It was only after two days that Dane was finally able to be released from the security guard.
“He seems to be still young and full of blood, but what Young Master did can be seen as a very serious crime.”
Breaking down the back door only damaged the family property, but knocking down the guards, not paying for the carriage, or grabbing a child walking down the street and threatening him with blackmail was not enough.
“Do you understand?!”
The outside air that touched his skin was cool as he listened to the strict security chief's nagging as if he was vomiting blood from the time the sun rose in the sky to the time it set.
Since he came out of the dark basement, shouldn't he be exposed to bright sunlight?
Today, there were few stars in the night sky.
Dane sighed lightly, ruffled his hair, and muttered.
“Why isn’t there a single star? Already, I feel bad for someone who just came out.”
As he trudged along, something suddenly appeared in front of him.
He narrowed his eyes when he saw the white lump that gave off a strong odor that made him squeeze his nose.
"What?"
“Normally, you eat when you go in and out of a place like that. Empty the past and become a new person.”
“...”
When he saw Dorothea holding out a piece of cheese, he started laughing out loud.
With a sigh, he took the cheese from his cousin, who was seriously holding out a chunk of cheese and took a bite. A mixture of salty and coppery smells struck the tip of his tongue.
Wood and Freed were already seated in the carriage he got into.
“What is it? Lord Wood, did you come to meet me?”
The man with a confused face shook his head.
“It looks like you don’t know yet.”
Dane, who had been blinking at his words, turned his head and looked at Dorothea.
The girl was quietly imitating a young lady with her hands folded and her eyes slightly lowered with a puzzled look on her face. He sensed something was strange and asked quietly as he checked out the window.
“Where are we going now?”
“A murder scene I visited before.”
“...”
Dane, who had just come out of the temporary detention center in the basement, turned his stiff neck to look at Dorothea.
Seeing his cousin looking up with clear eyes as if asking what was wrong made him cry and something rose up his throat.
“Hey, stop the carriage.”
But before she could answer his words, the carriage stopped.
Before they knew it, the group had arrived at the bar.
***
Despite grumbling about this and that, Dane eventually followed Dorothea and stood in front of the familiar door once again.
He was sick of thinking about the scenery beyond the closed door.
“Why on earth did you come back here?!”
“To see things I couldn’t see then.”
Dorothea answered with a calm and composed face, opened the door, and stepped out.
The sharp-eyed escort next to her relaxed when he saw the scene in the room.
“...”
There was nothing left in the room.
Not only the two corpses, but also the blood-stained carpet, the furniture that filled the room, small items, and even a piece of curtain covering the window were not left behind.
“Has there been a thief?”
As Dane's face turned pale, Wood spoke relatively common sense with a calm face.
“They would have taken it for investigation. Haven’t two murders occurred in this room?”
"Ah...”
Dorothea passed by Dane, who had a dumb expression on his face and looked around with a faint smile.
“Hey, did you hear? They say there is nothing. It's nonsense. Let’s just go back.”
Well, there's something more valuable left in this room than what they took.
When the traces of the reaper's presence disappear, the places where someone has died are filled with floating spirits that come after smelling death.
These intangible people, who are constantly suffering from spiritual hunger, gather here and there like wild cats chasing death, and sometimes become good recorders.
Dorothea, who was busy walking around the white room, stopped at some point.
Navy blue eyes with deep darkness added to the blue light looked intently at a certain point.
The moment she put her hand towards the stain that was invisible to others, segmented moans rang in her ears one after another.
“...”
Fragmentary memories entered her mind.
The face of a crying woman and a fallen man.
The woman's eyes looking down at the dead man showed more fear than affection or sadness.
The terrified woman knocked on the floor, touched the hidden device, took out the object through the opening, and ran away.
The 'recorded' scene ended with a flowery scent so strong that it paralyzed the nose.
“Thea?”
"Shh."
She bent down, felt around on the intact wooden floor, and then pressed down on a spot.
Surprisingly, at that moment, one of the planks that made up the floor suddenly rose up.
“Is it like a hidden secret place?”
As soon as Wood finished speaking, Phi Phi came out of Dorothea's arms, entered the small gap, and walked around the inside of the floor.
The squirrel, which came out with its fur covered in dust, handed her a corner of a piece of paper that looked like it had been torn from somewhere in her hand, then walked over to Wood and rubbed his fur.
“You, this guy...”
“Wood, take the boards out of here completely.”
She pointed to the half-open gap, hiding the evidence that Phi Phi had given her with her sleeve.
Dane, who was looking at Wood as he approached, asked with a suspicious look on his face.
“But how did you know there was a device like this here?”
“Don’t ask. The moment you ask, you will be digging your own grave.”
It was the moment when Wood gave the strength to lift the board with a voice filled with extreme regret.
“It is a serious crime to damage a murder scene.”
“...”
“Do you think you want to go back to prison?”
A low voice echoed through the quiet space.
Freed, who had been leaning against the window without moving at the sound of a familiar voice, stopped.
Wood, who had been bending at the waist, stiffened in that posture, and Dane secretly hid behind Dorothea.
The man standing in the narrow doorway was dressed simply, but he had an overwhelming presence that kept drawing attention.
Dorothea's indifferent gray eyes seemed to contain the darkness of the abyss.
His face, which had traces of youthfulness, has now become a completely mature young man.
The small, slender figure that had to be covered with armor also became quite sturdy, making the door seem narrow.
Even though it was a long time since they had reunited, both of them looked calm and did not show any signs of being happy when they looked at each other.
Just like the people they met yesterday.
While everyone was frozen, Luke opened his mouth.
“Entry to this place is prohibited except for authorized personnel.”
“I am the first witness.”
“Just because you’re an eyewitness doesn’t give you the right to enter the scene of a murder.”
“This room has already been cleaned. Is there anything that could be damaged by whoever comes in?”
Luke silently looked towards the protruding floor.
They were about to look into the secret part of this room.
Dorothea, who had secretly entered the murder scene in the middle of the night and was conducting her own investigation, shamelessly shrugged her shoulders.
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have found it.”
“...Get out."
Dorothea's smile deepened as she had already hidden the evidence in her sleeve.
Freed, who had been frozen behind Dorothea, who passed by him without any regrets, followed her out of habit.
Luke said nothing and let the knight who had once been beneath him pass him by.
“Yes.”
Dorothea, standing in the doorway, spoke with a smile on her face.
“If you need to investigate this case, I can help you.”
“...”
“Because it will be difficult for you to find out.”
Dane was disgusted by the words that belittled the Prince's abilities and covered the mouth of the girl who was the source of disaster with his hand.
The boy, who met the mysterious eyes, swallowed his saliva without realizing it and began to make excuses that were not excuses.
“Even though she likes this, it’s forbidden in our house..."
"So."
“If I end up behind bars again, I will be scolded in solidarity..."
“What does it have to do with me?”
“I’m getting better, but it still bothers me sometimes, so I can’t let it sleep there..."
At the last word, Luke's indifferent eyes quickly glanced at Dorothea.
She may have escaped the illness that had plagued her as a child, but compared to men, her body was extremely thin.
So much so that if someone shows off their strength, she can't even fight back and are defeated.
Luke, who was looking at Dorothea's clouded eyes with his mouth closed, ended in silence and nodded toward the outside of the door.
“If you leave now, I won’t report you.”
"Thank you!"
Dane answered quickly and put his arm around his cousin, who seemed to have no intention of leaving.
In an instant, Dorothea, who was draped over her shoulder like a sack of artillery, blinked.
At the same time, Luke's eyes turned to the large man frozen in the corner of the room.
“You go away too.”
The moment the cold voice said that Freed, who had been watching Dane's actions, lifted Wood who looked a head taller than himself with both hands.
The handsome knight, who lifted the well-built man above his head, crossed the gate without any sign of difficulty and followed Dorothea, who had already disappeared.
As if the tide was ebbing, Luke, who had been standing motionless while everyone quietly and quickly left the room, slowly walked over to where Dorothea was standing.
However, as he could not 'see' any of the lines there, he could not figure out how she was able to find the hidden space.
***
The evening she returned to the mansion, listening to Dane's grumbling words. The guest flew into the room.
The silver eyes of the boy, who had come through the familiar window, shimmered in the reflection of the candlelight.
“I heard you met the 7th Prince.”
A soft voice came out of the mouth of a beautiful boy who seemed to have been carved with a carving knife.
A long time ago, the person who silently built a wall around himself, with eyes full of caution like a wounded animal, was nowhere to be found.
Eyes filled with soft, warm, warmth were turned towards the girl.
“Dane was grumbling. You made a mistake in front of him.”
"It's okay. We understand that much."
Dorothea, who had already called the 7th Prince a bastard when they first met, responded calmly.
The boy, Philip, slowly took out a piece of paper filled with small letters from his arms with a faint smile in his eyes.
“This is all I can find out. And a message from ‘Father’.”
“...”
“Recently, the number of wandering spirits that remain has decreased noticeably, but the exact cause is unknown. Even if you wander around, try to avoid encountering the reaper.”
The nagging sound in Philip's voice became familiar to her ears.
As always, Dorothea just smiled quietly with a puzzled look on her face and did not give an answer to the message.
Philip, who watched quietly as he hid the rustling piece of paper by his bedside, suddenly opened his mouth.
“Thea.”
He looked at his strange maternal cousin who raised her head at his call and smiled.
If you're worried or something happens, call me.
He knew long ago that those words would be of no use to her.
However, the girl was a salvation for the boy and a blinding light that he could not help but look at blindly.
“Thanks for having me.”
For considering it necessary.
Dorothea seemed to have finally realized what he said and placed the crumbled piece of cookie on the table into his palm.
Philip burst out laughing at her patronizing attitude as if it were money for errands.
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