episode_0004

Hug.

Asher averts her eyes and grabs my collar. Her hunched shoulders, hunched in a dejected manner, project her image clearly.

“Excuse me… Butler.”

“Yes, Asher.”

“This diary. It might be a clue, right?”

“That’s right. You found it well.”

Asher’s rounded shoulders became relatively flatter. She seemed to have gained confidence from the honest compliment.

“Oh, of course. The royal family is born with a great mind and a strong body.”

“Excellent… brain…?”

Her strong body is understandable. The fact that she was able to shake off the assassins alone as a girl and the movement she took to stab me prove her confidence.

But he has a great head…

“Hey, you’re so cheeky! You little punk?”

Ashe yelled. I must have realized that I was looking down on her with my eyes distorted.

“I guess I’m being like this because I’m ignorant of common sense, but I was always the top student at the academy?”

“Wow.”

“Especially the history subject was highly praised.”

Before he knew it, Asher had shaken off his fear and was proudly holding his chest up. Then, suddenly, his face hardened into a serious expression and he covered his lower body with his palm.

“That’s why it’s even stranger. I’ve never heard of a family called Arkaden. Ever since the founding of the empire…”

“You said you memorized the entire genealogy of the nobles.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Besides, I remember every event that’s recorded in history books.”

Hehe, what do you think? I’m totally smart, right?

… With those words engraved in his eyes, Ashe gave him a gaze that was so intense it was burdensome.

Of course I didn’t respond. It has to be valuable.

“Praise me!”

Oh my.

‘By the way, is there no information about this huge mansion outside?’

I knew it was a haunted house. Sometimes, when people approached it, they all turned around and walked away.

Ultimately, it fell to us to uncover the specific history of the mansion.

“…… Butler.”

“Yes.”

“But what should I do now? The diary is too short to be of any use.”

“What should I do?”

If you stand still, nothing will change.

“You have to open the room yourself.”

◇

Asher put on a shawl and left Maid A’s room.

After that, what surprised me was that she actively offered her opinions.

“Butler, I thought about it. I don’t think this will be the end of Maid A’s diary.”

“Usually, you would buy more diaries and write a diary.”

“That’s right. And in a mansion this big, the maids’ rooms are usually rotated periodically, right?”

“…… Yeah, right.”

I don’t know. But it’s humiliating to know that I’m ignorant of what Asher knows.

So I shamelessly pretended to know.

“Maybe Maid A’s diary is hidden in another room too? There might be another diary in the room you switched to.”

“That makes sense.”

When I answered positively, Asher gave me a suspicious look.

“By the way, don’t you know anything? Judging from the way you speak, it seems like you don’t know much about this place either.”

“I said I didn’t know anything from the beginning.”

“Patience, you really meant that? What is that, butler? You’re completely incompetent.”

“…!”

I was really scratched hard.

It was abusive language that Ashe, the deposed princess, absolutely did not want to hear.

You were so scared just a moment ago, but now you’re so confident…

“Then who is the ‘young lady’ you mentioned? You wouldn’t deny it even if I said it myself, right?”

“…”

It’s miserable. The will of the mansion that borrows my mouth is trying to drive me into scrap metal.

“… I am the owner of this mansion.”

Maybe. I just made that up, but it’s probably true.

“Who doesn’t know that? What kind of person is he and how can I meet him?”

“…… I don’t know.”

“What? You’re really a total loser, aren’t you? How dare you look down on me, the princess of the empire!”

I realized anew that the abstraction of language can be painful. I turned my back first because I thought I would feel sick if I continued to deal with it.

“Idiot. Idiot. Lowly butler. Show-off. ”

“Sigh…”

Asher followed closely behind, chattering away about useless things. Should I console myself by saying that this relieved the tension?

In the meantime, Asher, who was familiarizing himself with each room in the mansion, furrowed his brow.

“Huh, that’s weird? I think I got a general guide, but Maid B’s room isn’t there? I just passed Maid C’s room, right? ”

“Maid B’s room is not available.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, I hope that the royal family member Ashe, who is smarter and more intelligent than me, will figure it out on his own.”

I must have responded bluntly without thinking. Then Asher burst into laughter, holding his stomach.

“Phew, ahaha! Are you hurt? You’re more delicate than I thought, butler.”

“Who, what, is hurt?”

“I’m pissed~. I’m pissed~.”

Hot!

My two fists were clenched with more force than necessary. I consciously stared at the ceiling and breathed slowly.

‘Don’t worry about it… he’s just a child with a lot of thoughts…’

Let’s ignore the fact that the teasing is vulgar even though he’s a member of the royal family.

I regained my composure and asked Asher.

“… Now I’ve shown you all the maids’ rooms. Where would you like to enter from?”

“Hmm, I guess I’ll have to start by looking at Maid C’s room. I have a feeling something will come out that will put her in a confrontational position with A.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

So Asher opened the door to maid C’s room.

◇

Inside Maid C’s room.

As if he had already experienced it once, Asher invaded the unknown space with a sense of familiarity. Then, he immediately opened the closet and checked the belongings left behind.

Contrary to expectations that there would be a diary, the object Ash took out from the table was a photograph.

“The photo is in bad condition.”

Indeed, Asher’s review was accurate.

Not only was the discoloration severe, but the face of the most important person was completely damaged, as if it had been scorched by heat.

“It’s a picture of a maid and a dog.”

“The dog is cute though.”

It was a picture of a maid hugging a large dog tightly.

The dog’s breed is believed to be a Labrador Retriever. Its fur is very soft, as if it has been regularly groomed. In addition, it was unusual to see it wearing a blue scarf instead of a leash.

“Is this maid B?”

“The dog must be the hunting dog that B liked.”

“Wow… It’s gloomy. No matter how much you hate someone, isn’t it too much to just pick out their face and burn it in a photo?”

What a waste of time keeping that in a consignment!

Asher added indignantly.

“… Let’s find out more.”

Asher, who had been trembling for a while, put the poor photo in a leather pouch.

“I think it was a good choice to search the maids’ rooms first. The bottom is where the amount of useful information is equal to the amount of trash information.”

“Arrogant… No, it’s strange when the orphaned Asher says it.”

“Ha, do you think the ladies give their maids extravagant gifts for no reason? It’s all about giving and receiving.”

Asher was talking about what she knew as if she was a god. It was better than counting the days like our first meeting, so I quietly listened to her performance.

As I continued to explore silently, I discovered a diary under the desk drawer.

That was the title of the diary.

“Butler! You found it?”

“It’s not Maid A’s Diary, though.”

“It’s okay, so let’s read it quickly. Hurry up!”

Asher couldn’t hide his excitement and urged me on. So I handed the diary over to Asher without saying a word.

Then her small hands lifted the cover of the diary.

[I can’t believe I’m becoming a member of the Arkaden family. I’ve never heard of a noble family having a maid use a private room, but in Arkaden, it’s common sense. The head of the family seems to have a personality as unique as his shining face. …… The complete opposite of me.]

As soon as Asher read the first line, he started complaining.

“Huh, it’s common sense that a pretty face has a dirty back.”

“… Where on earth is that common sense?”

“It’s common sense in the palace. My eldest brother is exactly like that.”

She frowned as if she was in a bad mood. Asher’s eyes once again projected letters through her lips that were sticking out like a duck.

[I thought the lord was the most handsome and beautiful in the world. But I realized that I was a complete frog in a well. Today, I had a brief conversation with a maid named B, and I felt excited about another woman. A maid with breathtaking beauty. How blessed must she have lived her life? …… Unlike me.]

As I read through the diary, what I remembered most vividly was that Maid C had a terrible complex about her appearance.

[I hate B. Such beauty and angelic personality. If I looked like B, I would definitely have a good personality. I would have been confident too. Just by being born, I got everything. The world is unfair.]

Then, as I turned the pages a few times, I noticed that there were some parts in common between Maid C’s diary and Maid A’s diary.

[B and A are always together. It’s so annoying. Today, when I spoke harshly to B, A stepped in and scolded me instead. Does she think she’s a maid? After all, she’s just another maid, so what are you trying to get from her…]

The last page is at hand.

The note written at the end of the diary was a question of unease.

[A has been acting strange lately. There is definitely something strange about her, but it is still difficult to express it in detail. A, who I have ignored for pretending to be a maid, is… a little scary. What has changed?]

Asher covered Maid C’s diary and put it in a leather pouch.

That was all.

The occurrence of the abnormality occurred in an instant.

thud!

thud!

thud!

Boom bang bang bang bang!

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak…!

…

……

The loud noise that spread throughout the first floor of the mansion went on for several times before finally calming down.

The silence that came after the noise was eerie.

My skin felt prickly, as if fine shards of glass were floating in the air.

“Ugh…”

Asher was cowering as if he was under pressure.

Her two legs, covered by a dress that covered her ankles, seemed to be shaking.

Trembling red eyes look at me.

“Butler… What is this…?”

“… I’ll go out and check.”

“Okay, wait a minute! Wait…!”

Asher grabbed the hem of my clothes with both hands.

“I, I want to go too… So don’t leave me alone…”

“…”

As I nodded, relief returned to Asher’s face. However, her courage, which had finally come alive, was soon to fade.

Suddenly.

The outside of the doorknob that we turned and went out into was quite different from when we visited Maid C’s room.

“Oh, butler…”

The hallway was full of scars.

The floor was sunken as if it had been eaten away, and the walls were covered in scars.

It is as if a storm, full of the concept of savagery, has swept through the mansion.

The steps taken toward the truth were a voluntary advance into deep darkness.