“L-Lodriz? You’re a Lodriz?”
Sellir’s shocked voice echoed down the corridor.
She wasn’t alone.
Dilaf and Suriel were there too.
It felt like I hadn’t seen them in ages.
I reflexively raised my arms to protect my face.
“Why? Are you preparing to kill me now? Was my family the biggest fucking disaster of them all?”
“No……”
“Fucking ancestors.”
I cursed viciously.
Sellir suddenly shouted,
“Don’t insult them!”
Her voice was so loud that I glanced toward the door.
Surely everyone inside had heard.
But perhaps Holloway had done something, because no one came out.
Why did Sellir suddenly become that furious?
I couldn’t ask.
She wiped tears away with the back of her hand.
Then turned and left.
Uh.
Why is she crying?
The remaining demons stared silently at me.
Then followed Sellir.
Holloway turned my stunned face away from the empty corridor.
“Everything’s been exposed. You worked so hard to hide your family.”
“Uh, um……”
System!
What am I supposed to do when your help is this sloppy?!
Holloway leisurely enjoyed my panic.
Then gently swept away the hair that had fallen over my face.
“I said I’d give you one chance. I won’t hurt you for now.”
“W-What about everyone inside?”
“…….”
Are you going to kill them?
“I won’t personally kill them. I’ve decided to watch for now. But if they wander around and get killed by monsters, there’s nothing I can do.”
“That’s fair.”
It would be absurd to expect the demons to protect us.
Honestly, the fact that they’d even decided not to kill us themselves was already admirable.
That’s dangerous.
I’m starting to find them endearing……
“……Thanks.”
Holloway took my hand.
I didn’t reject him.
Instead, I squeezed back tightly.
His large hand cupped my cheek.
His upper body slowly leaned toward mine.
His face came closer.
I couldn’t move away in time.
I only pressed my lips tightly together.
Then—
the handle turned.
The door flew open.
“Lady Evelyn, what are you doing out here……. Holloway!”
In the blink of an eye, Holloway transformed back into a child.
Moran looked incredibly happy to see him.
Holloway pretended to be shy and hid behind me.
Moran looked disappointed.
“Have you been traveling with Holloway this whole time?”
“Yes. Every time you happened to encounter me, Holloway was with me too.”
“……How is that possible? We keep getting separated.”
“It is suspicious. Feel free to suspect me as much as you want.”
I answered casually and glanced inside.
Apparently none of them had heard our conversation.
The instant the door opened—
Cynthia shot outside and hugged me from behind.
“What are you doing?!”
“You look at me like I’m some shameless degenerate.”
If you know that, could you please let go?
Instead of becoming offended, Cynthia happily rubbed her face against my back.
“Evelyn. Doing this alone will be difficult.”
“What? I’ve been doing everything alone so far.”
“Not that. I mean the island’s secret.”
She rested her chin on my shoulder.
Then released a slightly heavy sigh.
“Nothing standing above power remains completely clean. I knew that. But I didn’t imagine it would be this terrible. If the founding Emperor created a place like this and people are still suffering endlessly because of him, then we should take responsibility and end it with our generation.”
Cynthia seemed to have made her decision.
She said that even if she lost her power and position because of it—
her heart would be at peace.
Honestly, I expected the difficult Cynthia to insist absolutely not.
Her decision came surprisingly quickly.
Apparently noticing my reaction, Cynthia explained.
“I’m someone who follows my convictions, Evelyn. This isn’t something that can be resolved through my decision alone. But I can’t leave a place containing the Empire’s darkness untouched. We can rise again no matter what happens. But those demons…… no, those victims don’t even have that opportunity.”
“Exactly.”
Unlike me, Cynthia could put things into words logically.
She said exactly what I wanted to say.
Then she hugged me even tighter.
“So take me with you. Don’t let go of me any more than you do Holloway. Knowing the truth erased some of my fear, but……”
She would never forget that near-death experience.
Yet she probably couldn’t complain aloud anymore.
Suriel had acted that way because of the founding Emperor, who had led everything.
Cynthia inherited that Emperor’s blood.
She couldn’t bring herself to resent him.
“Still, I think I can do it if I’m not alone.”
“Me too. Two people are better than one.”
I firmly held Holloway’s hand.
I hoped my feelings would reach him—
that I would never abandon him.
***
Forward!
I sent Cletta into one of the unlocked rooms first.
Room 102.
“There’s nothing here, Evelyn.”
He held out a hand for me to enter.
I ignored it and rushed inside.
Room 102 looked more like an employee break room than a guest room.
Lockers.
Tables.
Sofas.
Everything needed for people to rest.
“Little brat, stay here.”
“Stop interfering!”
“No.”
“Lord Cletta, why are you treating Holloway like that?”
Moran tried mediating between Cletta and Holloway as they bickered.
Leaving the three of them to play around, I walked toward the lockers.
They were covered in spiderwebs.
Werner had approached without me noticing.
I pointed.
“Open it.”
“…….”
He looked dumbfounded.
Still, Werner opened the locker.
Only spiders and dust were inside.
It said something was hidden here, so I expected something.
Was this a fake-out too?
We opened them one by one.
Werner repeatedly glanced toward me.
He seemed to hesitate.
Then finally asked,
“Lady Evelyn, are you not afraid? If this truth becomes public, the repercussions will be enormous. It could shake the very foundation of the Empire. No matter how long ago it happened, the people will be furious. Stones will be thrown at us.”
“You’re right. If the imperial family and the most powerful noble houses of Balone collapse, the Empire won’t remain untouched either. There’ll be chaos.”
“Even then, I doubt the houses themselves will ever disappear. They are pillars supporting the Empire. No matter how fiercely they’re condemned, they cannot simply be removed.”
“I’m not so sure……. Compensating all the victims alone could leave those families staggering.”
It wasn’t like only a handful of people had died……
“Lady Evelyn, I think you underestimate the wealth of our families, including your own.”
“If our houses don’t collapse, then they’ll make sure the ones remaining here do. Assuming that’s what they want.”
“……So it was never our choice.”
I pushed past Werner’s conflicted face and approached another locker.
“Big sis! That old man keeps teasing me!”
“Really? Go kick him.”
I answered Holloway halfheartedly.
Then opened another locker.
A thick notebook appeared.
I grabbed it before Werner could see it.
“Holloway, you can’t randomly kick people!”
Moran stopped the unreasonable Holloway.
Seriously.
He’s completely different as a child and an adult.
Are there actually two personalities inside him?
[Obtained ‘Lodriz Journal’!]
[Lodriz Journal
Feature: A journal written by members of House Lodriz, including Myers. Everything that happened inside the hotel has been recorded without omission.]
[※Myers Lodriz is the younger brother of the 7th head of House Lodriz.]
Not the family head?
His younger brother?
When was the seventh generation……?
Normally—
the heir learned about the island from the family head.
Then stayed safely behind while sending knights to destroy everything here.
So why did this person enter personally?
According to the description, Myers wasn’t the only one who had written in the journal.
Did that mean multiple members of House Lodriz had entered personally?
“Wait.”
I repeated the name ‘Myers’ displayed in the window.
It sounded familiar.
The seventh generation was long before I was born.
So why?
I frowned, searching my memory.
Then I remembered.
Myers!
Even my brother and I knew that name.
Before the seventh family head died, his final request was that the detached residence Myers had used during his lifetime be preserved.
He wanted future generations to remember him.
We were told Myers had been gentle and warmhearted by nature.
That he had risked his life to resolve something in his brother’s place—
and never returned.
The seventh head apparently wanted to explain more.
But Myers had ordered him never to speak about it.
So no one knew where Myers went or why.
And apparently—
he had entered this hotel.
The seventh head had mourned and apologized to his younger brother his entire life before eventually dying.
Then perhaps Myers had entered this place specifically to end the cycle.
Maybe my family wasn’t made entirely of horrible bastards.
A faint hope rose.
Alongside fear that the journal might instead reveal we had done something even worse than everyone else.
[You found the ‘Lodriz Journal.’ Loading ‘Hidden Story (1)’!]
[Hidden Story LOADING=͟͞(๑•̀д•́๑)…….]
[‘Hidden Story (1)’ loading complete! (•̀ᴗ•́)و]
[Open the book yourself and read the hidden story inside.]
You aren’t showing me automatically for once?
I mentally prepared myself.
Then opened the book.
Before I could read—
someone struck the back of my neck.
THUD.
As I staggered and collapsed—
I saw Sellir’s emotionless face.
And every member of our group lying unconscious.
“Sellir……”
“…….”
“You’re fucking strong……”
“Pfft.”
I think I heard Extenron laugh……
Before I hit the floor—
Holloway caught me firmly.
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