The Uninvited Guest Of The Haunted Mansion (32)

“Is my painting… excellent?”

“Yes. At least to my eyes.”

The painter’s lifeless eyes rolled as he examined Serenity carefully.

For some reason, wherever his gaze landed, she had the odd sensation of her skin prickling.

She tried to continue speaking without showing agitation.

“If you’ve been bound to the Count’s residence for two hundred years, wouldn’t it be a better opportunity to leave the manor and show your skill to the world? You’ve stayed in one place far too long.”

“…“

“It might be time to change your territory.”

The painter did not answer.

Instead, his third arm bobbed and began tapping the table.

How long had it been like that?

“There is a condition.”

“What is it?”

“Give me my work.”

It was as written in the mansion’s ‘rules’.

Serenity readily nodded.

“Alright, if you bring me all the works hung in the gallery…”

“No.”

Before Serenity could finish, the painter cut her off.

And before she could react, an entirely unexpected line slipped out.

“The storeroom.”

…Storeroom?

I’ve never heard of it.

It was an unfamiliar place Serenity had never set foot in, even after repeating death ten times.

Of course, since the Count’s residence had a resident painter and paintings, it was natural that there would be a storeroom as well.

After countless escape attempts, she had almost memorized the manor’s Main Building layout.

So for it to be a place she didn’t know meant…

“Please, just don’t say ‘Annex,’ okay?”

“Annex.”

“Oh, my God.”

I knew it.

Serenity pressed her head with a despairing expression.

I hate the Annex. Who knows what would happen if I went near a building crawling with servants. If I ran into the doctor, they’d stitch every hole in my body.

But the painter’s resolute expression made it clear that compromise or persuasion would not work.

The painter stretched out a hand and pointed toward the Annex.

“Behind the Annex, after sunset, at the second pillar, knock three times.”

“…Huh?”

Serenity, who had followed the tip of his finger, let out a faint gasp.

‘It’s not inside the Annex but a secret place?’

What a variety of things.

Should she feel relieved she didn’t have to personally go into the Annex? More than that, the thought of how many more hidden places the manor might contain made her head swim.

She reflexively glanced at Blake, a silent question asking if he had known.

It was odd for an owner to ask a guest, but between them such formalities had long ceased to matter.

“I don’t know.”

Whether he knew or didn’t was unclear.

But it was likely the former.

“Just one piece.”

At that remark, Serenity turned her head again at the voice.

The painter’s gloomy gaze remained fixed on Serenity the entire time.

“Black Forest.”

“…Forest?”

“You’ll know it when you see it.”

That was the entirety of the explanation.

A question formed on Serenity’s face.

‘But was there such a painting? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a painting titled “Black Forest” inside this manor.’

In Serenity’s memory, every painting by the painter had been hung somewhere in the manor at least once.

But despite coming and going so many times, she couldn’t recall any painting that would make her think “Black Forest.”

Perhaps reading her expression, the painter added.

“Because it’s never been hung.”

“I see…”

“I heard it’s terrible.”

“From your mother?”

“She said she would find a new painter.”

No wonder the painter beat her to it before she could notify anyone. It seemed the Countess had already put on a show earlier.

In any case, the Countess was utterly heartless.

Wasn’t she too cruel to the painter she’d once loved so much she kept him locked in the Count’s residence, claiming she wanted to monopolize him?

It was ridiculous to set such standards for an Anomalous being, too.

“Alright, I understand for now, I just need to get that piece from the storeroom, right? Black Forest.”

“Bring the exact painting. That’s the only thing I want.”

The painter emphasized again.

His words sounded like a declaration, if she brought the wrong painting he would never let her leave the manor.

‘That’s probably what he meant.’

The Countess would never tolerate someone disobeying her instructions.

The painter, who had seen the Countess closer than anyone, could not be unaware of her nature.

So if she failed to persuade the painter here, everything would fall on Serenity’s shoulders.

Just as she got past one hurdle, another grabbed at Serenity.

She was no longer surprised.

Serenity cast her gaze out the window.

The sun was setting.

‘Behind the Annex…’

There’s a reason they say strike while the iron is hot.

“Your Excellency, you’ll come with me, won’t you?”

“You’ve grown used to putting me to work. You are probably the only Count’s daughter who so naturally leaves tasks to the Duke.”

Serenity glanced sideways belatedly.

“…Was I perhaps too presumptuous?”

“No, I like it.”

Blake smiled.

“Go.”

Silence.

The manor at sunset felt particularly eerie.

Leaves had all fallen, leaving the garden bare and bleak.

Serenity muffled her footsteps and quietly headed toward the back of the Main Building.

The rustle of her skirt against the floor sounded as loud as leaves in a strong wind.

“Anyone watching might think we’re thieves, not members of the family.”

Blake, pulling the cart from behind, muttered, amusement in his voice.

“It wouldn’t be good to meet the servants. Actually, what’s scarier is my mother; she takes walks at this hour.”

“Indeed, the Countess is troublesome. If she found out that the Countess’s daughter and I had a tryst in a secluded place at this hour, it wouldn’t end with a mere scolding.”

“You know her well.”

Serenity believed one could never be too cautious with such rumors.

Fortunately, they met no one on the way to the back of the Annex, and once she realized they had reached a complete blind spot, Serenity finally exhaled and straightened her bent back.

“…Don’t laugh.”

“Sorry, it’s a bit funny.”

She wanted to retort that dragging a cart while being addressed as Your Excellency wasn’t easy either, but Serenity forced reason upon herself with superhuman restraint.

Though things had been easier lately, she must not forget that the other was an Anomalous being.

‘He said the second pillar…’

Serenity groped about and found a pillar jutting out of the darkness, feeling for its location.

On the surface it looked no more or less than an ordinary outer wall.

Knock, knock, knock.

C***lack****.*

But when she knocked cautiously, the wall, unbelievably, split open to reveal a passage just large enough for one person.

Inside was a downward path, curiously not stairs but a ramp.

It was exactly the size to fit the cart the painter had handed over.

“I’ll go in first.”

Serenity lit the torch she held and stepped into the dim corridor.

At first she thought the pitch-dark corridor stretched on endlessly, but after a while a faint light began to flicker.

When she finally reached the end of the ramp, Serenity could not hide her surprise.

It was considerably large for a mere hidden place.

Around a central hall extended a long corridor on one side and an old wooden door on the opposite side.

‘There was such a place in the Annex?’

How many more places like this might there be?

From the lone hall to the ominous corridor and the solitary wooden door, everything felt peculiar.

Put another way, it was the sort of creepy space someone curious might set up to explore and end up dying in.

‘Let’s just visit the storeroom quickly and get out.’

She deliberately avoided looking down the threatening corridor and opened the storeroom door.

She worried a musty shower of dust might spill out, but fortunately the inside was fairly clean.

Somebody must manage it periodically; a fairly bright light flickered within.

But that wasn’t the problem.

“I’m glad I came with Your Excellency.”

The storeroom was larger than she had expected.

Paintings were stacked from floor to ceiling and dozens more lay scattered on the floor.

There must have been hundreds, and finding the painter’s works among them did not look easy.

“Can you find them?”

“…Fortunately, I know the painter’s signature. So… ah, here. You just need to find the paintings bearing this signature.”

Nearby, a painting lying around bore the familiar signature.

Now that she looked, all the paintings casually piled nearby were the cottage painter’s works.

They had said they’d turn the gallery upside down soon, but it seemed the painter’s works had already been shoved into the storeroom long ago.

“I’ll start searching over here. Your Excellency, could you take the other side?”

“Alright.”

They had been combing the storeroom as if ransacking it for some time.

Serenity suddenly stopped at one spot.

In the dim corner of the storeroom, she saw a huge painting covered in black cloth.