Has this man become a fool without me noticing? Why is he acting like this?
Feeling exasperated, I waved my hand at him and started to trudge back to my room.
Today has been such a tiring day. I’m not going to do anything until dinner. Behind me, Carlothian followed.
“What, aren’t you going to work?”
“Come to my office for a moment.”
“Why?”
“I have something to give you.”
I tilted my head in curiosity and followed him to his office. As soon as I entered the office with him, his aides’ eyes turned towards us all at once.
“Oh, this is a bit awkward.”
Whether he was aware of their stares or not, Carlothian soon opened his drawer and pulled out a small key.
“What is this?”
He leaned toward me and whispered,
“It’s the key to the basement.”
Oh, that’s right, the books related to black magic are kept in the basement. I nodded without saying anything.
Well, it looks like I won’t be able to relax until dinner.
“Thank you.”
Carlothian didn’t respond, but I left the office as is. I then started looking for the way down to the basement.
But where on earth is the door to the basement?
I began to look for places on the first floor where a door might be. However, I still couldn’t find the entrance to the basement.
As I continued to wander around the first floor, the maids who had calmed Rodi called out to me.
“Miss Ariadeline!”
“Oh, you’re here.”
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m trying to find the way to the basement. I need to go down there.”
At that, the maids exchanged strange glances.
“There’s no basement in the main mansion, Miss Ariadeline.”
What is this?
Is it that spaghetti urban legend? I felt a peculiar chill and subtly turned my gaze away.
(TL/N: “Spaghetti Urban Legend” is a popular Korean urban legend. Typically, the story revolves around the appearance of a ghostly figure, often described as frightening or disheveled. The term “spaghetti” doesn’t relate to the ghost’s characteristics but is rather a symbolic or misinterpreted element in the story.
“Isn’t the basement in the annex?”
Carlothian didn’t mention that it was in a separate building. I nodded and went with them to the annex’s basement.
Cobwebs hung everywhere in the annex basement, giving the impression that no one had been there in a long time.
The maids cleared the webs with their hands, and I was able to reach the basement door.
Click.
“Huh?”
But the key Carlothian gave me didn’t fit in the annex’s basement.
“I don’t think this is the right place.”
“Oh, really?”
The maids tilted their heads in confusion.
“But there really isn’t a basement in the main mansion.”
Hey, stop it; you’re giving me more chills. I rubbed my arms feeling the goosebumps and headed back up.
“By the way, how’s Rodi? Has she calmed down?”
“Thanks to you, Miss Ariadeline.”
“What did I do?”
Though the maids’ looks seemed to change strangely, I didn’t have time to worry about that.
“I’m going back to my room now. You all should rest.”
I needed to keep the maids away if I was going to check out the forbidden basement anyway.
“No? We can’t do that.”
“No, I’ll be holed up in my room until dinner. Just rest. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
The maids looked conflicted. They then nodded and said,
“You must call us if you need anything.”
“Got it.”
With that, the maids disappeared into the servant’s quarter, and I was about to go find Carlothian. But then I heard someone running towards me.
“Miss Ariadeline!”
“Oh, Rodi!”
I stopped halfway up the stairs and turned back to look at Rodi’s face. The child had clearly been crying for a while, as her eyes were puffy.
I smiled sympathetically and gently wiped around the child’s eyes.
“Are you okay now?”
“Yes!”
Rodi responded cheerfully and then asked me,
“I’m going to work now. But what were you looking for?”
“Oh, I thought there was a basement in the main mansion, but apparently, there isn’t.”
“A basement in the main mansion?”
Rodi made a somewhat uncertain expression and tilted his head. Then she gestured for me to follow her.
“Hey, Rodi, do you know where this is?”
“No, I don’t really know either.”
The child led me with quick steps toward the stairs going up to the second floor. Behind the stairs, of course, was just a wall.
“I thought it was strange last time.”
“What’s strange?”
Rodi started to tap on the wall. She pressed her ear against it, moving along and tapping gently, until she suddenly stopped at a certain spot.
“Look here. The sound is different in this spot.”
Roddy tapped the wall again. On one side, it made a dull thud, but when he tapped a certain point, it produced a hollow sound.
“Huh?”
I approached the wall. It looked like an ordinary wall, but it seemed like there was a space behind it.
“I discovered this while cleaning. There’s no basement in the main mansion, but maybe there is something here.”
Rodi whispered cautiously. Her face looked like a child on a treasure hunt; I couldn’t help but smile.
“Our Rodi is really smart.”
“R-really?”
Rodi blushed and looked bashful. I patted the child’s head and praised her.
“But Rodi, let’s not tell anyone about this. Okay?”
“Ah, I understand.”
The child nodded.
“This will be our secret.”
“Ah, just between you and me, Miss Ariadeline?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll definitely keep it.”
The child’s expression was bright with excitement. I smiled and patted Rodi’s head once more.
“Well, then I’ll go do my work now.”
“Okay. Don’t overdo it. If you have any trouble, just let me know.”
“Yes, yes!”
With that, Rodi disappeared, and I started to tap on the wall again.
If this is a basement, there must be a way to open the door.
I brushed my hand over the wall for a moment. What should I do with this?
Then, suddenly, I felt a very small groove in the middle of the wall. It was so small that even a finger wouldn’t fit.
Yes! It was exactly the size of a keyhole.
“Could this be it?”
I removed the key Carlothian had given me from my pocket. I pushed the key into the groove.
“Hmm?”
However, the key was too large for the small keyhole and didn’t fit properly.
“What’s this? Did he give me the wrong key?”
As I examined the key from different angles, I noticed something strange.
“Is it cracked?”
I gently pressed on that part with my fingernail, and with a click, the key split in half.
“Wow…”
I thought to myself how thorough this was as I looked down at the halved key. Inside, there was an even smaller key.
When I inserted that smaller key into the keyhole,…
Click.
The key fit perfectly into the hole, and I heard the sound of the lock opening.
“Is it… open?”
I gently pushed against the wall. It slid smoothly, revealing a passageway descending below.
“They really hid this well.”
After all, if something like this were exposed, no matter how powerful a duke was, they wouldn’t be able to escape the temple’s punishment.
I cautiously stepped inside.
After descending the stairs for a while, I saw a light. Following that, I soon arrived in an underground room decorated like a study.
“Oh my, what is all this?”
It wasn’t small. It was probably similar in size to the duke’s library above ground.
‘This must mean that Carlothian wanted to somehow resolve his madness.’
The large number of forbidden books there left me unsure of where to begin reading.
As I slowly skimmed through the bookshelves, I saw a book on dark magic with a rather amusing title:
[You Can Do It Too: The Basics of Dark Magic.]
What is this? It’s like a book title that a daily instructor puts out.
I decided to take that one out first.
It was clear that Ariadeline had knowledge related to dark magic, but for some reason, I couldn’t recall the specifics right now, making it a necessary choice.
I took a quick look at the bookshelves surrounding me before settling down on the central sofa. The underground room was quite well furnished.
I flipped through the book.
[Dark magicians are known to be cursed from the moment of their birth.
A power that humans should not covet. Those who wielded this power faced scorn and easy oppression.
Some were killed, while others were dragged to underground prisons to be tortured until death.]
‘Hmm, dark magic has been unwelcome since its inception.’
I slowly lowered my gaze.
[Dark magic differs from other forms of magic and divine power. Magic and divine power move with the world’s flow and become one with nature.
But dark magic does not. All dark magicians agree on this.
It flows against the current.
It goes against the world’s order.
That is what dark magic is. However, going against the flow comes with significant side effects.
It brings great misfortune to the user or the target of the magic.
Because of this, dark magicians typically had partners with whom they shared contact.]
