"Ha..."
He thought he had seen everything in his 400+ year-long life.
The sight seen from the entrance of the mansion was enough to make even Geneon sigh.
Ugh...
Shut up...
The servants were walking around with their necks twisted and making strange noises. Some of them had their upper bodies, lower bodies, ankles, and wrists twisted as well as their necks.
Their face was frozen in pain as if they had fallen from a great height or had their limbs broken by a brutal killer, and their eyes were rolled back, giving them a cruel look as if they had already lost consciousness.
Geneon glanced at Simone.
Geneon, who had only been staying at the mansion for three days at most, also recognized several faces among them.
For example, the stubborn and inflexible old butler Kelle.
Kaylee, the attendant who was trying to protect Simone from Geneon while she was unconscious, while also nagging at her.
The two were twisted beyond recovery.
Geneon is known to only two people, but Simone is known to most of these people, who are like a corpse.
They are all staggering around in a miserable state.
It would not be strange for a person to go crazy from the shock.
“...”
Simone was surprisingly calm.
She didn't know if she had anticipated this situation, was used to it, or was just too surprised to speak, but she looked very calm on the outside.
'I can't even read her thoughts.'
A child who usually has a lot of random thoughts.
Geneon looked straight ahead again. The fact that he couldn't read Simone's thoughts meant that he was concentrating on understanding the situation.
Simone stopped at the entrance and looked around for a while before slowly walking inside.
A wagon full of luggage? That doesn't matter anymore.
'Fuck...'
To be honest, she expected it. It was a curse that had been going on without a single moment of silence, so how could it have waited quietly without being activated just because Simone was away?
No news is not good news.
This is the beginning of another tragedy.
So, although she was anxious throughout the treatment, she tried to ignore it and enjoy her leisure time, thinking that if she didn't get treatment, she would suffer again and lose her mind in a dangerous situation.
She thought that unless it was a curse of the Osasanisasaosao level, there wouldn't be much damage to the people in the mansion.
Even the people in the mansion thought that since they had memorized the manual to the point where they could avoid most curses, there would be no big deal and that there was no way an evil spirit would appear in the mansion again.
'It used to be like that....'
This is the result.
“...Simone.”
Simone continued to move forward without answering Geneon's call.
Even though it was broad daylight, the mansion was dark and chilly as if the sun never reached it.
The garden from the entrance to the mansion's front door. There is not a single Saint here. Everyone is twisted somewhere, just walking like an animal.
Simone slowly opened the front door and widened her eyes at the sight inside.
“Oh, no-”
Anna, the Grand Duchess, the familiar faces of the servants, and everyone else in the mansion were hanging upside down from the ceiling in the lobby.
Stop-
Stop-
Blood flowed from their noses, eyes, and ears, dripping down their limp hands and onto the floor, forming puddles.
Geneon looked at Simone.
‘... You weren’t calm.’
Geneon followed her and changed his mind. He thought she was someone as indifferent to death as Anasis, but that wasn't the case.
Pale face, trembling fists, bloodshot, sunken eyes.
The one emotion that appears in that look that cannot even be read is anger.
“Simone.”
“Please tell me just one thing.”
"...What?"
Simone's gaze brushed the blood on the floor and then turned to the people on the ceiling.
She looked at such a cruel sight with her eyes fixed firmly, without avoiding it, but she had a face that looked like she might cry if you hit her.
“Can I save them?”
Is there any chance they can survive?
Can I save them even now?
Geneon said firmly.
“Dead.”
Unfortunately, it seemed like quite a while had passed since they died.
Hanging upside down, they would probably have died in the worst pain possible.
"Ha..."
Simone straightened her blurred vision. Deep despair filled her.
'What on earth happened?'
What must have happened, what curse must have occurred, for a once perfectly fine mansion to suddenly turn into a place of death?
No, finding out the cause is not important right now.
The important thing is that all of Simone's precious people are dead.
This isn't a dream, so there's no turning back.
A sudden, intense shock swept through my entire body.
'This, this makes sense?'
This can't be happening. This shouldn't be happening.
It was too shocking a sight to bear calmly.
As she sat down, unable to control her trembling body, and just gasped for breath, Geneon struck her face with his forepaw as if to bring her to her senses.
“Simone, come to your senses. It is too early to be sad.”
“Ha, but...”
They're all dead.
Danger? Simone, if they leave this cursed space, that's it. But the dead do not come back to life.
How much the Grand Duke and his wife must have struggled to their deaths, and how much excruciating pain Kaylee and Anna must have cried out Simone's name.
The anger and sadness did not subside.
As of now, she doesn't have the mental capacity to do anything.
'I shouldn't have gone.'
No matter how difficult it was, she had to endure and receive treatment inside the mansion.
The moment she thought that Geneon's front paw struck Simone again.
“Simone!”
"... Yes."
“Wake up! It’s not like there’s no hope!”
Only then did Simone turn her head to look at Geneon.
Geneon said with a frown.
“I know the curse of Anasis because I taught it to her. A curse can only maintain its power if there is a target. If the target of this curse is the entire Illeston family, then all curses must be extinguished when it is confirmed that the family is destroyed and cannot be revived.”
Geneon looked around. The body of Jace, the sole heir to House Illeston, was not here.
But even if he were alive, he still lacks the knowledge and ability to rebuild his fallen family.
Because Gra d Duke Illeston had not yet begun any training for Jace, who had just been freed from the curse, to continue the family line.
If so, then the Illestons should have been destroyed at the moment when the Grand Duke of Illestons died, and the curse should have been lifted.
“But the curse is still in effect here. Corpses are moving around in the garden and the curse still permeates this space.”
Simone looked at Geneon with a blank expression as if asking what that meant.
Geneon said.
“It may not be over yet. Their deaths may have been a hastily staged illusion, for example.”
Or maybe they really were dead, but Simone's arrival here in time gave them hope of coming back to life.
“So get up. You have to grab hold of even a glimmer of hope.”
A sharp light shot out from Geneon's body. It cut the ropes that were suspending people in the air and returned like a boomerang, being absorbed by Geneon.
The people who were hanging fell helplessly to the ground.
They looked even more miserable up close. Their faces were red from the blood rushing to them, and they looked unfocused.
Simone woke up, her eyes filled with those images that would never be erased from her memory.
Her legs shook slightly as she lost strength. But Simone had to solve this problem.
There is no time to sit around any longer.
“First, let’s take a look around the mansion.”
It was fortunate that Geneon was by her side. If Simone had seen this alone, she would have collapsed in shock, her head turning white, and she would have been cursed by some unknown force.
'The first thing we need to find out is the content of the curse.'
It is a different situation from the dolls, whose content was relatively easy to understand.
The current absurd situation is that when she returns to the mansion, people are dead.
First, they need to figure out what type of curse it is.
Finding the cause is the next thing to do.
Simone's eyes lit up again. There was a look of determination in her eyes.
Geneon noticed this and quickly urged her on.
“Once you’ve made up your mind, move quickly. The curse that has been activated is contagious. A curse of this scale may not end within the mansion.”
“I need to check the instructions first. At least, none of the instructions I know of make sense.”
Contrary to her resolution, her anxious feelings did not go away right away.
It was when Simone was walking towards my room with unsteady steps.
“Simone!”
An urgent voice was heard from the front door.
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