Nighttime Encounters - Chapter 3
A booming voice rang in Rosia’s ears, soundlessly dissolving into the darkness.
[Rosia, be careful. There are many traps.]
Rosia smirked mischievously at the worried guardian spirit’s warning.
“You just take care of yourself. Don’t get annihilated by demons for no reason.”
[What do you even take me for? I’ve been the guardian spirit protecting the Empire of Escalona for 670 years.]
Luperne let out a pained sigh, but Rosia brushed it off with ease and surveyed the study.
The room was brimming with exotic and peculiar objects.
Rows and rows of oddly shaped gemstones and strange masks were neatly displayed, seemingly collected from foreign lands.
The master of the house appeared to relish hunting, for the walls were adorned with the mounted heads and hides of deceased animals.
The room was filled with the pungent and distinct aroma of the chemicals used for taxidermy.
Rosia wrinkled her brow at the unfamiliar smell.
“Somehow, today doesn’t feel quite right. My mood is utterly off.”
She had the nagging feeling that something was lurking in the shadows, watching her.
It felt like her body was tightly bound, unable to break free.
Is it because of this portrait?
Rosia stopped in front of a portrait of a woman hanging on the wall.
The bejeweled woman stared at Rosia like the woman were alive.
“If this is ‘Countess Consort, Eugene Fischer’……”
Rosia sighed as she recognized the name beneath the portrait.
Do strained relationships run in the family?
Swallowing hard, Rosia looked at the portrait and spoke.
“If you didn’t hear the man outside, Fischer, I am here at the request of the Guardian Spirit to eliminate the malevolent spirits.”
Despite Rosia’s explanation, the portrait’s eyes continued to gleam strangely.
“If you keep glaring at me like that, I’ll just leave. Don’t blame me if your son gets possessed by a demon later.”
Rosia mumbled as she fiddled with the pendant, and the portrait’s gaze gradually softened.
“Alright, then.”
Rosia gazed fondly at the portrait of the lady and then extended her hand.
Her hand stroked the frame’s rim, only pausing when she felt the hidden latch.
In the silence of the study, the latch clicked and the portrait swung open.
The secret room behind the portrait of the Countess Consort Fischer was revealed.
Within, there were elegant wooden chests, gold bars, and various documents carefully stored.
Among the many valuables, there was only one thing Rosia wanted.
It was the jewelry box that Count Fischer had abandoned his wife for and raced to Andalus to retrieve.
Without hesitation, Rosia lifted the lid of the jewelry box.
“If it weren’t for all this junk, I could have stretched out both legs and been comfortable.”
On the luxurious crimson cushion lay a string of pearls larger than fingernails.
To an ordinary person, these pearls would have been so beautiful that they wouldn’t have been able to look away from them, but Rosia’s face was plastered with irritation.
“Hey, choose your words carefully. Don’t tire me with your antics.”
Staring at the unmoving pearl as if it were a crystal ball, Rosia unclasped the necklace’s chain.
As she lifted the necklace, the red bead at the end of the long chain swung wildly.
Above and below the bead, small, pointed spikes manifested, as if they were pierced by an axle.
Around the axle, on the upper right and lower left sides, crescent-shaped gold ornaments faced each other, encircling the bead.
Rosia held the beaded pendant close to the pearl, emanating a strange energy.
If the pearl was possessed by an evil spirit, as the guardian spirits suspected, the red bead would turn black.
Rosia stared at the bead, expecting it to turn black, and then shook her head.
“Huh? No? Why isn’t it reacting?”
[Strange, this is the only thing he brought back from Andalus.]
Puzzled, Luperne approached the orb to examine it, and as he did, a black aura pulsed through the red orb.
Certainly, the pearl had been radiating a pure white light, but the color reflected on the bead was black.
The emblem of the throne, the regalia.
They had discovered the malevolent spirit that the king was hiding.
“Well then.”
Rosia clenched the bead tightly, her eyes gleaming.
A sinister energy emanated from the golden ornament that encased the bead.
Sharp blades protruded between Rosia’s slender fingers.
“Even if you come running and bow on your knees, it might not be enough, and yet you dare try and deceive me?”
Rosia whispered softly, wearing a faint smile.
“You’re dead, you bastard.”
Without hesitation, she brandished the regalia.
A strong wave of energy from the sharp tip of the blade grazed the pearl’s core.
As the pearl shattered into pieces, the black energy concealed within the pure whiteness billowed out like smoke.
The malevolent spirit, no longer able to hide, revealed its true form.
A gleam of anticipation appeared in the black pupils of the malevolent spirit, shaping its form.
“Don’t you dare try to escape. You tried to trick me, and you will be destroyed.”
Fear lurked in the demon’s gaze as it looked at the regalia.
The malevolent spirit, with its last ounce of strength, asked in a cracked voice.
[Had I greeted you in advance, would you have welcomed me?]
“Of course.”
Rosia’s lips curled at the demon’s question.
She answered the spirit, allowing her voice a touch of mercy.
“It will have to be annihilation.”
