“No, no, no… The Lady’s affairs cannot be spoken of casually…”
She retreated repeatedly, her eyes wide with panic as she stared at Xunian who had suddenly appeared, as if facing some terrifying beast.
“Xunian?” Fu Ruxue said with some surprise, “How did you escape?”
“…I used some methods.” Xunian answered vaguely.
She had sacrificed a bit of her appearance in the process.
“The Blood Moon seems linked to their abilities. We need to leave today; I’ve already figured out where the door and the Key are.”
That fast?!
Li Hua and Fu Ruxue both brightened at her words, their gazes burning with hope.
No time for pleasantries with the two of them. Xunian urgently needed to confirm something.
She turned thoughtfully to the Housekeeper, her eyes cold and unyielding as she scrutinized the timid girl clutching her clothes and avoiding eye contact.
The Housekeeper was so unwilling to talk, clearly avoiding the subject.
Could it be that the Duke’s Lady’s affairs were some untouchable taboo?
“Why won’t you tell me about the Duchess?”
Xunian considered how to pry the Housekeeper’s mouth open.
“She’s just a little scared.”
Fu Ruxue couldn’t help but speak up on the Housekeeper’s behalf.
“Miss Housekeeper, could you please tell me about the Duchess?” Xunian tried a gentler approach.
The Housekeeper shrank back at Xunian’s calm yet slightly icy gaze, replying awkwardly, “Sorry, I can’t…”
“Can’t?”
Xunian toyed with an exquisitely crafted Box she had somehow obtained, a piece of paper stuck to its surface.
On the paper was the Housekeeper’s messy handwriting:
For Miss.
Fu Ruxue instinctively touched her pocket, feeling the jingle of something that seemed to have gotten lighter.
Strange, when had Xunian taken that Box from her pocket?
“Ah! My Box…”
The Housekeeper’s expression suddenly turned frantic when she recognized the Box.
She reached out to snatch it from Xunian’s hand, but Xunian dodged.
“If you don’t agree, this Box will be…”
Xunian smiled as she tightened her fist. The Box creaked lightly under her grip.
“That was given to me by the Lady. Please don’t…”
The Housekeeper’s eyes reddened, tears shimmering as she looked at her with tearful pleading.
Xunian felt a surge of irritation but loosened her grip and tossed the Box back to her. “Fine, then don’t say anything.”
What strength could a young girl, untrained in years, possibly have to crush a hard wooden Box?
The Box was intact; the noise was deliberately manufactured.
She did have other ways to confirm her suspicions, but they would be more troublesome.
Just as Xunian was about to pull Fu Ruxue away to find a solution, a soft, small girl’s voice came from nearby.
“Wait, I can tell you…”
Xunian turned and tilted her head. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I can… but there’s a condition.”
“What condition?” Xunian asked attentively.
“Could you treat Miss a little better?” She looked at Xunian, clearly addressing her, eyes shining with a pleading light.
“The Duke is extremely harsh with her, forcing her to practice everything a noble Miss must learn for at least half the day, and if she doesn’t learn, he punishes her by withholding meals. Since birth, she’s never met anyone her age except me, let alone had friends. You’re the first friend she’s ever had, and she trusts you. I trust you too. Since you really need to know about the Duchess, I’ll tell you as much as I can. But please, just be kinder to Miss, even if it’s just a little warmth—we Miss has suffered too much…”
Her voice nearly broke as she spoke, eyes filled with a mixture of melancholy and sorrow.
Anyone ignoring the clear stitches on her neck would surely be moved.
Xunian was slightly touched, whispering, “I will.”
At least until they left, she would.
The Housekeeper took out a handkerchief none of them had seen before and wiped her tears.
“Ask away.”
Xunian didn’t hesitate.
“Where is the Duchess now?”
“The Lady passed away when Miss was seven.”
No one was surprised—they had already guessed this was likely.
Xunian pressed on, “Did the Duke and Duchess have a good relationship?”
“Not really. I was only ten then, but I often saw them arguing. The Lady was ill and would cough heavily whenever the Duke shoved her.”
“The Duke is so despicable.” Fu Ruxue clenched her teeth in anger, wishing she had delivered more blows back then.
“When the Duke was away during our childhood, it was the Lady who taught me to read,” the Housekeeper’s eyes softened with remembrance, “Now it’s Miss.”
“Where did the Duchess die? How did she die?”
“I don’t know. That day, the Lady gave me money to buy candy on the Street, and when I came back, she was lying there lifeless… The doctor arrived too late. If I hadn’t gone to buy candy, maybe she wouldn’t have died…” Her tone was heavy with guilt and shame.
“Do you know about this Medicine?”
Xunian shook the bottle she had found in the Room.
Fu Ruxue’s mouth twitched. That Medicine was exactly the same one she had in her pocket, even the wrinkles on the label matched.
How on earth had Xunian managed to find it among the mess in her pocket, taking it out without anyone noticing?
“When the Lady died, this bottle was at her feet. I picked it up and put it in the drawer.”
Judging by Miss’s appearance, she was at least an adult now. It had probably been over ten years since the Duchess’s death.
No wonder the liquid inside the bottle had thickened over time.
Xunian had one last, crucial question she hadn’t yet asked—the entire previous conversation was just to confirm this.
“Before the Duchess died, did she send…”
Noticing Li Hua’s glance, Xunian hesitated and closed her mouth.
The Housekeeper waited a long time but didn’t hear her speak, timidly asking,
“Is that all you want to ask?”
“Yes.”
The Housekeeper didn’t leave but started sweeping nearby.
“Should we synchronize our information quickly?” Xunian looked to the two others, asking.
“Okay.”
“Alright.”
Li Hua recounted again how he had seen rough stitches on the Duke’s neck that morning and then had been chased by him.
“Speaking of which, I noticed something strange,” Fu Ruxue glanced at the Housekeeper who was cleaning, then lowered her voice cautiously, “The Duke and the Housekeeper… they probably rest in Miss’s Room every night. I saw it with my own eyes that day.”
After hearing their information, Xunian combined the clues.
The rough stitches on the Housekeeper’s neck, the crude stitches on the Duke’s nape, and the fact that both went to the Duke’s Daughter’s Room at night—something flickered through her mind.
Xunian became alert and looked toward the Housekeeper.
The Housekeeper seemed to sense the gaze, suddenly lifting her head. For a brief moment, a red glow flashed in her eyes.
Whether dark brown or black pupils, normally they wouldn’t glow red.
Unless…
This is bad.
Eavesdroppers.
Xunian immediately grabbed Fu Ruxue’s arm. “Quick, come with me to the Duchess’s Room.”
Li Hua had no choice but to hurry after them.
“Why are you running?”
The Housekeeper looked at their hurried departure with confusion, her eyes narrowing in puzzlement.
Huh? Why was she cleaning here?
She had planned to leave after answering questions but somehow an invisible force trapped her here to do chores.
……
In a certain Room, a slender arm snapped off a piece of the table corner in anger with ease.
She gripped the wood tightly, absolute strength crushing it to pieces.
Wood chips fell to the floor and into the trash bin. The owner of the hand curled her lips in a playful smile.
Daring to lie to her?
Good thing she had left herself a way out—ordering the Housekeeper to encounter them in the Kitchen, giving her eyes to see their secret schemes behind her back.
No rush; the ones who should panic were them.
Finding the Key—so what?
The door to the passage was already in her hands. Even if they got the Key, so what?
As long as she wanted, Xunian and the others would never find the passage’s entrance.
…
They arrived at the Room and opened the door. Two cold, venomous gazes swept over the three of them.
The Painting of the Duchess’s golden-haired Lady frowned, and the little girl in her arms stared straight at them, a mischievous smirk on her face revealing two cute, sharp little tiger teeth.
“Come in.”
The first two stepped inside.
Li Hua hesitated, unwilling to enter.
He still remembered being bullied by this painting once, ending up flat on his back.
Placing 22 Chess Pieces onto the Chessboard, the Duchess’s expression shifted from a frown to a neutral line.
Unwrapping the bundle containing the Gardener’s Finger, she poured the small packet onto the Chessboard.
The Duchess’s expression gradually changed, a perfect gentle curve appearing at the corner of her mouth.
As her smile appeared, the Chessboard began to change as well. The strange fingers arranged themselves automatically in order.
Almost complete.
Fu Ruxue carefully placed the last small packet—the Duke’s finger she had painfully severed after much effort.
She carefully poured all of them onto the Chessboard. The entire board suddenly emitted an eerie glow.
The Duchess’s smile grew wider, her eyes crescent-shaped and filled with admiration.
But aside from the Chessboard glowing, nothing else appeared.
The little girl in the painting looked increasingly mature in her gaze, as if at some unknown point she had gained an adult human soul. She stared fixedly at the three of them.
Standing outside looking in, Li Hua met her gaze and shivered, disappearing from their sight to hide behind the wall.
“I’ll wait outside for a bit. Call me if you need me.”
On the glowing Chessboard, the Chess Pieces slowly began to move, forming a game.
Xunian guessed the Key was somewhere in this game.
“Do you two know how to play International Chess?”
She looked at the two by her side.
Both shook their heads.
“I only know the rules, but I’ve never played before.” Li Hua said.
This is bad.