# 137
137. Met the Count Again (6)
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
At my words, Vincent turned around. I glanced around and led him to a secluded corner.
I recalled Alicia's flustered face after hearing my answer. It was Joelly who broke the silence that had settled after Vincent's words.
'What do you mean, someone said yellow flower field, someone said white flower field.'
Only then did I realize Alicia had answered yellow flower field. Her sister knew well the memories that the person herself couldn't properly recall. It was a strange situation no matter how you looked at it.
The nanny alternated her gaze between me and Vincent, and Joelly, perhaps sensing something unusual, stared intently at Vincent, but the conversation ended there. Vincent had brought up a different topic. However, it went without saying that an uncomfortable atmosphere had lingered, consciously or not.
"You asked me on purpose."
No matter how I thought about it, I could only conclude he had deliberately asked me that question. And as if to confirm my thoughts, Vincent responded curtly without a hint of surprise.
"That's right. I did it on purpose."
"Why would you do that."
"Then should I have just quietly accepted it?"
That's... true, but.
"Paula."
"......Yes."
His call felt heavy. I bowed my head deeply.
"The reason I haven't taken any action immediately is because she's your sister. I thought there might be circumstances I'm unaware of that make it difficult for you to resolve this situation easily, and I judged that you needed time to accept the current circumstances. But that doesn't mean I intend to just stand by and watch indefinitely."
I know. This was the last chance Vincent was giving me. Either I speak the truth myself, or I persuade my sister. What Alicia had done was not something that could simply be brushed over. She had deceived people—and nobles at that. The malicious intent behind it was something we both knew well without needing to say it out loud. That was why I wanted to persuade Alicia to confess her wrongdoing and step back herself. Only then would Alicia avoid severe consequences.
"Only until my patience runs out. I can't wait any longer than that."
"......I understand."
I had to do something before his patience reached its limit. Whether the outcome was good or bad, he wouldn't wait. The conclusion was already set, and this was clearly nothing more than stalling for time.
Unable to face him, I clenched my hands tightly. I heard his sigh from above my head.
"I'm not trying to scare you."
I know that too. The only reason he was turning a blind eye to this uncomfortable situation was out of consideration for me. Otherwise, Vincent would never have let Alicia, who was pretending to be me, off so easily. But the more he did so, the more unable I was to face him.
My body shrank and my head lowered as much as the wrongs I had committed. He wrapped his hand around my shoulder. He stroked my shoulder gently as if calming my startled reaction, and leaned his upper body closer to me. His breath brushed against the top of my head.
"You keep shrinking back, it makes me think bad thoughts."
"......"
I almost asked what kind of thoughts, but held back. I was afraid that if I said something unnecessary, he might decide to expose Alicia's true identity entirely.
"Don't think useless thoughts."
"I didn't."
"Good, that's obedient."
I wasn't sure what was so obedient about it, but his hand gripping my shoulder somehow felt even more intimidating.
"I'll come again tomorrow."
I gave a small nod at those words. Only then did his hand release my shoulder. When I looked up, Vincent had already moved far away.
When I returned to the drawing room, Alicia was pacing outside the door. After the uncomfortable conversation with Vincent, Alicia had frozen in her seat, unable to say a word.
Alicia spotted me and approached urgently.
"You."
She started to say something hastily but suddenly clamped her mouth shut. I waited for Alicia's next words. After taking a moment to compose herself, Alicia continued.
"You didn't say anything strange, did you?"
"What?"
"I'm asking if you said anything strange to that man."
I hesitated over how to respond to her repeated question. Right now, I should tell the truth. I should say that man already knows what you did, that he's figured out who I am... But somehow my lips felt heavy and wouldn't part easily. I knew what Alicia had done was wrong, but I was afraid of creating a situation where I would drive Alicia to the edge of a cliff.
Alicia, watching me hesitate, suddenly raised a hand.
"No, forget it. Don't tell me. Talking to you just gives me a headache."
"......"
Then she fell silent for a moment as if deliberating, let out a sigh, and turned away.
It was time for dinner, but everyone said they weren't hungry after eating dessert and pushed the mealtime back a little. That meant the servants' rest time also extended a bit.
The rarely trafficked corridor had grown dim. Beyond the window, the sun was slowly setting. Alicia's back as she walked down the gradually darkening corridor caught my eye. When I saw dead sisters following behind her, I was startled and rubbed my eyes. When I opened my eyes again, Alicia was walking alone. But my heart had already grown infinitely heavy.
* * *
I woke up in the middle of the night. I didn't feel good. Because I had a nightmare.
Checking the clock by my bedside, it had just passed midnight. I was thirsty and picked up the water bottle, but there was no water. I shook the empty bottle and let out a sigh. I had told her to refill it when she finished drinking, but Alicia had just tossed the empty bottle aside.
Normally I would have gone back to bed, but perhaps because of the nightmare, my throat was parched. I got out of bed and found a lamp to light. But the lamp had run out of oil too. With no other choice, I left the room as I was.
The midnight corridor was eerily silent. Walking down a dark corridor is always somewhat scary. As I walked alone down the long hallway, my footsteps sounded ominous. I scratched the back of my neck, feeling a chill for no reason. Somehow I felt a gaze as if someone was watching me.
I looked back, but no one was there. I started walking again when I heard a sound from somewhere. I thought it might be coming from outside the window, but somehow it felt close. So I looked back again, but all I saw was the dark corridor.
Suddenly, the man and woman who had died mysterious deaths in the middle of the night came to mind. When Audrey approached the woman who had first witnessed the scene to ask about the situation, she had said:
'I, I came down to drink water because I was thirsty, and I felt a presence. So I turned around and saw a lamp on the floor, and when I went to check...'
Those words echoed in my ears. Because of her statement, rumors had circulated for a while that there were ghosts in the mansion. The words I had heard back then were making my head spin. Kept thinking scary thoughts. I quickened my pace for no reason as I headed downstairs.
Tap— Tap—
I heard footsteps behind me.
At first, I thought I was hearing things because I was too scared. But gradually the footsteps became clearer. When I stopped walking, the sound stopped too. Then when I walked again, the sound followed behind me once more. It wasn't my imagination. Someone was behind me.
I felt a familiar fear. My mind connected from the mysterious murder case to the memories from five years ago. My heart felt like it was shriveling up and I couldn't breathe. It was like the fear of facing death.
I agonized dozens of times over whether to turn around or not. But when the footsteps wouldn't disappear, I finally stopped walking. The sound also stopped with a tap.
I stood still and swallowed dryly several times. Then I slowly turned my body.
Now accustomed to the darkness, my vision was a bit clearer. I moved my gaze across the row of windows in the corridor, the room doors on the opposite side, and the decorative items placed between them. The nearest ornament holding a vase, the picture frame on the wall visible next, and beside it, a familiar horse iron statue caught my eye.
Nothing seemed unusual. Did I mishear? As I let out a low breath in relief, suddenly, the iron statue rattled. I opened my eyes wide and stared at the horse iron statue again.
The iron statue was buried in darkness, its shape barely visible. Was it because of the darkness that the familiar form felt unfamiliar? As I watched that direction while holding my breath, suddenly a pitch-black figure burst out from the iron statue.
"Aaaah!"
I squeezed my eyes shut, screamed, and ran in the opposite direction. But not far away, when something else jumped out from around the corner, I was terrified. As soon as I collapsed on the floor, I curled up and screamed at the top of my lungs. When I felt something touch my shoulder, I flailed my hands to push it away.
"......Hey, snap out... my... wait..."
I heard a voice saying something. I thought my fingertips might have hit something, but I wasn't sure. I couldn't come to my senses. As I was screaming like a crazy person and flailing my arms, a strong force gripped my shoulder.
"Snap out of it!"
At those words, I came to my senses in a flash. When I opened my eyes, a familiar face was right in front of me. The person examining me with a furrowed brow was Vincent.
"Why are you like this? Did something happen?"
He asked urgently. I caught my breath, rough from screaming, and met his gaze. My mind, which had gone blank, gradually started returning to normal. The person who had jumped out from the corner must have been Vincent. He was kneeling on one knee in front of me, matching my eye level, holding my shoulder, and beside him lay a dropped lamp.
"S-someone was there."
"At this hour?"
Vincent looked around in puzzlement. I pointed behind me with trembling fingers.
"The, the iron statue. Someone was at the horse iron statue."
"Iron statue?"
He looked toward the horse iron statue, then picked up the lamp and stood up. I grabbed him in surprise, but as if to say it was fine, he removed my hand and walked toward the iron statue. His steady footsteps echoed through the quiet corridor. Vincent, who had carefully walked to the iron statue, stopped in front of it and looked around. The lamplight swayed once.
"There's no one here."
"Really?"
When I asked in surprise, Vincent nodded. Only then did I put strength into my trembling legs to stand up and carefully walked over there. When I looked closely, just as he said, there was no one around the iron statue illuminated by the lamplight.
"T-there was something. Something black jumped out."
It definitely looked like a person. But no matter how much I looked around, nothing resembling a human figure could be seen. Did I see it wrong? When I thought that might be possible, I finally felt relieved.
My legs gave out and I crouched down. Vincent bent down beside me.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes...... I must have seen it wrong."
The fear hadn't subsided yet. Feeling dizzy, I pressed my forehead, and Vincent wiped my forehead with his hand.
"You must have been really startled. You're drenched in sweat."
Just as he said, when he wiped my forehead, cold sweat came off. I must have been extremely tense.
"I was scared. I heard someone following me."
"Who? Did you see their face?"
"No. I must have heard that wrong too."
Given that I had seen strange hallucinations, it was highly likely I had heard things too. Walking through a dark corridor without even a lamp was indeed dangerous. As I exhaled and tried to calm my tense nerves, I suddenly looked at Vincent. He was in outdoor clothes, carrying only a lamp.