Chapter 52
“Then what about boats? Are we not even allowed to scoop up water?”
“Yes. We tried putting tools in as well, but they sank to the bottom and couldn’t be retrieved. So under no circumstances should anyone come into contact with the lake.”
They had tried various methods in their own way, but the result was always the same. Whether it was a person or an object, nothing was allowed to enter the lake—not even briefly.
After hearing the explanation, Serena fell into thought for a moment.
‘…Would it be okay if we threw in someone we dislike?’
If she had hated her family just a little more, she might have dragged them to the lake one by one.
Unfortunately, things had improved slightly over the past few days, and her negative feelings had faded just a tiny bit.
“Thank you so much for telling me. I could’ve been in serious trouble if I’d gone without knowing.”
When Serena expressed her gratitude, the woman bowed deeply, clearly flustered.
“N-no, not at all.”
“If there’s anything else I should know in the future, please be sure to tell me. I’m counting on you. All right?”
“…Understood.”
The woman bowed deeply once more and stepped away from the dining table.
There was still food left, but after hearing such a dreadful story, Serena had lost her appetite. Sophia felt the same.
Unable to finish their meal, the two of them returned to Serena’s room.
“Uh…? Why is there dirt here?”
The door to Serena’s room, which had been spotless that morning, was now smeared with filthy mud.
Sophia brushed at it with her palm, but the damp dirt didn’t come off easily, leaving dirty stains on her hand instead.
“Miss, I’ll go get something to clean this right away.”
“Okay.”
Snorting at the childish act—one she could easily guess the culprit of—Serena stepped inside.
“……”
The inside was even worse. The curtains were torn and scattered, and all the furniture had been overturned.
Stunned, Serena examined the wrecked room carefully. There wasn’t a single spot left untouched. Even the bathroom items had been knocked over, all smeared with mud.
‘Wait— even the bedding?!’
The blanket that had been freshly dried in the sun and fluffy was now nothing but rags.
The only saving grace was that Isabella’s clothes, the ones Kalos had bought, hadn’t been touched.
Everything else had lost its original shape, its contents spilled everywhere.
The culprit was painfully obvious.
Having already experienced the same thing several times in the past, Serena opened the balcony door and sat down on the outdoor sofa.
‘It’s been quiet lately, so I let my guard down…!’
There had been shouting and tantrums before, but nothing this disruptive. She had thought bribing her with clothes might have worked.
Clearly, it hadn’t. It was just that they hadn’t crossed paths recently.
‘There wouldn’t be any spare blankets, right?’
They had said they only had 17 gold and 68 silver. There probably wasn’t money to buy extras. She could live without everything else, but she needed a blanket immediately.
‘No—why am I even looking for spares? I’ll just take Daisy’s.’
It seemed Daisy still hadn’t grasped the situation. Serena had no intention of letting this slide.
Once the urgent issue was settled, the scattered trash caught her eye. It all had to be cleaned up.
“Ha…”
She really wanted to smack Daisy on the forehead about three hundred times.
Wanting to escape reality, even briefly, Serena shifted her gaze beyond the balcony.
The blue lake rippled quietly in the distance.
It was a lake of death, one that had likely claimed countless lives—but just looking at it from afar calmed her mind slightly.
Just as she was thinking it might be a good idea to throw her second sister into it, a scream rang out from the next room.
“Kyahhh—!”
“…?!”
It was Sophia’s voice.
Serena rushed to Sophia’s room.
“What happened?!”
The moment she opened the door, Serena understood why Sophia had screamed.
“M-m-miss…!”
Trembling, Sophia didn’t know what to do in the face of the shocking scene.
Her room was in much the same condition as Serena’s.
The difference was that unlike Serena’s room—where expensive items had been spared—Sophia’s room was completely caked in mud.
Sophia clutched her ruined clothes, tears welling up in her eyes.
“These—these are the precious clothes you bought for me…!”
“…My room is like this too.”
Serena checked Sophia’s clothes. Thankfully they weren’t torn, but they were in such terrible condition that she wasn’t sure washing them would help.
Sophia gasped.
“Y-your room too?!”
“Yeah. At least she didn’t throw mud on the clothes.”
Whether that was a relief or not, Sophia’s eyes darted around anxiously.
‘Not just one room…!’
She had even done this to Sophia’s room.
This was truly unforgivable.
“Let’s go, Sophia.”
Sophia hurried after Serena as she left the room.
Serena headed straight for Daisy’s room.
Bang, bang!
She knocked hard, but there was no response. When she tried the door, it wasn’t locked.
Throwing the door open, Serena stormed inside. The room was empty.
‘Why isn’t she here? I thought she’d be waiting.’
Daisy wasn’t the type to pull something like this and then quietly pretend nothing happened. She always had to show up and gloat.
Suspecting she’d left some kind of trace, Serena looked around. Sure enough, a single note lay on the cluttered table.
[Next time it won’t end like this, so don’t get cocky again, you stupid idiots.]
The handwriting was so sloppy and crooked it was hard to believe it belonged to a noble lady.
“Who’s the one who shouldn’t be getting cocky?”
Still not understanding the situation at all. Serena left Daisy’s room and headed downstairs.
She handed the note to Sophia, who was walking behind her. A sharp intake of breath followed.
Soon, Serena arrived at Edward’s study. He was in the middle of preparing the materials Serena had requested earlier that morning.
Seeing Serena’s expression—far angrier than before—Edward asked in surprise,
“Did something happen?”
“My sister pulled a nasty prank, and I think she needs some discipline. Do you have a key that can lock the rooms on the fourth floor?”
“Yes, I do.”
Edward explained that there was a master key that could lock all the rooms and led Serena to the third floor.
“What kind of prank did she play?”
“It’s complicated—do you want to come see for yourself?”
When Edward agreed, Serena took the key and returned to the fourth floor.
After showing him her room and Sophia’s room, Edward stiffened briefly before letting out a sigh.
“…She was already quite angry this morning about not calling the doctor yesterday, but this went too far.”
When Edward mentioned the incident from the previous day, Sophia’s expression darkened.
Still grinding her teeth with rage, Serena apologized to Edward.
“You went to the trouble of preparing these rooms, and my sister did something awful. I’m sorry.”
“Please don’t say that. I should have been more attentive to her mood. This is my fault. I sincerely apologize.”
“You already have so much to do—how could you manage everything?”
“No. Managing the entire estate is my responsibility. This was something I should have paid attention to.”
In truth, this was purely Daisy’s personality problem. No one else should have to take responsibility for it.
Family member or estate manager—it didn’t matter.
Anyone with basic intelligence and conscience should know which lines not to cross.
Still, arguing further about blame was pointless when the culprit wasn’t even present.
“I’ll have them clean the rooms immediately so you can use them.”
“No, please tell them absolutely not to clean anything. That’s why I brought the key. Lock every room on the fourth floor except these two.”
Though she didn’t explain her plan in detail, Edward complied without objection and locked all the doors.
“Do you know where Sister Daisy is right now?”
“When I briefly saw her during breakfast, she said she would be taking a walk around Rosegold Castle with Lady Rianna until evening.”
Edward chose not to mention that Daisy had stuck out her tongue and told him not to look for her.
So she’d run away after causing trouble. How childish, Edward thought to himself.
“Figures. All right. When she comes back, please tell Mother and my sister this: ‘I won’t give her a room until she cleans up the mess she made herself.’”
Serena held out her hand.
“She’ll definitely cause a scene, so I’ll keep the key. And lock the rooms on the other floors too—don’t open them. Just say all the keys are with me, so you can’t.”
“Understood.”
Edward nodded, fully grasping her intention.
Sophia still looked uneasy.
“Miss… what if she comes looking for you?”
She was worried Daisy might hit Serena again like yesterday.
In response, Serena relaxed her furious expression and lifted the corner of her lips.
“It’s fine. I’ve got a good plan.”
