‘A passing ghost−.’

It was no longer fitting to call herself a ghost, as she had shed that status.

‘Then undead……?’

But she wasn’t a monster either.

How many monsters would be aware of themselves being monsters, anyway.

“……”

Aeli thought for a moment and suddenly stiffened.

‘Wait a second.’

Could it be that I’m……?

Aeli’s eyes trembled.

“Before we discuss that, there’s a place I’d like us to go together first.”

Lutis, who had been maintaining silence until then, interjected into Noel and Aeli’s conversation.

Aeli turned her head towards Lutis.

“……?”

Not understanding where they were suddenly going, Aeli tilted her head.

Lutis’s gaze, staring intently at Aeli, briefly touched the back of her neck.

Aeli then vaguely realized Lutis’s intention and slightly opened her mouth.

There was something Lutis had intended to do with the sword he was managing as soon as she returned to being human.

Although it wasn’t successful due to Lutis entering right before the execution− there was only one place related to that matter.

‘……Could it be that he wants to go to the basement?’

No, she had the same thought since there was no visible evidence.

But it seemed unreasonable.

Even if they tried to minimize the presence of servants and knights on the current floor, there were still quite a few watchful eyes.

In such a situation, if several people rushed into the warehouse and came out after a long time, wouldn’t that be suspicious to anyone?

‘Moreover, it would look extremely suspicious, not just ordinarily.’

Noel could find a way to reach the location without going through the secret passage, whether it was a scroll or a teleportation spell− but that was only possible for places he had been to.

He could roughly match the location with an explanation.

However, for a basement hidden deep within a narrow passage, not a wide forest or field…….

‘Hm. It seems difficult.’

It was unreasonable.

If he accidentally teleported in front of the guard at the door, it would be a problem, but in the worst case, there was a possibility of ending up between thick walls instead of the passage.

If that really happened, his whole body would be crushed and torn apart by the bricks−.

‘Then, well, Noel would end up like me.’

They would become the first ghost siblings to have their souls cleanly separated from their bodies like peeling fruit skin.

If not just one, but both of them ended up like that, what sin would their parents bear?

Aeli quickly discarded the thought. Looking at it again, there were too many problems.

‘Even if magic seems convenient, it’s not really omnipotent.’

There were reasons why magic related to movement, including scrolls, was strictly controlled.

The biggest reasons were the possibilities of being used for military purposes like wars or rebellions, or being abused for crimes, but if misused, it was perfect for getting killed, so there was no choice but to restrict its use.

It was too dangerous to teleport to the basement with just an abstract explanation.

“……How are you planning to get there?”

Moreover, even if Noel safely arrived at the basement, how would they get there?

Aeli, who was preoccupied with hiding her face after Noel confiscated her perception-lowering brooch, asked in a small voice.

Even if Noel couldn’t hear it this way, it felt like she had to do it based on the atmosphere.

Lutis opened his mouth without taking his eyes off Aeli.

“Just in case, I’ve already dismissed the knights, so there’s no chance of our presence being detected.”

“When did you− No, then what about the other servants? There must be quite a few of them, can we get there without being caught?”

“Aside from the two waiting at the door, there are at most only the maid who came with us from the mansion. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”

In the first place, even without going all the way to that warehouse, the bedroom right next to it also had a path leading to the basement.

At Lutis’s words, Aeli let out a sigh.

‘Now that I think about it, it makes sense…….’

But Lutis didn’t seem to have any intention of letting Noel into the bedroom.

……Well, that sounded a bit odd, but anyway, that was the case.

In the end, even though there was a secret passage in the nearby bedroom, they couldn’t use it, so nothing had changed.

As Aeli narrowed her eyes, Lutis lowered his gaze a little to look at the child.

“Waang−.”

“……”

“……”

Just a moment ago, the child had been greedily swallowing éclair and struggling to wash it down with milk, smacking his lips.

Not much time had passed, but he was already stuffing another dessert into his mouth.

Worried that the child might get indigestion, Aeli also stared down at the child, following Lutis’s gaze.

“I, I onwy ate two sho faw……”

The child, whose tongue seemed numb, appealed that he had only eaten two so far.

It was a plea, asking if he could eat a few more.

‘……Even though I gave birth to him, he’s really peculiar.’

Despite being born with the Rattliffe name, which had no history of using magic, he had that extraordinary magical ability.

Sometimes he seemed strangely mature, but at other times, he felt even younger than his peers.

On top of that, there were characters and information he knew without being told, from small things to big ones, and if she were to list them all, ten fingers wouldn’t be enough.

‘And although I didn’t mention it, sometimes his eyes are too…….’

Somewhat foreign.

Not that there was a problem− but he often stared blankly at something, and in those moments, his gaze didn’t seem to be fully seeing the scene in front of him.

There were no specific conditions; he just did it frequently.

While eating, walking through the mansion’s corridors, watching passing servants or training knights.

Eating delicious desserts, taking a walk in the garden, sleeping together, or going out for a picnic outside the mansion.

The blank stare didn’t last long, but when she felt curious and asked, he would insist it was nothing.

‘When I secretly asked Lutis, he seemed to know about it too.’

Moreover, it had noticeably decreased recently, and the child was reluctant to talk about it, so she didn’t pry further.

However, it was natural for it to linger in her mind. How could a child, who had only been in the world for a mere five years, have such a gaze?

“……Awe you angwy?”

“……”

“……”

“……No, it’s fine. Finish eating.”

Thinking the darkened gaze meant anger, the child asked carefully.

Aeli shook her head and manually closed the child’s half-open jaw.

It was accompanied by a reminder that talking with food visible in the mouth was against etiquette.

“Have the maid who took care of the child in the annex tell him to send him out for a while. For the remaining personnel, have them do other tasks to vacate the area, and we’ll have enough time.”

“Why, why me?”

“It’s not a place for a young child to go.”

“I’m not a kid!”

“……”

Said the child who didn’t even reach Lutis’s waist.

The fact that he flared up saying he wasn’t a child was proof that he was one, but Aeli, who wisely kept her mouth shut, pondered.

If they just confirmed with Noel and returned right away, as Lutis said, it wouldn’t take too long.

So if they distracted the servants with tasks, there would be no problem moving around.

The knights who might feel suspicious had already been sent to another floor, so it wasn’t bad.

However, Aeli thought for a moment.

‘Adi…….’

After that incident, had either Lutis or herself visited the basement again?

She was certain she hadn’t, and Lutis was probably not much different.

Lack of time was one reason, but there was nothing more to gain by going, and there weren’t any good memories either.

‘But I think the only people who know about the basement are Lutis, myself, and maybe the head knight.’

Since it was a top-secret matter, it was natural for few people to know.

Especially now that she had risen from the tomb, no, the coffin, they couldn’t even inform the head knight of the current situation.

In other words, no one had visited the basement again after that incident.

If no one had visited, naturally, no one would have cleaned it up either.

‘……The sword fragments Lutis left on the floor will still be there, then.’

In many ways, it wasn’t a suitable sight for a child to see.

Aeli, who finished her thoughts, nodded slightly.

“I want to go too!”

“No. Go to the training ground and watch Sioren train. You’ll have to do it soon anyway.”

“That’s then, and this is now! This, this is unfaiw! You’re weaving me out……”

“……”

The child, lying face down on Lutis’s thighs, flailed his limbs and shouted.

In between, he looked at her with a face asking for help, but Aeli averted her gaze.

‘Sioren has been having meals only in his room. As soon as he recovered to some extent, he asked to train, so we assigned him a suitable swordsmanship instructor within the knight’s order.’

Since then, he had been holed up in the training ground, so there had been no chance to see him.

‘It wouldn’t be different for Adi, so it might be better to at least see his face on this occasion.’

In professional terms, this was called rationalization.

Aeli, rubbing the back of her neck for no reason, smacked her lips.

“I want to go too! I’ll go too! If you’re so sneaky, you shouwdn’t do that, aduwts!”

“Only adults can enter. I said no.”

“I, I awso gwew up…! Since you’re an aduwt, you can go even if−,”

“Didn’t you just say adults are sneaky?”

“……”

“Go out and play quietly.”

“……I, I’m a sneaky aduwt.”

“……”

“I said that. I…… wa− I’m totawwy sneaky.”

“……”

“……”

It wasn’t bad for an excuse thought up in a hurry, but it wouldn’t work.

In the end, the child had to be carried by Lutis and handed over to Mari’s arms.

And it was exactly 4 minutes and 12 seconds later.

Kwang−!

Thud!

“Huh, huk……!”

As soon as they entered the basement, Aeli gasped at the sight of Lutis slammed into a wall.

Faced with Noel’s sudden attack, Lutis had to defend with his bare hands without a weapon.

Although he had an aura around him, Noel’s attack seemed to be made with the intention of genuinely severing an arm or two, and red blood dripped from Lutis’s fingertips.

Perhaps expecting it to be blocked, Noel didn’t look particularly disappointed.

Approaching Lutis, Noel grabbed his collar and opened his mouth.

“……”

“……You’ll have to properly explain what you’re trying to do.”

An empty coffin in the center of the basement.

The very person who had been lying there for about 4 years trembled her eyes.

‘It’s over, it’s ruined.’

The shock therapy she was most confident in persuading quickly didn’t seem to be a good choice after all.