Four days passed. In that time, Catherine had turned the house upside down looking for more traces of her mother, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. The manor was large, with many hidden nooks and crannies to check. In fact, she would frequently push a bookshelf or bed aside only to find a dusty door waiting behind it.

So far, she had found a padlocked trapdoor at the bottom of the old well and bizarre sigils all over the garden.

If she hadn’t met that man, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it and might have dismissed it as a former owner’s strange hobby. But she couldn’t ignore the magic circle in the basement and the monster she’d seen. Although, to be honest, even after meeting the man, she still didn’t think too hard about it.

“This is delicious,” Catherine said.

“Thank you!” A young woman beamed at her. “Cooking is what I’m best at. I’m not very good at much else, but no one has ever complained about my cooking.”

The young woman stood proudly, her short, dark hair just brushing her ears.

“Have some more,” she insisted. “I made plenty.”

“It’s just the two of us, Rose,” Catherine replied.

“Don’t worry. If there’s some left over, it’ll get eaten.”

Rose was the first maid Catherine had hired for the manor. Of course, she didn’t hire her with the one thousand rieds the man had left for her. Instead, she had scraped together every last penny she could, essentially leaving herself broke. At the very least, she owned a house, so she wouldn’t find herself sleeping on the street.

“Shall I clean the east wing of the fourth floor today, miss?”

“Yes, please.”

“Wow, we’re finally close to the end. After today, the place should finally be livable.”

Rose eased her aching body into a chair at the dining table. It was almost unheard of for nobles to eat with their maids. Such a break in etiquette would never have been allowed at Orlean, but Catherine didn’t care about such things. She even posted a notice in the town square entitled “Seeking maid for two months to live like family.” Only Catherine occupied the house, and she wasn’t picky about someone who would only be around for a short time.

Rose had found all the secret hiding spots around the manor. Catherine wasn’t very thorough, so she’d missed several places during her initial search.

“Do you have any plans for today, miss?”

“Today,” Catherine answered solemnly, spreading jam on her toast, “I’m going to start working on the garden.”

The garden would be both heaven and hell to take care of.

Rose looked just as serious as her mistress. “Oh dear, I’ve been a fool. I thought we were almost done. I didn’t realize we had so much left.”

Catherine laughed lightly and quickly set about emptying her plate. Come to think of it, she didn’t have time for a leisurely meal. She wondered how many days it would take her to finish the work. Just thinking about it made her knees and back ache. However, despite her lofty plans, the sky began to darken, and this was followed by a downpour.

Damn it. Well, the long-neglected weeds were already waist-high. Catherine decided she didn’t mind a little rain before she started work. Although, truth be told, she felt unbearably unhappy about the development. With no other options, she spent the whole day with her nose in a book. She suggested that Rose take a break from her duties as well, but the girl rolled up her sleeves and continued cleaning despite Catherine’s protests, claiming she had nothing better to do.

After a relaxing day, it was growing close to midnight when Catherine heard a knock at her bedroom door. The sound startled her from dozing off in front of the fireplace. She opened the door to find her maid standing outside.

“Rose?” Catherine shook off any drowsiness the minute she saw her.

“Um, miss... May I be so bold as to ask to come in?” Rose asked. The poor maid looked terrified and her slight shoulders trembled.

“Of course,” Catherine replied, guiding Rose to the seat next to hers. Judging by her clothes, it seemed Rose had been getting ready for bed. “What’s wrong?”

“Well...” Rose’s voice sounded as fearful as if she were standing on the edge of a precipice. Catherine waited until she was ready to speak. After gnawing on her nails for a while, Rose finally began.

“I didn’t say anything, because I thought I was just being overly sensitive, but ever since I started working here, I’ve heard strange sounds.”

“Strange sounds?”

Rose had started working at the manor three days ago, which meant that this had gone on for some time. “We’re the only ones who live here, right, miss?”

“Who else would be here?”

Rose’s forlorn gaze dropped to the floor. Her hands worked and fidgeted. “But a-around midnight, I hear the sound of a woman laughing in the hall. Am I imagining things?” Rose let out a sob before she even finished speaking and clutched Catherine so tightly she could hardly move. “Miss... I’m so scared!”

“Calm down and tell me more.”

“I-I’ve heard so much that it’d be hard to tell you everything. I’ve heard a woman laughing, the sound of a child running, a string quartet... It even feels like the ground is shaking sometimes. It’s enough to make me dizzy. It starts up every night when I try to sleep.”

After releasing Catherine, Rose looked around the room as if fearful something might jump out at her.

“I even had a nightmare tonight, maybe because I haven’t been sleeping well. I couldn’t bear it any longer and came running here. Th-that’s all.”

Catherine wished she could say that it was all in Rose’s head, but she couldn’t write it off as an overactive imagination. Both the real estate agent and the intruder had said similar things before. The memories of those conversations came flooding back.

“Don’t you hear frightening sounds at night?”

“What about strange visions?”

“Nightmares?”

Catherine hadn’t taken it seriously before because she had never experienced it herself.

“Rose, why don’t you sleep in my room tonight?”

Catherine stood and slipped into a robe. The maid sniffled and kept her eyes glued to her mistress. In this manor overflowing with bizarre happenings, Catherine was sure that the magic circle in the basement was the root of it all.

“Wh-where are you going?” Rose called out.

“There’s something I need to check. Don’t worry. Get some sleep.”

As Catherine took the lamp and stepped into the hallway, Rose cried out, “Miss!”

Catherine turned around.

“I-it might just be nothing,” Rose said, swallowing loudly. Although her eyes were dry, her voice made her sound close to tears. “Please don’t go out there. I-I thought I saw a tall man standing at the end of the hallway...”

Her stifled voice made Catherine pause. Then again... She said she only hears it at night, so by morning, it may all be gone. Catherine had lived in this manor for quite a while by that point, and she had to stick it out until she could learn more about her mother. More than anything, she didn’t plan to simply let unexplained phenomena carry on in her house.

“This is my house, Rose. No one can come in without my permission.”

With the exception of that man, apparently... Catherine wrapped a sweater around Rose’s shoulders and left. Despite her maid’s warning, she didn’t feel the presence of anyone else in the hallway.

Treading carefully, she descended to the first floor. Once there, she stood in the middle of the hall, closed her eyes, and strained her ears, but she couldn’t hear anything except the sound of falling rain. There was no woman laughing, no child running, and no ground shaking. Only silence surrounded Catherine.

I’d better look in the basement while I’m at it. She went into the kitchen to fetch the basement key but had trouble finding it in the meager light, and set the lamp down. At that moment, a dark silhouette appeared outside the window. It looked almost like a person.

Catherine flung open the shutters and stuck her head out in order to see better. She saw a tall, lean frame and hair so bright it looked white. He was back.

But what is he doing out there? The man simply stood there, not moving a muscle. His back was to Catherine, so she couldn’t see his expression. The rain poured down and seemed like it had no intention of letting up. Why was he standing outside in the pouring rain? Catherine didn’t stop to wonder for long.

She snatched up the lantern and ran outside, but she had no umbrella in this part of the house, so with her robe thrown over her head, she grabbed the man’s shoulder and turned him around. He looked almost exactly the same as four days earlier.

“Look here.”

Oddly enough, the man didn’t react at all. He stood stiff and straight as a wax doll. Confused, Catherine brought the lamp closer to him. The yellow light reflected off the raindrops on his face. His eyes were closed, almost as if he was dead.

“Hey, wake up! Why are you—”

Before she could finish speaking, the man disappeared before her eyes. Flustered, Catherine took a step back. No, he hadn’t disappeared—he’d passed out and fallen to the ground. Catherine’s mind went blank with fright. She roused herself to her senses, set the lantern down, and shook the man. However, his eyes refused to so much as flicker. It was as if he really was a corpse.

Later, Catherine couldn’t remember how she had managed to drag his body into the house. Perhaps she had found some supernatural strength. As she pulled him inside, the mud covering his body soiled the pristine floor. He was as cold as ice. Catherine propped him up on the stairs and ran to her bedroom.

She threw the door open and cried, “Rose!”

Rainwater dripped off her skirt onto the floor. The bedroom was completely silent. Rose had fallen asleep in the chair where she sat. It made sense, given her difficulty sleeping lately. Catherine gazed at Rose’s slumbering form for a moment before quietly closing the door. She made use of that supernatural strength one more time and managed to drag the man into the drawing room, where she laid him out on a sofa, gasping for breath. “Why is he so big...?”

Next, she brought clean sheets and wrapped him up so he would stay warm. Battling the damp air, she kindled the fireplace, and the room soon warmed. But before long, they appeared.

“Hand it over, girl.”

The ones who lived off all the darkness in the world, black as shadows, filthy as mud, and as putrid as stagnant water. When Catherine had been a young girl, the sight of them had made her stomach churn. She didn’t know exactly what they were, but she knew they were the same as the man passed out on her couch, only much worse.

“Give us this precious thing.”

Were they talking about the man?

“Give it to us, and we’ll grant you a wish.”

“We’ll grant you a wish, girl. Give us that—”

“Shut up,” Catherine said.

But they couldn’t be reasoned with. The beings, which had plagued Catherine’s mother as well, only repeated themselves over and over. Catherine rubbed her forehead and said, “Shut up and get lost.”