Chapter 73

# 73

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Sailen thought almost exactly the same as Beni.

On their way to clear the dishes, they deliberately bumped into Minerva’s shoulder as they passed by.

Thud!

"…!"

Minerva quickly pressed her lips tightly together.

Her shoulder shrank back, and her hands trembled, but her eyes widened.

'Let’s not be afraid. It’s okay.'

The real fear wasn’t the violence.

The most terrifying thing was feeling powerless.

Still, it was difficult to shake off the trauma immediately, so her body couldn’t help but freeze.

Sailen sneered, lifting one corner of her mouth at Minerva.

Nabia watched this silently before speaking.

"You look happy, Sailen."

Sailen was momentarily taken aback, but she could laugh it off, thinking a child wouldn’t understand.

"It’s just that the weather is nice!"

'Besides, she’s going to die soon anyway.'

"Hmm."

Sailen hummed a little tune.

Minerva glanced at Sailen and Beni, then stuck close to Nabia.

'I’ll protect you, Miss.'

Though Minerva didn’t say it out loud, Nabia could feel her thoughts clearly.

In fact, after the maids left, Minerva had also been about to be sent away with Margaret.

However, Minerva said it would be better to have her around and offered to stay by her side.

'It’s okay even if you don’t push yourself.'

Minerva often had to run errands outside, but even during times when she should have been resting, she stayed by Nabia’s side.

Taking advantage of this, she also carefully examined her injuries and even developed a new ointment.

"There is some improvement, but the real issue is your stamina. You need to eat more."

"I will."

"Don’t force yourself, though. If you find something you like, feel free to say so. You’ll eat more if you enjoy it."

"…I will."

Though Minerva seemed relaxed, she keenly sensed that Nabia was treating her meal like a chore.

Also, Minerva might not know, but Nabia’s stuttering wasn’t chronic.

When she was focused on her work, she spoke very clearly and distinctly.

Nabia nodded and, noticing the sky was getting dark, said:

"I’m a bit tired today, so I’ll go to bed early. Minerva, you can rest too."

When Nabia dismissed them, the two maids eagerly agreed, their faces brightening.

"Oh, are you? Then we’ll take our leave, Miss."

Minerva, seeing that they were leaving without resistance, stood up with a slightly relieved expression.

'If only there were someone better to take care of Miss, like a proper maid…'

"I, I’ll go too…"

The maids pretended to check the room one last time, unlocking the window latch before leaving.

When they closed the bedroom door behind Nabia, they couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

"Phew, I thought I’d suffocate in there."

"Exactly. I wanted to torment that annoying doctor, but we couldn’t even do that."

"Let’s get back to our room quickly. It’s kind of creepy without the light."

The Eshelred mansion was especially terrifying at night.

It was pitch black, and even with the lamps lit, it felt eerie.

The two chatted through the last night, and then Sailen shook her head with a shudder.

"I want to leave right now."

To her, even the shadows cast by the lamp’s light looked like evil spirits.

"Still, it’s over tomorrow, right?"

At that moment, Beni’s shadow on the wall moved on its own.

'…What was that?'

Sailen’s eyes, frozen in shock, shifted from the shadow to Beni.

Beni and her shadow were making different movements.

"What’s wrong?"

"You… your shadow…"

"Huh?"

Then Beni’s shadow suddenly twisted to the side.

The middle of the shadow’s face began to glow, forming a smile.

"Ahhh! Behind! Behind!"

Sailen suddenly screamed and jumped up, startling Beni.

"Why, why are you doing that? You scared me!"

Beni turned around quickly.

But there was nothing unusual.

Sailen’s face was pale, and she was trembling.

"See, the rumors are true. They say this place is haunted!"

"What are you talking about…?"

"Didn’t you know? This mansion is cursed, and the former Duke and other retainers suddenly died!"

"What…? It was just a coincidence. I heard they died from an epidemic."

"An epidemic that only kills a few people and then stops? Where in the world does that exist!"

Sailen shouted sharply and shook her head.

"Not here. I can’t stay here. This isn’t right!"

"Sailen!"

Bang!

Sailen ignored Beni’s call and ran out of the mansion.

She couldn’t die pointlessly in a haunted mansion like this.

The shadow earlier wasn’t a hallucination.

When Beni turned around, the shadow suddenly returned to normal, giving Sailen a chilling intuition.

The evil spirits are after me! Why?

Why me and not Beni?

"Huff! Huff!"

While Sailen was running across the desolate garden, her steps suddenly stopped.

She had encountered three men who had hidden themselves.

"…!"

Swish.

The man in the middle said:

"Dispose of the body so it’s not seen."

* * *

Nabia, after manipulating Sailen’s shadow to make her flee in fear, quickly moved to hide in a corner.

The magic of controlling shadows was quite convenient.

She could send the shadow to the target with the desired thoughts without having to see or control it directly.

Nabia hid in the corner, confirmed that Sailen had fled the room, and then returned to her own room.

To Nabia, this was just a trivial prank.

Still, it would allow her to interrogate Beni and, more importantly, hold Theo van accountable for sending such a maid, so it wasn’t bad.

'I’ll use today’s incident to embarrass him.'

Nabia checked the window before going to sleep.

'Just in case something happens.'

She had many enemies.

So it was better to be cautious and check the window latch.

"…?"

But the latch was completely unlocked.

'…What’s this?'

Didn’t the maids check the windows just now?

'Or was it to leave them open?'

Nabia’s expression vanished instantly.

She took off her slippers and rummaged through the drawer to find a paper knife.

She couldn’t defeat an adult attacker with this, but if it could buy her some time, that would be enough.

'What if the assassins are already close?'

She knew nothing.

'Lord Margaret and the Duke are using the annex.'

Leaving the mansion in this situation would be more dangerous.

And she couldn’t go to the third floor and beg Lark for help.

She would die the moment she stepped on the third floor.

Nabia recalled a room without windows from when she had searched for a towel before.

'I still have a little mana left.'

If she laid this mana on the door, she could detect intruders.

'I just need to hold out for one day.'

If she could hide somewhere and survive the night, she could ask for help from someone tomorrow.

'But… what if the assassin is too strong and ends up hurting Lord Margaret or the Duke?'

She should handle it alone.

Nabia ran quietly barefoot toward her destination.

Her injuries throbbed through the anesthesia, but she stifled her mouth with her hand to keep as quiet as possible.

Click.

Nabia entered the storage room she had seen before and hid in the deepest corner.

Now, the only thing left was to wait for morning without being discovered by the assassins.