The Safety Guidelines of The Duke’s Haunted Castle Chapter 61

In front of the duke’s study.

Knock, knock.

“It’s me.”

After knocking carefully and announcing my presence, I heard a calm voice from inside.

“Come in.”

“Yes, excuse meee….”

As I walked inside, I realized that this was probably my first time visiting Edwin’s study.

‘Am I really allowed to come in?’

Half worried and half excited, I opened the door and stepped inside. At that moment, the familiar system message appeared.

[You have entered a new area for the first time. Exploration reward granted. +300 Diamonds]

[New Area <Belmont Castle: Duke’s Study>

The study used by the heads of the Belmont family throughout the generations. However, the wall where a portrait of the current Duke of Belmont should be hanging is completely empty.]

Just as the description said, the wall behind the desk where Edwin was sitting was empty, with only the marks left behind by a large picture frame.

“Nadia.”

“Uh, h-hello.”

I had been staring over his shoulder for a while, but when I heard his puzzled voice, I quickly snapped out of it and stepped forward.

“What brings you here?”

“Oh, actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you. Do you have some time? If you’re busy, I can come back later.”

“No.”

He put down the fountain pen he was holding and gestured toward me.

“Since you have come all the way here, sit down and tell me.”

“Ah….”

If I jumped straight into the main topic, wouldn’t that make me seem too cold and businesslike?

I nodded lightly in thanks and sat down in front of him. Wanting to loosen the strangely stiff atmosphere, I casually started a conversation.

“Have you eaten?”

“If you mean dinner, not yet.”

I see…. But did that mean we always had to arrange things in advance to eat together?

I often ran into Edwin in various places around the castle, but I had never once encountered him in the dining room.

We couldn’t even have a coincidence like that? I should probably send some feedback to the game developers….

“Have you eaten, Nadia?”

“Not dinner, but I just had a light meal. Oh, Edwin, have you tried the carrot cheese bread?”

“If you mean the bread the chef made today… yes, I have.”

Only then did I notice a small tray beside his desk. On it was a neatly shaped plate, now completely empty.

‘If even Edwin ate the whole thing, doesn’t that mean it was really good?’

Edwin usually finished his meals after only a bite or two. Sometimes, he looked as though he was only eating the minimum amount of food needed to keep himself alive.

I suddenly wondered why he ate so little, but….

‘Well, I’m sure the game developers have some reason for it.’

Based on everything that had happened so far, I accepted it on my own and nodded.

“I just ate some too, and it was really delicious.”

“You seemed to be busy since this morning. Is that why you only ate now?”

“My first meal was a little late. I overslept….”

“You overslept?”

His red eyes quietly fixed on me. Realizing that his gaze was asking me to explain, I quickly added,

“Oh, I didn’t go to sleep until after dawn.”

“Did you have trouble sleeping?”

“Huh? Uh, no, it wasn’t that….”

His question sounded like he genuinely had no idea, and for a moment, I completely forgot what to say.

Could he really have no memory of it? Of course, the Edwin I met during the day had never mentioned the Edwin I met at night….

I wondered whether I should tell him or not.

But that concern didn’t last long.

There was no reason to hide the fact that I had met the other Edwin. In fact, I thought that if I hid it now, I might end up having to tell an even bigger lie later.

“Phew, actually, Edwin came to visit me.”

“What? I… did?”

Edwin looked at me in confusion, but then his expression immediately hardened as if he had realized what I meant.

“‘He’ came to see you.”

“Yes….”

“Have you met him several times?”

From Edwin’s question, I realized one thing.

‘So he at least expected that I’d met him once.’

If the Edwin at night knew what had happened to Edwin during the day, then the current Edwin must have expected something like this to happen to some extent.

“Yes, about once a week. And… I also know that you don’t like ‘him’ very much. He told me so himself….”

“Hah.”

Edwin let out a faint sigh and looked at me with his clear red eyes.

“Did he tell you why I hate him?”

“Sort of….”

His tone seemed slightly sharp, and I suddenly became conscious of myself.

‘The Bad Edwin I met wasn’t that bad of a person….’

Could there be some kind of misunderstanding between them? With dissociative identities, they couldn’t exactly meet and talk things out, so maybe resentment had built up more easily…?

Honestly, this was too difficult.

It was hard enough trying to make two friends reconcile. Was I really supposed to resolve a misunderstanding between two personalities who couldn’t even meet?

‘Please don’t let this become a quest.’

With that thought, I carefully gave him my opinion.

“He didn’t seem like he was planning to hurt me.”

“That must be because of the bracelet on your wrist.”

“Huh?”

I looked down at Carmen’s peace herb bracelet, which was still dangling from my wrist.

‘Because of this bracelet?’

Well, the system had strongly recommended that I buy it as a beginner’s tip, but….

“I found it strange that nothing happened even though the sacred statue protecting you from him had disappeared, so I searched through some old books. There was information about that bracelet.”

“Ah….”

“So if that bracelet disappears, I don’t know how his attitude toward you might change. Please, stay away from him.”

Edwin warned me seriously.

“‘He’ is an evil existence beyond words. He forcibly takes control of my body against my will and uses it as he pleases. He is also the one who killed every fiancée who entered this castle.”

“Is… that so?”

Hearing that suddenly made me curious.

“Then… was putting the upside-down statue in my room something you did to protect the fiancées?”

“What? That…”

Edwin looked as though I had caught him completely off guard. It seemed he had never expected me to ask such a question.

It wasn’t even something I had asked with any particular intention. I had simply become curious all of a sudden….

“I don’t remember exactly.”

“Huh?”

But I was just as surprised by his unexpected answer.

He didn’t remember something he himself had done?

“…Then could you tell me about the fiancées he killed? I want to know why they were killed.”

The Edwin at night had explained that they had made him ‘want to kill them.’

Then I wanted to know what exactly he had seen in those fiancées that made him want to kill them.

But.

“I don’t know.”

Once again, Edwin gave me an unexpected answer.

He himself seemed confused by his own answer, and his expression looked even more troubled than before.

“You don’t know?”

“I think it’s because it was… so long ago. But even if my memories aren’t complete, that doesn’t change the fact that ‘he’ is an evil existence. He even brutally killed members of my family.”

“Family…? Your parents?”

Really?

I had never heard anything about Edwin having siblings, so naturally, I assumed he meant his parents.

Could the reason Edwin was already serving as duke despite being so young be because his parents had died that way…?

“No.”

Thankfully, it seemed my guess had been wrong.

“They passed away before that. So my uncle served as acting head of the family until I inherited the title.”

“Then when you say ‘he’ killed…?”

Edwin nodded, his face turning cold.

“Yes. My uncle and aunt.”