Damn! Damn! Chapter 12

Oh. Only then did Achim realize that the effects of the drug had worn off, and he began rummaging through his scruffy crossbody bag.

A moment later, after popping the cap of the brown glass bottle and drinking the liquid inside, Achim spoke to the taxi driver in a voice that had transformed in an instant.

“Please take me to Michael Bernhard’s mansion.”

The taxi came to a stop near the entrance, quite a distance away from the main building of the mansion.

Because security was so tight, those whose identities were not verified were not even permitted to step foot inside the entrance.

Achim got out of the taxi and approached one of the guards standing watch.

The guard, dressed in a suit and standing at ease with an earphone in one ear, checked Achim’s ID against his face and soon cleared the way.

With a heavy clanking sound, a massive arched iron gate— well over twice the height of an adult man— opened up, splitting right down the middle. Achim stepped through the gap.

Even on the way from the main gate to the servants’ quarters near the main building, the number of guards was substantial; at a rough guess, there seemed to be dozens of them.

Even Bellevue Palace wouldn’t be quite this much.

Feeling the sheer worth of Michael Bernhard all over again, Achim walked diligently toward the area with the fountain.

Spherical light bulbs were placed at every step across the garden where the sun had set. Thanks to them, Achim didn’t have to worry about tripping, and as he reached the vicinity of the fountain, he looked up at the main building directly ahead.

One, two, three… Counting the numbers with his eyes, Achim fixed his gaze on a specific spot. It was the only room on the third floor with its lights turned on.

That must be Michael’s bedroom or his study.

It was just as Achim narrowed his eyes and looked intently at the window where the light leaked out, almost as if staring it down. A shadow seemed to cast over the curtain, and soon, a large hand appeared and yanked the curtain wide open.

Naturally, the owner of the shadow was Michael. Without even glancing around, he locked eyes with Achim in one shot. It was as if he had known all along that Achim was standing there.

Achim was startled enough to scream, but pretending to be unfazed, he casually bowed his head. This was because, according to his information, a Royal Alpha possessed an astounding visual acuity of 3.0 and an excellent ability to discern objects even in the dark.

Even though it was pitch black, his expression would be plainly visible to the man, so he had to play the role of Yvonne right up until the moment he turned away.

When he lifted his head, Michael was still looking down at Achim. What’s more, he was leaning obliquely against the window frame with his arms crossed, as if he intended to observe him in earnest from now on.

— Hmm, it looks like that was actually the appearance score.

Damn it. The man was undoubtedly evaluating his looks again.

Achim gritted his teeth inwardly, but with a smiling face, he bowed from the waist once more.

He politely bent and straightened his torso, then turned his steps to the left. Whether Michael drew the curtains closed again after that was impossible to know, nor did he care.

Achim hurried his pace toward the servants’ quarters.

Right around the time he reached the front of the building, Achim turned around at the sensation of someone’s presence nearby.

…Martina?

His brow furrowed automatically at the sight of her coming into view. Achim ignored Martina and walked into the dormitory.

When he opened the door, for some reason, Dora wasn’t in the room. Looking around the room, Achim placed the items he had purchased before going to meet Linus during the day onto Dora’s bed.

What Martina had stolen a few days ago were personal hygiene products. Since what had been taken was a necessity and not something else, Dora had braved her fears to speak to Martina.

Furthermore, because not much time had passed since his day off, it was impossible for Dora to go outside the mansion right away, so Achim had gone and bought them instead.

Achim looked at the clock hanging on the wall. 9:30 PM. It was already nearing ten o’clock in the evening.

Perhaps because he was at an age where he was growing fast, Dora slept a lot, and he slept so deeply that he would drop off as if passing out every single time.

Since such a boy was nowhere to be seen at the hour he should have already finished preparing for bed and be lying down, it was only natural to find it strange.

As time ticked by, his strangeness turned into worry. This was because even after Achim had washed up and come out, Dora was still nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go? Achim muttered to himself, eventually leaving the room just as he was in his casual clothes. The words of Linus flashed through his mind for a split second, but it was only after he made the excuse to himself that this would be the last time.

It happened while he was walking down the long hallway after leaving the room. Inside the quiet building where everyone had clocked out, he felt that same presence from earlier, causing Achim to snap his head around reflexively.

“…Martina?”

At the end of the hallway, beside the stairs leading to the upper floor, Martina stood behind the wall, casting a long shadow.

When Achim called out to her, Martina flinched violently as if her body had bounced.

Achim slowly narrowed his eyes. He felt that Martina’s reaction was highly unusual. He recalled that on that day, he hadn’t done anything severe enough to warrant her swallowing down that much fear.

It was while Achim was staring down the dark end of the hallway as if sizing her up. Martina suddenly muttered, “No, no,” then whipped around and ran up the stairs to the upper floor.

Why is she acting like that? Achim tilted his head in confusion, then looked ahead once more.

And it was just as he was about to take another step.

He came to a dead halt, stopping his movements. It was because a sudden sense of déjà vu had flared up within him.

Come to think of it, hadn’t she followed him inside earlier in front of the building as well, acting as if she had something to say?

Achim whipped around backward once more.

Staring at the end of the hallway where Martina had vanished, his eyes soon grew a fraction wider. This was because the only point of contact between the two of them was Dora.

Having thought that far, Achim immediately set off.

“Martina!”

Achim dashed to the end of the hallway in an instant, taking the stairs three or four at a time. As if realizing his intention, Martina increased her speed up the steps even further.

However, there was no way she could beat him in either speed or physical strength. Besides, the servants’ quarters was only two stories high. Before Martina could even step onto the stairs heading to the rooftop, her wrist was grabbed by Achim.

“L-Let go of this!”

Martina resisted desperately, trying to fling Achim’s hand off. Because she was resisting so intensely, Achim had no choice but to bind her other wrist as well.

With both her hands pinned, Martina whipped her head from side to side. It was to the extent that her already disheveled hair flew in all directions.

“I— I don’t know! I… I…”

Martina incessantly mumbled words that made no sense.

Achim, who was staring intently down at her, soon hardened his face. Seeing her face turned deathly pale, a foul premonition instantly crawled up his ankles.

Peering into her unfocused pupils, Achim called out, “Martina.”

“I don’t, know, I… I didn’t see anything.”

I didn’t see. At those words, Achim’s eyes went wide. Strength poured automatically into the hands gripping Martina’s wrists. As Martina let out a pained groan, Achim lunged his head forward and demanded,

“Where is Dora?”

“Ngh…”

“I asked you where he is!”

Achim shouted outright. When he did, Martina’s pupils stopped trembling, if only for a brief second.

“Dora, where is he.”

Suddenly, tears dropped straight from Martina’s eyes. At the same time, Achim froze entirely.

For a moment, a silence stretched out as if time had ground to a halt.

Following that, at the sound of Martina muttering again with empty eyes, Achim set off, his face drained of color.

Not even having the time to take the stairs, Achim leaped straight out of the second-floor window. Landing soundlessly upon the grass, he immediately pushed himself up with one hand against the ground.

— The storeroom… In the storeroom…

Using Martina’s words as his lead, Achim headed toward the place where the storeroom was located.

Dora, and the storeroom. Anxiety surged far beyond mere doubt at the two concepts that absolutely did not fit together.

Surely nothing has happened. He wanted to believe that, but Martina’s face, which rendered that wish utterly useless, kept flashing before him, so Achim clenched and unclenched both his fists to dispel the anxiety.

The storeroom was located dozens of meters behind the servants’ quarters, and fortunately, it wasn’t far, so reaching it took only an instant.

As soon as Achim arrived in front of the storeroom, he knocked on the door a couple of times with a clenched fist.

However, it was silent inside the storeroom. He tried pulling the doorknob, but it wouldn’t open, and when he pressed his ear close to it, he couldn’t sense any sign of life either.

Under normal circumstances, he would have turned back without a second thought. After all, it was an hour long past the time the servants clocked out.