Welcome to the Rose Mansion - Chapter 75
“Richelle? What’s wrong?”
Her face must have looked strange, suddenly darkening. Robert asked in alarm. Richelle quickly shook her head.
“It’s nothing. Please continue.”
“If you’re tired, you should rest for a bit.”
“Really, I’m fine. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
Robert, still looking concerned, eventually continued.
“Anyway, it seemed like Neil Otis’s glory would last forever. Until one day, he suddenly shut himself up in the mansion.”
“In the mansion…”
“No one knows why. He just suddenly disappeared from public view, along with his entire family. He even locked up the mansion he was so proud of. The mansion only opened again when his only son came of age, but by then, Neil Otis had already passed away. His funeral was held quietly in the mansion, with no mourners allowed.”
Neil Otis and his family suddenly disappeared. A mansion that accepts no visitors.
It’s all the same as the current Otis family situation.
‘I see.’
It felt like a blow to the head. The strangeness of the Otis family didn’t start with the current generation.
The “sins of Otis” that Rogéros mentioned had started with Neil Otis, the first patriarch.
The realization made Richelle’s head spin. Her mouth felt dry, as if her throat was burning.
She quickly lifted her teacup and drank the cold tea in one gulp, soothing her parched insides and calming her mind.
Richelle took a deep breath and urged Robert to continue.
“So, what happened next?”
“Well, after Neil Otis’s death, the Otis family continued their peculiar ways. The heirs of the Otis family never showed themselves until they came of age. Once they did, they immediately took over as the head of the family. They would briefly engage in social activities, find a bride, and then shut themselves up in the mansion again.”
“…”
“People started saying the Otis family, with their golden touch, must be cursed. It’s common for people to enjoy others’ misfortunes, but that’s really quite tasteless, isn’t it?”
“It really is…”
Richelle paused for a moment before speaking again.
“But I heard the current Otis family was once quite active in social circles.”
“Ah, yes. That was a very unusual exception.”
Robert’s gaze drifted nostalgically to the distant past.
“It was Mrs. Otis who brought about the change. She was a remarkable and confident woman. She threw open the gates of Bertrand, hosting various social events, and unlike previous heads of the Otis family, she introduced the young heir to the public. Even those who tried to find fault with her were too overwhelmed to say anything.”
Mrs. Otis… was such a person?
Thinking of the Mrs. Otis she knew, Richelle found it hard to imagine.
Robert, sensing her quiet astonishment, raised and wiggled three fingers. He seemed to enjoy this topic.
“She even had three children. Everyone was surprised. The Otis family was known for having few children, usually no more than the heir. Come to think of it, weren’t Alan’s siblings twins?”
He remembered the twins, having met Alan before. Richelle nodded.
“Yes. They are the children I teach. They’re about to turn nine.”
“Nine years old?”
Robert’s eyes widened. He rubbed his forehead, looking puzzled.
“That can’t be right. From what I remember, Alan and the twins were six years apart.”
His words hit her like a bombshell. Richelle almost dropped her teacup, but managed to place it back on the table.
“Six years apart? What do you mean…?”
“I’m certain. If they are the Otis twins I know, they should be around twelve years old now. Their names are Penny and Nero, right?”
The strength left Richelle’s hands.
Robert had a good memory. There was no way he was deliberately trying to mislead her. The twins’ true age was indeed twelve, something even their mother didn’t remember.
So, could it be…
The image of the two children, who looked far too small even for eight-year-olds, floated before her eyes.
Even considering their neglect, they were abnormally small. Their behavior also seemed far too immature for their age, too. Richelle had often wondered about it.
She swallowed hard, her throat dry. She anxiously rubbed her hands together.
