HTPTMOTMM Chapter 22

Of course, this being a game is correct, but that doesn't mean I had a thick enough face to brazenly watch a (presumed) romance character's strip show in broad daylight like this.

When I panicked, Cheswick lowered his arms again and chuckled quietly. Seeing that, I realized I had been fooled.

"What, I thought you were really going to strip."

"As if. I'm very shy. But if Lynn wants it, I could overcome my embarrassment and show you a little when we're alone together later."

That's a bit tempting... no, that's not it.

Cheswick, now that I look at you, you're quite playful. There hasn't been this type of romance target until now.

A little later, Cheswick and I started walking toward the garden entrance. It was almost time for the classes that Dian and Minuel were each attending to end.

"But Cheswick, you said you've been at the manor for about a year, right?"

"That's right. You remembered."

But at my words, Cheswick's voice changed slightly. He seemed pleased that I remembered a conversation I had with him before. But he showed a dry reaction again to my following question.

"Do you happen to know when Marianne entered the manor?"

"Ah, so this time you're interested in Room 1..."

Cheswick tilted his head slightly as if thinking for a moment at my question, then answered.

"She entered later than me, and about three seasons have changed since then, so I think it's been about 9 or 10 months. To be precise, I entered the manor about 1 year and 2 to 3 months ago."

That's not as long as I thought.

Of course, I don't know if the ghosts at the annex are really the previous Room 1 pair, but if so, the history of ghosts appearing at the annex was much shorter than I thought.

'Ah, wait a moment.'

But the fact that Cheswick entered the manor earlier than Room 1's Marianne means...

"Then Cheswick must have seen the previous Room 1 caretaker directly?"

At that moment, Cheswick's steps stopped.

"I have seen them. Naturally."

"Were you close?"

This time, my question wasn't immediately answered.

The wind that had swept over the old Redford Manor buildings rustled softly among the tree branches. Above Cheswick, the shadows created by intertwined leaves and the brilliantly sparkling sunlight like scattered jewels danced together.

"Why do you ask that?"

Cheswick's lips still had a faint smile. But his glasses reflected the sunlight, so I couldn't tell what kind of look he was giving me.

"Just, I'm curious about something regarding the previous Room 1, so I wondered if you might know."

"I'd have to hear what you're curious about first to judge whether I can answer or not."

"It's nothing major. I'm curious about what kind of relationship the previous Room 1 caretaker had with Miss Marianne."

This seemed to be something Cheswick could answer. He said "Ah" as if that's what it was and continued.

"Lynn didn't know."

As if he hadn't just been standing still like a nail was driven in while looking down at me, Cheswick's steps started moving again.

After hearing his explanation, I was a bit surprised.

"The previous Room 1 caretaker was sisters with the current Room 1 caretaker, Miss Marianne."

"Sisters?"

"And Lusca, who lives in Room 1 now, was twins with the child who lived in Room 1 before."

It was certainly a unique case. The Room 1 caretakers were sisters through blood, and the children were brothers through blood too...

"Miss Marianne and Lusca were selected and entered the manor after the previous Room 1 pair died."

The closer connection than expected made my mind race.

Then at one moment, I gasped slightly in realization.

I think I understood why Marianne had such a sensitive reaction to me just now.

If the ghosts at the annex really were the previous Room 1 pair, then I had unintentionally talked about Marianne's dead younger sister in front of her.

Putting myself in her shoes, if someone stimulated me by saying they saw a ghost resembling my dead younger sister somewhere...

'A whip swing was justified.'

In this case, swinging the whip only once could actually be considered mild.

I felt somewhat uncomfortable.

If this were reality, I would have been shocked at unintentionally making a comment about someone's dead family and would have immediately gone to find Marianne to bow and apologize. But on the other hand, this is also just a setting given to a game character, so wasn't it me overreacting to feel genuine guilt or pity after hearing it?

Originally, people who enjoy virtual reality games have various ways of playing, but game companies consistently used relieving stress from frustrating reality in games or enjoying healing life as their main promotional strategy. Games that could be enjoyed lightly for mood changes were overwhelmingly more popular than games with heavy content that induced intense emotional consumption.

As such, it made no sense for a player to be considerate of virtually created NPCs in a game meant for fun.

That was the same for me too, but now I felt strangely uncomfortable in one corner of my heart.

'More than that, in the 44th playthrough, the annex ghost and caretaker settings are connected like this, I see.'

It certainly seemed like they had upgraded the content to be more detailed and organically connected than the original worldview.

I said in passing while lost in thought.

"That's unfortunate. So they were both killed by Morose?"

"No. They weren't the type to be killed by Morose. They weren't the type to let their assigned child die at Morose's hands either."

This time I hesitated.

They weren't both killed by Morose? Then why...

But instead of explaining further, Cheswick looked down at me and smiled by pulling up the corners of his mouth.

It was an ambiguous smile whose meaning I couldn't understand.

"We have to go different directions, so we'll have to part here. Then I'll see you later, Lynn."

With a clear farewell that implied this was as far as the conversation would go, I couldn't hold him back.

I watched Cheswick's back as he started going up the left side of the stairs that split in two directions.

The water that had dripped from him was following his heels like a shadow. The color of the red carpet laid on the stairs became darker due to getting wet, making it look exactly like bloodstains.

"Cheswick."

Seeing that, I opened my mouth and quietly called him before he completely disappeared from my sight. Cheswick didn't stop walking but did turn his head slightly to look at me.

"The person who prepared the corpse flower at my welcome party."

I asked him one last different question.

"If you had to choose just one person among those at the manor, who do you think would be most likely to do such a thing?"

A smile quite different from all the previous ones appeared on Cheswick's lips. Then he answered.

"Well. In my opinion..."

Marianne thought about what she had heard from the Room 7 caretaker as she left the garden.

"By the way, Marianne, have you ever heard about the purple room in the annex?"

"There's a woman in a black veil who appears in that corridor, and her hair color is red."

"Marianne."

Then she awakened from her brief reverie at the sound of someone calling her name and lowered her gaze.

"Does Marianne dislike the Room 7 caretaker?"

In the green path where sunlight poured down, she saw a black-haired boy looking up at her. Since he was originally a child who rarely expressed emotions outwardly, he had an almost expressionless face even now. But in Marianne's eyes, she could see that Lusca was concerned about what had happened earlier.

"No, it's not like that."

Marianne reached out and gently stroked Lusca's face.

Marianne also had a personality that didn't reveal her inner thoughts well, but what she said now wasn't a lie.

She couldn't yet be certain whether Lynn, the new caretaker who came to Redford Manor, was genuinely innocent and bright, or whether she was pretending while having other ulterior motives. But she hadn't yet felt the unpleasant feeling that people with black hearts unconsciously give off.

Of course, even so, from the position of having to protect a child, she couldn't completely lower her guard. She never knew when and where sinister people might reach out their black hands, like that maid who had dared to try to harm Lusca.

Hearing Marianne's words, Lusca seemed relieved and lowered his eyes. The child's face exposed under the white sunlight looked particularly pale.

"You've been in the sunlight too long, I see. The days are getting hotter, so it would be better to move outdoor activities to around sunset from now on."

"Yes."

"Right, it's almost time to take your medicine, so let's go back to the room."

Lusca obediently nodded at Marianne's words without objecting, like a good child.

The time they had spent together at this Redford Manor wasn't very long, but the two had stronger attachment to each other than pairs from other rooms. Perhaps it was because they had experienced the same sadness in the past.

Marianne soon erased what had happened earlier from her mind and returned her delayed steps to their original pace.

"Actually, I went to the annex recently and witnessed it directly."

However, the words she had heard from Lynn, the Room 7 caretaker, were still circling in her mind.

Marianne naturally knew about the ghost that was said to occasionally appear in front of the purple room at the annex. However, she had thought it was just a trivial ghost story like the ones that naturally arise in old manors, so she had never once taken it seriously. But...

'...A red-haired woman and black-haired boy?'

Such specific physical characteristics had never come up in the stories that people at the manor had been whispering about until now, so what was going on? But Lynn, whom she saw earlier, didn't seem to be lying to her either.

Then could there really be a possibility that the ghost at the annex was someone she knew?

If so... Marianne had something she absolutely needed to say to them. Even if it was to protect the boy she was currently in charge of.

Marianne tightened her grip on Lusca's small hand and turned her head toward the annex visible in the distance. Under the swaying black veil, her bright blue eyes shone coldly like the summer sky.