Chapter 3
“Hmm.”
Not leaving the room after midnight could be a matter of security and internal regulations. Checking the letters must also be related to the actor’s personal information. Because it would be troublesome if someone indiscreetly wrote down Aiden Darebell’s private information in a letter.
However… the first clause bothered her.
Why must it be exactly 30 days? No more, no less, exactly one month.
‘Is there some sort of completion ceremony on the 30th day?’
Carolyn was the type of person who had to understand something before moving forward. Due to a certain reluctance stemming from the incomprehensible part, the pen, which had been poised as if to sign at any moment, hovered without touching the paper.
The women were blankly staring into the void, and the servants’ gazes were concentrated on Carolyn. Even so, without lifting her pen, she looked for a long time at the man standing halfway up the stairs, looking down at the hall.
A sudden retirement and a haggard face. His appearance was full of unspeakable circumstances and untold stories. Sensing her gaze, he met Carolyn’s eyes. Just like in the performances she had watched countless times before.
‘Although the tone of the last clause was ominous…’
She had a duty to watch every performance her actor put on. Carolyn picked up the now-dry pen and dipped it in the golden ink.
[Signature: Carolyn August]
As if waiting, a servant approached and swiftly slipped the paper into an envelope. It was the beginning of a turbulent 30 days.
“Do I have indigestion?”
Carolyn rubbed her upper stomach, which felt stiff, as she walked on the grass. Feeling like her food wasn’t digesting well, she had come outside the mansion to take a walk in the garden.
‘I didn’t eat hastily, and I ate less than usual.’
Even though she knew she would be nervous because it was an important occasion, her stomach felt more rigid than expected. That was probably not because of her love for Aiden.
‘It was scary.’
Carolyn recalled the dinner gathering from just a moment ago. Aiden sitting at one end of the long table, and the women sitting four on each side based on his position. The servants standing behind them with their hands clasped together, wearing serene smiles. The lighting on the ceiling was a deep yellow, and the candles on the dining table flickered sluggishly. It was a meal for only nine people, but the table was filled with all sorts of food.
The dining setting was romantic, but Carolyn was uncomfortable right from the start.
‘Excuse me, the tableware…’
It was because out of the eight people, a plate and knife set was not prepared only at Carolyn’s seat. It seemed they had miscounted the number of people. After everyone finished signing and the servants collected the papers, Aiden had committed a similar mistake.
‘I sincerely welcome the seven guests who have come here.’
It’s not seven, but eight. It seems they calculated the number of people incorrectly. Despite it being a simple mistake, Carolyn couldn’t do anything about her stomach stiffening up from then on. Even after that, her indigestion slowly began to worsen.
The servants stood in place without changing a single facial expression or posture. The women asked similar questions as if they had coordinated them, and Aiden answered their questions with the exact same smiling expression. Even when he received completely identical questions, he acted as if he were hearing them for the first time, showing off his skills as an actor.
‘His reaction was strange to my question.’
Because the women all only opened their mouths once or twice, the majority of the questions fell to Carolyn. And meanwhile, the women moved their hands rhythmically. They cut the food with three knife strokes and put it in their mouths with one fork stroke. That five-step routine continuously repeated. The food they handled also remained consistently the same for each of them—meat, salad, ravioli, etc. However, no one except Carolyn seemed to feel anything strange.
‘Strange people.’
Carolyn shook her head and gently rubbed her upper stomach. Finishing her walk until she digested her food, and going up to her room to unpack, the time passed incredibly fast.
Dong—
‘It’s 12 o’clock, isn’t it?’
As she checked her watch to the chime that rang right on time, a knock sounded.
“Miss Carolyn, do you have any items you need? We will deliver them by 12:10.” “I’m fine!” “If so, please turn off the lights and go to sleep. Thank you.”
Just as seen in the rule guide, a servant visited at midnight. It was the time from which she could no longer leave the room. Carolyn lay down on the bed just like that.
“I can’t fall asleep.”
Even though it was a very comfortable bed, perhaps because she was sleeping in a new place, her eyes were wide awake. Hugging her pounding chest, Carolyn looked back on the events of today. The slightly desolate yet elegant-feeling mansion, and Aiden, whose mere standing felt like acting. Her heart ached at the sight of her noticeably emaciated actor, and the guests invited with her were a bit strange, but… Carolyn still couldn’t help her fluttering heart.
‘What kind of things will happen tomorrow?’
The moment she turned on her side while thinking,
Click.
It was a clear sign of someone’s presence. The sound of a door opening, and the sound of shoes hitting the floor of the hallway.
[Fourth. Do not step outside your own room after midnight. A servant will visit for the last time at midnight, so please discuss any necessary matters then. A dress room and bathroom exist within the room, and we will bring necessary items as much as possible, so you must absolutely not step outside the room after midnight.]
Someone had stepped outside their room.
“!”
Carolyn sprang up from where she lay like a coil. She quietly braced herself against the bed and strained her ears again to see if she had heard correctly.
Click, thud.
This time, it was the sound of a door closing. It wasn’t the time for servants to be walking around. If it was, the voice of them politely greeting would have been heard together. This implied that someone was breaking the rules of the mansion.
‘Why?’
Suddenly, Carolyn recalled how everyone, including herself, had read the rules written on the paper and signed. And how the others, excluding her, had put down their pens so quickly that it was hard to say they had read the text properly.
‘They didn’t properly read the rule guide!’
Therefore, they probably didn’t know the fact that they shouldn’t go out at this time. Hesitating, Carolyn jumped up from the bed and stepped toward the door. She hesitated for a moment on whether it was okay to open the door, but,
‘It merely said not to step outside the room.’
Carolyn opened the door and only poked her head out of the room.
“Excuse me.”
In the darkness where only dim lighting revealed her presence, the woman who was disappearing toward the end of the second-floor hallway looked back. The stairs leading to the first floor were in the opposite direction. In other words, it was clear she was heading to the third floor.
“?”
Carolyn expected her to scream in surprise and worsen the situation, but the woman of glamorous beauty only slightly frowned and didn’t seem very surprised.
“Uh… My name is Carolyn August.” “…”
As if she hadn’t wanted a self-introduction, the woman’s expression remained unchanged.
“You shouldn’t step outside your room after midnight. It was written in the rules.”
The head of the woman standing on the carpet tilted. Perhaps out of habit, her blinking and jaw movements were rhythmic.
“I’ll keep it a secret that you tried to go out.”
How much time passed? Despite Carolyn’s efforts, the slender woman, who hadn’t said a single word, coldly turned away.
“Huh? Uh… wait!”
It was useless even if she shouted.
‘Should I catch her?’
Carolyn debated while watching the back figure gradually fading away.
‘Is it too much meddling? But…’
Stepping outside the room at an hour with hardly anyone around?
‘Who knows where she’ll go poking around in the mansion.’
That was disrespectful behavior toward the host, but from a guest’s perspective, it was also something that could lead to unexpected events. In other words, breaking the rule book meant it was a bad thing not only for Aiden but for that fan as well.
‘This won’t do.’
The woman had already disappeared around the corner. Carolyn quickly kicked off her shoes so her footsteps wouldn’t make a sound and ran after her.
