Liam slowly sat down on the sofa, with Julien beside him, Earl sitting across from him, and the head butler standing behind Earl.
Liam was breathing silently, each breath trembling. He wanted to say something, but something was holding him back. Stress, fear, or perhaps worry.
At last, he spoke.
"Your Grace Earl... if it's not a problem, I'd like to speak with you privately."
Earl remained silent, while his head butler waited for his master's orders.
Julien still had no idea why Liam had come to Earl's mansion. "What a mess I've gotten myself into... He only got Earl's letter of introduction yesterday for the investigation, and he already found the answer?" His eyes kept moving between Earl and Liam.
The silence was beginning to stretch when Earl finally broke it with his old, tired voice.
"Leave us, Head Butler..."
The head butler immediately bowed his head, took a few steps back, gave Liam a sideways glance, and headed for the door. Liam looked at Julien. Julien let out a breath and followed the head butler. The two of them left the room.
Liam turned his attention back to Earl and immediately spoke.
"The case is over..."
Earl was surprised. "Over... already?"
"Yes."
Earl paused. How could the case possibly have been solved in less than a day? He carefully studied Liam's face. It looked as normal as before, so he asked directly, "How?"
Liam gave him a reassuring smile. "The problem was the portrait itself... You know your painter has gone missing, right?"
"Yes."
"He was the one who painted the portrait in such a way that an old curse would slowly grow over time and... and... then he arranged everything so the evidence would make it look like he had disappeared, when in fact that wasn't what happened!"
"...How did you come to that conclusion, Mr. Rochefort?"
Liam fell silent again, his anxiety growing with every passing second. "How...?"
Earl was still waiting for an answer while Liam became lost in his thoughts. Earl asked another question.
"Mr. Rochefort? Are you feeling all right?"
Liam raised his head and smiled again, but this time the smile was awkward and artificial.
"Yes, yes... I just have a headache."
A lie.
Liam pulled the map of the city from his pocket and spread it across the table, then began drawing false lines and connections to support his explanation.
Several minutes passed before Earl accepted his story. Julien and the head butler returned to the room, and Earl paid Liam his fee. Liam and Julien were heading toward the door when Earl suddenly spoke.
"By the way, Mr. Rochefort... what happened to the portrait?"
Liam froze. Julien turned around, about to say something, but Liam spoke before he could.
"I had to tear it apart to break the curse... I'm truly sorry, but I couldn't find any other way to dispel it!!"
Earl fell silent.
Liam continued, "As an apology, I'll return the letter of introduction to you."
But Earl immediately replied, "No... there's no need. Consider it a token of my appreciation."
Liam slowly bowed his head. "Thank you... Your Grace Earl."
Then he left the room.
Earl and his head butler were left alone. The head butler turned toward Earl and asked, "Are you sure you don't need me to investigate anything?"
"Yes..."
"But, Your Grace!"
"It's fine... Besides, I slept well last night. I even dreamed about my wife, so the portrait being gone hasn't changed anything for me!"
"Your Grace..."
"That's enough, old man... I'm not so old that I've started imagining things. Go see to the servants!"
The head butler watched Earl walk toward the door for a moment, a smile forming on his lips. "Yes... You're still in the prime of your youth."
Then he followed Earl, accompanying him out of the room.
Liam and Julien walked home together, passing through the busy streets as people moved around them and carriages rolled across the cobblestones, some speeding along while others moved at a leisurely pace.
After all the noise, Julien suddenly asked, "What were you talking about...?"
"..."
"I'm talking to you!"
"I don't know what you mean..."
"You saw Earl yesterday, and yesterday you also went out to connect that woman's husband's case with the portrait case... Then today we went back to Earl's so you could speak to him privately, and afterward you lied about the portrait that we left perfectly intact back at home? What happened yesterday? And what the hell were you doing this morning? You never sleep this much!!"
Liam remained silent. Julien stared at him as he walked ahead without paying the slightest attention to what he was saying. A little while later, they reached home.
Liam opened the door. Julien hurried past him and went inside. Liam watched him for a moment before following.
He took off his coat and draped it over the back of a chair, then walked toward Julien's room. Julien had thrown himself onto the bed. Liam sighed and leaned against the doorframe from outside.
"Angry? You know perfectly well that I'm not a real detective..."
"Yes... I know. But at least until today, you were playing the part of a detective!!"
"You're right..."
"What happened... Liam?"
Liam fell silent, then gave a faint smirk.
"Call me Emilien. Get used to it."
Julien immediately answered, a little louder this time. "What happened?!"
Liam fell silent again, clenched his hands into fists, and said, "I don't know... I don't know if I ruined everything because of a dream... or because it was real..."
Julien came over and leaned against the doorframe beside Liam.
"What did you see, Liam?... What did you see?"
Liam sighed, then began telling him everything that had happened the previous day and everything he had seen in his dream.
Several minutes passed. Julien was sitting in one chair while Liam sat in another.
Julien turned toward him.
"You said he introduced himself as Doctor Crow Father?"
"Yeah..."
"That's a ridiculous title!"
"You're worried about tonight, and you're hung up on his title?"
"I still think you were dreaming."
"How could I remember a dream with that much detail?"
"A special dream."
Liam took a deep breath. At the same time, Julien said, "When you go to sleep tonight, keep a weapon or something near you so you can defend yourself."
Liam glanced at Julien. "Okay..."
Hours passed.
That afternoon, Julien went out to buy some bread. While he was gone, Liam stared at the portrait. Nothing about it had changed since that day. The countless infant hands were still there, covering the portrait. From the moment Julien left until the moment he returned, Liam never looked away from it.
There were no crows. No changes. No hallucinations.
It was as though the entire dream had truly been nothing more than a dream.
That night, after dinner, they stayed awake only until eleven. Then Liam went to his bedroom while Julien decided to stay up a little longer.
Liam lay down on his bed and placed his revolver on the table beside him. Just like the night before, he turned toward the door so that it was the first thing he would see, then closed his eyes.
He still hadn't fallen asleep when he heard tapping at the window.
Liam grabbed his revolver, quickly got out of bed, and aimed it at the window.
The revolver slipped from his hand and hit the floor.
Tap... tap.
"What a welcoming greeting... terrifying!"
Crow Father stood beside the window, looking exactly as he had in the dream.
Julien hurried into the room.
"I heard something fall, what was th-"
His sentence was cut short when he saw Crow Father.
The silence grew heavier and heavier.
Then suddenly, the cawing of crows filled the air. There were countless of them in the sky, black shapes covering it.
Crow Father stared directly into Liam's eyes.
"Why are you still afraid... I told you I'm not a cannibal!"
Liam took a step back, moving closer to Julien.
"You... why... why did you actually come?!"
Crow Father's beak opened slightly as he calmly replied,
"I don't remember using the words 'sleep' or 'dream' when I told you I would come to hear your answer."
Liam took another step back. Julien moved one step closer to him.
Crow Father's beak slowly closed.
"The answer..."