. That’s why I can only hope Lady Yeniel or Sir Max finds it.”
Room 207 ▶ Sian, April (the doll’s head)
Taking out a pocket watch, Sian said,
“It’s almost an hour. We should prepare to leave.”
“Yes!”
I answered brightly.
I also picked up the doll’s head Sian hated.
“It’s light, and it even has hair!”
“Ugh… Please, put that away. I’ll see it in my nightmares.”
Sian hugged the medical kit like a treasure and grimaced.
The moment we opened the door, a muscular figure rushed in.
An occultist threw down his greatsword with a crash and charged.
“Plipelium!”
At Sian’s call, a spirit wolf appeared and bit into the cultist’s arm.
The two became entangled in a vicious struggle.
“They’re late. When His Highness the Crown Prince comes out, this monster will abandon everything else and go straight for him. You must not run to Room 202.”
“Yes!”
A few minutes passed.
“Where are the others…!”
Grinding his teeth, Sian scanned the hallway.
Suddenly, the door of Room 212 burst open—Max’s room.
To my shock, Max staggered out, pale, clutching a doll’s white leg.
“Uwaaaah! Help! There’s a skeleton’s lower body inside! Lord Isengrif, deal with this thing!”
It turned out not to be a doll’s leg but a bare bone leg.
Ridiculous as his scream was, at least Max had found a piece of the doll.
Room 202 ▶ Crown Prince, Yeniel
Room 207 ▶ Sian, April (doll’s head)
Room 212 ▶ Max (doll’s lower body)
If the head and lower body existed, then the torso must too.
The most important— the heart.
Surely, it was hidden in Room 202, where Yeniel and the Crown Prince had entered.
Just then, the door to Room 202 opened.
“Lady Yeniel!”
I waved my hand cheerfully.
“Come inside!”
Yeniel called us in urgently.
Her usually calm face was visibly shaken.
“His Highness the Crown Prince has collapsed! We cannot move him any further. All three of you, hurry inside Room 202!”
At that moment, the cultist also turned with a heavy stomp—
toward Room 202.
