Chapter 5
There were more lamps and candlesticks in the bathroom, so I lit those as well. It improved the situation significantly.
Earlier, it was so dark that I couldn't see properly, but now I noticed a large crack shaped like a lightning bolt on one of the walls.
"All right, let's begin exploring."
Led by Benya, who held a lamp and triumphantly shouted, the three of us opened the door to the room that could have been a library or a storage room.
As soon as the door swung open, the musty odor hit us.
"Oh, it's quite spacious."
Instead of complaining about the smell, Benya exclaimed as if he had discovered a new continent. He truly was an extraordinary individual in many ways.
And it was true. Looking at it in the lamp's light, the shape of the room, which had been faintly visible before, became clear.
This mysterious room was so large that it seemed several times the size of the bedroom beyond the door. The ceiling was much higher, and bookshelves towering over the ceiling lined the walls.
In the middle, long-legged desks were connected to one another, and as we stepped on the creaky floor, vague objects seemed to float in the distance.
"Is it a ghost?"
Neither Benya nor I responded to Lethias's whispered words. It didn't seem worth acknowledging.
Regardless, what was that? Were there dust clouds floating around? Or was it cobwebs?
After exploring for some time, Benya, who had been leading the way and surveying the area, spoke with an air of disinterest.
"This seems like a library. It's quite amusing to have a library in a place like this."
Indeed, it wasn't a study or a storage room. One could call it a bookstore.
There were bookshelves everywhere! Countless books and ancient-looking documents were stacked. Could this be where they kept documents containing family secrets?
At that moment, Lethias, who had been approaching the "ghost" at the far end, suddenly exclaimed, causing me to nearly scream. Yes, that vain person had truly done it!
"It's a window!"
Ah, is that so? What a peculiar discovery. In this mysterious library, there existed a window that wasn't in the bedroom or bathroom.
Certainly, there was a window there. At the end of the bookshelves arranged vertically, between the opposite wall and the bookshelf, a small window emitted a faint light, which caused it to appear blurry.
"I wonder what it looks like outside. Should we take a look?"
"How are we going to take a look? Isn’t it that high?"
"There's a ladder over there."
As expected, a wooden ladder was positioned next to the bookshelf, where Benya's fingertips pointed triumphantly.
Since the bookshelves were quite tall, a ladder was necessary to insert and retrieve books.
I simply watched as the two boys dashed forward and brought the ladder. It seemed quite outlandish.
Lethias and Benya were the epitomai of noble children during my fourteen years here.
Although we had been hanging out and playing together since we were young, and none of the siblings had ever discussed their social status with me, there was always an unbridgeable wall separating us.
However, observing the scene where the boys struggled and carried the ladder, resembling workers who had come to replace the chandelier in the drawing room, evoked a strange sensation that was both amusing and pitiful.
"You think we look good right now, don't you?"
"No, I don't."
"Doesn't that sound wrong?"
"Lethy-oppa, that's a guilty conscience talking."
Lethias narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he glanced at me, while Benya, who was chatting away and positioning the ladder at the window, furrowed his brow.
"Maybe it's a little old, but it feels quite weak. Sasha, what do you think?"
It seemed risky to me as well. When I approached and touched the ladder, the wooden structure felt soft and fragile, as if it could break at any moment.
"Should we find another ladder?"
"Are the others the same height?"
"Mistress, what do you suggest?"
"I have an idea. Sasha, since you're the lightest, why don't you be the one to go up?"
I couldn't even utter a response to Lethias' glorious suggestion. Instead, Benya smirked.
"You were pretending to be so polite with the tray..."
"I didn't mean that?! If Sasha falls, you and I can catch her from below, but if I fall, you'll all run away!"
"Does that mean you'll run away even if I fall?"
"Isn't that obvious? Am I crazy enough to willingly find myself in that situation?"
"Ha! Am I, your Hyung, not still the eldest son?"
"Are you treating me as your younger brother properly?"
That's how I ended up being the one to go up. I had no idea how opening that window became the ultimate goal...!
"Hey, do we really have to check that out? What am I supposed to do?"
Nevertheless, I was filled with apprehension, so I discreetly asked. They nodded vigorously as if they had been waiting for the question.
"Of course!"
"I can only see the sky from the window upstairs! Let's see what's around here! Then we'll know which side of our house this is."
"...Wouldn't it have been much simpler if you had just asked the Viscount?"
Lethias, who had been explaining his reasoning in great detail, abruptly fell silent. Benya furrowed his brow and cast his gaze downward.
What?
There was a moment of silence. Suddenly, in a tense atmosphere, I spoke again.
"You didn't forget, did you?"
The two boys didn't answer. They exchanged awkward glances and muttered incomprehensible sounds. And once again, the anxiety that had momentarily subsided resurfaced.
They were so curious, so why didn't they ask? They had sufficient justification and authority to inquire about the location of the hideout within the mansion.
It wasn't that they couldn't ask because they hadn't thought of it.
They simply didn't ask. Rather than intentionally, it seemed that they unconsciously avoided it.
Why? Were they afraid of hearing the answer? Or perhaps they were afraid of not receiving an answer? Could it be that deep down, they knew they would never get an answer?
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had been gripped by a strange sense of oddness throughout my time here.
Regardless, I didn't say anything further and began ascending the ladder calmly. There was nothing to gain from increasing the unease.
Fortunately, the fragile ladder remained steady as I tried to reach the window, albeit with a slight wobble.
Carefully positioning my feet on the crossbar, I extended my hand to open the old wooden window. Interestingly enough, as soon as I grasped it and tilted it upward, the window simply fell off!
"Ahh!"
The sound of the window slipping from my hands and crashing to the floor reverberated through the room. Benya exclaimed.
"Hey, did you do that on purpose?!"
It wasn't intentional, but I didn't really feel like refuting it. Hehe.
The window, now without its shutters, was small. It barely allowed a glimpse of white clouds through its limited space, just enough for a child to squeeze through.
Could we only see the sky from here? In order to get a closer look, I opened the stiff glass window and leaned my head out.
A cool breeze brushed against my nose. After being confined in a place filled with musty odors, it was a refreshing change...
I heard the two boys fretting from below me.
"What do you see?"
"Do you have any idea where this is?"
Hmm?
I awkwardly sniffed and shook my head.
I had anticipated a view of a well-manicured garden or perhaps a backyard with a glass conservatory, but all I could see was a vast expanse of blue sky and a spread of rooftops below the windows.
The ground below was not visible. Which part of the duke's residence was this rooftop?
"Hey, it's dangerous!"
In a moment when I leaned slightly further forward while standing on tiptoe, I involuntarily looked upward, and then, ah, my eyes caught sight of something completely unfamiliar. What was that?
I had explored every nook and cranny of the grand duke's mansion since I was young, but the sight before me was entirely unfamiliar.
The object perched on top was an enigmatic structure, something that could be called a roof or a decoration. It was large and round...
I must say, it resembled a tin cover suspended in the expansive blue sky. Like the type of cover used to shield a tray. I couldn't make out what was underneath it.
It took me a while to finally realize what I was looking at after staring up at the colossal cover for so long.
So, what lay there was neither a roof nor a decorative canopy.
It was a bell. A gigantic bell. I had never gazed at that bell from such close proximity, so it felt strangely unfamiliar.
"This is... Kyaaa!"
"Sasha!"
It was at that moment when the crossbar I was standing on snapped. As a result, I fell backward. Unfortunately, the ladder didn't come down with me, so it turned into a bit of a mess.
Ugh. If these guys drag me into another exploration,
I'll really give them a piece of my mind!
"Are you okay?!"
He said he would catch me if I fell, that rascal! I opened my eyes and glared at Lethias' concerned face with all my might. It was only then that I noticed something peculiar.
"... Benya, are you all right?"
"No. You're heavy. Move."
I quickly got up. Of course, even if I fell, I would have landed on top of Benya... Hehehe. Silly Benya, how does it feel? It's your karma for bothering me so much in the past!
... Well, I hope he didn't break any bones?
I expected him to reprimand me right away, but surprisingly, Benya, who inadvertently became my cushion, didn't express much displeasure.
He
simply frowned and rubbed his arms. Feeling a tinge of guilt, I asked in a very
kind tone.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“… I guess you still know how heavy you are? Seemingly because you still have a conscience.”
… I’m not even sorry anymore. I should have fallen a bit more achingly.
After our messy exploration, we finally got out of the library. A burning thirst arose, probably because we had come from a place full of dust.
“How do I drink water?"
“There is water in the bathroom, so why not drink it?”
“Yuck, you want me to drink the water that I use to wash my body?”
That’s right. They have no way of knowing that the water that comes out of the bathroom and the water that comes with the glass is all the same.
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