The Safety Guidelines of The Duke’s Haunted Castle Chapter 60

“Why on earth did his affection level go up by 15?”

After Edwin left, I was left completely confused.

Bad Edwin had been acting a little strange today. I mean, he was still smooth-talking and shamelessly flirtatious as usual, but his attitude was somehow more straightforward than usual.

It felt even stranger because the person who used to come on so strongly, as if he had nothing to lose, was now keeping his distance.

‘Could it be because I sympathized with his confession(?)?’

Well, honestly, that was partly because this game’s world itself was a feudal society, and compared to the 21st century, human lives seemed to be treated as much less valuable.

And when you think of a duke in a movie or fantasy novel, aren’t they the kind of person who can kill anyone just because that person annoyed them?

I didn’t know the full story, so instead of blaming him, I tried to understand him in my own way. But I had no idea how he had taken that.

‘No matter how awful his personality is, he doesn’t seem like the type to kill people for no reason.’

Of course, there was a faint hint of madness about him, but somehow, I didn’t feel that the ‘Edwin’ who visited me at night was an irredeemably evil person.

How should I put it? Even his eyes seemed much gentler compared to when I first met him.

It could all be my imagination, but for now, I decided to trust my instincts.

“Ugh, I’m so sleepy I could die.”

I relaxed my eyes as they slowly began to close and crawled under the covers.

Whenever Bad Edwin came to visit, I had no choice but to stay up all night, so it was getting to the point where I could barely function properly the next day.

Of course, this time it was also because of the unexpected promise we had made.

“Two people can ride a Pegasus?”

“Yes. As long as I don’t make any more mistakes, I won’t fall off like I did today. That’s why I stayed up late studying about Pegasus, so I wouldn’t make another mistake.”

“Then I’ll accompany you the next time you go out. Since Pegasus is a spirit beast, we should be able to give it a try.”

“Hmm? But why do we need to go outside?”

“There’s something I need to check….”

I did sense a strange killing intent from him, but anyway, I assumed there had to be some reason he absolutely needed to go outside.

Before I knew it, dawn was breaking outside the window.

‘I need to get up early if I want breakfast….’

To anyone watching from the outside, the fact that I could barely function every time the duke visited at night might easily lead them to assume that something had happened between the young, energetic man and woman.

Especially the head maid. She probably already had that kind of misunderstanding. Since Edwin didn’t exactly hide the fact that he came in and out of my room, she must have seen him several times already.

‘But it would be weird for me to bring it up first. And saying we just talked all night would sound like a terrible excuse….’

Still, by this point, I think I had figured out one thing.

‘On Tuesdays, I’m going to take as many naps as possible during the day.’

That was the only way I was going to survive.

 

 

****

 

 

 

The next day, I eventually slept through breakfast and didn’t wake up until well into the afternoon.

I was reading the Pegasus care guide I had left unfinished the day before when, accompanied by a knock, the head chef appeared.

Behind him was a mysterious dish covered by a large lid.

“A special menu prepared especially for Miss Windsor.”

I lifted the lid with eager anticipation and couldn’t hide my amazement.

“Woooow.”

This was insane. The quality was unbelievable.

I immediately took a bite and looked at the head chef with deeply moved eyes.

“This is too much!”

“Y-Yes?”

“It’s so delicious. How did you even make something like this?”

I picked up my fork again with a touched expression.

[Golden Carrot Cake — 1,000 Diamonds]

· A carrot cake made with all the heart and soul of a certain ducal family’s chef. Thanks to the effects of the golden carrots used as ingredients, those who taste the cake receive a slight boost to blood circulation.

Even the selling price was incredible!

The ingredients were obviously high quality, so that made sense, but in a pinch, I might even be able to make a living(?) by selling food.

“Are you really serious?”

“Yes! Of course. And then there’s this carrot cheese bread!”

The other bread contained thinly sliced carrots and delicious cheese with a slightly sharp aroma scattered throughout its soft, pale surface.

When I split the round bread in half, warm steam rose from it, and its tender inside pulled apart along the soft layers.

“I’ve never eaten anything like this before.”

“Haha, you flatter me.”

“I really mean it. Especially this carrot cheese bread. I think I’m going to miss this taste later.”

The head chef seemed to think I was exaggerating, but I was completely serious.

I usually had trouble with foods I had never eaten before, but the moment I tasted this carrot cheese bread, it genuinely felt like my vision had become a little brighter.

‘But how can the taste of food I’ve never even eaten before be reproduced?’

Since this was a brainwave-based game, shouldn’t I be unable to taste something I had no idea what it tasted like?

But that thought was quickly swept away by the wonderful sweetness.

“It was possible because the carrots you obtained were of such excellent quality, Miss Windsor. There was almost no part that had to be thrown away.”

“Don’t mention it! Oh, right. I hope those people over there like the bread made by the chef too….”

Honestly, if those people had tongues, there was no way they could call the chef’s food bad.

But the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Why had the merchant company that was trading with the Luden Trading Company sent such difficult-to-obtain golden carrots for free, without even asking for payment?

What was the reason?

‘They couldn’t have known that I had prepared something to trade in advance.’

Could this be some kind of clue for the next quest…?

Ever since I learned that I had to change the rules of conduct in Monter Village, the system had remained completely silent, which only made me more curious.

There was one more thing.

If the game’s setting had expanded beyond Belmont Castle and its territory to the outside world, when would I actually be able to go outside?

Or would I have to keep exchanging messages with the outside world like this?

Usually, when you wanted to leave an area, the story would make you complete all the quests on that map first.

Of course, there were still some unfinished quests inside the castle….

[▶What the Servants of Belmont Castle Lost (In Progress)

While trapped in the mysterious Belmont Castle for many years, the servants of the Belmont family have unknowingly lost three things.

As the future mistress of the Belmont ducal family, help the servants find what they have lost!

· Faces

· ■■

· ■■]

Thinking about it carefully, I could figure out one of them.

It was their names.

After all, I still hadn’t learned the name of anyone except Edwin.

But I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to restore their names.

I opened the map of Belmont Duchy, which I had already looked through several times.

By now, most of the areas had been unlocked, so I could move around freely.

As for the areas that hadn’t opened at all, I couldn’t tell whether they were simply difficult to enter or whether I couldn’t enter them because I hadn’t fulfilled the necessary conditions.

For example, Edwin’s room.

‘Will I get a chance to go in there later?’

I searched the map for a while but couldn’t find anything unusual, so I eventually closed it again.

‘I should go for a walk.’

I felt bad about wasting the day by waking up so late, so after finishing snack time, I left my room to make the most of what remained of the day.

And just as I turned the corner to head down the stairs, I heard quiet voices coming from somewhere.

“But, Adviser, the night shifts are already too harsh. If we assign people to every area, no one will have any time to rest.”

I didn’t even need to look to know that it was the head maid’s voice.

Were they talking about the working hours we had discussed last time?

Trying not to be noticed, I tiptoed slowly toward the sound.

And sure enough, the adviser standing in front of the head maid also had a troubled expression.

‘Who would have thought that the world’s most strict-looking person would turn out to be such a plump, friendly-looking old man?’

I briefly looked at the adviser’s slightly flushed cheeks before turning my attention back to their conversation.

“But, Madam, the terms regarding night work are clearly stated in the contract.”

“Even so!”

“Now, now. I’m telling you, this isn’t something I can change at my own discretion.”

But… the conversation between the two was becoming increasingly heated.