ITIWAFRBIAHS Chapter 8

I slept deeply with a full stomach and woke up early in the morning. My condition was very good considering how little I'd slept, but looking in the mirror, my face was a bit swollen.

Still, for having enjoyed late-night snacks, this is pretty good. This body has a really good constitution.

...Except for the night blindness and being directionally challenged, that is.

"Good."

I checked that it was getting dimly bright outside and changed clothes after washing my face.

Going directly to the bathroom to wash my face made me feel the labor of the workers who brought water to my bedroom every time even more. This washstand seems incredibly heavy.

Anyway, after drying off and changing clothes, my sleepiness disappeared and my mood became refreshed.

Looking at the clock, it was almost the appointed time. I quickly opened the door and stealthily went down to the first floor.

When I arrived at the entrance, my fiancé was already there.

Despite eating late-night snacks and sleeping just like me, he had a clear face without any swelling and was in perfect formal wear.

You don't need to go that far, I already know you're the romance fantasy male lead, so calm down...

"Did you sleep well, Rose?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

I smiled awkwardly. My fiancé smiled brightly back at me.

Wow, how do the corners of his mouth curl up in such perfect symmetry? Does he practice or something?

"We have about two hours before the servants come out. That should be enough time to look at the mansion's structure."

In period movies, they worked from the crack of dawn, but fortunately here it seems basic work is to move after sunrise and go to bed after sunset, leaving only those on duty.

I'm a bit worried about home security at night, but well, being such a rich house, they must have managed well somehow all this time.

"Yes, that seems just right."

"Then where would you like to start looking?"

"The kitchen, of course."

Definitely the kitchen. I nodded. It's my revenge battle from last night.

"Hmm, the kitchen is on the first floor. How about starting from the top and working our way down as we explore? Rather than going all the way to the top and coming down without purpose, it would be more enjoyable to keep the excitement of exploration until the end, don't you think?"

Hmm, that makes sense, doesn't it? But I shook my head.

"People preparing breakfast might come out earlier. Since we might disturb them, I think it would be better to check quickly now and then go up."

Besides, if I run into whoever tried to poison me, they might realize I noticed and who knows how they'll react!

"...Yes. I see."

My fiancé seems a bit dejected for some reason. Maybe he wanted to watch the breakfast preparation. I considered changing my mind for a moment, but soon steeled myself. I can't give in to that face every time!

Instead, I strode vigorously toward the kitchen. This time I'll find snacks and poisoning traces for a one-shot, two-kill event!

The door leading to the kitchen is at the end of the corridor past the dining room. Based on the tray with finished plates disappearing through that door, it's almost certain.

I quickly moved to that door. Fortunately, it wasn't locked. So after taking a deep breath, I opened the door without delay.

"...Ahem."

Young men and women coming to explore the kitchen at dawn in an early 20th-century mansion—if this were a movie, this would be the moment to nervously call out "Anybody there?"

But there was no need. Inside the kitchen was quiet and clean. The kitchen was such a neat space that the dawn light seeping through white cloth covering the windows felt refreshing.

I admired the various utensils and cooking tools polished to a shine and hanging in rows as I slowly entered the kitchen.

Wow, not a trace of grease or dried sauce. I can feel the overflowing professionalism of the workers.

I briefly reflected while thinking of my studio apartment's palm-sized sink that was like a pigsty. That wasn't even amateur level, just pseudo-kitchen level.

My fiancé followed passively but once inside the kitchen, began quite actively searching here and there. Then, turning around the corner of the kitchen's hearth, he called me.

"The tea set storage is over here."

"Wow."

Amazing. I almost dropped my jaw at the glass cabinet that filled an entire wall.

Inside was packed with various patterned tea sets gleaming white, sparkling even in the dim dawn light, making me feel like I was in the middle of a palace. Especially with many featuring rose patterns and gold leaf, it looked like a fancy display case.

"Is there one among these that servants bring out particularly often?"

"Hmm... probably this one."

I pointed to a teacup painted with small red rose buds over gold leaf. Though there were many similar ones, this teacup was particularly detailed and looked familiar.

My fiancé dusted off his gloved hand once, then lifted the glass and carefully took out that set. Fortunately, it was just two teacups and one large teapot. My fiancé looked down his eyelashes and carefully examined the teacup, then spoke.

"Perhaps some traces might remain on the teacup. Comparing it with the discolored teaspoon might yield meaningful results. Would it be alright if I sent it to an expert for confirmation today?"

"I don't mind, but won't they notice right away if the teacup goes missing?"

My fiancé smiled mischievously as if playing a prank. Whoa, that face has a different charm too.

"You can say you wanted tea early in the morning so you asked your fiancé, but careless me broke it."

"Huh? That's a bit..."

"I'm fine with it, so please do that and I'd be grateful."

I scratched the back of my neck and muttered awkwardly.

"Then I'll just say we broke it while drinking together. Anyway, thank you."

"...Don't mention it."

My fiancé seemed to stare at my face intently, then soon left the kitchen saying he'd put the teacup in his room.

I tried hard to keep my head from constantly turning toward the glass cabinet full of teacups and started scanning the kitchen with eagle eyes.

Hmm, is this a refrigerator?

I opened a device that was much more crude than what I knew but had antique charm. It was definitely a refrigerator as cold air hit me, but there was nothing inside.

Not even common seasonings or pickles, which was surprising. To say it's unused, it's cleanly maintained and running perfectly fine with not a speck of dust inside.

Then maybe they order exactly what they need daily and dispose of the rest?

"That level would be like ordering chicken just to eat the crispy skin and throwing away the meat..."

I muttered nonsense while diligently opening cabinets and other places.

'Most contained cooking utensils, and I found only one storage container filled with various spices. Even that showed no signs of old items spilling out or leaking, firmly sealed like new.

But a few places were worth examining. For instance, the drawer next to the glass cabinet had various tea leaf containers neatly organized.

Could some of these contain poison? I want to examine them, but the problem is I don't know what kinds of tea this body usually drank.

Honestly, to me, all the tea served here tastes equally fragrant and savory. It's the limitation of a palate that only drank instant coffee and green tea from tea bags.

Well, they wouldn't have left poison directly in tea leaves, so let me just note the types for now. I tried to memorize logos and brand names while peering into the drawer.

Then, when my eyes got tired and I turned my gaze to a corner, I discovered something I hadn't seen before.

"A frame?"

Something like a black frame was standing in the corner by the window.

Hidden in shadow, that object had such faint presence that I couldn't notice it until I looked directly at it.

But approaching closer, I realized I was mistaken.

"It's a door?"

That's right. It was a small black door. Smaller than the regular doors in this house, it reminded me of a remote side door leading to a storage room.

A hidden small door.

In a situation that completely stimulates adventurous spirit, I opened the door with a pounding heart. The door opened very smoothly inward, well-oiled.

And I saw a small space.

The first thing that caught my eye were chairs filling the floor. They had no unity in shape or color, but were arranged in a circle facing each other.

And there were also very unexpected things in abundance.

"Photos?"

Photos of various people filled the walls. Most were black and white photos, with few colored photos, and looking closely, some were portraits. I confirmed a portrait of a student in school uniform and turned my head this way and that.

Then I found a black and white group photo of people wearing work uniforms with familiar patterns. It was similar to the uniforms worn by people working at this mansion, but looked a bit more hygienic.

"Ah, I get it."

These photos are of people working in the kitchen!

I nodded. With the chairs too, this must be a private rest space for the workers. That's why they put up photos like this?

It makes my heart warm.

Thinking this way, it was also amusing that all the photos showed expressionless faces. Like that characteristic expressionlessness when old-fashioned people took photos, kind of cute.

I was smiling and examining each frame when I suddenly realized this was invasion of privacy and stiffened.

Isn't this exactly like a boss who hired part-timers snooping on their private SNS?

If caught, it would be like accidentally liking a photo of a part-timer's trip with her boyfriend—a skin-crawling act...

"Eek."

No! I quickly backed out of the black door.

Phew, good thing I realized quickly. I didn't break into a cold sweat, did I? I closed the door and returned to the front of the drawer as if nothing had happened, sighing.

Then I heard a door opening behind me. As I turned, my fiancé's handsome face greeted me as expected. My fiancé looked puzzled seeing my awkward posture.

"Rose?"

"Ah, there's a door over there, so I looked that way a bit..."

My fiancé looked carefully in the direction my hand pointed with that puzzled expression, then shrugged and said.

"That's not a door but a frame. It's an optical illusion caused by shadows."

"Huh?"

Ah, that's actually a black door that looks like a frame... I was about to say, but soon thought there was no need to mention such a private rest space for workers and have to look inside again.

There was nothing suspicious inside anyway, just a room with frames and chairs. There was no space to hide evidence of poisoning attempts in there.

So I just shrugged and answered.

"I guess so. Shall we go to the next room?"

"Ah, I'll first mail this and come back. Thinking about it, now when there are no servants seems like the right time to send it, so there's no need to delay unnecessarily."

Oh, now I see my fiancé was holding a brown envelope. From the size, it looks like the teacup is packaged. I nodded.

"Alright. I'll look around this area."

"Understood. ...Don't overdo it, and when you finish looking around the first floor, please wait for me at the entrance."

"Of course!"

"I'll be back quickly."

My fiancé headed to the entrance with a smile, and I finished the brief farewell and returned to exploring the first floor.

Let's see, if it takes about 30 minutes for my fiancé to come back... I can easily finish the first floor. I clenched my fist and began opening the remaining doors at rapid speed.

Click. This is a guest room.

Click. This is also a guest room.

Click. Ah, this is a small study.

Click. ...Why is there a harp in this room? Seeing a piano in the corner, maybe this body took lessons before.

Now, the next room is... this is also a guest room.

Looking around the first floor roughly, I got the picture. Excluding the dining room and kitchen, the first floor mainly consisted of places to invite outsiders, like guest rooms or lesson rooms.

Meaning there weren't many traces of people who lived in the mansion, so there wasn't much to see.

Occasionally I discovered black doors like the one I saw in the kitchen in rooms, and peeking inside, they were similar rest spaces for workers filled with frames and chairs. So after two or three times, I didn't bother with them.

"Only this place left then."

I stood in front of an old wooden door with my arms crossed, muttering.

This door requires the complex route of turning from the middle of the corridor leading to the kitchen and heading to the left side of the outer staircase, and it looks shabby enough that anyone would think it leads to a storage room.

BBut if it's a storage room, isn't there that kind of cliché? Like finding an old diary this body's owner used as a child, or documents hinting at birth secrets related to this family tucked away somewhere!

The answer is definitely the storage room. Without waiting any longer, I boldly opened the wooden door. Breathing in, cool and somewhat stuffy air entered. Thanks to the light coming from behind me, I could see inside the door.

There were stairs.

"Whoa."

This is getting more interesting? The storage room must be underground. This makes it seem like there'll be something more secretive!

I excitedly found a lantern from a guest room and boldly walked down the stairs. Of course, I had no intention of recreating the cliché of being trapped underground, so I left the door wide open.

As expected, the stairs ended at a not-very-deep point.

I expected a storage room with miscellaneous items scattered about, but was slightly disappointed by the underground room that was more neatly organized than I thought. Except for a few wooden barrels and drawers, there were mainly wooden shelves lined with wine. It's probably being used as a wine cellar. The coolness is perfect for that purpose.

I examined various wines here and there meaninglessly, but there was nothing special. The wooden barrels were empty, and inside the drawers were only ledgers recording wine lists.

Tsk, disappointing. I clicked my tongue and shrugged.

"...Rose? Rose?!"

"Ah, Sir Moore! I'm down here!"

I answered loudly to the voice from above. Soon I saw my fiancé coming down the stairs at a frightening speed.

Wow, it seems like it took less than 30 minutes. Like last night, he must have really fast feet.

But unlike my carefree thoughts, my fiancé seemed to be suffering from inexplicable urgency.

"Why did you come in here?!"

"Huh? I just looked in while touring the first floor. Since there were stairs... I left the door wide open just in case."

My logical answer made my fiancé smile.

"I see. If you've seen everything, let's go out now. The air is stagnant. Won't we be short on time if we want to look at other places too?"

"That's true, isn't it? Then let me grab a bottle of wine..."

"The wine here doesn't look very good quality. I'll order you a bottle."

"...Well, alright."

That's fine with me. I followed my fiancé climbing the stairs at the fastest pace possible without running, being carried along as I left the storage room, guessing.

Does he maybe have claustrophobia?

Work Rules 10. There are no black doors in this mansion.