NOMAMWTM Chapter 20

"…Oh."

The moment Charlotte opened the door, she blinked at the magic circle spread directly before her eyes.

She hadn't noticed before opening the door, but the room was filled with rippling magical power.

She moved to enter immediately, then remembered something and stopped dead.

Eyes narrowing, she looked down at her arms and hands cradling Nero.

The room was saturated with magic—what if her sealed power leaked out again for some reason she didn't understand?

She waited, still. Fortunately, no silver light appeared.

Only then did Charlotte relax and enter the room, dodging the masses rolling across the floor.

A massive magic circle stretched from floor to ceiling—she couldn't even imagine how someone had drawn it.

She'd seen magic circles in every room, but never one this large.

Charlotte herself couldn't use magic, but she held tremendous interest in magic itself. She approached the circle etched into the wall.

Most magic circles in the estate were gold, but this one—though gold threaded through it in places—was dominated by deep violet-black.

Had some other mage drawn it long ago, someone who wasn't Michael?

Charlotte tilted her head. She'd seen violet-black mixed into magic circles in other places a few times before.

The violet-black was the color of her mother's magical power. It made her feel strangely glad.

Since she was only killing time anyway, she decided to try reading the circle's formulas for the first time in ages.

When she'd lived with her mother, she'd only glimpsed a few basic things over her mother's shoulder while she drew circles—enough to read bits and pieces.

Charlotte practically pressed her nose to the magic circle and squinted.

Tiny characters packed the circle's edges. Ancient language said to contain Sornia's power.

"…Oh."

But despite her bold attempt, she gave up reading after not very long at all, pulling her head back.

Was this some tremendously powerful magic?

She thought her mother had said even the most difficult magic usually mixed in basic formulas, but somehow she couldn't read a single character.

The writing looked somewhat different from what her mother had used, too.

Thud.

As Charlotte tilted her head in puzzlement, something rolled and fell behind her.

She turned to see several books lying beneath a bookshelf across the room.

Every fallen book was a luxurious hardcover bound in thick leather.

"Oh."

Charlotte approached and picked one up, letting out a small sound of admiration. She'd never seen such an elegant book.

"Which end is the front?"

She flipped the book—decorated only with gold-trimmed lines, no title written anywhere—back and forth, then opened it randomly.

Imperial Year 339, XX Month, XX Day.

Adeline confessed to me.

That she truly loves me, she said.

Confessing at a time like this—is she in her right mind?

Charlotte blinked.

Not a book—someone's diary.

Imperial Year 339 would be roughly thirty years ago. Whose diary?

She tilted her head, then suddenly realized why the name Adeline looked familiar.

'May the estate's darkness not cling to the honored one. Adeline Cardium.'

Adeline. Adeline Cardium. Her mother-in-law.

Charlotte grimaced briefly at the person who'd nearly caused a terrible misunderstanding with Michael, but soon returned her attention to the diary.

If this person had received a confession from Michael's mother, the diary's owner must be Michael's father.

Michael's father was… dead, wasn't he?

She'd momentarily wondered, since she'd mistakenly thought her mother-in-law was dead too, but she'd truly never heard a single word about her father-in-law.

She decided to assume he was dead and flipped through the diary.

"Huh?"

But she couldn't see anything.

Charlotte blinked.

Flip, flip, flip, flip.

She turned to the next page, then the next, then flipped through entire chunks—every remaining page in the diary was stained completely black.

Even when she riffled through all the pages at once, it was the same.

Had they blackened everything because it belonged to the deceased?

Charlotte moved to close the diary, then opened it again when she noticed only the very last page was white among all those pitch-black sheets.

Flip.

"…What is—"

This.

Charlotte stared at the paper densely filled with black writing, her eyes trembling.

On the diary's final page:

I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeout…

Goosebumps rose all over Charlotte's body. She dropped the diary.

It rolled across the floor with a dull sound.

Had Michael's father been strange too?

Charlotte stumbled backward. Nero squirmed in her arms.

The masses rolled about.

"…Why is today like this, seriously?"

She didn't want to stay in the room anymore. She hurried out, muttering.

All color had drained from her face.

Starting with Jeina and Tom, then that horrifying diary. She'd had terrible luck all day.

She walked quickly down the dim corridor.

The servants who'd been scattered about until just a while ago were nowhere to be seen—their work hours must have ended.

Maybe because she'd witnessed so many unsettling things, the corridor felt eerily desolate today.

She wanted to get back to her room quickly.

Jeina and Tom… they'd be gone by now, right?

Charlotte didn't want to experience any more creepiness.

She wanted to hug Nero—whose warm body temperature was her only comfort—and burrow into her blankets as soon as possible.

She hoped Michael had at least returned.

"…Hup."

She moved her feet faster and faster, then truly gasped in fright when masses suddenly burst from the wall with a whoooosh.

Her heart pounded like a drum.

The masses flew here and there through the especially dark corridor, swarming together doing who-knows-what.

Only after they flew away down the corridor with a whooosh did Charlotte manage to calm her pounding chest.

"…Why is it so huge, seriously."

She moved her feet again, grumbling pointlessly to drive away the inexplicable fear creeping up in a corner of her chest.

She wasn't so timid that she feared the dark, but today felt eerie.

This was all because of Jeina and Tom, and that diary.

The darkness in that corridor seemed to ripple,

Someone seemed to be behind her,

"…Ah, …dammit!"

Some sound seemed to—wait, what?

She hesitated, thinking she'd actually heard something.

She turned around slowly, but of course no one was there.

Had she imagined it?

Charlotte stood frozen for a long while, then forced herself to think she must have misheard when nothing more came even after waiting, and moved her feet again.

The sound of her footsteps echoed through the silent corridor.

After walking for some time, the fear that had strangely risen gradually faded.

Her heart—which had leapt at even the tiniest sound—calmed considerably.

She'd crossed into the East Wing and reached the corridor near her room before she knew it, and inexplicable relief rose in her.

What a strange day this had been.

She wanted to throw herself onto the bed, so she started walking a bit faster.

Step. Step. Step.

Step. Step. Step.

Step. Step. Step.

Splish.