SAAMIACM-01

A Dark Evening.

 

Outside the window, lightning struck with a sharp roar, and the rain began to pour down violently.

 

Shwaaahhh.

 

Amidst the downpour, a familiar melody echoed overhead—one that had been heard dozens, no, perhaps even hundreds of times before.

 

♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♫.

 

A beautiful piano performance. The moment she heard it, cold sweat trickled down the back of the woman’s neck.

 

「<The Rosépina Household’s Work Regulations>

 

Article 3.

 

If you hear piano music at midnight, do not approach it.」

 

She instinctively bit the soft flesh inside her mouth, trying to stay calm.

 

Then—

 

[Whe-re are you?]

 

The voice of ‘that thing’ seeped through the piano’s melody.

 

She knew it instantly. It wasn’t far.

 

[Come downstairs.]

 

[Your prey is right in front of us.]

 

[Come quickly before the sun rises.]

 

This time, the ‘things’ in the portraits covering the walls giggled before offering their advice.

 

[O-ver. There?]

 

There was no longer any reason to hesitate.

 

Now that ‘it’ had discovered her, the only option left was to run for her dear life.

 

‘Where… where should I go…?!’

 

At that moment, she noticed a door wide open—an empty room with no ‘master’ inside.

 

The chamber of the handmaid—the one in charge of overseeing the mansion’s staff.

 

Without a second thought, she dashed inside and slammed the door shut, locking it hastily.

 

[Are. You. in. Here?]

 

She could hear ‘it’ muttering as it opened the doors of other firmly shut rooms.

 

There were several closed rooms along the way here. That meant she had bought herself some time.

 

‘In that case…’

 

Hoping that no one else would make the same foolish mistake she had, she grabbed an old pen and a blank sheet of paper from the desk in the room and began writing as fast as she could.

 

「To whoever is reading this,」

 

It didn’t matter if the headmaid found this letter.

 

The ‘night’ headmaid didn’t seem to be able to read, and the ‘day’ headmaid was an ‘ordinary human’.

 

「I’ve always taken the work regulations lightly. They were just guidelines like any other job would have, but the bizarre rules made me question them.」

 

Her hands trembled as she gripped the pen.

 

But she ignored the shaking, biting her lip and continuing to write.

 

「That must have been my mistake—treating the regulations as nothing more than a joke. And now, I’m paying the price for it.」

 

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

 

Her heartbeat pounded violently in her chest as ‘its’ voice grew closer.

 

「Please, do not make the same mistake I did. Leave this mansion as soon as possible, and while you are here, follow every rule without exception.」

 

[Not. Here. Either…?]

 

「One more thing. I know I have no right to say this, but I will give you one last piece of advice. If you want to survive—choose a sacrifice. Even if you follow the rules, danger will always be near. In that case, it’s better to choose someone to be offered to ‘it’ in your place.」

 

Where there is life, there is also death.

 

A single sacrifice may be better than a hundred.

 

「Do not feel guilty. After spending enough time in this mansion, morality becomes meaningless. The only thing that matters is survival.」

 

So please…

 

Before she could finish her sentence, the door burst open.

 

[Fou-nd. You.]

 

‘So please—survive.’

 

At last, ‘it’ shed ‘its human form’ and opened its enormous mouth.

 

And in a single gulp, it swallowed the woman whole.

 

In the days that followed, her warning was taken to heart.

 

It became known to all who served within the mansion.

 

「<The Rosépina Household’s Work Regulations>

 

Final Rule.

 

If you wish to remain unharmed in the Rosépina household, it is recommended that you periodically offer one of the staff as a sacrifice.」

 

* * *

 

“Yes? Where?”

 

The sky was clear, without a single cloud in sight.

 

The coachman, who had been reading a newspaper and absentmindedly asked about the destination, suddenly crumpled the paper and asked again.

 

“Huh. Well, this is odd. I must be more tired than I thought because I keep hearing nonsense. Apologies, miss. Could you repeat that just once more? Where did you say you wanted to go?”

 

The coachman forced an uneasy smile, as if to say, ‘That can’t be right,’

 

I repeated my destination once more.

 

“I’d like you to take me to the Marquis of Rosépina’s estate.”

 

As if a storm cloud had suddenly gathered over his face, the man’s expression darkened.

 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t take you there. If you’re set on going, you’d best ask one of those fellows over there.”

 

Following the direction of his gaze, I turned to see other coachmen, loudly proclaiming they’d go anywhere as long as the fare was good. So, I approached them instead.

 

One of them, having seemingly observed the earlier exchange, offered words of comfort—though not quite comforting.

 

“He talks like that, but he’s a good man. Don’t take it personally. Now then, where would you like to go?”

 

Realizing I couldn’t waste any more time, I repeated my destination to another coachman.

 

“The Marquis of Rosépina’s estate. I’d appreciate it if we could depart immediately.”

 

Contrary to his earlier claim of going anywhere for the right price, the man furrowed his brow.

 

“Are you seriously going there?”

 

He asked again, as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

 

Silence was affirmation. Realizing I was serious, the man hurriedly spoke, as if he felt obligated to warn me.

 

“It’s not my place to say, but this isn’t exactly a pleasant destination. Listen carefully.”

 

He glanced around, checking his surroundings, before locking eyes with me and speaking in a meaningful tone.

 

“That place… it has bad energy. Really bad.”

 

As soon as he said that, another coachman chimed in, as if eager to share what he knew.

 

“You should phrase it properly. The land itself wasn’t bad at first. It was a fairly normal place. But at some point, people started calling it ‘the cursed land’.

 

“If strange things keep happening every time someone sets foot there, it’s only natural people would start calling it cursed.*

 

Now, they were all keen to add their own thoughts.

 

“Miss, you don’t seem to know much about that place, so let me tell you—it’s cursed. Anyone who steps onto that land where the estate stands will experience something strange.”

 

“Even if nothing happens, the weather alone is abnormal. Except for about three days a month, it’s either overcast or raining all the time.”

 

At first, they criticized the weather.

 

“Was it three years ago? People invited to that estate claimed they saw… something. Something strange.”

 

“‘Something strange’? That’s an understatement! What about the other guests? One after another, they all met their end!”

 

Beyond the weather, the conversation shifted to what people had seen—or, more importantly, what had happened to those who visited the estate.

 

“More importantly, why are you going there, miss? Were you invited?”

 

It seemed they hoped my case wouldn’t become another tragic anecdote. Their eyes all focused on me.

 

“No, I wasn’t invited. I’m going there for work.”

 

A job I found through a newspaper advertisement.

 

After an external interview, I was informed of my acceptance. I would start as a probationary maid at the estate, eventually becoming a full-time servant.

 

‘Should I consider myself lucky?’

 

One week ago.

 

After my mother passed away, I was left with my only remaining family—a drunken father, who I tried to hide money for living expenses from, and that’s when things went wrong.

 

I had hidden the money in the lower compartment of a two-section closet, but as I stood up, I slammed my head against a shelf.

 

A splitting pain shot through my skull, and at that moment, forgotten memories surged back like a tidal wave.

 

“……Damn this wretched company! I swear I’ll quit one day!”

 

A past life where I had died from overwork at a company notorious for delaying wages and forcing constant overtime.

 

‘I just need to survive.’

 

I refused to live as a pushover again, shackled by a leeching family.

 

Determined not to let my second life end just as miserably, I gathered every penny I had and ran away.

 

‘I should be living in luxury, born into a rich family.

 

But since I wasn’t fortunate enough to be reborn as a wealthy heiress, I had no choice but to look for a job to secure a way to make a living.

 

A job where, if I worked diligently enough, I could even receive a recommendation letter—a maid position in a noble family.

 

And so, here I was, trying to hire a carriage to take me to the estate of the Marquis of Rosépina for my first day of work.

 

At least that’s a relief. While there have been cases of guests meeting misfortune after being invited there, I’ve never heard of a worker suffering the same fate.’

 

The coachman, who had been questioning me, sighed in relief after hearing my response.

 

“Now that we’re talking about it, as long as you’re not connected to that incident, isn’t it fine even if you receive an invitation? Everyone who’s suffered after stepping into that mansion was involved with that incident, weren’t they?”

 

That incident?

 

When I asked what he meant, the others fell silent, as if it were a forbidden topic.

 

All they offered was a cryptic hint—that anyone who had caused harm to a certain ‘someone’, whether in reputation or physically, had faced consequences.

 

“Since you insist on going, I’ll take you. But I’ll drop you off a little before the main gate. I need to keep myself alive, after all.”

 

By the time lunch hour was nearly over, the coachman had finally agreed to take me to the estate. He took the lead, while the other coachmen, seeing no more customers, leisurely dispersed.

 

“I’ll drop you off at your destination quietly and leave immediately, so let’s settle the fare now.”

 

I handed him the money I had prepared and gracefully stepped into the carriage.

 

“Let’s just hope today isn’t a bad day for either of us.”

 

* * *

Translator’s note: I’ve been wanting to translate a horror novel for so long and when I finally found this one, I thought “this is it, this is the one…’ hope y’all enjoy reading it w me and plz tell me ur thoughts about this novel(⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

 

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