The Uninvited Guest Of The Haunted Mansion (13)

The stairs to the 4th floor were tucked into the eastern corner of the Main Building rather than the central hall, a spot that felt especially eerie.

Before heading up, Serenity had a servant fetch two skeins of thread. With those in hand, she and Blake began their slow ascent.

The higher they climbed, the sparser the lighting became. No signs of people. Even the air felt heavy, silence pressing down on their shoulders.

For Serenity, who had carefully limited her movements in order to avoid wasting lives in pointless places, the climb felt strange in itself. Stranger still was doing it beside an Anomalous being she had only met twice.

Her tense gaze drifted to Blake. Unlike her, he remained perfectly calm. A faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth, as if he were… enjoying this. Come to think of it, he had worn that same smile even when the Count had threatened Serenity’s life.

Sensing her stare, Blake turned and met her eyes. His blood-red pupils narrowed halfway.

“It’s a talent to stare so passionately at me every time.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Well then, it meant you liked it.”

He took her meaning in the most inconvenient sense.

Serenity, deciding she’d rather face a specter than banter further, turned her head without hesitation. She rubbed her dry hands against the hem of her skirt as they climbed and then, at last, the 4th floor unfolded before them.

She drew a shallow breath.

It was so dark that even the light seemed to refuse entry. A massive cherry-colored door stood in the center, heavy and austere, and the corridor beside it was drowned in black, the red carpet swallowed by shadow.

Staring at the door, Serenity recalled the information about the librarian she had read. Thankfully, that entry had been listed from the start among the mansion’s ‘rules’.

17-3. The library’s librarian is a scholar who seeks truth and dislikes having his time disturbed. If nothing else occurs, he remains in the deepest part of the library; however, if you mishandle the books or cause a disturbance, he will reveal himself.

• On XXXX XX, a visitor dropped a book, enraging him; he skinned the visitor and turned the skin into a book cover.*
• On XXXX XX, a visitor rearranged the order of the books; he reassembled the visitor’s bones in reverse order and then let them go.*

…

‘If you meet him, you will surely die.’

It wasn’t a guess. It was certainty.

Worse, the mansion’s ‘rules’ contained no method for escaping the library. This time they would have to face it head-on. Serenity could only hope the worst-case scenario would not be the one that greeted them.

Keeping her tension in check, Serenity glanced from the entrance to Blake and asked, “What did you bring when you stepped away earlier?”

While she’d sent a servant for the skeins, Blake had briefly disappeared and returned with a small pouch, no bigger than half a palm.

When her green eyes flicked to it, he rolled his eyes once and answered, “A sedative?”

“Huh?”

“Whatever it is, it’s better to have peace of mind. Isn’t that right? Helps you sleep too.”

He smiled faintly and gave the pouch a little shake.

Talking about sleep at a library door that could cost them their lives.

“Want me to share some if you need it?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Oh my, it would be quite helpful.”

As if he knew exactly what it was.

“I’m fine. Duke, use it a lot.”

He chuckled at her mechanical reply, as though amused. Serenity spared him a brief glance, then rapped twice on the door.

Rumble—

The entire floor seemed to vibrate as the massive door, so solid it had looked immovable, began to part down the middle, opening slowly to either side.

It felt less like a library and more like the gates of hell yawning open.

Startled by the sheer oppressive force of it, Serenity’s shoulders flinched.

“Shall I hold your hand, milady?”

“…I’m fine.“

“There now.”

With that mild, sympathetic murmur, the Duke stepped forward. Serenity caught his sleeve.

“Before that, we need to do something.”

She lifted the two skeins.

“We tie these to the doorknob before going in.”

“Skeins?”

“There’s a high chance of getting lost inside.”

The library wasn’t the worst place in the Main Building merely because it was vast and dark. The shelves were arranged irregularly like a labyrinth. The mansion’s ‘rules’ warned that walking carelessly meant losing your way with terrifying ease.

‘If you get lost in an endless library, starving to death and then returning after death might actually be the most merciful end.’

Whether practical or extreme, the precaution remained the same. Serenity tied one end of her skein to the doorknob and handed the other skein to the Duke. He turned it over in his hands, curious.

“Feels like we’re in a maze game.”

“I think it’s similar.”

More documentary than game, though.

She left the thought unspoken and answered coolly. After fastening her own line, Serenity stepped forward, signaling that they were ready.

As they crossed the threshold—

Thud.

Another heavy sound rolled through the floor.

She glanced back. The door had sealed itself again as if it had never opened.

‘Is this what it feels like to step into a monster’s maw?’

A chill traced her spine.

’…We really can leave, right?’

She shoved the thought down and faced the shelves. The library’s first impression was pure intimidation… eeriness pressed into shape. ‘Terrifying’ felt more accurate. Though it was called a library, there was no bright lighting, no sunlight. Only a thin, sourceless glow etched the faintest outlines into the dark.

Everything was black. Floor, ceiling, shelves, even the books. The towering cases rose up to the ceiling like iron bars laid on end. It didn’t feel like a place meant for reading at all.

Serenity took stock quietly. If this were an ordinary floor of the Main Building, the area would be comparable to the others. Here, she couldn’t even sense an end. ‘Vast’ wasn’t quite enough… it was boundless.

Could they really find the trainee maid in this?

When the laundry maid had pointed at the 4th-floor library, Serenity had known it wouldn’t be a simple matter. But standing inside it, dread settled deeper.

‘But what else can we do*… **we’ve already set foot inside.’*

Madness, something she would never choose under normal circumstances.

She looked to the man at her side. He was calmly surveying the interior. Perhaps it was merely his unruffled demeanor, but the pressure on her shoulders eased a little.

Was this what it felt like to have an Anomalous being for an ally?

Serenity tugged her thread to confirm it was secure on the knob, then spoke in a very small voice. “Then let’s split up here.”

“Not search together?”

“In a place this vast, we’ll find the child faster if we cover more ground. If we want to find her by today, it’s more efficient to separate.”

Finding the trainee maid as quickly as possible, then returning to the starting point… that was their best chance at survival. Places like this always grew more dangerous the deeper one ventured. The mansion’s ‘rules’ did say the librarian stayed in the deepest part.

‘Assuming we can return safely.’

Blake studied her for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, we’ll do as you say, milady. I’ll take the left section; you take the right. If you find the maid, return to the door along the thread and tug the other line.”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

“Then, good luck.”

With that brief farewell, Blake turned and vanished between the pitch-black shelves. Watching his shadow melt away, Serenity moved toward the right.

Step, step—

Her footsteps fell hollow against the black carpet. As she unwound the skein and ventured deeper, the light thinned. What had been merely dim turned into formless shapes, until even the outlines began to fade.

‘Even if I try to search, I can’t see anything…’

That was the worst of it. Here, she couldn’t shout for help. She couldn’t topple shelves and rummage through them.

She wove on, threading between cases for what felt like a long time when—

Sniff.

Sobbing.

From somewhere up ahead, someone was crying.