Welcome to the Rose Mansion - Chapter 62
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The twins must be found.
Now familiar with sprinting through the mansion, Richelle ran. The servants passed by her indifferently. Frantically running, Richelle desperately racked her brain.
Where could they have gone? Perhaps to some deserted place?
She ran to a secluded artificial forest in the garden where the twins often played. There was no trace of them. A twisting sensation painfully shot through her stomach.
“No, calm down and think carefully.”
Considering the trouble the twins often caused her, it seemed they vaguely knew about Bertrand’s rules. Then they wouldn’t have gone to the kitchen.
But then, they wouldn’t have run away with the forbidden external food either.
Now she wondered. Why had the twins stolen Richelle’s marmalade? Simply because it looked fun?
It was then, like an epiphany, a memory flashed through her mind.
—Mommy likes fruits. She eats a lot of sweet and sour things.
Mrs. Otis liked fruit, the mother whom the twins loved so much.
Then…
Richelle immediately changed direction. She powerfully ran to the reception room on the second floor of the mansion where Mrs. Otis often spent time.
Indeed, upon reaching the second floor, she saw the twins sitting on the floor.
“When will Mommy come out?”
“Will this taste good?”
“Should we just smell it?”
The children struggled to open the lid. Richelle, shocked, yelled like thunder breaking the quiet night.
“Penny! Nero!”
“Ah!”
The startled children tried to flee. But it was impossible to escape from the fiery-eyed tutor.
“Waaah! We’re sorry!”
“Don’t eat us!”
The children sobbed, trembling. Richelle confiscated the marmalade and locked the lid, then said firmly.
“I am very angry right now. Explain why you touched my belongings.”
“Uh, well…”
Realizing that tears wouldn’t work, the children quickly calmed down. Their eyes rolled around as they fidgeted with their hands.
“Mommy― she won’t eat anything― Penny just wanted to bring something tasty.”
“So that Mommy would smile. So she would say Nero is cute…”
Was it really because of Mrs. Otis?
Richelle knew from her first day at the mansion that Mrs. Otis wasn’t enjoying her meals. The children’s intention to secretly bring food for their mother who skipped meals was indeed praiseworthy.
However, she couldn’t expose external food in front of Mrs. Otis. The woman who even avoided meeting the twins would hardly appreciate the food they brought…
Richelle glanced back at the reception room door. Fortunately, there was no sign it would open. It was best to leave before the children got hurt by encountering her.
“I understand why you did it. But what happened today was wrong on Penny and Nero’s part. I was very shocked that the item was missing. Let’s go to the room and talk about what you did wrong.”
“…”
“Penny? Nero?”
Usually, the children would be incessantly whining, but strangely, they were silent. Richelle knelt down to look into the twins’ faces.
“What’s the matter…”
Richelle’s expression hardened. The children’s faces were captured in indescribable terror, pale as death.
Following the twins’ gaze, she slowly turned her head. There was…
“…!”
Something stood there, the likes of which she had never seen before, a bizarre apparition.
The initial impression was of a pale mud monster, crudely shaped into a somewhat human form.
It was enormous, at least 2 meters tall, with a bulk that filled the hallway, imposing in its size. Though it resembled a human form, its dripping, dough-like skin made one doubt its identity.
Compared to its abnormally large head, its eyes were as small as two almonds, oddly glistening, with no other facial features like a nose or mouth visible. Its arms, thick as oak trees, were longer than its torso and legs combined, dragging on the floor.
Most of all, the clothes it wore.
Though stained black, they were unmistakably those of a chef, commonly worn in kitchens.
Was this the ‘it’ mentioned in the Bertrand rules?
A thick stench of death enveloped it. Its limbs were stiff as a corpse. Richelle sensed it.
Perhaps today, she would die.
Just as she was about to step back, two pairs of hands grabbed the hem of her dress. It was the twins. Their trembling was clearly felt through the fabric.
“…”
Richelle swallowed dryly.
Richelle Howard, put away your fear for a moment. Now…
…I must save the children, at least.
She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them and spread her arms to shield the children as much as possible. But ‘it’ mimicked Richelle’s movements with its head. That’s when Richelle realized.
‘It’s not interested in us, not yet. It’s still preoccupied with the marmalade.’
Maybe, then.
There might be a chance to get the children to escape.
“Penny, Nero.”
“Huh?”
“When I give the signal, run to the room. Don’t worry about me.”
“Teacher…”
“You must run away.”
Richelle slowly moved her hand holding the marmalade. Indeed, ‘it’ reacted.
Good. If she threw this as far as possible, and while its attention was diverted, the children could escape…
At that moment.
“What are you doing?”
A displeased voice caught her off guard. Richelle, forgetting she must not be careless, turned around.
Alan Otis, with his hands in his pockets, was glaring this way.
