“..Excuse-moi…”
The undead could only mutter the language of the dead, which ordinary people couldn’t understand. A flash of blue light flickered in its hollow eyes, and it silently left its seat.
“Please sit.”
Seeing this, Miona, who had suddenly stood up in a rage, let out a long sigh. “Let’s stop here for now. Take a rest.”
“Could it be that your control over the undead isn’t quite proficient yet?”
“…” Miona remained silent.
It seemed Miona Drako couldn’t truly make her father—Alastor, who had now become a high-level lich—obey her commands.
“Did you learn Death Speech because of this?”
“You ask so many questions, commoner. But you’re right… There are many stories about my father I haven’t heard yet. Learning Death Speech is to understand them.”
“Mhm, I see.”
Learning Death Speech might allow her to understand what the undead were saying, but it also meant getting closer to the fundamental mysteries of magic and truth. Just like how most Grand Mages who broke through the Sixth Tier ultimately suffered mental breakdowns.
Whether a Necromancer who reached a certain realm could keep their spirit and soul intact was anyone’s guess. Especially those who delved into the realm of death—no matter through what medium they gained power, their mental state tended to be abnormal.
Perhaps the reason Miona Drako became a Necromancer and opposed the protagonist group in the later parts of the original novel was precisely due to excessive research into the undead, which eroded her own will? Or perhaps not…
Before that, wasn’t this mansion, with not a single ray of sunlight and eerily silent, a bit too oppressive?
Staying in a place like this, going insane was completely unsurprising.
In such an environment, if a young girl had to live alone and enjoy the solitude, it wouldn’t be strange for her personality to split into two… Suddenly having such a thought, Erika couldn’t help but feel a trace of pity for the Drako twins.
But why betray Noelle? Choosing to betray the Noel Family while also sophistically claiming you didn’t… It was inevitably laughable to outsiders.
Was the Drako Family’s punishment truly deserved, or was there another hidden story…
“Since we have rare desserts, let me teach you dining etiquette now, commoner.”
Miona picked up a fork, cut the cheesecake into small pieces, and elegantly placed one in her mouth. Even the way she chewed lightly seemed refined and dignified.
Such a beautiful lady—even if she learned to grab cake with her hands like a certain stereotype, people would still sigh in admiration: So this is the correct way to enjoy dessert.
Mhm, learned. Now let’s try…
The cake remained motionless, merely being cut into pieces.
“Why is it so terrible?”
Facing Miona’s reproach, Erika innocently showed her right hand, wrapped in plaster and bandages.
“My right hand is injured.”
“Maintaining the purity of one’s body and skin is also an important virtue. To roughly damage your body like this, it’s truly pitiable for a lady.”
Being injured was bad enough, but now she had to listen to sarcastic remarks…
Snap! Miona Drako suddenly grabbed Erika’s right hand and, with the fork she had just used to wipe cream from her red lips, roughly tore off the plaster and bandages.
“What are you doing!?”
She’s not going to sacrifice me to become a big boss Necromancer early, is she!?
The rough and dangerous move startled the girl. She hurriedly tried to pull her hand back but was already firmly grasped, unable to move.
“Don’t move.” Miona tightly held Erika’s horrifically injured right hand. Immediately, the girl felt as if her palm was being disassembled into molecules and then reassembled.
Oh no! Am I going to be her first human transmutation test subject? No way!
Erika couldn’t help but tear up, letting out a low scream. “Eek—!” Crack, crrrack—
Her palm was roughly assembled like a poorly trimmed Gundam model. However, the pain was only temporary. The girl could still feel her right hand healing. By now, the bones were almost completely mended.
“What in the world…? My hand is recovered?”
Disbelieving, she clenched and unclenched her fist. Her right hand was indeed restored to its original state, the skin as fair and delicate as she remembered.
Miona Drako released the girl and immediately covered her face with the Blue Feather Fan, saying arrogantly, “The Drako Family is an ancient lineage of spiritualism and necromancy. No one understands the human body better than us. Setting bones and healing is child’s play for me.”
“Wow.”
The earlier heart-wrenching pain seemed to have never existed. Not a trace of the injury could be found on this hand.
Calling it miraculous wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
So Miona was trying to heal her hand just now. Why didn’t she just say so? She’s a tsundere too.
“Thank you. Thanks to your wonderful treatment, I’ve been spared several months of suffering.”
“This is merely repayment for the fan.”
Perhaps Miona Drako was more excellent and kind-hearted than she had imagined. How could such a girl become that unrestrained, crazed Necromancer?
Though arrogant and harsh, she didn’t seem like the great villain from the original novel who would dig up graves and treat human life like grass…
“It’s time for prayers. Please wait a moment.”
Sitting in the corner, watching Miss Drako kneel and pray alone, Erika’s heart was filled with countless thoughts, unable to calm down for a long time.
The Drako Family’s secrets seemed a bit too many.
…
She really learned a lot of strange things from Miona.
For example, how to walk like a noble, how to speak like a noble, how to breathe, even how to blink and chew and swallow like a noble.
“Do we have to go this far? Do nobles measure their swallowing in milliliters?”
“Raise objections like a noble too, you commoner.” Although Erika always felt these flashy things were unnecessary, Miona’s personality was inherently meticulous. This time, she seemed to want to completely reshape the girl from head to toe, turning her into a completely different person.
“Good, it seems it’s not too late to learn. Though born a slave, your experience working at the Court seems to have helped a lot.”
“Thank you for the praise.”
Just kidding, I’m a ninth-tier actor! If it’s just ‘acting’ as a noble, I don’t even need to use ten percent of my skill!
And so, time passed unnoticed. Before she knew it, night had fallen.
She thought there was still some time before sunset, but perhaps because this mansion was located in the cemetery-filled suburbs, the twilight outside the window was already casting long shadows among the tombstones.
“It’s best to stay the night, commoner. I’ll prepare a guest room for you to rest.”
“If I hurry now, I should be able to reach the Ark before lights out. Actually, there’s no need to trouble—”
“No way.”
Miona Drako’s attitude was very firm. “In the name of the host, I ask you to stay the night.”
“…”
Faced with this aura—whether to call it spirit or stubbornness—Erika could only roll her eyes internally and nod silently.
Hoo, hoooo—
Soon, the girl realized Miona was right. When she led the girl to the guest room, the sky outside the window was already so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. No street lamps, no torches. The area around the mansion was pitch black, probably not even an inch of visibility.
If she had chosen to leave and return earlier, she probably would have been scared into running back halfway. What could she do? Who said girls aren’t allowed to be afraid of ghosts and the dark just because they know magic?
Click, click. As Miona checked whether various locks and mechanisms in the guest room were working properly, she whispered to her:
“There are many dangerous things in the mansion at night. Though there’s nothing particularly worrisome for a guest, it’s better not to wander or touch things randomly.”
“I’ll do as you say.”
“And, absolutely do not go near the room at the left corner of the mansion’s third floor. Absolutely.”
The room at the left corner of the mansion’s third floor?
Noted!
“Okay, I absolutely will not go near there.”
“Absolutely do not approach or try to open that door. Remember, remember. Even though the door is locked, do not enter even if it’s open.”
“Okay, as you wish.”
Wouldn’t such serious warnings have the opposite effect? It’s like telling someone not to press the nuclear button.
But Erika definitely wouldn’t be that curious cat.
“Also, someone might knock on your door at night. But remember, do not open the door and do not respond. Understood?”
“…Why?”
“I enter a state of silence and fasting every day based on 8 PM. After that, I have no reason to go to a commoner’s room, and even less reason to speak to a commoner.”
I don’t understand.
“Understood. I’ll lock the door and won’t respond.”
“Be sure to remember, no one will speak to you. Please keep this in mind… Just pay attention to that.”
With that, Miona Drako left the guest room.
Creak, thud. After the door closed, she was alone in the guest room.
Erika could only sit in the chair as time passed. There was still a long time until dawn. Might as well sort out the current situation…
“Mhm.”
There wasn’t much to summarize. Just trivial information like the Drako Family hiding secrets and their bone-setting techniques being good.
Sigh.
To calm her slightly chaotic and uneasy mood from the earlier conversation with Miona, the girl took a deep breath.
Knock knock!
Cough, cough cough!
“…”
Erika hurriedly looked for a clock—the time was 7:50 PM.
Knock, knock.
But she had just been told that even if someone knocked, she must absolutely not respond or open the door. Goosebumps couldn’t help but rise on the girl’s neck.
Knock knock.
It’s not yet the agreed-upon 8 o’clock…
“I don’t eat after eight, but I’ve prepared a meal for the guest in the dining room. If you’re hungry, come out and eat.”
The voice outside the door belonged to Miona Drako.
Oh, what? You scared me to death.
“If you don’t know where the dining room is, I can take you there. Come out when you’re ready, commoner.”
“Thank you, then let’s go together—” Creak.
No one was in front of the door.
No figure of anyone could be seen in the dark corridor. The light from the room couldn’t illuminate even a foot beyond the doorway.
Quiet, dark. Silence and shadows seemed to chuckle softly, following the increasingly weak candlelight by the bed…
As if trying to crawl in.
“Motherfucker!”
To dispel the unpleasant chill, the girl muttered to herself for courage. But only her faint voice echoed in the corridor. Even the echo became distorted and eerie after the second time, no longer sounding like her own voice.
This mansion definitely has problems!
I have to spend a night in this weird place?
Just then, the corridor’s wall clock rang—Dong—dong—dong—dong—dong—dong—dong—dong—dong.
Exactly nine times, meaning nine o’clock.
Stiffly turning her head to look, the clock in the corridor that Miona had just pointed out and warned about neatly pointed to exactly nine o’clock. Cuckoo calls came from all directions.
“Cuckoo.” Also exactly nine times.
“Ha, haha.”
Turning around, she grabbed the mantel clock in the guest room. Its hands still pointed to 7:50…
I see. The truth is truly shocking…
“Damn, this clock is broken.”
The guest room’s clock had stopped. Stopped at 7:50.
Only now did she realize the mainspring wasn’t wound tight, so the clock wasn’t running properly—since when did it stop?
Did that mean the current time was actually 9 PM? Then who was the one knocking and calling her just now? After eight… nine?
A chill ran up the girl’s neck, caressing her, stroking the raised goosebumps…