Chapter 05
She paused mid-sentence, recalling the rulebook that might be resting inside her bag.
The mention of the rulebook had suddenly brought a long-suppressed question to the surface of her mind.
After glancing at Sebastian for a moment, Ordelphia asked,
“You mean the rulebook… the one my grandmother made?”
“Yes, that’s correct. At first, there were only about five rules, but over time, they increased.”
As Ordelphia organized some documents and put them into her bag, she took out the rulebook.
The steward smiled at the sight of the small book with a worn, well-handled leather cover—though aged, it had no missing parts.
“This is the first rulebook Miss Adel created.”
While the steward indulged in a bit of nostalgia, Ordelphia immediately got to the point.
“I find a lot of the contents of this rulebook… hard to understand.”
Hearing this, the steward’s eyes widened in curiosity, then he nodded as if he understood.
“It’s quite different from the usual hotel guidelines.”
“Not just a little—it’s very different. Earlier, you said you ran the hotel based on this rulebook, right? But there’s nothing in here about how to operate it.”
She tapped the book lightly and looked the steward squarely in the eyes.
“Hmm. I can understand why you might feel suspicious. However…”
The steward paused, as if carefully choosing his words.
“However?”
“Have you read through the rulebook?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember the very last rule?”
“The last rule…?”
“Rule 19. Regarding this rule, you cannot discuss it with anyone.”
“Which means…”
“I’m afraid I can’t resolve your doubts, Madam. But don’t worry. Once you stay at the hotel, you’ll naturally come to understand everything.”
“Wait… you don’t mean…”
Ordelphia touched her dry lips nervously.
“You mean by ‘naturally,’ we’ll experience… something like that fire alarm incident just now?”
“Oh dear, so you’ve already experienced one. It seems you followed Rule 3 well.”
The question, “What happens if I don’t follow it properly?” pressed to the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t voice it.
She could sense from the steward’s awkward smile that no matter what she asked, he would never give a straight answer.
Ordelphia felt a headache coming on.
She had inherited the hotel to find a place to belong and, above all, to locate her father, leaving behind a house where she could have slowly suffocated.
Yet this hotel wasn’t plagued with ordinary worries like poor management or low revenue—it harbored inexplicable and peculiar problems.
Should she turn back now?
“Don’t worry too much.”
As if reading her thoughts, the steward smiled gently and continued.
“You won’t encounter such situations very often.”
Ordelphia studied him for a moment before asking,
“Even if you can’t talk about the rules, you can mention the ‘phenomena,’ right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then I have a few questions—could you answer them?”
“As long as it’s something I can answer, of course.”
She raised a finger.
“The fire alarm went off, right? But… no, a paranormal occurrence? A strange event? Anyway, that thing definitely happened, but it seemed no one else noticed.”
That’s right. If Arthur Junior, an ordinary child, had experienced the same thing, he wouldn’t have whined or fussed like she did.
Even her own malfunctioning emotional system had been paralyzed with fear the moment she saw it.
“I’m glad to answer. As you said, not everyone experiences the ‘strange events’ that occur in this hotel.”
No wonder there were guests despite the bizarre situations happening.
Relieved that hotel revenue might not be as critical as she feared, Ordelphia voiced another question that had been lingering.
“Do you mean to say that such… strange events… could happen to the guests as well?”
“Haha. That’s very rare.”
“Very rare?”
“There’s nothing in the world you can be 100% sure of. But during my tenure, no guest was ever caught up in such events.”
His calm and composed tone gave him an air of credibility.
Feeling somewhat reassured, Ordelphia accepted the answer and asked the next question.
“What happens if the rules—or such events—aren’t handled properly?”
Typically, manuals exist to control situations or prevent danger.
The steward, however, merely let out a short sigh and remained silent.
He had cleverly deflected the question from the rules to the phenomena, but it was ultimately just a wordplay; he couldn’t answer.
“Alright. I suppose I’ll understand once I experience it myself.”
“No need to force it. If you follow the rules properly, you’ll be fine.”
“Right. I should first memorize everything in this book perfectly.”
Ordelphia organized her thoughts.
There were many things she wanted to ask: why ghostly events occurred at this hotel, how anyone could work here for long, how other staff continued despite these events, and so on.
But the most important thing to know first was separate.
“This question might be a bit awkward…”
“I’ll answer anything I can.”
“How is the actual revenue?”
“Hmm.”
The steward’s calm expression darkened slightly.
“We manage to get by somehow.”
“I see.”
“When it’s been really dire, we’ve taken out bank loans to get through the crisis.”
“Loans, I see. Alright.”
For now, she had satisfactorily addressed the urgent customer and revenue questions. The outlook wasn’t great, but…
Well, one can’t expect everything to be perfect immediately. She could learn the rest through experience or by investigating herself.
“Just one last thing.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“After my grandmother passed, can I see the hotel’s overall revenue and staff history?”
“I would bring it here for you, but there’s a lot of it. It’s stored in the basement. Would you like me to guide you there?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll prepare it shortly.”
“No, I’d like to rest today. It’s still afternoon, but I’ve been active since dawn. Could you prepare a room for me?”
“The room you stayed in, Miss Adel, is still…”
“I want to leave grandmother’s room exactly as it was.”
The steward rose quietly without adding more.
He approached her and refilled her tea, saying,
“If you’re enjoying your tea, I’ll get everything ready. Is this bag all the luggage you have?”
“Yes. I’ll carry this myself, so don’t worry. Oh, and there’s no need to assign a maid.”
Though she was an heiress of the long-standing Count Gryu family, after her father’s disappearance and her mother’s coldness, she had never been properly attended to at the mansion.
Disliking interaction with others, she had grown accustomed to managing most things on her own despite being a noblewoman.
“Then I’ll get up first.”
“Alright. Also, could you arrange for a painter to create a montage?”
“Yes. I’ll do that.”
She added a brief explanation to the steward, who nodded without further questions despite the abrupt request.
“There seem to be suspicious people around the hotel. I’m not sure, but it’s better to be prepared.”
Ordelphia silently looked at the tea swaying in her cup, still warm with steam.
“Madam.”
The steward, holding the door handle, suddenly called her.
“Yes?”
“Excuse me, may I ask you a question as well?”
“Of course.”
After a brief pause, just as Ordelphia’s suspicion grew, he spoke.
“Do you perhaps dislike inheriting this hotel? Or is it that this old man does not satisfy you?”
“Yes?”
