“Egg... eggplant.” Li Yue made a finger heart at the full-length mirror. She looked at the constant twitching of her lips and felt a bit dejected.
Forget it. Being a maid shouldn't be that complicated; she just needed to perform some surface-level cleaning in the attic.
Li Yue stepped out of her room. Some of the maids in the hallway were still whispering to each other, seemingly unaware of the bizarre events that had occurred. The situation had caused Miller to increase the guards at his bedroom door and even cancel the routine breakfast.
Li Yue glanced around, feeling various gazes converging on her from all directions. She looked down at her clothes; although they were a temporary set and didn't fit perfectly, she had put them on properly.
“Hello.” A uniformed guard walked up to Li Yue and gave a bold greeting, though he immediately began to stammer.
“Hello.” Li Yue stared into his shifting eyes, her face devoid of any expression.
I can't let him realize I'm not a real maid. Speaking of which, this guy looks familiar.
“Have we met?” Li Yue tilted her head.
“Ah, well, the guard shift rotation yesterday... I was the one who handed over to you.” The young-looking guard scratched his head, appearing quite bashful.
Oh no.
Li Yue stared into his eyes, momentarily unsure of what to say. She simply kept her gaze fixed on him, making the latter feel a bit intimidated.
Stare...
The contrast is so huge. She’s so cute in a maid outfit. Does she work two jobs? Or is she one of those legendary trained personal maids?
The guard's face turned slightly red.
“U-Um, have a nice day at work.”
The young guard walked away with a blushing face. Li Yue, who was still trying to come up with an excuse, was stunned for a moment.
He seems to have convinced himself. That... saves me the trouble of making up a lie.
Li Yue let out a sigh of relief, unaware that the servants in the house already viewed her as a fallen noble lady—the kind who had received high-level education in swordsmanship and horsemanship in her early years.
After all, silver hair and blonde hair could both give off an air of elegance; the former was cool and aloof, while the latter was regal.
Li Yue kept her head down as she walked past the maids wiping windows and cleaning floors in the corridor. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, refracting into a kaleidoscope of colors that illuminated the girl, adding a touch of radiance to her presence—though it could not reach her soul, which was sinking into an abyss.
After passing through the long corridor, the spiral staircase led to the attic where the incident had occurred. Thinking of this, Li Yue’s heart grew heavy. She felt something was wrong with the whole situation. Once the auction was over, she would definitely contact Roland immediately.
Or perhaps she could ask Clo. She didn't know when that person would be able to pick her up and take her away from this place of trouble so she could focus on finding a way back.
“G-Greetings...” A maid who looked quite weary suddenly bowed deeply to Li Yue. Perhaps she had been plagued by nightmares and hadn't slept well, only drifting off in the latter half of the night, leaving her nerves frayed.
“Mm.” Li Yue nodded and didn't spare her a glance. At this moment, she was even prepared for battle; she was not only heavy-hearted but also somewhat tense.
The bowing maid was stunned. The others nearby had strange expressions, and some even followed suit, giving a morning greeting without really knowing why.
“Why did you bow to her?” The head maid in charge of supervision frowned. Miller had specifically instructed her that the silver-haired lady could choose her work freely and was not to be hindered.
“I... I'm sorry. She looks just like a high noble I once served in the Royal Court. I reacted out of habit because I was scared.” The freckled maid’s face was pale, as if she were recalling some unpleasant memory.
Everyone watched Li Yue as she walked up to the attic step by step. For a moment, they really seemed to see a graceful and dignified young lady of a great house.
I think my maid act is pretty convincing. At least I've got that down, Li Yue sighed. She lifted her skirt and drew a short blade from her upper thigh. If she were facing an opponent, they would likely be stunned by her pale thighs for half a minute.
She cautiously pushed open the door. The corpse had long since been cleared away by several guards. A lingering scent of blood and a faint aroma of wine still hung in the air. Li Yue guessed she would likely spend the entire afternoon here.
She slowly patrolled the room. Various miscellaneous items were scattered around the attic. Old furniture was neatly arranged in a corner, alongside tools for repair and polishing. Li Yue surmised these were used to maintain the collection downstairs.
There was a sofa in the upper left of the room that seemed suitable for resting. In the center of the room sat the dark gold serpentine Blood Cup. Just like last time, there wasn't a single trace of magical aura.
The cup is empty? Li Yue suddenly noticed this detail. Had it been cleaned because it was exposed to the air for too long?
Li Yue pulled a bottle of wine labeled 1877 from the nearby wine cabinet, also noticing several stacks of newspapers piled there, seemingly organized by a maid.
She poured the wine into the dark gold Blood Cup. Just like before, there was no reaction at all. She dipped a fingertip into the red wine, and the dark red stain trailed down her slender, pale finger. Li Yue cautiously took a lick, and a rich fragrance spread through her mouth.
There didn't seem to be anything unusual; the crisis appeared temporarily averted. For now, everything seemed normal.
Li Yue sat on the sofa and began flipping through the stacked newspapers: “Famous fur merchant Pix’s stables burned down; casualties currently unknown.”
Li Yue glanced at the date: August 8th, 1923. The wine she had just picked up was actually over forty years old.
Li Yue continued flipping backward. There was one murder case in between, but the rest were just boring news and stiff advertisements using non-rhyming vocabulary.
She slowly browsed through them. In the blink of an eye, she reached the news from a week ago, and even earlier—reports from two years prior.
July 28th, 1921: “The town of Lucifer was destroyed by a rampaging magic dragon and demon beasts. All three major guilds in the town were annihilated. This is the largest monster riot in thirty years. Preliminary investigations suggest a sudden change in the northern forest forced a massive southward migration of monsters.”
The newspaper was accompanied by an illustration, seemingly engraved using magical means to capture a memory. Li Yue scrutinized the image. In the corner of a black-and-white sea of fire, she discovered an ancient castle. Compared to the original appearance and geography of the town, it looked incredibly out of place.
What is this place? Li Yue studied it intently. A cold hall, deep and dark corridors, a courtyard scattered with pale roses, the bleeding corpses of the dead, vivid monsters that were then torn to shreds...
In an instant, she received a massive influx of information. While her head throbbed with pain, she marveled at how strong her powers of association had become; seeing a building could actually make her think of a series of terrifying scenes.
She adjusted her breathing. The sharp pain in her head made her take a short nap. Combined with the time spent reading the newspapers, it was already evening when she woke up. She suddenly remembered that Mr. Miller had invited her to dine with him that evening.
In reality, it was to discuss the progress of the investigation and settle some matters.
A maid brought dishes to the dining table one by one. Li Yue carried a plate of pasta with meat sauce and was the last to enter the room. Miller had dismissed all the other maids and guards, using the excuse that Li Yue was his personal maid.
His meal today was very casual, consisting of greasy fast food like fish and chips.
Li Yue had long since lost the ability to taste anything bland. As for why it wasn't pasta with tomato sauce, it was because Mr. Miller hadn't fully recovered from the morning's terror. He didn't even have red wine with dinner, instead trying a different style of dining.
“I originally wanted to try some wine from a few years back, but I have no appetite today, so I simply skipped the decanting process,” Miller smiled, breaking the silence with a self-deprecating remark.
“Decanting?”
“You didn't know? Especially for red wine, this step is necessary to let the wine come into contact with the air so it can release its aroma again. Otherwise, the taste will be very bitter and the smell quite unpleasant.”
“Is forty years considered a long time?” Li Yue froze, suddenly stopping her meal.
“For that kind, it would probably need to breathe for several hours.”
Oh no. A heavy weight crashed down in Li Yue’s heart with a boom. She stood up abruptly.
“Did you suddenly discover something?” Miller asked excitedly.
“Maybe.” Li Yue lifted her skirt, preparing to sprint to the attic. Miller also stood up, rubbing his hands together.
“AHHHHHHH!!!” A shrill scream echoed through the evening sky. Li Yue and Miller froze; the scream had come from their destination.
Miller had almost guessed what had happened and was too terrified to move forward. Li Yue didn't stop, accelerating her pace toward the attic.
To Li Yue’s surprise, the scene of the crime this time wasn't in the attic, but in the corridor below it. A maid lay on the floor, coughing up wine. Her windpipe seemed blocked, making it hard for her to breathe, though she wasn't yet dead.
Li Yue pushed past several bewildered maids and quickly picked her up. She pressed her hands heavily against the woman's abdomen, performing the Heimlich maneuver to force air from the abdominal cavity and clear the blocked airway.
The maid spat out several mouthfuls of dark red liquid but still didn't regain consciousness from her coma.
“What happened?” Li Yue frowned, instinctively thinking of the wine cup in the attic.
“It was a man. His face was covered, and he wore a hat and a black robe,” the head maid said, adjusting her glasses. “He escaped through that broken window. He walked among us completely unnoticed and suddenly grabbed Rena by the neck...”
How is that possible? There really is a killer? It wasn't a curse?
Li Yue’s pupils constricted slightly. She quickly checked the window and found a small amount of blood. The faint scent of blood was exceptionally clear in the dry evening air. For Li Yue, she didn't mind the glass shards; she drew a short blade from her sleeve, grabbed her skirt with the other hand, and sprinted off following the trail of blood.
After passing through a grape trellis, the scent grew thinner. Li Yue came to a stop in a graveyard. This was originally a silent place for the buried dead, symbolizing eternal peace.
Miller liked to place gardenias, carnations, or white roses by the graves, usually depending on the person's status.
This morning, the young guard’s body had been buried. Miller had solemnly laid out gardenias to express his respect and remembrance.
Only now, the soil that had been smoothed over was scattered, and the center had slightly caved in. Not far away, there was an abrupt small mound of earth, with gardenias scattered everywhere.
Li Yue spun the blade in her hand. The sharpened mithril blade gleamed white under the setting sun.
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