CBH 27🔐

Chapter 27 ….

A few days later, Joe brought Helena some good news.

“Milady, the cleaning of the second floor is finally complete. Starting today, we plan to begin cleaning the first floor. Once that’s finished, you should be able to stay on the main floors without any hesitation.”

Helena’s face lit up.

“That’s wonderful news. Let’s start by getting rid of that spider-infested chandelier and the cobwebs in the corridor. At this rate, I might start getting attached to the spiders.”

“Understood, Milady.”

Following Helena’s request, the workers decided to first lower the chandelier in the central banquet hall.

They piled up worn-out carpets thickly where the chandelier would land. Then, they slowly began moving the pulley connected to the chain holding the chandelier in place.

The rusty chain creaked loudly, almost as if the ceiling were going to collapse.

It wasn’t just the noise. As the chandelier moved, decades of accumulated dust began to pour down like snow.

“Eek!”

Helena shrieked and jumped back.

Joe rushed over, eyes wide, shouting, “Milady! Milady…!”

“Joe. What’s wrong?”

“There’s a strange room on the first floor. I think you should see it…!”

The words “strange room” made Helena’s eyes snap open.

She swept her dress aside and followed Joe.

“Milady, you might be surprised.”

Standing in front of a small door, Joe gave the warning and slowly opened it.

Upon seeing the room, Helena let out an instinctive scream.

“Ahhh! Mo-monsters!”

The dark room was filled with monsters.

Joe quickly tried to calm her down.

“Milady, I’ve checked. They’re all fake.”

“What? Fake…?”

Helena pressed her pounding chest and slowly stepped into the room.

At first glance, the room appeared to have been a study. But instead of books lining the shelves on either side, there were horrifying figures of monsters.

“My goodness… what is all this?”

Helena looked around the room in a daze.

The “monsters” she had thought she saw were actually intricately carved sculptures.

There were full-body miniature statues, as well as heads or hands alone.

Most were carved from wood and painted with dyes, but some were made from materials that resembled bones, horns, or leather.

Helena felt confused.

‘What on earth is this? Come to think of it, the butler did mention something about this house being cursed… Could it be related? Or… could it be one of those heretical cults the Empress mentioned that worships monsters?’

Gathering her wits, she looked away from the sculptures and examined the room.

The room was messy, but unlike other abandoned rooms in the castle, it didn’t feel eerie. It seemed as though someone had used it up until yesterday.

On the desk sat a half-finished cup of drink, and scattered around were wooden scraps and sawdust, likely from carving.

Helena walked over to a worn armchair with stretched leather that clearly had been sat in for a long time.

“My goodness. And this chair… and what is this?”

She picked up an old, tattered coat draped over the chair with her fingers.

By any measure, it was the strangest piece of clothing she had ever seen.

The color, once green, had faded to a bizarre grayish-green, and the quilted padding inside made it look like some kind of odd shell.

“I almost thought it was a monster’s skin.”

She dropped the coat back down and looked around.

In every spot within arm’s reach of the chair, something had been stuffed. The larger items seemed like shirts, the smaller ones like socks.

Helena realized.

‘Ah. This must be Count Benjamin’s workshop.’

If that was the case, these sculptures were his creations.

She picked up a partially carved wooden piece for inspection.

The finished sculptures were too grotesque to touch, but she could examine the unfinished wood.

Luckily, the half-finished carving was not a monster but the shape of a mansion.

And it was a shape Helena knew very well.

‘This is… Count Hodrin’s Winston estate.’

Helena felt a strange discomfort.

Who carved the mansion or made the sculpture was none of her business. But the fact that it was placed among these gruesome monster sculptures made her uneasy.

‘I’ll have to either take this or get rid of it later.’

She put down the sculpture she was examining and turned to Joe.

“This seems to be the Count’s workshop. Whatever he does here is his business; we should leave it be.”

Joe, equally shocked, quickly agreed with her.

Whatever the Count did was not for a mere head servant to interfere with.

He bowed slightly, concealing his surprise.

“You’re right, Milady. I will follow your lead.”

Helena left Count Benjamin’s workshop with Joe.

Once out of the room filled with monster sculptures, the air, though ordinary, felt unusually fresh.

“Joe, let’s make sure the workers aren’t allowed in that workshop… we don’t want any strange rumors spreading…”

As Helena spoke to Joe, Wesley approached.

“Milady,” he said, unusually flustered, “have you… called for guests?”

Helena immediately shook her head.

“No. I wouldn’t do that. What is it?”

“The guests have arrived.”

“What?”

Helena’s eyes widened.

“Which guests?”

“Well…”

Wesley cleared his throat and began listing names.

“Countess Bryce, Marchioness Bache, Lady Rodrick, and…”

He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again.

“…Duchess Meriel Russel and her maids as well.”

Helena recalled Benjamin mentioning something about guests a few days prior.

Her mouth slowly fell open.

Meriel Russel realized.

‘It’s a trap.’

Though called a Duchess and wearing an elegant velvet dress with her golden hair neatly styled, she still looked far too young to be a proper Duchess.

It couldn’t be helped—she had only been of age for one year.

“My goodness, the gardens are stunning!”

Through the window of the stationary carriage, Countess Bryce laughed as she admired the gardens of the Isspern estate.

With her dazzling silver hair, Countess Bryce was a queen of the southern social scene. Her family, one of the most influential in the southeast, and the Bryce estate ruled over the central southern lands of Rillo.

For Meriel, newly married and stepping into southern high society, she could not afford to ignore such connections.

Thus, she had been staying in Rillo to cultivate her relationship with Countess Bryce.

But Meriel never imagined that visiting Rillo would lead her to the Isspern estate in Burwood.

It all started with that letter.

“Oh, look at this!”

Marchioness Bache, also staying with the Bryce family to be entertained by the Countess, waved the letter excitedly.

The letter was brief:

[By all means.]

Meriel could not make sense of it.

Countess Bryce explained: since Benjamin Isspern became the new Count of Burwood, he had never appeared in or sent news to southern society.

As a responsible member of the southern social circle, Countess Bryce had consistently sent letters requesting visits to the Isspern estate—and now, she finally received a reply.

She insisted they could not miss the opportunity and proposed leaving for Burwood immediately, bringing along the other ladies, who had been dying to hear news from Burwood.

Meriel, staying in Rillo, had no choice but to follow them.

During the brief trip, she learned much: the horrific events at the Isspern estate five years ago, the fact that the new Count was formerly a mercenary, and that he had recently married a woman from the north named Helena Winston.

Meriel understood.

‘That’s why everyone has mobilized now that the new mistress of Burwood is from the north.’