"You arrived early?" "Yes, as you called me."
Yujire was standing right in front of the magic circle. Atis managed his expression and offered a greeting.
"It is a pleasure to see you like this."
No greeting returned from Yujire. Her attitude showed that she wasn't particularly happy to see him and just wanted to take care of the urgent business quickly.
"Ah, yes."
Yujire, who replied reluctantly only after a little time passed, began to walk ahead. Atis swallowed the curse that rose up to his throat and followed behind her.
"It is this house. ...It has been about four days since she disappeared. Is there anything strange?"
Atis scanned the house once with his eyes. It was a cozy cabin, even smaller than he had thought. He felt it looked quite shabby, but he didn't receive any other impressions besides that.
"I am not sure." "Do you intend to go inside? Ah, the key is here." "...."
Atis, who received the key, fell silent again. He had never heard of a Lord carrying around the keys to a resident's house. It was obvious without seeing how much of a tyrant Yujire was acting like in this territory.
"Were we not going in together?" "It is time to drink tea soon."
It wasn't a schedule that looked particularly important either. Moreover, it was now late evening with the sunset fading. It was time to have finished dinner, not drink tea. While Atis was about to say something, Yujire's escort knight approached right next to him and spoke.
"Luzea says she has prepared all the tea."
Atis eventually couldn't say anything this time either. It was because he knew well how strong Laceil was and how loyal Laceil was to Yujire. He didn't want to provoke the only other Sword Master in the Empire and get challenged to a duel unnecessarily.
'Damn it...'
Furthermore, turning Laceil into an enemy was practically the same as making the Sieren heir an enemy too. Atis, who let out a long sigh, expressed his gratitude briefly.
"Would about an hour be okay? It seems it would be fine if you come back around then."
Behind him, Yujire left just like that without even listening to Atis's answer. Atis spat out a curse in the lowest possible voice and stepped inside the house.
'It's more ominous than I expected.'
He felt as if his heart was beating a little faster than before. Atis tried to take a deep breath to calm his mind.
'Because that woman ran away, of all things!'
As he entered the house, resentment toward Elian returned. If she had stayed quietly, she could have been recognized as a member of the Marquis family, but to kick that away and run. Thanks to that, Atis had to tremble in anxiety ever since hearing the news of Elian's escape.
'If he gets angry again, there's no way to appease him.'
It was because of the worry that his younger brother's soul would harbor a grudge and become enraged again at that fact. He had barely appeased him with a marriage, but for that effort to collapse in this way.
'Damn, damn, damn...'
Actually, it wasn't even certain if the soul could be appeased by marriage. But anyone feels bad if something once given to their hand is taken away.
"Where on earth is she?"
Atis, unable to endure the suffocating silence inside the house, shouted irritably. Because there were no people, it was dark, and even a bizarre atmosphere could be felt, he felt his heart tightening.
"Where on earth..."
Atis, who tried to call Elian's name, stopped his steps right there. There was a strange stain near the stairs right in front of him.
'...Blood...?'
For a moment, the staircase of the mansion flashed before his eyes. Along with the red light that appeared near the stairs right after his brother fell.
'Why? No, that's not it. That can't be.'
It seemed his mind became slightly strange because he had too many nightmares recently. Atis shook his head to shake off the image he just saw and slowly moved his steps.
Creak—.
This time, a sound came from the wooden floor in the hallway right next to the living room, leading to the bedroom.
Creak, drag—. Drag, squeak—.
It was the sound as if someone was walking while dragging a leg. Hearing that sound, which was a little more bizarre hearing it alone, Atis froze right there without even breathing. What came to mind was the appearance of his brother right after that staircase accident.
'His leg, his leg was also hurt together, so...'
He walked around dragging his leg for a few days. And he died without even lasting a week.
Creeeak, drag—.
The sound was getting closer and closer. Atis, trembling before a fear he had never experienced until now, spat out a curse.
"Playing such a prank...!"
Surely Yujire must have set up some prank. He should have been suspicious from the moment she obediently guided him to the house. He shouldn't have believed the explanation that seeing as strange sounds were heard every night, it seemed Elian returned at that time either! Clearly, he was thinking that with his head.
'But.'
But Yujire couldn't possibly know about that incident. Because in the first place, the Duke of Resean's side had never even come to the Marquis Lemain household. All the servants who witnessed this incident had been dealt with.
Creak, drag—.
'...!'
The footsteps were now heard from right behind. Atis, gasping for breath, hurriedly ran up toward the stairs. And after looking down the stairs, he staggered greatly once.
'Why?'
He hadn't seen wrong earlier. There was still a pool of blood right below the stairs. Exactly where the head would hit if a child fell. And every time footsteps were heard, the worn-out wooden floor could be seen moving slightly. It was a definite appearance that there was an invisible entity.
'Why?'
Atis, who ran into the attic and locked the door, trembled and took deep breaths. Since earlier, an unidentifiable fear kept rushing in.
'No, it won't be. It's not. Of course not.'
Creak, drag—. Drag, squeak. Creeeak—.
'Why would he bother coming all the way here? It's probably not him, right.'
Atis's thought circuit, which tried to think positively, rolled on its own accord. Next, he ended up recalling the reason why Elian, who should have originally been in this house, disappeared as if evaporated.
'...Did he take her?'
Maybe that ghost outside, his dead younger brother, came to find the runaway fiancé. And Elian was kidnapped by his brother just like that.
'Then me too?'
He couldn't predict where he would go if he was dragged away. His body began to tremble like crazy even though it wasn't cold. Atis, crouching in the corner of the attic, began to spit out curses continuously. Then, after the fear reached its peak, he cursed his brother indiscriminately. He felt the fear subside a little only by doing so.
"I even got you a fiancé, held the funeral at the mansion, and made a grave for you, you ungrateful wretch!"
It was the first time he regretted his past actions like now. Atis, who started chewing on his tongue instead of his lips which throbbed from chewing too much, inhaled. Breathing, which was usually so simple, suddenly became extremely awkward. Sometimes when the rhythm was off, he couldn't even breathe.
'Why on earth...!'
Atis, squeezing his eyes shut, recalled when that incident happened. It was a matter of more than ten years ago from now. Atis back then was much more ill-mannered and full of energy than now. It was to the extent that even servants sometimes found playing with him burdensome. So the playmate was often his younger brother who was two years apart.
'I really thought, nothing, would happen.'
...But it was difficult to say that his unconsciousness didn't act. Because his younger brother was much calmer, smarter, and knew more than him. It was to the extent that some quarters even said wouldn't it be better to make the second son the successor. So it seems he was a little jealous too.
'Wasn't it deserving?'
Thinking about the past events, resentment burst out surging through the fear. Isn't it common sense to pass down the title to the firstborn? It was the fault of the brother who coveted that position just because he studied a little well.
'If only that damn guy had been a little more polite...'
Thinking about it again, it was a fight that could commonly happen between brothers. It could have ended with just some harsh verbal fighting as usual, or a light argument. If only his brother hadn't kept saying he seemed more suitable for the next Marquis.
"...."
The accident back then was a mistake. There was no way to explain it other than being truly possessed by a ghost. Because it was something committed as his body moved unknowingly due to a sudden impulse.
'I was barely forgetting it!'
Emotions he didn't know whether were resentment toward his brother or fear of the ghost raised their heads again. He didn't know his future life, which was a solid road, would be interrupted in this way.
'Why my life in this way...'
Life as the heir of a prestigious noble family was quite satisfactory. He could pick and choose a marriage partner, and he didn't need to take responsibility for lovers he met for fun. Because he thought everyone would keep their mouths shut tight for a few pennies. Thanks to that, he could maintain his image until now.
'But why, why on earth!'
He should have run away when he heard the news that Elian went missing. Instead of agonizing over when to go find Elian and retaliate against the Count family!
Creak, drag—.
While Atis was trembling alone, the footsteps chased right up to the front of the attic. Soon, the lock he had locked firmly opened with a clicking sound. The door opened slowly making a bizarre sound, and Atis fainted.
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