Surviving in the Cursed Mansion

Chapter 23: Two Royals (3)

A deep darkness enveloped the night.

All around the mansion, candles spontaneously ignited to light the hallways. 

From observation, it seemed they lit up at around 10 p.m. and extinguished at 6 a.m.

The butler explained the mansion to Arsente in as much detail as possible.

Hearing warnings about the unpredictable appearance of monsters left Arsente terrified. 

She tried hard to hide her fear from Asche, but it was almost impossible to fool someone who had already experienced the mansion’s horrors.

Asche openly treated Arsente with cold indifference and kept her in check.

This was, in fact, a rational choice. The rewards available in the mansion were limited, yet now there were two claimants vying for them.

Arsente’s arrival had turned the mansion into a competitive market.

“Cooperation could change things, but…”

The butler concluded that cooperation was firmly in the realm of impossibility.

The sisters had no foundation of trust between them. Even the closest of companions often grew suspicious of one another in life-threatening situations, so for siblings whose relationship was already fractured, the outcome was obvious.

“Still, this isn’t necessarily bad for me.”

Now there was a spare.

Even if one sister died, the mansion’s exploration could continue. From the butler’s perspective, it was like gaining an extra coin.

Of course, Asche remained his best bet.

“Let’s see how this plays out…”

Pushing aside his thoughts, the butler stopped in front of an ornately embossed door.

Knock, knock.

A quiet knock echoed, and he identified himself.

“It’s me.”

Soon, he heard movement from inside. A moment later, the door opened slowly, and Asche peeked out.

“Butler…”

Biting her lip briefly, she finally confessed her frustration.

“I really hate sharing a room with her!”

“I hate it too!”

Arsente’s immediate rebuttal pierced the air.

The butler, who had assigned the two sisters to the same room, found himself at a loss for words.

His decision had been the most practical—putting them in one room made management much easier.

“Unfortunately, this is the only room suitable for both of you.”

The room in question was the duchess’ personal bedroom—Belnacien’s own.

Naturally, the bed was spacious, and the furnishings were luxurious. Asche had even remarked that the room rivaled the imperial palace, so there was no question about its quality.

“Unless one of you is willing to yield the room to the other?”

At this suggestion, Asche and Arsente exchanged sharp glances.

“Why don’t you give it up?”

“Why should I? You’re the uninvited guest, Sister.”

“As the elder sibling, it’s only proper for me to stay.”

“Do you think I don’t know propriety? Or etiquette? How about arithmetic? What’s 1024 + 12,480?”

“That’s, uh, thirteen thousand four hu…”

As soon as Arsente stumbled over the hundreds column, Asche pounced triumphantly.

“Ha! You can’t even do simple math, and you’re lecturing me on etiquette? That’s ridiculous!”

“Your attitude is the one that’s inappropriate for addressing your older sister!”

“Well, it’s not like being an old lady is something to brag about.”

“…What did you just say?”

Oh, that hit a nerve.

The butler predicted the outcome of the childish quarrel with ease.

Asche had an unbeatable advantage—a trump card in the form of her youth.

“Why, aren’t you an old lady? You’re married, aren’t you? Should I call you a maiden instead?”

“M-Maiden…! I…”

At that moment, Arsente realized the butler, a man, was listening to their exchange. Her lips pressed tightly together.

But in the brief pause, Asche delivered a direct counterstrike.

“Oh, of course. A spinster, right?”

“You…!!!”

“Wow, my lack of manners must be showing—I didn’t know it was possible to be both a married woman and a spinster at the same time! Makes me question the logic of this world.”

Asche’s sharp tongue was masterful.

Though she often whined petulantly to the butler, when it came to verbal sparring with another woman, she was unmatched.

“Hah… Why am I even wasting my energy on this nonsense? It’s a loss for an adult to argue with a child.”

“Old lady.”

“Honestly, arguing with a brat is beneath me.”

“Old lady.”

“…This is absurd…”

“Old lady.”

“…Haaah!!!”

Just now, Arsente muttered the words, That damned brat… It was a voice dripping with loathing and frustration.

“Fine! You can have the room. But I’m taking him with me!”

Arsente pointed decisively at the butler.

“The butler? And who says you can?”

“Who else? It’s up to him, isn’t it?”

Arsente lightly patted the butler’s shoulder.

“Rather than serving this brat, wouldn’t you prefer me instead?”

“You, who discarded so many servants in the imperial palace?”

“That was then; this is now. Besides, Butler, who knows? If you serve me well enough, perhaps one day you’ll serve me at night too.”

Arsente fluttered her lashes coquettishly, her gaze a mockery of seduction.

Of course, she wasn’t serious.

Even in her fallen state, Arsente was still a marquis and a royal. The idea of giving herself to a commoner was unthinkable.

The butler let out a long, tired sigh.

“I reject your offer, as I feel not even the slightest bit of attraction.”

“…Excuse me?”

Arsente’s ears buzzed, as if trying to block out words she didn’t want to hear.

“Furthermore, I would never lay a hand on a married woman.”

Only after processing his second statement did the first one resurface in her mind.

She was someone whose beauty had been praised by countless men, and yet—what? No attraction?

She instinctively turned to Asche, silently asking for confirmation. Asche smirked smugly and nodded.

Arsente sank into quiet despair, and Asche wasted no time rubbing salt into the wound.

“Pffft! Sister, just because no one ever dared to insult a princess doesn’t mean you’re actually pretty. Get real!”

It was like a frog mocking others after forgetting its own time as a tadpole.

Seething with frustration, Arsente redirected her anger at the butler.

“You…! You lowly commoner! Are you saying you prefer that brat over me? You’re a pervert!”

Despite the outrageous insult, the butler remained unflappable. Instead, he unleashed his own verbal onslaught.

“As I’ve said repeatedly, there is no chance, in heaven or on earth, that I would find either of you attractive.”

“…Butler?”

“For clarity, I must confess. Asche feels more like a disobedient niece than anything else. Expecting voyeuristic interest from me would be absurd.”

“HEY!!!”

“And… there’s something else, but… no, never mind. It’s uncertain, so I’ll hold my judgment.”

The butler, ever since returning from the previous painted world, had become aware of certain preferences within himself.

He disliked Westerners.

This was the honest truth he had come to terms with.

It all stemmed from a traumatic moment when he caught a nauseating whiff of sweat mixed with cologne while working out in a gym full of Westerners.

Whether the humans in this world shared the same characteristics, he couldn’t say. 

At least, Asche hadn’t smelled unpleasant during her bath—so far, the matter required further observation.

Silence fell between them.

Both Asche and Arsente sat on the wide, luxurious bed, utterly deflated.

Arsente, who had been rejected despite her attempts at seduction, and Asche, who had been dismissed without even confessing anything, were both nursing significant emotional wounds.

“How about searching the duchess’ room before you sleep?”

The butler’s matter-of-fact suggestion was met with simultaneous refusals.

“…I’ll do it tomorrow.”

“I’m too tired…”

“As you wish.”

The butler gracefully exited the duchess’ room. As soon as the door closed, their bickering echoed through the hallway.

“It’s because you said something so ridiculous…!”

“You started it…!”

The butler sighed to himself, unable to foresee what chaos the future held.

The Next Morning

After the rain cleared, the bright morning sun shone through the unique clarity of the post-storm sky. Warm sunlight filtered into the duchess’ bedroom, gently waking Asche from her sleep.

As someone who had long cultivated the habit of going to bed early and rising early, Asche stretched leisurely.

In contrast, Arsente—who rarely woke before the sun was high in the sky—instinctively sought the shadows, rolling around in search of cover.

“Pathetic…”

Asche quietly mocked her sister.

Perhaps it was because Arsente hadn’t yet faced the malice of the mansion. Or maybe she still clung to the carefree belief that someone else would solve everything if she just closed her eyes.

“I guess I’ll take a look around before calling the butler.”

There was no need to expose her sister’s disheveled state to the butler unnecessarily.

She resolved to wait until her lazy sibling woke up naturally.

“Now that I think about it, this room is ridiculously extravagant. I didn’t really notice yesterday because I was too busy arguing with her…”

The first thing that caught her eye was the gilded walls. Yesterday, she had simply assumed the dim, amber lighting was the reason the walls seemed to glow.

Even the bedside table was adorned with luxurious jewels. The bracelet decorating it was crafted from rubies, and delicate silver had been melted and spread thinly to create floral designs on every surface.

It was a room that embodied the pinnacle of opulence, down to the smallest detail.

Rather than admiring the room’s aristocratic grandeur, Asche felt it reeked of a nouveau riche’s vanity.

“This doesn’t align with Belnacien’s image at all.”

The descriptions of Maid B in the maids’ diaries, as well as the memories of Hayley regarding Maid B’s personality, didn’t match the ostentation of the duchess’ room.

The Belnacien who had once spent her wages on a luxury scarf for a mere dog didn’t seem like someone who would surround herself with such excessive splendor.

Creak.

Asche opened the bedside table drawer with practiced caution.

Sure enough, in the first compartment lay a diary.

[The duchess’ Diary]

Asche read the title, then carefully turned to the first page.