"We’re telling the truth, Lady Susan!" Emilia looked toward Susan with a hint of despair.
She didn’t know what to do, what was wrong with her—because she had been telling the truth. Her mory was blank, she opened the door, and nothing happened!
But thinking back, Jessica’s words weren’t exactly wrong either. How could they be sure the monster hadn’t done sothing to her and the others? Especially when she had opened the door... and been greeted by a beast knocking on it...
The light in Emilia’s eyes dimd, and Stella didn’t look much different.
Tom and the two dark espers seed like they still wanted to struggle and explain sothing, but facing Jessica and Susan, they didn’t dare do anything more.
Jessica turned to Susan. "In any case, we can’t trust anything they say anymore."
Zara nodded, though there still seed to be so concern in her eyes for these people’s condition.
Just then, Jessica suddenly continued, "Besides... aren’t you going to cut that thing out of their stomachs and take a look, Susan?"
The mont Jessica finished speaking, the others erupted in fierce protest.
"No! If that’s the case, you might as well just kill now!"
Mason shouted. He couldn’t endure that pain again.
He had already suffered so terribly, and that thing still refused to co out of his body. How much more pain would he have to endure? He’d die! If so, it’d be better to be killed outright from the start!
"We could cut them open. If that thing is inside their stomachs, we just cut it out! That way, they won’t have to suffer anymore!"
Zara raised her hand and spoke, drawing a few strange looks from the believers around her.
Cutting soone open alive like that wasn’t far off from killing them. How could Zara suggest sothing like that?
She pointed directly at the two dark espers. "I think we can start by experinting on these two."
That’s right—Zara didn’t feel much guilt toward dark espers.
"No!" both Mason and Justin shouted at the sa ti. They didn’t want to suffer the pain of being thrown out of the estate, but that didn’t an they were willing to go through the agony of being dissected. Just thinking about it was already horrifying.
Susan looked over at the two believers in her group. When her gaze fell on them, they shrank back imdiately and didn’t dare say a word.
Only they knew better than anyone that if Susan ordered them to cut themselves open right now, they wouldn’t be able to disobey.
But obviously, Susan wasn’t a cruel person. She spoke slowly, "Let’s wait until we regroup with Captain Drake’s team. Alice will be able to help us with this."
That’s right—Alice’s healing ability was potent. Even if these people were on the verge of death by then, she’d still be able to bring them back.
However, hearing this didn’t bring relief to the group. On the contrary, a sense of despair deepened.
Because with Alice present, it ant these people could do anything to them—cut them open however they wanted, and it wouldn’t matter. They wouldn’t die.
And soone had realized that was the absolute nightmare.
But at this point, there was no better option.
Everything fell into silence, like the still waters before a massive storm.
"Emilia, Stella, Tom, Justin, Mason—return to your rooms in the villa. Do not co out until lunchti."
As Susan finished speaking, the group stiffly turned and returned to their rooms.
Susan paid them no further attention. She turned to the others and said, "Let’s go. We still need to check the situation outside the estate."
With that, she took the lead and walked out. The others quickly followed behind her.
At that mont, in the pit beneath the two maids’ room...
Saphen was still lying in Drake’s arms, eyes tightly shut.
At that mont, Drake was leading his group as they crawled forward.
That’s right—this place wasn’t just a simple hole. They realized a path was leading ahead, but it was so dark and narrow that they all had to crawl forward with incredible difficulty.
Luis speculated that this must be an escape tunnel.
But why would there be such a tunnel beneath the maids’ room? That was sothing they’d need to discuss later.
Harry’s fla hovered up ahead, casting light on the pitch-black path.
The only sounds were their heavy breathing and the sluggish movents of their bodies, and the cramped space of the tunnel made everything feel even more suffocating and oppressive.
"We can’t just keep crawling like this..." Luis muttered. They had been crawling for so long that Luis started losing his sense of ti. But his instincts told him they hadn’t gone very far—there were too many turns.
Luis even suspected they were crawling in circles like a bunch of headless ants.
Just then, Drake’s voice suddenly rang out: "Stop."
The group instantly halted to avoid bumping into the person before them. Their current situation made it hard to move freely.
Up ahead, Drake had discovered sothing.
Several smaller tunnels branched out in front of them—tiny passages that weren’t made for humans.
Above them, there was also a path leading upward, though it was unclear where it would take them.
But Drake glanced down at Saphen in his arms. The space here was far too tight, which was not ideal for Saphen.
Drake even worried she might suffocate and die here from lack of oxygen.
Without much thought, he reached up and began moving a heavy stone slab covering the opening above.
He quickly removed the slab and led the way up even with only one hand. The others followed right after him.
The first thing that greeted Drake was a faint light—followed by a cloud of dust.
Dust covered every corner of the room, so thick that even the slightest movent sent it swirling through the air.
Scattered books lay strewn across the floor, and the walls were coated with cobwebs and moss—clear signs that no one had entered this room for a long ti.
"What the hell is this place?!" Fiona waved her hand in front of her face, hoping it would disperse so of the dust.
Bella wore an utterly displeased expression. She felt like just standing here was enough to ruin her princess shoes.
Only now did they begin to observe the room properly.
It turns out they had erged behind a large bookshelf.
Beyond that, the room was sparse and straightforward: a single chair, a desk against the wall—likely a reading spot—and a bed with a wardrobe.
Fiona quickly opened the wardrobe, sending a fresh puff of dust flying.
She grimaced and said, "These clothes... look just like a butler’s uniform!"
Sure enough, the wardrobe contained plain clothing: tailcoats and white shirts. In this villa, only the butler dressed like that.
Alice looked around the room and murmured, "But why does the butler’s room look like this...?"
The butler had always appeared before them looking sharp—he would never allow his room to fall into such a state.
"Maybe it’s just an abandoned room," Harry offered. "We’ve been crawling for a long ti, and the butler’s room is next to the maids’ room."
Luis was about to argue with Harry when Drake said, "This is the butler’s room—next to the maids’ room. There’s no doubt about it."
Luis nodded. "I think Captain Drake is right!"
Drake said nothing more. He just kept staring intently at Saphen, as if afraid that if he looked away for a mont, sothing bad might happen to her.
Luis couldn’t understand why Drake cared so much about this child. But that wasn’t his concern. His job now was to connect all the dots and make an initial deduction—just like he always did.
He adjusted his glasses and spoke seriously:
"This is the butler’s room—its actual appearance. If we had entered from the outside through the door, what we saw would likely have looked just like the maids’ room, and we would’ve fallen into the sa trap, just like before.
But because we ca here through the tunnel from inside the maids’ room, we managed to enter the real space of the butler’s room, free from the illusions created by that mysterious force!"
"So that ans... what we saw in the maids’ room might not be real either?!" Fiona shouted.
Alice looked at her, montarily speechless, then gently replied, "Exactly. Otherwise, do you think we accidentally fell through bricks and stone into that pit?"
That hole must have already existed—created by Captain Drake. They had been unable to see it due to the illusion.
Luis nodded and continued,
"So the question now—setting aside the maids’ room—is why the butler’s room looks like it hasn’t been lived in for years.
Maybe it’s related to the mystery of the manor itself."
Just as Luis finished speaking, a pop-up appeared in front of all of them:
[Due to being trapped by a snowstorm, you cannot leave the mansion or enjoy any activities. Bored and waiting for rescue, you notice strange occurrences within the estate and eventually decide to investigate. Clues gradually begin to surface—along with dangers lurking in the darkness.
To avoid being consud by the night, uncover the secrets of this castle and bring the long-buried past—hidden beneath the snowstorm—into the light!]
A new quest has appeared!
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