WTBFCY Chapter 25

"...You've seen too much. That wouldn't kill you immediately. And it didn't rain yesterday."

"What? It didn't rain? I thought I heard rain... Ah, I must have gotten confused for a moment. ...Then if it's not arsenic, what is it? Is the cause of death not poisoning?"

Regina, who'd briefly confused dream and reality, tilted her head and looked down at the teacup lying askew on the desk. Noah removed the white gloves he'd been wearing, tasted the pooled tea with his finger, and answered.

"It is poisoning. Monkshood root in the black tea. Enough to cause instant death with just a sip."

The entire sequence of actions was so natural that Regina stared blankly, forgetting to stop him. Then she startled in delayed shock.

"...Huh?! Y-you just put poisoned tea in your mouth?"

"Don't make a fuss. This won't kill me. I'm not human. You're the same—want to try it yourself?"

"No, no thank you. I'm fine!"

Seeing Regina turn pale and vehemently refuse, Noah smirked and approached the side of the bookshelf to examine the wall. He tapped the wall and moved sideways. He stopped at a certain point and examined that section. Regina, who'd calmed her startled heart, approached his side and picked up a few books from the bookshelf.

"What have you been doing anyway?"

"When I walked down the corridor earlier, this side seemed unusually long. There was a difference from what I saw when I entered from inside. So I thought there might be something behind here."

"Ah, I read about that in novels too. Maybe there's a secret room? For example, when you pull out a book from the bookshelf or turn a decoration in a different direction, a wall door opens?"

Rrrrrumble.

Before she'd even finished speaking, the wall where Noah stood shook slightly and a gap opened.

"Whoa..."

Regina's eyes went wide as she looked back and forth between the book in her hand and the wall. Noah looked at the wall that had opened before his eyes and muttered as if bewildered.

"...What the hell was the title of that detective novel you read?"

"...Haha."

Regina smiled with an embarrassed expression and casually placed the book she was holding on the desk.

The space behind the wall was so cramped that it would be full with two people inside. But they had no time to notice how small it was, overwhelmed by the bizarreness filling it. Regina stepped inside, then saw the interior and took a hesitant step backward.

"Whoa, that startled me...!"

The entire wall of that space—no, even the ceiling—was packed with portraits. The frames were of varying sizes, and they all contained images of women. Every single one had red hair. Just standing in that space, you could feel the sticky obsession toward red-haired women.

It felt as eerie as if she could hear the flutter of insect wings in her ears. Goosebumps rose on her skin. Regina brushed at her shoulders several times as if shaking something off, even though nothing was there, and hurriedly escaped from that space. Then she suddenly remembered the story about the red-haired maid she'd heard from the old coachman on the way here.

"Could it be—is the woman in these paintings that dead maid?"

At the realization flashing through her mind, Regina's expression changed as she looked back. Noah shook his head. He examined the portraits carefully and answered.

"No, not a maid. Looking at the clothes, jewelry, and sitting posture, she's a noble lady. Well, the answer's obvious, isn't it? The Baroness Epola. If you look closely at the rings and necklaces here, the Epola family symbol is engraved on them. Besides, these paintings aren't of just one person. The faces are different. From a rough count, there are about three."

"Then, could it be...! The dead maid wasn't a maid but the Baroness?"

"...Well, it's too soon to be certain she's dead based only on what that old coachman said. She could be alive, couldn't she?"

At his reasonably valid point, Regina blinked. He was right. But when Regina considered the assumption 'she must be alive,' she tilted her head. It felt wrong.

"That's true... But why do I have this certainty that 'she's dead'?"

"...What?"

"It's strange to me too, but I can't explain it—I just have that feeling."

At those words, Noah frowned. He'd been staring fixedly at the portraits. Only then did he turn to look at Regina.

"...Don't tell me you had a dream yesterday?"

At Noah's question, Regina obediently nodded.

"What? Oh, yes! I just briefly dreamed about a woman in the forest while rain was pouring down. I heard a baby crying in my ears, and then I woke up..."

Regina spoke that far and her eyes widened as if realizing something.

"Could it be... I did it again?"

"Yeah, looks like you absorbed a black faerie's memories like last time."

But last time, she'd definitely had the dream after absorbing a black faerie's corpse. This time she hadn't absorbed a corpse—she hadn't even touched one with a finger. So why had she dreamed?

"...Ah, I see!"

A brief realization flashed through Noah's mind.

"What, what is it?"

Seeing Noah's expression change, Regina shrank back defensively at his sudden shift in stance.

"You've already made contact with a black faerie! When was it? Who touched hands with you or bumped into you after you entered this estate?"

Even with the series of questions, Regina couldn't give a proper answer. Nothing came to mind.

"I don't know. There wasn't anyone, was there? Everyone kept a slight distance, and I carried my own luggage. They just left what I needed in my room and left without exchanging words."

"Even so, if you had a dream, you've definitely already made contact with a black faerie. It seems when you touch black fairies, you absorb their power or memories."

"But I can't think of anything right now."

"All right, take your time remembering. And if you do remember, don't approach them alone. You've already experienced it, so you know—molted black fairies have almost no reason. They only think about survival, so they're very aggressive. I'm telling you not to approach carelessly and get hurt."

Regina's heart had already ached from seeing the black faerie's memories. His words made her inwardly flinch. Her emotions had wavered with sympathy, but she recalled the violence of the black faerie she'd seen at Margaret's estate and nodded.

"Yes, I will."

Noah watched her answer obediently with skeptical eyes, then turned his head back to the portraits.

The red-haired women in the portraits all wore green dresses. And the Baroness's room, painted in that same color. Even the windows were bizarrely small. He looked around the surroundings slowly once more.

'If I rule out the possibility that the Baroness is alive...'

Noah thought that perhaps the deduction Regina had casually thrown out when she first saw this room might be the correct answer.

Death by arsenic poisoning.

'Even if it wasn't instant death, the Baronesses were probably slowly poisoned by arsenic from the dye painted in this room and the dresses the Baron made them wear.'

He probably thought she was already dead, changed her into maid's clothing, and dumped her in the forest. The servant who moved the corpse likely didn't know the Baroness's face—she'd spent most of her time confined to the room. If he'd known, he would have been dealt with too.

The servant saw the clothes on the corpse and mistook the Baroness for a maid. If a black faerie happened to be near the abandoned corpse and absorbed that body, it would explain the corpse's sudden disappearance.

Click.

Noah pulled out his pocket watch again and examined it. Since yesterday, the watch hands pointed to the same place without changing. It meant a black faerie was still inside this estate.

"Then where the hell is it hiding?"

If it had stolen the Baroness's appearance, hiding among the servants was impossible. That meant it was hiding somewhere in this vast estate. But was it really possible to hide for nearly a month without anyone's help?

"...I should call the butler."

"Yes! I thought he was suspicious too. Let's call him quickly!"

Hearing Noah speak as he emerged from the secret space, Regina hurried to the area near the bed and pulled down the cord to summon a servant. Of course, she didn't forget to be careful not to let her feet touch the cloth covering the Baron's corpse as she crossed the room.

Knock, knock.

"You called for me."

After a moment, a knocking sound came, and the somewhat pale butler opened the door and entered.

"Yes, come in."

Noah, who'd been standing by the window next to the desk, looked back and spoke. The window was abnormally small—too small for a person to pass through. This made Noah's presence standing before it feel even more pronounced.

At Noah's command, the butler took steps and entered the room, then stopped abruptly. He'd only now discovered the secret space in the right wall had been revealed. Seeing that reaction, Noah could be certain. The butler had known about this space.

"......"

"Well, nothing to say?"

The butler had been staring blankly beyond the wall with a dazed expression. At Noah's question, he seemed to come to his senses and turned his head. He stared at Noah's eyes for a moment, then laughed emptily and lowered his head.

"Ah... I see. You've figured it all out. Then again, what's the point of me hiding it now when the person in question is dead?"

He kept his head lowered as he looked down at the white cloth covering the Baron's corpse and continued speaking as if he'd given up everything.

"The Baron—no, the young master—had a strong obsession with the color red from childhood. He collected red gems, red clothes, rare beasts with red fur. Still, it wasn't excessive, so no one thought it was that serious. His strange obsession began to go too far after the young master married."

The butler's face seemed lost in memories of the Baron's childhood. But soon his expression darkened. He hesitated several times as if finding it hard to bear the guilt, but he didn't stop speaking.

"...When the first Baroness began showing abnormal symptoms, no one suspected anything. We just thought, she's from the capital, so this backwater must feel stifling to her."

"First? You mean he married multiple times?"

At Regina's question, the butler nodded.

"Yes, this wife is the third. And they all..."

"Died. The cause of death was arsenic poisoning, wasn't it?"

At those words, Regina looked at Noah in surprise. He pointed to the space inside the wall and continued.

"Looking at the portraits hanging behind that wall, every single outfit is green to a disgusting degree. Same with this room. Did he use dye containing arsenic in the clothes and wallpaper and slowly absorb it through their skin to kill them? The rumor about a dead maid spread about a month ago, so I guess it rained around that time? The wallpaper absorbed moisture and the arsenic concentration in the room would have increased."

"...That's correct. A tremendous downpour fell for three days. The truth is, the third wife seemed to have figured out the nature of this room long ago. Unlike the previous wives, she was a clever woman in many ways. So it seems she tried to escape, but..."

"Before that, the Baron locked her in this room. With the baby held hostage in another room."

"...Yes, that's correct."

The butler's expression twisted as he squeezed out his answer. He seemed to recognize that he too was no different from an accomplice, having known everything and only watched.