Chapter 68

The official's residence was originally a castle of the Daliéz noble family, with everything designed for defense. The windows were all placed very high up, narrow and small, and even during the day, the lighting was very poor. Later, when it was renovated to make it more suitable for living, the owner specially added many glass windows to the ground floor.

Through a pane of glass decorated with patterns, Lumian looked inside and saw that the grand hall used for banquets was empty and very desolate.

"Indeed, there are very few servants..." Lya sighed softly.

Since it was daytime, many windows were open, allowing the fresh air, mixed with the scent of flowers, to flow in, which created extremely favorable conditions for Lumian and the others to infiltrate.

Taking advantage of the fact that there were few servants on the first floor, the four of them successively climbed into the hall but did not rush to go deeper. They found a nearby hiding spot to conceal themselves.

Lya turned her head and said to Valentine, who was hiding behind a decorative pillar:

"I'll scout ahead and get ready."

"Okay." Valentine nodded sternly.

Lumian, who was crouching behind a stone pedestal with a porcelain vase, heard this and poked his head out to remind them:

"There's no need to explore the first floor.

"This place often entertains guests, so there's nothing unusual."

Since the administrator Beost and Mrs. Pualis moved in, his sister Aurore would occasionally visit the castle or borrow a pony. A few times, he took the opportunity to follow her and enjoyed many cakes, bread, and drinks.

When the administrator and Mrs. Pualis were out, he would sometimes come to find the butler Louis Londe, and under his "escort," he toured the first floor.

"I'll go straight to the staircase." Lya indicated her understanding.

She did not try to walk in a straight line through the empty banquet hall but instead hugged the wall and circled around to the stairs.

The four small silver bells did not make a sound, as if by magic.

As she passed one of the rooms, she suddenly heard footsteps coming from near the door.

Lumian, who was in a good position, could even see a male servant in a red shirt and white trousers appear at the door, about to bump into Lya, with no cover around!

Lya remained calm, turned her body, and with her hand on the wall, she climbed up to an oil painting hanging two meters high.

She then tiptoed, stepped on the frame, and managed to stand steadily against the wall without knocking the painting down.

Lumian wanted to clap, as this reminded him of the acrobatic performance he saw at the circus in Daliéz last year.

The male servant left the room, instinctively looked left and right, and walked toward the kitchen.

As soon as he took a few steps, Lya immediately slid down the oil painting silently and did two rolls to hide behind a pillar.

After the male servant disappeared from the banquet hall, she resumed her path along the wall.

Finally, she reached the staircase and confirmed there were no issues.

Seeing this, Lumian darted out from behind the stone pedestal and ran straight over.

He was very fast, reaching Lya's side in just a few seconds.

However, he was not the fastest; Rein completed this "journey" in a single breath.

Valentine was not slow either, with his physical condition clearly superior to that of an ordinary person.

Without further ado, Lya led the way, and the four of them maintained a distance as they went up the stairs to the second floor.

The corridors on both sides were lined with closed doors, with only a few windows at the bottom letting in sunlight, making the overall environment abnormally dim.

Rein looked around and said:

"We will search different rooms separately to save time and make it easier to hide, but we must not be more than one room apart to avoid being unable to assist each other in case of an emergency."

Lya and the others nodded to show they understood.

Lumian immediately approached a nearby room, first pressing his ear to the door to listen for any movement inside, then turned the handle and slipped in quietly.

This was a maid's room.

He searched for a while but found no clues, so he moved on to the next room.

In this way, the four of them, occasionally avoiding servants, explored most of the second floor.

Near the end of this round of searching, Lumian arrived at the door of the room that had left a psychological shadow on him.

Louis Londe's bedroom!

According to the "history," the butler should have given birth yesterday.

"His abdomen was torn open, even if it was stitched, he wouldn't recover in a short time. He must be lying in bed resting..." Lumian muttered silently, considering whether to push the door open and have a "chat" with Louis Londe.

As a firsthand witness to the bizarre events, this male butler must know a lot.

However, doing so would violate their pre-established principle of only observing and exploring without causing any disturbances, as Lumian could not guarantee that Louis Londe would not tell Mrs. Pualis about his infiltration.

After giving birth, what could remain confidential?

As for silencing him, it would be equivalent to directly telling Mrs. Pualis that "something happened."

"Unfortunately, if only I knew some hypnosis..." Lumian sighed silently, habitually pressing his ear to the door to listen for any movement inside.

There was no sound at all.

With the enhanced hearing of a "Hunter," even through the door and a few meters of distance, it would be impossible not to hear breathing.

"No one? Louis Londe just gave birth yesterday, where could he have gone?" Lumian tried to turn the handle, pushed the door open a crack, and peeked inside.

The room was relatively clean, with no bloodstains from his memory, and of course, no sign of Louis Londe.

Lumian frowned slightly, pushed the door wider, and walked in.

He could see that this bedroom had signs of recent human activity, whether it was the neatly made bed, the cigarette butt on the bedside table, the black coat hanging on the chair, or the faint footprints on the floor, all indicating that Louis Londe had been active here recently.

In addition, Lumian noticed some uncleaned bloodstains and oil marks at the edge of the bed.

"He did give birth yesterday..." Lumian nodded, muttering to himself.

At that moment, he heard faint voices coming from outside the window.

He hurried to the glass window, turned his body, and looked out.

At the stable, Louis Londe, with black hair and blue eyes, wore a white shirt, black suit, dark trousers, and leather shoes, walking and talking to Sevère, the driver who had taken the siblings to the other world in the previous cycle.

His face was quite rosy, and his posture was steady and strong, leaving Lumian stunned.

This was someone who had just given birth yesterday?

And it was a cesarean section!

Lumian suppressed his inner shock and listened carefully to what Louis Londe and Sevère were saying.

To his surprise, the two were just discussing gardening and flower planting.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that Lumian was not coming out, Rein, wearing a dark bowler hat, also pushed the door open and entered the room, followed by Lya and Valentine.

Lumian quickly lowered his voice and told the three outsiders about Louis Londe's behavior.

Rein listened carefully and then said:

"Do you know the 'Earth Mother'?"

The Daliéz region bordered the Kingdom of Fenepot, and shepherds often moved their flocks there. With the basic education from his sister, Lumian was not unfamiliar with this:

"Yes, the deity worshipped in Fenepot."

Rein nodded and said:

"This deity oversees childbirth, and correspondingly, healing and life, which is reflected in the abilities of the extraordinary beings of the corresponding path.

"I'm not saying that this is related to the 'Earth Mother,' but I'm telling you that childbirth, healing, and life are often interconnected. Since Louis Londe can give birth, it's understandable that he could recover in just one day."

"Ah, I see..." Lumian thought it made sense.

If men can give birth, why would it be strange for someone to be lively and active a day after a cesarean section?

"Did you find anything?" He asked Rein and the others.

Rein shook his head:

"Just ordinary servant rooms."

"It seems we need to go to the third floor." Lumian felt a bit heavy.

The third floor had the bedrooms, study, sunroom, and living room of Mrs. Pualis and Administrator Beost, among others.

This meant significant risks.

"Alright." Rein did not hesitate.

Soon, the four of them infiltrated the third floor.

Many of the room doors were open, making the corridor much brighter.

Lumian went straight to the point and entered the bedroom of Mrs. Pualis and Administrator Beost.

There was a bed with light velvet sheets, a small bookshelf with bedtime reading, a spacious wardrobe filled with various clothes, a safe with valuable collections, a soft and comfortable light beige sofa, a table with five photo frames and documents, and a fluffy white carpet covering the entire room...

Lumian and the others looked around and simultaneously chose the table.

The books there were common popular novels, including Forswall's masterpiece "The Great Adventurer 5: The Admiral in Sickness," and Aurore's latest work "The Substitute Detective." The documents were mainly various affairs issued by the Daliéz region, and the five photos in the frames included four of Mrs. Pualis and one of a man Lumian did not recognize.

"No Administrator?" He was quite surprised and whispered.

All four photos of Mrs. Pualis were of her alone, dressed in different formal attire and posing in different ways, and the only male photo was not of Administrator Beost.

After all, he was the male head of the household; this was rather strange.

Lya nodded thoughtfully:

"The Administrator's status in this family might be similar to that of a butler.

"Have you ever seen a family display a photo of a butler?"

"Then who is this man?" Lumian looked at the frame on the far side.

The frame contained a color photo of a man in his late twenties, wearing a red shirt, a black velvet coat, and dark trousers with fringes, and a pair of laced short boots, dressed very fashionably.

His features somewhat resembled Mrs. Pualis, with slightly sparse eyebrows, bright brown eyes, and a rather exaggerated 70-30 hairstyle. His lips were slightly curved, giving him the appearance of someone who frequently moves in high society but has a bit of a rogue quality.

Overall, his features were not outstanding, but he was very pleasant to look at.

"Mrs. Pualis's brother or cousin?" Lumian guessed based on his appearance.

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