Welcome to the Rose Mansion - Chapter 96
Richelle checked item 4. It stated not to leave the room from midnight to six in the morning, as it was their time.
Alan added his explanation.
“This time is when ‘they’ are most free. But because of that, they don’t pay attention to anything happening in the mansion. They’re absorbed in their own desires.”
“That’s why you suggested meeting after midnight.”
“Right. As long as you carry a light and move carefully, you can avoid their eyes and get a lot done. Plus, during this time, Rogéros disappears too…”
An intriguing revelation. Richelle shifted her gaze from the paper to Alan.
“Rogéros disappears?”
“To be precise, it’s not that he disappears… he locks himself in the fourth floor and doesn’t come out until morning. I don’t know what he does there.”
The fourth floor.
There was a mention of the fourth floor in the even-numbered items. It stated that the mansion has no fourth floor and that anything related to it should be ignored.
Richelle stroked her chin and asked,
“Is it certain that the mansion has a fourth floor? Have you ever been there, Young Master Otis?”
“That’s Rogéros’s space. Unless he permits, I can’t access it either. Besides, if you even approach that area, Rogéros rushes over. He’s hiding something there.”
“……”
Seeing Richelle lost in thought, Alan furrowed his eyebrows.
“You’re not thinking about it, are you?”
“I am. I need to go to the fourth floor.”
She said this as calmly as if she were going to the dining room for breakfast. Alan was horrified and slammed the table.
“Are you insane? I told you! During the day, Rogéros’s eyes are everywhere, and at night, he personally stays on the fourth floor!”
“I know it’s dangerous. But there has to be a way. I’m sure of it.”
Alan was at a loss for words at Richelle’s resolute expression. Does this woman not know fear?
Meanwhile, Richelle examined the paper carefully again. She tapped on items 6 and 8.
“What about the kitchen and the fifth garden?”
“The kitchen is just that—a kitchen. The chef is always there, and I know that even Rogéros doesn’t approach easily.”
Alan explained reluctantly. Richelle tapped the table.
The chef.
Though she had only encountered him once, the bizarre entity was still vividly clear in her memory.
Those small, black eyes, devoid of any reason.
Her body trembled unconsciously. Richelle clasped her hands tightly to calm herself.
“So there is someone even Rogéros is wary of.”
“I’ve heard the chef is somewhat different from the other ‘roses’. Rogéros said the chef is slightly outside his control. So, the kitchen is entirely the chef’s domain.”
Alan continued, turning his gaze to item 8.
“The fifth garden is just a graveyard. It’s where they dispose of bodies from the mansion. The bodies taken by the ‘roses’ don’t live forever. At some point, they stop moving like puppets with cut strings and begin to decompose.”
“…Is it impossible to reclaim the bodies?”
Alan’s body tensed. He realized Richelle was referring to the twins.
After a pause, Alan answered softly.
“It’s impossible. Once a body is taken, the original owner has already become nourishment for the rose.”
Silence followed. Richelle picked up the paper with a somber expression.
She was determined to leave this mansion.
To bring down Bertrand and Rogéros, along with Alan.
So that there would be no more victims like the twins.
To do that, she had to win the bet. Think. Where could Rogéros’s secret be hidden?
‘It has to be the fourth floor.’
The fourth floor is Rogéros’s domain. His traces would be most prevalent there, so there must be a clue to his name. Charlotte Otis wouldn’t have mentioned the fourth floor without reason.
What she needed to figure out now was how to reach the fourth floor without Rogéros noticing.
Alan said Rogéros’s eyes are everywhere in the mansion. The roses are all Rogéros’s eyes. They obey his commands absolutely…
“Ah.”
There is one place Rogéros can’t interfere.
Clearly mentioned in the even-numbered items of the Bertrand rules.
“Young Master Otis, have you ever been to the kitchen?”
“Why would I go there? To that dreadful monster’s place…”
Alan, who had been replying irritably, widened his eyes in shock. He looked at Richelle with disbelief.
“Miss, are you serious?”
“Yes.”
Richelle nodded calmly.
“I need to infiltrate the kitchen.”
