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Chapter 15
“I was worried when you disappeared all of a sudden.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“What was the reason?”
Surprised by Dalton speaking the way he usually did, I looked at his ever-impartial expression. With his lips, he said that he was worried, but he didn’t look worried at all.
Still, it didn’t look like he was worried, so that’s good.
I suddenly remembered that I mentioned to Redcliffe that I was going to buy a gift for Dalton. I couldn’t backtrack, so I just went with it.
“Because I want to give you a bird as a gift.”
“For me?”
“Yes. A special bird.”
“What kind of bird will you give as a present?”
I thought Dalton was going to refuse. I was already even thinking of what to say in response to his rejection, but it wasn’t necessary.
Now that this happened, I really had to look for a bird to give him. Rather than looking around, I was too focused on the empty cage, so I didn’t know what to get him.
At that time, I found a small, yellow, cute bird chirping next to Donna. It was a pretty bird that looked very loveable.
“This yellow little bird here…”
“Bird?”
“It matches you well.”
It looks good.
“Ahem, hmm, excuse me.”
Redcliffe turned his head and coughed. He suffered a lot today, too. Donna tactfully took the cage next to her and presented it to me.
“Isn’t it pretty?”
“…Sure.”
On the way back, an amiable atmosphere surrounded us. Dalton didn’t even care why Redcliffe was with me picking out a gift, then Redcliffe and I exchanged glances. It seemed to mean that he would send a letter soon.
Now I can meet with Redcliffe again. I’ll be able to investigate more this way.
As we returned to the Dark Castle, Dalton’s attendants were waiting. I could read the desperation from their countenance, begging for the young master’s return because they couldn’t delay any more of the work.
Were these adults so impatient that they couldn’t wait for us even though we went out for only a few hours?
But later that evening, as I saw Dalton packing up and leaving in a hurry, I realized it wasn’t that they were waiting for only a few hours—apparently, Dalton had overstayed here at the Dark Castle for quite a while.
Dalton never brought up my rendezvous with Redcliffe earlier. As he finished organizing his luggage and got ready to go back, he brought back the yellow bird with him without hesitation.
At that bird market, there were a lot of other more valuable birds rather than this hastily chosen bird, but I was a little moved by how it seemed like he valued my gift.
As he got on the carriage, he stopped suddenly. I quickly schooled my features into an expression of courtesy, but he began to look at the forest behind the Dark Castle.
One knight asked Dalton if there’s something wrong, but he just silently looked at the forest. But soon, he got on the carriage.
I was wondering just what it was that he saw, but as I looked into the forest, there was nothing strange. There were only birds flapping away.
Dalton only left when I promised to come to the estate for the next dinner we’d have. It just reminded me of how much I didn’t want to go there.
But of course, I’d only need to participate in that dinner if I was lucky enough to still be alive.
What would happen if Redcliffe didn’t get the right information about divination? In any case, the day might come when I’d really have to do the ritual myself. But at least it wasn’t impossible to do.
Didn’t Tess succeed the last time? The fact that the faceless maid avoided me when I saw her back then meant that Tess was successful in doing the ritual.
As I was trying to find out more about magic and divination, it would be better if I could find a way to finish the ritual quickly.
“Milady, let’s go in now.”
Dalton’s carriage was now out of the castle’s grounds and barely visible across the horizon. I stopped staring at the carriage and followed Donna back into the castle.
For now, I decided to learn the mansion’s interior structure. Due to the nature of the game, ‘Dark Castle’, knowing the castle’s blueprints was an important factor. When I played on my computer, it was easier to move there. But in real life, it was going to take a while.
After receiving the blueprints of the Dark Castle from the butler, I memorized it meticulously. I carefully determined how many rooms there were to lock, and whether there were any hidden rooms.
I was complacent at first because the castle was relatively on a smaller scale, but there were actually more rooms than I thought. Would I need to go to each door just to see if they were locked?
It was making me dizzy just thinking about it. At least it was a comfort that I wouldn’t need to do that on the first floor.
The crimson moon gradually rose, and strange things began to happen. I could already see the carpet turn red, just as the instructions had mentioned.
「 Occasionally, you can see the carpet turning red inside the mansion, but since the wine has been spilled, you may ask someone who is out there to clean it up. 」
I left that area and, according to the instructions, I asked a maid to clean the carpet. I stayed away for a while longer. And when I came back, the red spots would have already disappeared.
I was shocked to see it happen at first, but after it repeated two or three times, I got used to it a little.
These small things made me feel on edge gradually, and the maids grew anxious as they saw me act unusually.
As I was checking the number of candlesticks in the banquet room, Donna quietly approached me.
“Milady, a letter arrived.”
“Is it from Redcliffe?”
Donna replied that it was.
You finally sent me a letter! It was good news that he sent it as soon as he could. But unlike my bright expression, Donna answered back with a solemn tone.
“But why did the letter come to the castle, Milady?”
“Huh? Is it weird that the letter was sent here?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
I didn’t push Donna to say more. I trusted her quite a lot, so I thought that she must have a reason for not explaining further.
Without a word, I opened the sealed letter. I knew that people’s handwriting must be beautiful in this age where print still wasn’t widespread, but when I saw the cursive script, I really mistook it for something out of a printer.
“Milady, what does it say?”
“Hmm…”
“Aren’t you going to tell me, Milady?”
“He’s inviting me to go boating at the Mald Garden Park.”
“I’m curious about not about the conclusion, but the way he got there.”
“I’ll spare you the details.”
Donna usually showed a very business-like front and wasn’t someone who poked her nose in personal affairs. But still, I didn’t want to tell her the contents of the letter.
In the letter, there were more compliments about me than there were details about the meeting. I couldn’t show it to Donna because it was embarrassing.
I kept thinking this, but I really didn’t intend for it to come to this. When I wanted to curry favor from Redcliffe, it was so that I could ask him about divination, but somehow, it led to developments that a relationship between a man and a woman had. The atmosphere just kept on getting weird…
Donna was chattering about what kind of dress would be good to wear once I went to Mald Garden Park, moving on from the topic of the letter’s contents with a somewhat dejected expression on her face.
When I asked her if it would be good to wear a big hat since I’d be under the sun for quite a while, she said that it would be better if we recreated the atmosphere similar to the charity party.
The excitement of receiving the letter gradually subsided as I recalled my purpose of meeting Redcliffe.
How on earth would I get him to talk about divination?
’She doesn’t seem to be afraid of the Royal family’s order of not involving oneself with unpleasant things.’
’Don’t you know that just by behaving so strangely, Lady Tess is already drawing the Royal family’s antipathy?’
The words of the young ladies at the tea house suddenly came to mind. The Royal Family didn’t think well of divination and magic, and they’d ordered the nobles not to involve themselves with those subjects.
I wouldn’t be able to avoid punishment if I was discovered to be involved with it since it’s the law, so if I ask Redcliffe directly and say something wrong… He may immediately report me.
I had to be cautious.
“Milady, may I come in?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Are you writing a letter?”
“Haa, it’s not a letter.”
She’d probably be surprised if she found out that I had written a strategy manual for Redcliffe. I was surprised with myself, too. It was a manual that I wrote last night.
He mentioned that he’d pick me up from the Dark Castle. Right now, the servants of the castle were in a fluster because they weren’t used to having any guests come here.
To make my general aesthetic similar to how I was at the charity party when I wore that sky blue dress, with my hair braided to the side, I was wearing a white dress made of flowy fabrics, with an accent of a blue ribbon in the middle. It was a look that the talented maids of the Dark Castle had poured their heart and soul to.
As Redcliffe greeted me, he smiled brightly.
“Hello, Redcliffe.”
“Lady, you’re as beautiful as the violets on a field.”
I had no idea what a violet on a field looked like, but it didn’t seem to be a bad metaphor. As he approached, he escorted me gracefully, smelling of gentle, warm sunlight. Even though I was rarely escorted by Dalton, there was a subtle refreshing scent that I only found on him.
It felt like Redcliffe himself was the sun.
While looking at me, I thought that it suited him. And so, together, we went to the Mald Garden Park.
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