The Safety Guidelines of The Duke’s Haunted Castle Chapter 67

Crinkle.

I realized a little too late that I had been gripping the page tightly, so I quickly relaxed my hand.

‘Hmm. I feel like I shouldn’t just pretend I didn’t see this.’

If it had been nothing more than an unpleasant scribble, I would have torn it out, but it was the family genealogy, so I couldn’t touch it.

“You may freely examine anything stored in the library. However, damaging anything is strictly prohibited.”

The librarian had emphasized that point several times, which made me hesitate even more.

What if I tried to erase the scribbles and accidentally tore the paper? Wouldn’t I be thrown out immediately, special library pass or not?

No, actually, I had a feeling something even worse might happen. They had said there was magic placed on the library, so perhaps it was related to that….

Anyway, in games, things rarely ended well when you broke a restriction that had clearly been placed there with a warning not to do something.

But.

But…!

For some reason, these unpleasant scribbles seriously bothered me.

They weren’t only on Edwin’s name, either. They were also written over his parents’ names. Even if this was just a game, messing with someone’s parents was crossing the line.

‘But it feels a little strange to tell Edwin about this.’

He might already know about it. And if he found out that I had been looking through the family genealogy instead of searching for the employment contract I was supposed to find, he might think it was strange.

Still, no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong with deliberately leaving red-ink scribbles over the names of Edwin’s deceased parents and his own name.

Besides, it was obviously an important clue related to Edwin, so I couldn’t help thinking that it might be some kind of developer trick leading to a hidden quest or reward.

“Nadia.”

“Yes, yes?”

I had been staring at the book for so long that Edwin’s voice suddenly reached me.

It couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

Even with his seemingly endless stamina, perhaps being trapped in an enclosed space and repeating the same task had worn him down, because there was a slight trace of fatigue on Edwin’s face.

“It is time for a meal. Let us continue the rest this afternoon.”

“Oh, it’s already that late?”

I hadn’t thought that much time had passed, but being stuck indoors without even a window seemed to have completely destroyed my sense of time.

“Just a moment. There’s something I’m looking at. You can go ahead. I’ll catch up soon.”

“Is it important?”

He had been standing some distance away, but he closed the gap between us.

Since he would find out anyway if he came closer, I debated whether I should hide the book or not. In the end, I decided to get ahead of the situation. It was about him, after all. It would be strange to hide it from him.

“Edwin, I found something like this.”

I took the genealogy over to him, showed him the page with the strange markings, and briefly explained how I had found the book.

I also made sure to tell him that, although I didn’t know why, the scribbles made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

“This is….”

At first, he seemed startled when he realized that the book I had brought him was a genealogy. But as I continued explaining, his expression gradually became more serious.

After examining the book with an unreadable expression for a while, he touched the scribble with his fingertip.

Then he immediately pulled his hand away as if he had been burned.

No, his fingertip was actually slightly scorched.

“A-Are you okay!? Why did that suddenly….”

“It is a curse.”

“What!?”

A curse? Just like that?

Of course, I had heard bits and pieces about the cursed Belmont estate before….

‘So this wasn’t a mystery investigation game. It was an occult game all along!?’

While seriously reconsidering the game’s exact genre, I asked worriedly,

“Who did it? Who cursed you? Is it serious?”

“It is probably not that serious.”

How could he say it wasn’t serious!? His hand had literally been burned.

Edwin seemed completely unfazed, as though he was accustomed to things like this, but I felt even more uncomfortable.

These days, curses were generally considered nothing more than an old-fashioned superstition, but wishing misfortune upon someone still wasn’t normal.

“Are you sure?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, are you sure it isn’t a serious curse?”

At my distrustful question, Edwin fell silent.

But it seemed less like he was admitting that I had a point and more like he simply couldn’t understand why I was reacting this way.

In the end, I couldn’t hold back and raised my voice.

“Of course I’m worried! You said it’s a curse!”

“Worried…?”

[Affection +1 (13/50)]

…No, why was this something he could feel affection over?

Normally, I would have been delighted, but the timing was terrible.

“Please do not worry too much.”

“No, but it’s a curse! How am I supposed to not worry?”

“It is merely one of the countless curses surrounding me.”

“…Does that mean there are more curses besides this one?”

Edwin didn’t answer my question.

But from the look on his face alone, I could tell my guess wasn’t wrong.

Eventually, he spoke.

“It is not something Miss Windsor needs to concern herself with. It is merely a minor problem.”

“But…!”

“Let us go eat.”

As though he no longer wanted to discuss the subject, he started walking first.

He left the genealogy where it was.

I carefully watched the spot where he had just put the book back, then quietly followed him.

“…I’ll come with you.”

But the unpleasant red lines remained stubbornly etched in my mind.

 

 

****

 

 

 

How could I get rid of those ominous scribbles without damaging the book?

I was consumed by that thought all day, even while eating.

Perhaps Edwin had noticed that I kept getting distracted, because he carefully brought up the subject.

“Let us stop the search here for today.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You look very tired. It is not particularly urgent, so I think it would be best for us to take some time to rest after today’s meal.”

His words made me feel oddly self-conscious, so I didn’t go back to the secret library.

But no matter how hard I tried to forget about it, I couldn’t get the scribbles out of my head.

‘What kind of curse could it be?’

A curse related to his split personality?

The theory that briefly crossed my mind seemed ridiculous, yet deep down, it somehow felt surprisingly plausible.

But then I remembered what Edwin himself had said.

There were countless curses placed upon him, and the strange scribbles were merely one of them.

Even Edwin himself didn’t seem to know exactly what kind of curse it was, so my guess was nothing more than speculation.

Even so, leaving it alone like this made me extremely uneasy.

Even if it was just one of the minor curses, a curse was still something that was ultimately meant to harm the person it was placed upon.

After sitting at my desk for the first time in a while, resting my chin in my hand as I pondered the problem, I suddenly had an idea.

“Ah!”

I jumped to my feet and immediately opened the cash shop.

[Erasing Rubber — 3,000 Diamonds]

· Exactly what it says: an eraser. It can erase anything recorded on a surface in the form of ‘writing,’ regardless of what kind of writing it is. However, anything erased can never be restored. (※ Single-use consumable item)

“Found it!”

A perfect item whose function was just as straightforward as its name.

If it really was an ‘eraser,’ I could remove the troublesome scribbles without damaging the book.

The price was rather outrageous for a single-use item, but considering the rewards I would receive in the future, this much spending was more than manageable.

By the time I stepped outside my room, the sun was already sinking slowly beyond the western mountains.

‘Now is the perfect time.’

It had been almost a month since I came to this estate.

Thanks to all my observations during that time, I had gradually figured out Edwin’s daily routine quite accurately.

He rarely left his room after meals, so this was probably the best time to move around without being caught.

I slowly took a breath and checked the feel of the eraser in my hand one more time before quietly making my way toward the library.