The dead had stepped into forbidden territory, desecrating the domain of the living.

“This was intentional.”

“Quite audacious.”

“Other missing persons…”

“Do you remember the temperament of the Tutean lord?”

He was a vain man.

“If he killed them all, he would have scattered the corpses around the estate and asked us to witness his slaughter.”

“I will dispatch an internal investigation team.”

Such a sudden disappearance wasn’t in his character.

“…Do you remember when His Late Majesty was young?”

When the Late Majesty died and ascended to the throne, his death had already been unsettling.

The Late Majesty had gone mad, and at the end, his complexion turned black, and his skin rotted; that’s how he died.

Days of inexplicable deaths continued, bodies shriveled as if life was drained out of them.

“It’s almost the same as now.”

“Then they also…”

“No need to understand them. They led to this situation.”

There was no time to examine the Late Majesty’s corpse, so his past death was also buried.

“Follow the traces.”

The implications were clear, and the past speculations now had a foundation.

“The scribe has arrived.”

The door to the chamber opened, and Roskella entered. She frowned at the strong smell of herbs filling the dark room.

“Is it over?”

“They violated the forbidden territory.”

Fools disrupted the balance and order.

Benjamin covered the corpse with a cloth as he reported.

“Find and kill these mistaken ones.”

“I wish I could have remained ignorant a bit longer.”

Charlotte muttered, stumbling over her words.

“Now it’s becoming harder to ignore.”

It was time to revisit. How and where did that death go wrong?

Life inside the estate had been extremely isolated from the outside.

Even more so after marriage.

‘My death was also due to external factors.’

From where to where had they touched? And where was the end? Was there even an end?

“Your Majesty, are you listening?”

Lost in thought, Charlotte relaxed her tense shoulders.

She slid her fingers down her collarbone and loosened her robe. She pushed back her hood and took off her fur scarf.

“You didn’t have to come in person.”

“It’s better to see for myself.”

A search within the mansion continued. The estate, once full of servants, was desolate.

The feeling of being left alone again in that empty space struck her. Katarina looked at Charlotte, who was like that.

“There’s no need to worry about me.”

“…Your Majesty.”

“Having already severed ties with the family, what pity would I show them now?”

Charlotte narrowed her eyes languidly.

Her amber eyes scanned her son-in-law. The Tutean estate was closed…
Bad relationships yield no good feelings.

This mansion felt both familiar and strange.

“Do you have any particular focus?”

“I’ve been with them for a long time, but I don’t know them well.”

Brooms sweeping the floor by servants, and laundry on their way to the wash,

Papers and quill pens were also randomly strewn across the floor.

“As if those traces have been erased.”

Katarina turned her head.

“As if no one was ever here.”

It was then that Charlotte muttered.

A fur muffler wrapped around her neck.

“Don’t go alone.”

Benjamin tied a knot in the muffler for her.

“Will you stay outside?”

“The search party is still out, so it’s risky to move.”

“It’s fine to look around this much.”

Charlotte followed him into the mansion, her steps heavy.

The floor creaked. The balance was off, creating some dips.

“Is there anything to bring back?”

“There’s nothing now.”

“No regrets either.”

“I’ll just go up to the third floor.”

Charlotte slowly recalled her memories.

She slowly climbed the stairs.

This was the room where her mother left after her death.

“This is where my mother breathed her last.”

“…… Everything’s covered up.”

Cloths were laid over all the furniture.

She bumped her hip into a side table.

As a result, the table opened, and the cloth fell.

Cloths from everywhere else also fell, revealing what lay beneath.

“Ah…!”

Benjamin shielded Charlotte’s eyes.

“What a terrible disposition.”

It was the corpse of a bird.

A white bird lay on the same white sheet.

“It’s still breathing.”

Though it seemed like a corpse, it wasn’t.

It was instinctive. She felt its breathing.

Death was gripping its airway, and the breathing slowly stopped.

Red bloodstains soaked the sheet, and feathers floated in the air.

“It’s dying. It’s breathing, but its vitality is cut off.”

Charlotte lowered his arm. She slowly took a step.

“It’s held by dark magic. Dark power is involved with death. If death is involved, its end is already decided. It will be consumed by death soon.”

Soon, a spy burst in, throwing the door open.

“I sense residual dark magic, Your Majesty!”

Glass shattered, and fragments poured down all at once.

“My father still can’t let go of me.”

The white bird stretched its eyes wide, aiming its beak.

“By borrowing the wrong power,”

Its feathers began to rot, emitting a rancid smell of blood.

With its torn tongue, it wrapped around Charlotte’s wrist and pecked.

Its beak was already rotting, emitting a strong toxin, burning her skin.

“To kill me,”

Her skin tore off.

“To rip off my skin and enforce your presence.”

The bird’s eyes tore.

I knew you’d come.

I’ve been waiting for you.

It seemed to say.

“Unfortunately.”