Chapter 13: CH 11

I could confidently go to collect evidence of Kid’s murder because of his crazy personality.

He did anything to harass Seniel.

He knew that Seniel found it difficult to accept the crimes he had committed, so he bragged about his crimes to Seniel in so many different ways.

Something basic like putting a newspaper on his desk that made headlines about Kid’s murder to decorating his room with murder tools and evidence.

Furthermore, to harass Seniel, he even kept the detailed criminal records in a hidden space in the room located on the far right end of the mansion’s first floor.

According to the original story, after finishing all the murders, he planned to invite Seniel there.

‘I don’t understand…’

It wasn’t like it was an art museum.

Anyway, I needed to go there to gather evidence.

There may be some evidence of murder in Seniel’s room, but I needed solid evidence to press Kid. To do that, I first needed the key to open the door. I needed two keys, one to enter the first-floor room and one more to open the hidden space in the first-floor room. The keys were hidden by Kid inside the mansion as he couldn’t always keep them on his body because he kept switching with Seniel.

‘Fortunately, I remember where those keys are.’

I showed a fake smile to the employees I encountered and moved to the back building.

***

On the second floor of the rear building, I entered a room where the garden fountain could be seen immediately.

It was well maintained, and the room was not used, but it was very neat.

‘It’s nice that there’s no one, but it’s kind of creepy.’

It was good as I could save the trouble of kicking out the cleaning servant, but I was scared to be alone in an unfamiliar room. I hugged myself with both arms as if a corpse would suddenly come out of the bed.

Even though no one was there, I looked at the door for no reason and walked carefully to the drawer. I immediately opened the second drawer, put my hand deep, and patted the compartment ceiling. There was something that felt like a pocket. Gently touching the pocket, the key popped out.

‘Right. It should be here.’

The small key engraved with a rose pattern was the key to entering the room on the first floor of the main building. I carefully tucked the key into my cardigan pocket.

‘Then why is the entire first floor closed?’

I hadn’t read that all the rooms on the first floor were closed in the original story. Had I simply forgotten?

In any case, I just had to shoot the evidence in the room with the video sphere. By the way, I also bought the video equipment yesterday.

With a sigh of relief at the smooth start, I took the key. Now that I’d found the key to the first floor, I needed a key to open the hidden door.

I closed the drawer and carefully exited the room.

***

The next destination was the annex. The main building was connected to the rear hall, so I could just follow the road, but to reach the annex, I had to exit through the rear hall.

It wasn’t too difficult to find the annex. After walking a little along the artificial stone path, I arrived at the annex.

The annex where Seniel was staying was more desolate than the main building. They looked similar, but the annex’s color was a little darker. Some gloomy portraits hanging on each central staircase seemed to play a part in creating that atmosphere. I didn’t want to stay here long.

As I climbed the central staircase to the second floor, I stood in front of a portrait of former Marquis McCourt. He resembled Seniel but was somewhat thicker and bushy.

I carefully lifted the portrait and looked behind it.

‘Huh?’

It’s not here. After counting the number of stairs, I looked behind the portrait again.

There was nothing on my fingertips.

I couldn’t have misremembered. I picked up the portrait and checked the wall with my own eyes.

‘What?’

Only a ring presumed to be a keychain was there, but there was no key.

“Damn. I think he took it.”

Occasionally, Kid moved the key to his hideout. It looked like it had been taken to the hideout or moved to another place.

I felt that I wouldn’t be able to see the key here for a while.

No wonder I’d had a good start.

***

But it was still too early to be disappointed because there was one extra key to the hidden space.

As I said before, Kid liked to pick on Seniel. It was his hobby to push Seniel into situations outside his control and watch him struggle with frustration and helplessness.

So he hid the spare key in Seniel’s office.

He wanted Seniel to give some kind of reaction upon seeing the key. I didn’t quite understand.

‘Seniel wouldn’t know what the key was for, so he wouldn’t be able to give Kid the reaction he expected.’

Did he have a curse word engraved on the key? Anyway, it had nothing to do with me.

In any case, the key to Seniel’s office had never been moved, so it was clear it would remain there.

As I quickly descended the central staircase, I grabbed someone and ordered him to prepare the carriage.

***

It took about two hours by carriage from the mansion to the temple. It was morning when I departed the mansion, and by the time I arrived, it was sometime before lunch.

I arrived before lunch, and he couldn’t have lunch until 3 PM.

‘So, where’s Seniel’s office?’

I could vaguely recall the way to the office using Vivi’s memory. I guessed she’d been there a few times before the marriage.

‘If Seniel is in the office, I’ll have to sneak around.’

As I wandered around the temple, someone tapped my shoulder.

“This is a place where ordinary people aren’t allowed to enter. If you’re lost, I’ll show you-”

‘A place people can’t enter? They didn’t say anything outside.’

The man with light green hair and gentle brown eyes opened his eyes wide. “I see Your Ladyship.” The man, who looked rather delicate, smiled softly. “Do you remember me? I’m the High Priest’s assistant, Shanxi Nevin.”

“Ah…”

‘Shanxi Nevin.”

No wonder he looked familiar.

He was a character in Vivi’s memory and my head. He was an assistant who helped Ezette catch Kid. He was also the first to discover that the original female lead was a woman, not a man.

I couldn’t help but recognize him because he was one of the main cast in many ways.

Shanxi smiled sweetly and spoke, “If you’re on your way to the High Priest’s office, should I show you the way?”

I had no reason to refuse. “You must be busy. Won’t I waste your time?”

“Not at all. I was on my way to the office, anyway. Shall we go together then?” Shanxi smiled brightly and walked forward. I knew he was in his early to mid-30s, but he had the same freshness as someone in his 20s.

Shanxi familiarly knocked on the office door. There was no sound in the office, and he knocked once more. “Sir, this is Shanxi Nevin. I’m coming in.” Shanxi couldn’t wait any longer and opened the door, then looked around the office. I poked my head out and looked around the office.

No one was there.

‘It’s shabbier than I thought.’

There was only a wooden table, a five-story bookshelf filling one wall, two sofas, and an upside-down rose, the symbol of Imperialism, attached to the wall.

The office of a high-ranking official supported by the country only looked shabby.

“I think the High Priest has been away for a while.”

That’s great.

“He doesn’t normally go out around this time… It’s lunchtime soon, though, so I think he’ll be there in ten minutes. Shall we sit and wait?” Shanxi blinked and suggested sitting on the sofa.

I did not sit on the sofa and looked at Shanxi with an ambiguous expression.

‘I just want to quickly find the key and go back.’

I didn’t want to sit on the sofa and wait for Seniel with Shanxi.

Shanxi looked up at me as I stood. “Aren’t you going to sit down? Oh, if you haven’t eaten lunch yet, you can eat at the temple. I heard today’s meal was good.” As the original description said, Shanxi was friendly, leading the conversation without hesitation. I was uncomfortable with that. “Ah, did you come to have lunch with the High Priest? As expected of newlyweds.”

“… Something like that.”

How do I get him out?

I worked my mind, letting Shaanxi’s ring bell-like words out of one ear. I was thinking about kicking Shanxi out, and something caught my eye.

Oh, that’s it.

I walked closer to the desk, grabbed the empty water bottle, and shook it lightly.

“I am thirsty coming all the way here, but there’s no water. Where should I get the water?”

Shanxi got up from the sofa right away at my words. “I’ll go get it.”

“You don’t have to…”

Yes, I am the boss. Get out quickly and get some water.

“I’ll be back soon. Please sit down.” Shanxi went out with a smile, like a sunny day, without showing any discomfort. I felt bad for using someone with a good personality.

After confirming the door was closed, I quickly approached and squatted before the bookshelf. I pulled out the book in the bottom corner.

The book was piled up with dust as if it had never been taken out since it was placed on this bookshelf.

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Dust was blown away, and I coughed as a result. I immediately looked inside the wing of the book. As soon as I touched the hard metal, I lifted the book upside down and shook it off. The key slipped out.

‘I thought there was a curse word on it.’

The only thing on the key was ‘Nectar’ written on it. Other than that, there was nothing unusual.

After checking the key, I put the book back on the bookshelf. I stood up, wiping the dust off my hands.

Then I heard the door open.

‘Oh, dear. That’s a surprise.’

Even though I wasn’t guilty, I was terribly surprised. I calmed my pounding heart and showed the most casual look I could’ve managed.

“… Lady? I mean, Vivi?”

As soon as I turned around, my eyes met Seniel.

“Ah, so…”

“What brings you here? … Is it because of Kid? What happened…?”

“No, no. I came because I wanted to have a time of prayer after a long time, but I stopped by to say hello while I was here.” I naturally spat out excuses and hesitated away from the bookshelf. “There are a lot of books, so I looked around for a while. They are all difficult books.”

“… These are books that I’ve never read either.”

Oh, I see. I walked slowly to the office door with an awkward smile.

I grabbed the doorknob in the bizarre atmosphere where we only looked at each other strangely. Seniel pursed his lips as if trying to say something.

“Lunch is…”

I didn’t have to hear what he said until the end, but I waited for him, unconsciously holding the door knob.

“Nevermind.”

My patience resulted in a bland answer. I rolled my eyes and greeted him awkwardly. “You must be busy, so I’ll leave now. See you in the evening.” I didn’t know if Seniel nodded or answered my words because I turned my head right away at the end of the sentence.