Chapter 49

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At that time, Silas and the others were in a hidden room in the west VIP suite on the second floor. Since the room happened to be unused, they had a maid bring the key so they could enter.

Even though it was an unused room, it was cleaned daily, so the room was very clean. The room was spacious, with sunlight streaming in through the large windows. The canopy bed and expensive furniture were the same as those in the rooms assigned to Silas and Olivia. Perhaps all the VIP suites were designed the same way.

To the right upon entering was a bathroom, and to the left was a room connected by an inner door. The left room, presumably intended for the owner's maids, had two beds without canopies and a simple setup with a dresser.

Silas placed the floor plan of the castle on the low table in front of the sofa.

"Considering the layout of the room, it's probably either the bathroom or the left room. This middle room is surrounded by the other rooms, the windows, and the hallway, so it's impossible to have a hidden room here."

Silas said this while peering at the floor plan. Edward agreed with Silas. However, the scale of the room was not significantly different from the others. Ritzburg, looking at the floor plan on the table, said, "There was only a slight discrepancy here, so there might not be enough space for a hidden room."

"Maybe, but we should be thorough. I'll search the bathroom. Prince Silas, can you check the left room?"

"Yes, I understand."

Elisabeth had not been feeling well since morning and was resting in her room. Due to her persistent poor health, Edward, worried, ordered her to see the court physician. Elisabeth said she was just tired and didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but her pale face lacked persuasiveness. When Edward sternly threatened to remove her from the team if she didn't see the physician, Elisabeth reluctantly agreed.

Colin waited at the entrance to the room to prevent anyone from entering. Silas went to the left room and first opened the closet, as it seemed the most likely place for a hidden room.

The closet was spacious and deep. It made sense, considering it was a room for a noble, even if it was intended for maids. They would have a lot of luggage, so ample space was necessary.

(There doesn't seem to be any movable part on the back wall.)

After checking thoroughly, Silas ruled out the closet.

When he turned around, Ritzburg was examining the walls of the room.

"There don't seem to be any lines in the walls. However, the right wall seems a bit thicker than the others."

"The right wall?"

The right wall was the one connected to the adjacent room. When they opened the inner door and measured the thickness of the wall, it was indeed about twenty centimeters thicker than the others. However, a hidden room couldn't fit in a space only twenty centimeters wide, so it was probably just a coincidence.

They also considered the possibility of lines in the floor, but the floor was covered with a tightly fitted carpet. The bed and dresser were on it, making it extremely difficult to lift the carpet. Unless they were certain there was a hidden room, it wasn't necessary to lift the carpet just because they suspected something.

"Is there anywhere else we can search?"

"No, not really... The windows also seem normal."

Ritzburg still seemed concerned about the walls and kept tapping them. Since Ritzburg was so focused on it, there might be something there. With nothing else to do, Silas decided to help and started examining the wall from the right side of the room.

"Ritzburg!"

As they continued tapping the wall, they found a section that sounded different. It was right where a tapestry was hanging.

When Silas called out, Ritzburg quickly came over and removed the tapestry. Under the tapestry, there was a line that looked like a rectangular cutout in the wall. When Ritzburg carefully examined it, the part with the line popped out.

"Could it be here?"

Silas's eyes widened, but unfortunately, there was no hidden room behind the wall. Inside the removed section was a folding ladder, and nothing else.

"A ladder? ...Why?"

"Who knows?"

Ritzburg was also puzzled by the unexpected find.

(Why would a ladder be installed in a room?)

Nobles wouldn't use a ladder to clean chandeliers; that was the job of the servants. There was no need to keep a ladder in the room for the servants, as they would bring one from the storage whenever they needed it.

"...So, there must be a reason."

If there was a ladder, the place to investigate was above. As Silas examined the ceiling, he suddenly noticed a small discrepancy.

"Ah... I think I get it."

When Silas muttered this, Ritzburg looked up.

"Where?"

"Probably the ceiling. The height of the wall above the window is different from the other rooms, isn't it? The windows are at the same height, but the upper wall is clearly different. The ceiling in this room is lower."

Ritzburg quickly went to check the adjacent left room and returned.

"You're right. The ceiling height in this room is different."

"In that case... it's normal to assume there's something in the ceiling."

With Colin's help, they searched the ceiling for any irregularities and found a square cutout in one corner of the room.

"Is it there?"

"Did you find it?"

Edward poked his head out of the bathroom, and Silas pointed to the ceiling.

"I think it's up there. That board seems to come off. We found a ladder, but it's old, so it might be better to use a step stool."

"Got it. I'll get a step stool."

Edward went out to call a maid, knowing they could borrow a step stool used for cleaning chandeliers.

"Then I'll get a candlestick. Since it's the ceiling, there won't be any light."

Colin said this and ran out of the room.

By the time the maids brought the step stool into the room, Colin had returned with a candlestick. The task of checking the ceiling was given to Colin, who had the best physical coordination among the four.

Without hesitation, Colin climbed the step stool and pushed up the ceiling board where the cutout was visible. It came off easily. Colin then climbed up into the ceiling and looked down through the hole.

"There's a room. The ceiling is a bit low, but the floor is sturdy, so one or two people should be able to climb up without any problem. I'd prefer if everyone didn't come up, though."

"Alright, let's go up."

Edward stepped onto the step stool. After Edward climbed up, Colin came down, and Silas took his turn.

The hidden room in the ceiling was low, as Colin had said, and they had to bend over to search it. Thanks to the candlestick Colin had placed, they could see the room, but it was not very large and had no furniture.

However, there was one mysterious thing on the wall of the otherwise empty room.

"It looks like an old map."

"Yes, it does. The place names are different from today's."

Silas and Edward examined the map together, and Silas was puzzled.

"There's a pin stuck here. What could it be?"

A golden pin was stuck on the map.

"That's the town of Sahaba in modern terms. ...In the old way of saying it... it's in ancient script, and I'm not very good at it..."

"It says 'Beluche.'"

Silas wasn't very good at ancient script either, but he had read classics since childhood due to Olivia's influence, so he could read it without much difficulty. Understanding the meaning would take time, but for a town name, it was enough to just read it.

"Beluche...? Does this town have any significance?"

"Who knows. Could the sword be hidden there?"

"That's unlikely. The Chosen Sword has always been hidden in the castle. It's never taken out of the castle, so it's hard to imagine it being transported to such a distant place."

"You're right."

The Chosen Sword is never taken out of the castle, and its hiding place has always been the same.

(If this were a floor plan of the castle, it would make sense, but why is a map of the country here?)

Does this map have any deeper meaning? However, the fact that only a map is left in the hidden room makes it feel like there must be some significance. Maybe I'm overthinking it.

"Anyway, there doesn't seem to be a sword here. Let's check another room."

"Yes, that's right."

Although it was still concerning, there was no point in staying here any longer.

(I want to consult Olivia. ...But since it's really turned into a competition, I can't consult her.)

When they returned to the room, Silas decided to mark the map with the name Beluche and a pin, and then he and Edward moved on to the next room.