Chapter 04

Nina, who had been staring with wide, round eyes, lowered her eyebrows sympathetically.

“Oh, dear. So you’re a sickly young master.”

He looked rather robust to be called sickly, but there was no way his naturally broad shoulders could shrink just because he was ill, so she accepted his explanation.

“If you’re living there starting today, we’ll be seeing each other often. Please feel free to call me Joel. I’m one year younger than you, so you can speak casually to me, too.”

“Should I?”

Nina brightened and readily accepted his suggestion, only to realize something was a little strange.

“But how did you know I’m a year older?”

“I just took a guess, and it seems I was right. I’m rather perceptive.”

“I see!”

Under normal circumstances, she might have found the situation suspicious, but right now, Nina’s head was so full of flowers and sunshine from the joy of having a family that she couldn’t think of anything else.

Everything felt wonderful and happy.

“Is Gugu your pet pigeon, Joel?”

“My pet?”

Joel looked down at Gugu with a puzzled expression. Gugu primly extended one leg to show him the identification tag around its ankle.

“…Yes. I suppose that’s what it is now.”

“Gugururu~”

Gugu rubbed its head against its owner’s hand, acting all coquettish.

Nina pointed at the handkerchief dangling from Joel’s hand and gave him an awkward smile.

“Then, could you ask Gugu to bring my handkerchief back to me?”

“Cough! Cough, cough!”

The moment Nina finished speaking, Joel covered his mouth with the handkerchief and began coughing violently.

“J-Joel? Are you all right?”

Startled, Nina gripped the balcony railing and leaned forward slightly. Joel managed to nod with difficulty.

“Yes… Cough! Cough! It’s chilly today, so I should head inside.”

Then, slipping the handkerchief into his pocket, he continued in a perfectly healthy voice.

“Unfortunately, the handkerchief has gotten dirty, so I can’t return it to you in this condition. Would you mind visiting me here tomorrow? I’d like to wash it properly before returning it, but I’m far too sickly to leave the house…”

“Oh. I see.”

Feeling too embarrassed and uncomfortable to give a handkerchief she’d been using to a man she’d just met, Nina decided to get it back. She smiled sheepishly and pointed at Gugu.

“Then, you could just send it back through Gugu.”

“Guuu… Guk…”

Suddenly, Gugu pressed a wing against its forehead, staggered unsteadily, and collapsed with a splat.

“Oh my! Gugu!”

“Oh dear. It seems Gugu has fallen ill. I think we’ll have to let it rest for a few days and see how it recovers. However, if Nina wants her handkerchief back through Gugu as soon as tomorrow, I’ll send it out, even if I have to whip it into shape.”

Joel spoke sadly yet with a strong sense of responsibility as he gently stroked the fallen Gugu.

Horrified, Nina waved her hands frantically.

“I’ll come pick it up tomorrow! Don’t worry, just take good care of Gugu.”

“Guuu… Gugururaruru…”

Joel picked up the groaning Gugu and gave Nina a faint smile.

“You’re truly kind, Nina. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that, he silently slipped away beyond the balcony like a ghost, without making a single sound.

Nina stared blankly at the spot where Joel had disappeared, thinking that he seemed to be a rather unusual neighbor.

That night.

Nestled between the soft mattress and cozy bedding, Nina tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

It had taken five days to travel by carriage from the Kingdom of Illite to the free state of Soltum.

It was her first time riding in a carriage for so long, and although her entire body ached and she was terribly exhausted, she strangely couldn’t fall asleep.

What if I fall asleep and wake up to find out this was all a dream?

The garden of flowers and sunshine that had filled her head with unbridled joy throughout the day began to wither as night fell.

A vague sense of anxiety mingled with excitement, leaving her feeling restless and unsettled.

Even at the orphanage, she’d often dreamed of her family coming to find her.

In those dreams, her family, whose faces she didn’t even know, appeared wearing iron masks. Their unfamiliar, cold faces frightened her, but the mere fact that they’d come to take her home made her so happy she could hardly contain herself.

And now, she was sleeping in a house where she’d live with her family. In her very own bedroom, no less.

It felt so much like a dream that it actually frightened her.

Her heart fluttered anxiously at the thought that, if she fell asleep and opened her eyes again, she might find herself back in the maids’ quarters at the count’s estate.

I’m probably feeling this way because I’m still not used to this house. Once I get accustomed to it and sleeping in my own bedroom becomes perfectly normal, I won’t have to worry about it being a dream anymore.

Nina did her best to reassure herself and steady her heart.

Just then, she heard a loud clattering noise coming from somewhere.

Huh? What was that sound?

With eyes as wide as a startled rabbit’s, Nina hugged her pillow and cautiously cracked open her bedroom door.

She was sure she’d heard something, but the hallway was dark and utterly silent.

Suddenly, she remembered something Joel had said that afternoon when they’d met by chance.

“You’re someone I haven’t seen before, so I thought a thief might have broken in.”

A thief…!

Nina barely managed to swallow the gasp that was about to escape her lips.

Thanks to Rikita Bones’s apparent fondness for extravagant things, expensive ornaments were displayed all throughout the townhouse.

It hadn’t been long since the head of the household’s funeral, and with a new person having just moved in, things were bound to be hectic.

On top of that, their closest neighbor was a sickly young master.

This townhouse was practically the perfect target for a thief.

What should I do?! What if there really is a thief inside?!

Nina turned around, tiptoed out onto the balcony, and looked outside.

There aren’t even any guards patrolling the street…!

The balcony across from hers was dark, too, leaving her with nowhere to call for help.

Are the other family members all right? I hope it isn’t a thief.

Staying here and chewing on her pillow wouldn’t help her find out what was going on.

After pacing anxiously for a while, Nina finally opened her bedroom door, clutching her pillow, and stepped into the dark hallway.

I just need to make sure nothing’s wrong. It’s no different from my work as a maid.

Even so, walking alone through an unfamiliar house at night was far more eerie than she’d expected.

The eyes of the figures in the paintings hanging on the walls gleamed fiercely, as if hidden lenses were embedded in them. The strange growth-ring patterns on the window frames looked as though listening devices had been concealed inside, eavesdropping on every word.

Whenever the faint light filtering through the windows flickered and illuminated the hallway, it felt as though searchlights from a tall tower were following her.

Nina’s long eyelashes fluttered every time her eyes darted around.

This is my home now… So why does it feel so creepy? Is it because I think there might be a thief inside?

Perhaps it was because Rikita Bones’s piercing gaze, which had left such a powerful impression on her, was still burned into her mind.

Just as Nina was quietly making her way down the stairs…

She caught a faint rustling sound.

Eeeek!

She barely suppressed a scream, crouched down, and cautiously peeked through the gaps in the stair railing.

I think it came from Grandmother’s room.

She couldn’t be sure there was a thief yet.

Perhaps the other family members had gone to her grandmother’s room because they missed her.

Nina tiptoed over and pressed her ear against her grandmother’s door.

I can’t hear anything. Did I imagine it?

Tilting her head, she carefully opened the door.

And there was no one inside.

The first thing that caught her eye was, as expected, the pair of pink eyes resembling a reddish moon.

“E-excuse me.”

Even though they belonged to a painting, the intensity of that gaze made her instinctively lower her head.

She stepped into the room and looked around. Then, spotting something, she widened her eyes.

The curtains were swaying in the breeze blowing through a slightly open window.

The decorative tassels at the ends of the curtains were lightly tapping against the edge of the desk.

Tap. Tap.

A pen and a paperweight lay on the floor beneath it.

Ah! So that’s what that sound was!

The tension that had stiffened her shoulders melted away in an instant.

What a relief. Thank goodness there isn’t a thief.

Nina bent down and picked up the items that had fallen to the floor.

Tap!

“Huh?”

At the small sound from above her head, she looked up and saw a dart stuck in the desk.

Oh my? What’s this? Was it here before?

She pulled it out and examined it from various angles. There seemed to be some sort of stain on its sharp tip.

It must have rusted! Something like this could be dangerous if someone gets pricked by it. I’d better throw it outside.

As if she were throwing away a dirty piece of trash, Nina tossed the dart out the window and examined the desk again.

Meanwhile, Exi, who had been hiding beneath the window, was horrified by the sharp sting.

She saw through the sleeping poison? She noticed me hiding here, too? I’m getting sleepy!

And just like that, he fell fast asleep and dropped into the bushes.

As Nina’s relief grew, sleepiness gradually began to wash over her. On top of that, the night breeze was making her shiver.

I don’t know how it got open, but I’d better close it, right?

With that, she firmly shut the window that had been making the curtains sway and locked it.

She didn’t forget to carefully draw the curtains to keep out any drafts, either.

At that very moment, Katahari, who had been climbing down a rope from the roof and attempting to sneak through the window, crashed into the reinforced glass.

How did she see through that?! As expected of Rikita’s granddaughter…!

And she fell straight onto the already-sleeping Exi.

Oblivious to everything, Nina was about to leave Rikita Bones’s room when she caught sight of something glinting in a narrow gap in the bookshelf.

Huh? What’s this?

She moved a book aside and examined it closely. There was a hidden button with writing on it.

[Intruder Repellent]

Grandmother must have prepared something like this because there are so many expensive things in the house!

It didn’t seem like a thief had broken in, but she couldn’t be completely certain.

It never hurts to be careful!

Nina smiled brightly and clicked the button.