ITIWAFRBIAHS Chapter 18

Right after Rose Aubert left, the time of red sunset was arriving in the rose garden.

Water droplets covered every rose petal from the streams sprayed by the gardener with a boy's appearance. All those tiny drops scattered the red rays streaming down from the sky like crystals. A garden filled with chaotic and eerily beautiful red fractured light.

Sunset stood still and enjoyed that wonderful moment. He could see everything.

Lucas Moore's face just gazed at that scene. No emotion or agitation could be seen within it.

Suddenly the gardener spoke.

"Lord Moore…… Yes. Hello, Lord Moore."

Sunset gave a light greeting while rummaging through gardening tools in the tool box.

"Miss Aubert seems like a really good person. Don't you think?"

"I wonder."

"Is your work going smoothly?"

"Same as always. However, I'd like to add one thing."

"What's that?"

"A larger, more valuable offering instead of some useless young fool."

"Pardon?"

The gardener with a boy's appearance tilted his head as if he couldn't understand that out-of-the-blue statement. But soon he grinned broadly. His twisted lips disappeared into the hat's shadow.

"Aubert is absolutely not allowed. Absolutely! And bargaining only happens between equals."

The gardener pointed at the man with the tool he had been using to trim roses. The man didn't move at all.

"The one who is nothing has to crawl along the bottom and scrape together every last bit. That's the only way you'll become the real Lucas Moore, isn't it?"

Giggle giggle giggle giggle. Endless laughter circled around the roses. Giggle, giggle giggle…

"You're mistaken about something."

The man smiled broadly as if mimicking the gardener.

"I'm already the real Lucas Moore. How amusing to watch a mere parasitic ghost still putting on airs like a family head. You've gotten so full of yourself over your pathetic fallen maggot family that you're flapping your mouth without a care."

The laughter stopped.

My stepbrother is lowering his head further and muttering. I focused more too. What on earth is under the mansion?

"Something huge… is awakening down here…"

"……What?"

Jeril swallows.

"It's not something humans can do anything about. That power… all the incomprehensible things happening in this mansion are all… that thing doing it."

"…I see."

Let me assume for now that Jeril is calmly stating facts rather than having a nervous breakdown from the shock of his mother being arrested, and think about this objectively. A huge being awakening under the mansion. Causing strange and magical things in this mansion that humans cannot do as an aftereffect…

…No matter how I think about it, this sounds like a dragon description.

No, it's completely blatantly describing a dragon that's about to wake up after a long sleeping period. In romance novels mixed with plenty of fantasy elements rather than pure period pieces, dragons are definitely in the TOP 3 species that frequently appear. (The other two species: demons and elves)

But why is a dragon appearing here…? This is supposed to be an orthodox modern possession romance novel caught by keywords like sickly young lady, fiancé, poisoning, rose mansion, detective…

Why is an attribute that was popular in early 2000s Korean-style fantasy female protagonist novels based on Dungeons & Dragons suddenly appearing?

Is it because it's a flop work? Did the author decide to just let it go as the reading retention rate dropped? Or does the author lack the ability to solve the poisoning case with plausibility, so they're going with the insane trashy development of having the dragon tell them who the culprit is? And how did Jeril find out about this?

"How did you come to know such a thing?"

"I can hear it, I can hear it. The voice…"

Jeril stumbled at first but soon rattled off words like 'arising, awakening, territory, arrives.' He must have been quite frustrated since he hadn't told anyone else about it until now.

I slowly checked all those words. They're really dragon-like word choices. No matter how I roll forward or backward, it seems to be a dragon. Unfortunately, my ominous premonitions are never wrong.

But why can only my stepbrother hear it? If others had heard it too, word would have definitely spread to downtown and journalists would have flocked, or everyone would have run away, but the mansion was quiet and peaceful.

Of course, I'm talking about before the poisoning incident's chaos where people got arrested one after another.

Could it be… that Jeril's bloodline actually has blood chosen by dragons flowing in it…? Ugh, no. Stop thinking. It reminds me of that middle school syndrome gardener boy, making me miserable.

Let me first check if this body has any abilities or influence.

Of course there probably are. If it's a development where a dragon supporting character appears, the protagonist is definitely set to receive the dragon's interest according to the plot. Similar to getting attention from the delinquent boss's Four Heavenly Kings in high school stories…… Hmm, the analogies keep going in a cringe direction.

"Can you hear it now?"

"……To some extent."

Wow, whatever dragon it is seems to really want to loudly advertise that it's awakening.

I first tried the standard method of placing both hands over Jeril's ears. There, don't let it be heard.

"Wait a moment."

"You, what are you doing……."

My stepbrother's face turned red. Don't get angry, just stay still for a bit.

"Does this make it not audible?"

"How could that be? This isn't that kind of…"

Suddenly my stepbrother's furrowed eyebrows relaxed completely. His eyes widened like a startled rabbit.

"…I can't hear it."

"Hmm."

As expected. I knew there would be this kind of baseless protagonist buff. But what is this romance novel really trying to do? Where on earth is the content flowing?

After that, Jeril was half out of it after witnessing the protagonist buff ability, making proper conversation impossible. I appropriately comforted Jeril and left the study.

Oh, come to think of it, I didn't hear the reason for not eating meat either. Since he brought it up himself, I should be able to hear it next time.

Anyway, there's only one thing to do now.

"Let's find treasure."

I pulled out the paper with the treasure puzzle from my pocket.

As always, to extend the plot, such papers are destined to be damaged or ruined, so I had copied one in advance. Indeed, foresight through extensive reading always works. Except for the dragon appearing…

Ah, what should I do about this? I really don't know no matter how I think about it.

I wanted to scratch the back of my head. The suddenly appearing dragon theory is so out of nowhere that it actually seems true. Even if Jeril was under too much mental stress and developed delusions, he wouldn't just make up something this random. He would more likely say he feels like he's being poisoned too.

Wait, then, then maybe…….

"Is this dragon-related?"

Is this in a dragon's lair? Is this a hint leading to the dragon lair's treasure room? My pupils shook as I scanned the paper.

The most straightforward clues are the words telling me to go downward, and the wine bottle drawing. First, let me head to the basement. I should at least check it out.

Having made my decision, I grabbed a lantern and camera for recording and vigorously set off for the basement…… or tried to, but there was a problem. The door was locked.

"I need to ask for the key."

Actually, it's not really a problem. I shrugged and went to find the butler. Ah, right. I was going to get the study key too, wasn't I? I should just ask for all the mansion keys.

But the butler was out purchasing ingredients. The general servants said they didn't have authority over the keys, so I left a note saying I was taking them and arbitrarily took them. Oh, I grabbed the spare study key too. Since this body is the homeowner anyway, it should be fine.

When I inserted the key into the basement door and turned it, the lock smoothly opened.

Click. The stairs extending downward were clearly visible thanks to the lantern light. I hurried down with quick steps, and just like last time, shelves lined with wine and drawers appeared.

Hmm, first let me find a wine bottle that looks similar to what's written on the paper…….

"……They all look the same?"

That's right. Only the labels are different, but the bottle shapes are all the same. There must be standards. I laughed hollowly in dismay.

Then let me first pull out any wine and examine it. I pulled out the nearest wine. Elegant letters say something like 'Sweet Moment.' I don't know what it is, but it must taste sweet.

Ah, come to think of it, there was a wine list in the drawer! Let me see if there's a name similar to what's written on the puzzle paper… Ahhh.

"Ruined…"

I'm screwed. I yanked the drawer open forcefully and crashed into the wine bottle. Wine comes gushing out through the cracks in the broken glass. Ahhh, help!!

But the wine kept ruthlessly soaking the drawer and started pooling inside. The ledger, I need to save the ledger at least! I abandoned any thought of cleaning up and instead quickly pulled out the already half-soaked ledger.

I put the broken wine on the floor and opened the ledger, and a sour, musty smell hit my nose. My fiancé said the wine quality seemed poor, but it must have gone completely bad due to poor storage. Ugh.

To make matters worse, even the ledger content was smeared and hard to see. Mmm, would it be visible if I had something brighter than the lantern? I should take it outside. ……While I'm at it, let me look for cleaning supplies too. Sob sob.

I shook the wine off the ledger several times and turned around without regret.

Just then, a sound came from behind me!

Thud thud thud thud thud…

It was the sound of stones interlocking. When I hurriedly turned back, amazingly, the drawer was descending downward!

"Ahhhhh!!"

I know this! I saw it on escape room variety shows!!

Wow, amazing, so what the puzzle paper said to pour was wine?! I got it right by accident. Protagonist buff is truly amazing! I hurriedly put the ledger on the floor and rushed to where the drawer had been, holding up the lantern.

Amazingly, a cave leading further down was visible!

The height seemed about as tall as a basketball player, looking artificially dug, and gave off an extremely secretive atmosphere. Stairs were also constructed, with old wooden materials covered in moss attached to the floor where feet would touch. Stones were visible through gaps in the broken wood—they probably installed it over stone steps quite some time ago. It looked exactly like it would break if more than two people went up.

When I brought the lantern closer, I could also see ancient script densely written on the roughly carved cave walls.

Ooh, Indiana Jnes……. This reminds me of Indiana Jnes. I feel like I'll discover a golden monkey statue any moment at the end of this path.

That means there might be traps, so I should advance with extreme caution. I began moving slowly, literally like crossing a stone bridge after testing it, tapping the stairs ahead with each step.

But even after walking down quite a bit, absolutely nothing happened, so I gradually became careless. Except for the ancient script getting smaller and denser as I went down, there were no other changes.

Plus, thanks to the lantern, the end was already visible to the naked eye. It seemed to lead to a passage. I steadily went down, occasionally avoiding the wood that was wet and dark-colored due to humidity.

Of course, I didn't forget to stop periodically and photograph the walls and floor. Surely his stepmother worked translating old language texts, so if there's a dictionary in the study, I might be able to look it up. Hmm, I have a good feeling.

Finally, when I stepped onto the end of the stairs, a wide space continued beyond a short passage. And before I could even grasp the structure, something glittering at the far end caught my eye like a close-up.

That's definitely a golden ornament with a large ruby embedded in the center.

I'm crazy. My financial luck has turned.

"Be, be calm."

I took a deep breath.

No need to go as far as Indiana. Let me remember a certain cartoon movie with a genie in a lamp. I don't know what might happen if I touch it carelessly. Plus, if this is really a dragon's lair, there can't be just that one thing. It could be bait treasure!

So let me take pictures first.

I ran dash dash through the passage and raised the camera just before reaching the clearing. Click click. Several photos were taken with cheerful shutter sounds.

Now, let me approach very, very slowly while observing the surroundings carefully…… very slowly. And let me not be surprised even if someone suddenly jumps out from somewhere. It's definitely a dragon transformed into a human. Of course, if what my stepbrother said is true, it's still sleeping, so the probability is low.

Then even if I suddenly hear words like 'arising, arrives' like Jeril, let me not be surprised and quickly run away from here. Without looking back, I'll run up. I mean not to risk danger when I don't know if that situation is a dragon-related confinement flag or romance flag.

But even when I stealthily emerged into the clearing, nothing happened. I felt somewhat sheepish and decided to look around more with the lantern.

First, it's a larger space than I thought. About half the size of a school playground, somewhat awkwardly hemispherical, with broken pieces and several decorations that were probably ornaments catching the eye.

The tattered, faded huge cloth scraps covering every wall were quite impressive. They're probably deteriorated banners or tapestries that naturally weathered. Maybe in the past, this was a wonderful space full of splendid decorations.

But now everything looked like weathered, old ruins. I took several more photos and slowly moved forward.

The treasure is getting closer and closer.

Hehe, calm down! Remember. This body is an extremely rich person even without that. A diamond spoon beyond a golden spoon, a land-rich person sitting on prime land near downtown!

I calmed down a bit.

But when I got close enough, I realized the treasure was somewhat different from what I expected.

"Huh?"

I was expecting a crown or necklace with a large ruby, but that looked like a huge golden box with a ruby inside, though faded.

No, is that really a ruby? Looking closely, the gem inside…… wait. It doesn't seem like a gem either? It looked like a ruby because it was black crystal filled with red rays. It's glittering like something luminous.

Uh, and there's something strange attached around it…… could that be muscle?

Squirm.

"Hiiiik."

I instantly stepped back five steps.

What what what is that? That's not a gem. Anyone can see it's a trap. I don't know if the dragon sleeping under this house is stupid or has a nasty personality, but it's blatantly shouting 'I am not an ordinary trinket.' It even looks alive…… wait, alive?

"It's a dragon heart."

This is a dragon heart. I reflexively took one more photo.

This extraordinary appearance. Looking alive, like a gem crystal. The red lines inside are probably magic power, I dare guess.

So I decided to leave the clearing without regret and go back up to the basement.

I don't know why a dragon heart suddenly appears here, but I can't even imagine what might happen if I touch it now. So let me not touch it carelessly. At least I should secure the pistol I asked my fiancé for before touching it…… Ah right, my fiancé!

Did the conversation with that chuunibyou gardener end well? Of course, given my fiancé's character so far, he probably talked sense into him without any major issues.

I nodded as I trudged back up the cave stairs. Nothing bad should happen, right?