Chapter 8
The music that exuded a gentle and affectionate feeling became quite sassy due to the music box sound. Opening the door leading downwards and descending the brown leather-covered stairs, Carolyn reminisced about the play.
Was someone inside since before they boarded the ship?
Opening the door full of curiosity, Carolyn’s eyes widened. On top of a velvet cabinet, countless music boxes were placed. They were all in the shape of amazingly similar oysters. A pearl was turning on top of the pure white inner flesh of the oyster made of porcelain. Over twenty music boxes. Carolyn felt as if she was playing hide-and-seek.
‘It feels like they’re saying, find me.’
She turned her head this way and that to find even the slightest difference, but she couldn’t tell.
‘I’m at a loss. What is this?’
It was the moment she was feeling frustrated. Carolyn felt a sensation as if the back of her neck was turning cold. It was as if something was watching her.
‘This isn’t it.’
It seemed to tell her to find the music box making the sound, but that wasn’t the purpose. However, when Carolyn turned her body from the spot where she had been looking at the music boxes. In a dark place, hard to see because there was no lighting, there was a box made of cherry oak. And it symbolized love in the work.
The peppermint candies the female protagonist gifts to the male protagonist. Something that makes the male protagonist, Friedman, think of her every time he puts a candy in his mouth one by one.
‘Why is this here?’
Like a genuine article staring at countless fakes, the peppermint candy box silently kept its place. Carolyn approached it step by step.
Click.
The box opened, and Carolyn could see countless peppermint candies. The regular octahedron-shaped candies emitted a subtle fragrance. Instinctively, she picked up one of the candies on top and put it in her mouth.
‘It’s sweet.’
And beneath it, Carolyn could see a smooth, curved metal.
‘What is this?’
As she hurriedly pushed aside the surrounding peppermint candies, its true identity was revealed. It was a key the size of a palm. And underneath it, the corner of a piece of paper sticking out sharply could be seen.
‘Huh?’
She picked it up with urgent hands and unfolded it.
It was a message left by someone unidentified.
The tea time that began late in the afternoon ended in less than two hours. As the barrage of questions ended, the conversation stopped early, and people focused on looking at the scenery. Although the women merely sat still with their papers in front of them.
Holding the note from earlier in her hand, Carolyn thought with an even more frustrated heart.
‘Where is this key used?’
Why give her a key while telling her to leave?
‘And who wrote this?’
Was it Aiden? Who else would write this, it’s Aiden’s yacht.
‘Why are they telling me to leave?’
It’s a gathering Aiden created because he wanted to spend time with his fans after his retirement. No matter how much she thought about it, it didn’t seem like activities fitting that purpose were taking place.
‘The strange women’s interrogations, people disappearing every time… What on earth is happening in this mansion?’
Could it be that Aiden is being threatened?
‘His tired-looking face, and his attitude of calmly answering any question.’
There was another hypothesis as well. The thought that Aiden’s mind might not be intact. What if he is in a fluctuating state where he can’t even count numbers and can’t remember past events?
‘Is that why he invited fans to learn about his past self?’
Then what are those women? Carolyn slapped her knee.
‘Psychotherapists?’
Their bizarrely refined movements and note-taking behavior evoked such a thought.
‘Then why did they disappear last night?’
Carolyn quickly reached an answer.
‘Aha, did they get fired?’
Perhaps due to doing her own thinking, Carolyn finished her meal resourcefully at this dining gathering and returned to her room. She had something to do today.
‘Three days have already passed, so I should send a letter to Anna.’
Carolyn picked up her pen and began to write.
[Hello, Anna. How are you? Please understand that I’m sending letters to two places, your family home and the academy dormitory, because I don’t know where you are. How are you doing? I was going to share my vacation plans, but I was so distracted by the fact of Aiden’s retirement that I didn’t get to tell you on the day of the vacation ceremony. I am currently at Aiden Darebell’s mansion. I can picture you reading this, your eyes widening and screaming. I begged him not to retire in a letter, and I was invited. Of course, this is a decision I made without my parents knowing. They still think I’m in the academy dormitory. So if… it hasn’t happened much before, but if my parents send a letter to the academy, please tactfully handle it. I’m curious how you’re doing. Even trivial things are fine, so I wish you’d tell me stories of your daily life. Wonderful things happen here and it’s plenty enjoyable, but it’s also a bit lonely because there’s no one I’m close to. I’ll wait for your reply. Thinking that I wish you were here, Carolyn.]
She had to carefully select her sentences for fear the letter would be rejected in case there was something she shouldn’t write. After discarding and rewriting several times to complete the final content, Carolyn wrote two of the same, addressed them differently, folded them into envelopes, and placed them outside her room.
‘Is it because I worked hard writing the letter, or because the mansion feels bizarre today of all days?’
Even though there was a long time left until midnight, Carolyn felt sleepy and crawled under the blankets to try and sleep. The quality of her sleep was good. She fell deeply asleep and didn’t even hear the bell announcing midnight. And how much time passed?
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
A scream and the sound of something falling pierced through the well-soundproofed doors of the mansion.
“Gasp!”
Clutching her crazily beating heart, Carolyn raised her body from under the blanket.
‘What is it?’
Thump.
There was the sound of a violent physical struggle taking place. It wasn’t far away. It was the second floor.
‘Right, outside the door.’
Carolyn covered her mouth and debated.
‘Should I open it? Who needs help? A guest? Aiden? A servant?’
She had to know what was happening. Eventually, being careful not to make a sound, she opened the door.
“!”
A blonde woman was being held by an unidentified being. Because the second floor was exceptionally dark, nothing was clearly visible except her brilliant hair. However, Carolyn’s eyes were able to recognize that the one holding her in a grip was a very familiar man of broad build. A black shirt, pants of the same color, and shoes. Roughly styled gray hair.
‘…That’s!’
At that moment, the woman who was in the man’s grasp disappeared.
“!”
Disappeared. Truly literally, the inside of his hand became empty. What was the outline of the woman was nowhere to be found. Covering her mouth at the unbelievable event, Carolyn looked at the man indistinguishable from the darkness.
No way. And she found eyes looking at her.
She didn’t know with what state of mind she closed the door. Locking the door handle and even latching the deadbolt, Carolyn ran to the window farthest from the door inside the room. Her whole body trembled violently. Even though she hadn’t moved roughly, her heart was pounding as if it would burst, and she couldn’t suppress breathing out loud.
Friedman. Friedman from was right before her eyes. Wearing a ferocious look that would make anyone looking tremble in fear.
‘So, Aiden disguised himself as Friedman and…’
Is it some kind of mental disorder?
‘No, isn’t it the other way around?’
Hasn’t she just gone crazy? Realistically, it was more correct to judge that Carolyn was seeing hallucinations.
‘The woman disappeared. Seriously, what is…?’
Am I really the one who went crazy? What on earth is happening in this place? What on earth happened to Aiden Christian Darebell?
The whole world was dyed white and then returned. As if all of this were a play, lightning was even striking in this situation. How much time passed? Subsequently, the fierce sound of thunder shook the ground. Crouching her body and waiting for the sound to end, Carolyn slowly lifted her head. And she slowly raised her hand and rubbed her eyes.
There was something floating in the air.
[Miss Carolyn August, would you like to become a player?]
Lightning struck once again.
