Chapter 17
“Why, why?”
I yanked at her sleeve with all my strength, but Hazel didn’t budge an inch.
Her hazy eyes had cleared at some point, replaced with a sharp gaze fixed on the second-floor hallway. She seemed to be staring at something at the end of that dark corridor.
“Emily.”
“Yeah?”
“You said it was just you and Yulia in this house.”
“Y-yeah, that’s right. Why? It sounded like a window slammed shut because of the wind. Or maybe it’s just another servant….”
“No. That was the sound of something breaking.”
“Maybe they’re moving furniture…?”
“That could be, but we can’t be sure. We should check.”
Despite my weak excuse, Hazel didn’t flinch. Instead, she shook off my grip and began to walk slowly toward the second-floor hallway.
“Hazel? Hazel, what’s wrong?”
“Shh. Just a second.”
Hazel mouthed the words: ‘I think there’s an intruder.’
It’s probably not an intruder, but just my brother who’s turned into a zombie…
I almost wanted to cry.
Step, step.
Clatter.
Step, step.
Clatter.
Hazel walked along the corridor, opening doors one by one. After passing several empty rooms, she finally reached the one at the very end.
I knew that’s where my brothers were hiding.
Click.
She turned the knob, but the door was locked. A sharp light flickered in Hazel’s eyes.
This is it.
She mouthed. And yes, she had found it.
“It could just be that the door’s stuck. The house is old, and that happens sometimes. And if the window was open, some ornaments might have fallen, making a loud noise….”
“That wasn’t the same kind of noise, Emily.”
This damn sharp one.
“It might be dangerous. Stay back a little.”
She pushed me behind her.
The moment she saw that I had stepped back, Hazel braced herself to throw her whole body at the door.
There was nowhere left for me to retreat.
It was the moment I wondered if I should confess—that it wasn’t an intruder in there, but my brother turned zombie.
“…Sak!”
A shout rang out from inside. Hazel froze, ear pressed against the door.
The voice sounded again, clearer.
“Isaac! Stop it!”
It was Edmond’s voice. My lie was about to unravel.
Hazel rolled her eyes toward me. The holy power inside her flared brightly, as if reacting to her shaken emotions.
I fought hard to swallow down the nausea rising in my throat.
“Actually… well. I lied.”
I confessed first.
“About Yulia practicing alchemy.”
“…So it seems. And Isaac and Edmond aren’t away from home either. Why did you lie about that?”
Hazel’s face showed genuine confusion. Indeed, there seemed no reason to make up such a lie.
“It’s… something hard to talk about with others.”
I stalled for time, searching for some excuse. Hazel’s brows twitched, struggling to understand.
Then, from inside the room, came another sound.
Creak, creak!
It was like furniture crying out in pain, shaking violently.
Hazel’s expression turned grave.
“…Don’t tell me.”
“Huh?”
“Remember when I asked why your brothers were at marriageable age but had never even been engaged, and you dodged the question….”
It seemed she was piecing together a puzzle I myself didn’t even know.
“Then the thumping noises… the locked door… the fact that they never came out even though they were home… it all….”
That’s when I realized what Hazel was trying to say.
I had to bite down hard on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. If I relaxed even a little, the laughter would burst out of me.
“Isaac and… Edmond?”
Hazel asked as if seeking confirmation. I nodded solemnly.
That was all it took.
That small affirmation gave wings to her imagination. Hazel’s face flushed red.
But then she snapped back, narrowing her eyes.
“…You’re not just making this up, are you? I’ve been coming here since childhood, and I never saw the slightest hint of that.”
Her doubt lingered, unable to vanish so easily.
I sighed softly, then knocked on the door.
“Ed, are you in there?”
If I was right, Isaac aside, Edmond or Yulia should be fine.
“Open up, just for a second. Let me see your face.”
After a short pause, the lock clicked open and the door cracked just a little.
It was barely wide enough to see a single eye. Edmond stood blocking the entire entrance, keeping the inside hidden.
“…What is it?”
His voice was low and heavy. His face was tired, as though he had been through something rough. His clothes were disheveled, hastily thrown on.
Most telling of all—on his exposed neck were fresh bite marks.
“I—I—I’m so sorry!”
Hazel bent at the waist in a deep bow. Her ears flushed crimson.
“I—I didn’t mean to interrupt… I didn’t realize the two of you, I mean….”
“…It’s fine. Just be careful next time.”
Edmond replied curtly and shut the door.
Clack.
Hazel didn’t raise her head for a long while in front of that closed door.
It fell to me to coax her out of her daze, get her to the carriage, and send her home.
“Please, tell them again how sorry I am.”
“Of course. And… I’d rather you didn’t tell anyone about this. Will that be okay?”
“Of course. I won’t breathe a word to anyone.”
Hazel nodded solemnly, as if taking a sacred vow. She looked ready to carry the secret to her grave.
“Well then, I’ll see you next time.”
I waved with a small smile, and Hazel waved back.
Her carriage departed, carrying her away. I watched until she vanished into a distant speck, then finally turned back inside.
Step, step.
I climbed the stairs and stopped at the end of the second-floor corridor.
Knock, knock.
“It’s me.”
The door opened at once. Edmond’s face was full of things he wanted to say, but there was something more important.
Isaac, bound hand and foot, eyes burning blood-red, was inside the room.
Yulia’s legs were broken, Edmond’s arm twisted grotesquely. They had clearly been injured while trying to restrain him.
The room was full of claw marks, bite marks, and even the corner of the desk had been bitten clean off.
Isaac seemed to have lost all reason. He writhed against the ropes like a beast, only making the bindings cut deeper into his wrists and ankles.
“Grrr….”
He even growled like an animal.
Suppressing a sigh, I finally asked:
“What on earth happened to him?”
At my words, Isaac jerked violently. Crack—the rope strained, his wrist twisting grotesquely.
“We don’t know. He suddenly snapped….”
Edmond’s exhausted voice answered.
“He kept trying to run off. I think toward where Hazel was. We almost got caught for real.”
Yulia, pale as a ghost, added while lying helplessly on the floor.
“Grrr….”
I slowly approached Isaac. Even in his frenzied state, he seemed to recognize me and quieted down.
When I reached out, he nuzzled his cheek against my hand like a dog seeking affection.
A stark contrast from how he treated the others.
“What? Why only with you….”
Edmond and Yulia exchanged baffled looks.
—A familiar’s instinct is to obey its master.
Thud.
Through the broken window, Rev slipped in, landing gracefully inside.
—And protecting the master from a paladin, that too.
Rev let out a long meow, eyes narrowing in a lazy smile.
“Rev. It’s dangerous, come here.”
—Hmph. Don’t you change the subject!
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
I hugged him close like an ordinary cat. At once, Isaac recoiled, trying to back away from Rev.
“I don’t know the exact cause, but I think it’s because of Hazel.”
“She did give me an uneasy feeling.”
“He reacts to holy power. I felt sick from it too.”
The holy power had upset my stomach so badly it still hadn’t settled.
“I had laid hands on Isaac before, remember.”
Yulia and Edmond must have felt some rejection as well, but unlike Isaac, they hadn’t lost their reason trying to protect me.
That Isaac alone overreacted could only mean one thing.
“Because we’re in a zombie state… holy power rejection made him lose his reason?”
“That’s what it seems like.”
I lied smoothly.
If I hadn’t been with Hazel, Isaac wouldn’t have gone this far. He might have just felt a painful aversion, but not lost his mind.
Holy power causing rejection, and me causing rejection—that’s a different matter.
But Edmond and Yulia had no way of seeing through the lie. Their knowledge of black magic depended entirely on me.
And Hazel would soon be dispatched to the Winterwood Forest, so we wouldn’t see her again for a while.
Edmond seemed convinced, nodding slightly.
—You still haven’t broken that nasty habit of yours.
Rev’s vertical pupils bored into me.
