Well, hmm."
Irenes, who was thinking the exact same thing as Yujire had guessed, opened his mouth.
"I don't really know as of now." "When you went to the Marquis's household, was there anything that looked suspicious?"
Laceil, who had fallen into thought again, threw another question. If a son had died in an accident at the mansion, they would have unconditionally tried to avoid that space. If there was a space where entry was unnaturally forbidden, the possibility was high that that was the problem.
"I'm sorry I can't be of help, ah!"
Irenes, who was about to apologize first, shouted as if he remembered something.
"It seemed they tried not to use the third staircase from the left."
'Third from the left?'
Laceil, who tried to recall the structure for a moment, soon gave up. Using her brain wasn't an area she excelled in. Instead, she looked at Yujire, and an explanation returned as expected.
"There are three staircases in the Marquis's mansion."
Because the mansion was so spacious, the paths to the guest rooms on the 2nd floor, the reception room, and the study were all separate. The place Irenes was talking about now was the staircase leading to the study among them. Probably, in most cases, it was a space only the Marquis family people would use.
"Since I had no reason to go to the study anyway, I never paid attention to it, but..."
If things turned out this way, it was sufficiently suspicious. Moreover, that staircase was quite steep and narrow, so it looked easy to fall if one made a slight mistake.
"As expected, that was probably the problem, right?"
At this point, it seemed a conclusion was reached. But for Laceil, one question still remained.
"...If he fell by mistake, could he get hurt that badly? How high was the staircase?" "It's a little higher than the stairs in this mansion. Because the 2nd floor is at the height of the 3rd floor of this mansion."
Laceil turned her gaze to the staircase nearby. It was a little higher than that, and assuming he fell headfirst, it wouldn't be strange if he died. The problem was why they tried to hide that fact.
"Did a ghost push him and make him fall or something?"
Luzea, who had boiled tea in the meantime, stopped listening to the conversation and asked. In her own way, she might have said it as a joke to lighten the atmosphere, but it didn't work very well. Rather, because it seemed possible that it could be true, the atmosphere sank a little more.
"...Even if it wasn't a ghost... could it be that another person pushed him?"
Irenes mumbled in a sigh-mixed voice.
"Who pushed him? In the first place, why..." "What if it wasn't intentional?"
Laceil, who was piecing together fragments in her head, spoke.
"Yes?" "When you're young, you sometimes play dangerous pranks. What if he pushed him by mistake?" "No matter what... no, that could be possible."
Irenes, who recalled again what the first son of the Marquis family was like when he was young, stopped trying to refute. Now he passed as a gentleman among gentlemen and was polite, but just when he was young, he was completely opposite. He ran wild so much that his nickname among the servants was openly 'monkey'. There were often times when he injured maids or servants while playing pranks too. So if he accidentally pushed his younger brother down the stairs, it was fully understandable. Even for the Marquis family, it would have been better to hide that the Marquis's second son died in such a way.
"...If this is true..."
Yujire let out a sigh. Even just the information that the Marquis's second son was already dead gave her a headache, but to think such information would be added. At this point, she even started looking forward to how many secrets she would learn in this territory. Of course, it was sarcasm.
"Is there a way to verify if it's true?" "Make a haunted house or something. Since you said the Marquis's second son visited too anyway? Add a setting that he became an evil spirit and possessed the house..."
Luzea, unable to endure the heavier atmosphere, flinched after throwing out whatever words came to mind. It was because everyone around her fell silent.
"No, that, I'm just saying it, so there's no need to take it seriously..." "Isn't that the best method?" "That's the best to verify."
It seemed like the best method to lure the Marquis and also verify the cause of death of the Marquis's second son.
"What? Wait a moment!"
Luzea, the person who actually gave the opinion, seemed against it, but the others had already started making plans. Everyone had encountered ghosts not just once or twice because of Laceil, so the conversation continued without interruption.
"Really?"
Luzea seemed to have doubts until the end, but everyone else was serious. Among them, Elian was particularly serious.
"How dare they use me for such a thing?"
It wasn't that Elian disliked the Marquis's second son. However, the problem was that the Marquis family engaged her to a dead person to soothe the grudge of a son who couldn't even get married. There was a limit to playing with people's hearts. Whether it was thanks to that feeling or not, the completed mansion had become a quite terrible sight.
"Even if we clean all this up, I don't think I can live here again?"
Enough for Elian, seeing the mansion where she originally lived, to say such things. Yujire told her to be relieved as she would take her in as an aide if that happened.
"What? I hate it! I'd rather just live in this mansion."
And Elian was a personality who hated paperwork a little more than ghosts. While Elian and Yujire were arguing, Laceil started examining the mansion. Everything was made almost similar to what was planned. Suspicious bloodstains next to the stairs, creaking sounds when stepping on the floor, crying sounds coming from somewhere...
'It was hard erasing the smell.'
Using paint would have been best, but there was no place to purchase it right away. Eventually, they had to use alcohol, jam, and other red foods from the mansion's storage. If Elian hadn't known how to use odor removal magic, it would have been harder.
'Still, since we made it all.'
Now all that remained was to wait for the Marquis family people to come. Since Yujire had sent a letter, they would arrive within a few days.
"If the atmosphere is like making a confession, should we record it with a crystal ball?"
Yujire was already thinking about catching a weakness.
"Wouldn't that be unnecessary?" "No, Sir Jaen! It's a chance to obtain what our Duke's household lacks the most." "Yes?" "What is the thing lacking the most in the Duke of Resean's household?" "A heart that cares for others?" "That... is also lacking, but! Information is lacking."
Hearing it, it was true. Anyway, during the few days such conversations went back and forth, a reply arrived from the Marquis's household.
Atis, the first son of the Marquis's household, was doubting the authenticity of the letter that arrived a while ago. First of all, the person who sent the letter was suspicious.
'The Duke of Resean's household.'
With that Duke's household, exchanging polite greetings when meeting in high society was the end of the relationship. There was no memory of becoming close enough to exchange letters like this. The letter, which looked suspicious no matter where or how one looked at it, started like this.
[To Sir Atis Lemain]
Still, perhaps having some conscience, the word 'Dear' was not attached.
[I received news that Lady Elian, who got engaged to the young lord of Lemain a while ago, came to our territory. I tried not to interfere in private matters, but a few days ago, Lady Elian went missing.
I hurriedly looked into the situation and found out the fact that she ran away because she hated the marriage. I am concerned that an unsavory incident might occur in the territory I manage, so I hope you come quickly and help with the investigation of Lady Elian.]
'Should I go?'
He knew the fact that Elian was in that territory. Naturally, he also had a plan to go visit sooner or later and drag Elian back. But Yujire wasn't a personality to do something helpful to others. She is kind to her ladies-in-waiting or escort knights, but she is extremely cold to other people.
'But why on earth?'
Atis stopped glaring at the letter and got up. Sitting here and thinking about it wouldn't help him figure out anything. The postscript of the letter also scratched his temper quite a bit.
[P.S. I hope you avoid rumors that the Marquis Lemain household is a careless family that cannot manage a single engagement partner.]
It was practically a threat that she would spread rumors if he didn't come down immediately. Yujire dominated high society with just that little information, but now even the information of the Marquis Lemain household was in her hands. If Yujire felt like it, it wouldn't be strange if their reputation hit rock bottom the very next day.
'Damn it!'
The letter was quite kind compared to usual, but ultimately it was a threat. Atis moved his steps toward the teleportation magic circle, unable to hold back his anger. If he went by carriage, it seemed he would get a heatstroke from anger rising throughout the journey.
'That damn Young Lady!'
Anyway, the Duke's household had never been helpful in his life. Whether it was the Duke of Resean's household or the Duke of Sieren's household, it was the same. A very long time ago, when that incident happened to his younger brother, it was the Duke of Sieren's household's fault that they couldn't hide it properly. If Irenes Sieren hadn't known that kid, they would have been able to erase his existence entirely.
'Damn it!'
While chewing on curses several times in his head, he arrived at Yujire's territory. Atis, who was about to go to the mansion where the Lord stayed first, stopped his feet
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