ILDBL 16

Chapter: 16

“What’s going on?!”

At the shout of a servant running down the corridor, Karina deliberately screamed even louder.

“A thief! There’s a thief!”

At Karina’s frantic voice and her perfectly acted look of terror, the men rushed straight toward Denian.

Denian, who had been glaring at Karina resentfully, clenched his teeth and leaped out the window.

A servant who arrived moments too late shouted as he chased after Denian’s disappearing trail.

“A thief! Catch the thief!”

Karina watched calmly as the male servants and guards became bloodshot-eyed in their pursuit of Denian.

“What kind of audacious thief dares to break into Count Frederick’s estate?”

“What were the guards even doing?”

While the servants grumbled, one man approached Karina.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Thanks to you, we avoided a serious incident.”

“I’m fine,” Karina replied gently.

Just then, amid the clamor, a booming voice rang out.

“What is all this commotion?!”

Everyone turned their heads at once toward the source of the voice.

Count Frederick.

After four days of working as a maid in the estate without ever seeing so much as a shadow of him, she was finally seeing the count in person.

“C–Count!”

The startled servants bowed deeply.

“I asked what this disturbance is!”

At the count’s stern voice, a servant lowered his head and answered.

“It appears a petty thief broke in. Fortunately, this child discovered him quickly, so no real damage was done.”

Frederick’s gaze soon settled on Karina.

Pretending to bow her head, Karina carefully gauged the count’s presence.

As expected, he was a powerful individual—one worthy of Largo’s caution.

He wasn’t on the level of Duke Bartius or Xavier, but by martial standards, he had clearly reached at least the peak realm.

Which meant, frustrating as it was, that Karina in her current state couldn’t defeat him.

When Karina deliberately kept her head lowered, the count, who had been silently observing her, finally spoke.

“Why were you here?”

The sudden question froze the air around them in an instant.

Karina replied as meekly as possible.

“I was looking for the restroom and got lost.”

“You came all the way here looking for the restroom?”

“Yes.”

She could feel the count’s sharp gaze boring into the top of her head.

Karina bowed calmly, doing her best to stay composed.

He’s not as easygoing as he looks.

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded, and the countess appeared, pulling her robe closed.

“Husband, what’s going on?”

The count’s attention shifted to his wife.

“It’s nothing. There’s no need for you to worry.”

“This child looks like one of the new maids…”

“Do you know her?”

“I believe she came recommended by Baron Jiken.”

Already intoxicated by the scent of the sachet Isabella had gifted her, the countess harbored no suspicion about them.

It had no effect on the count, but for an ordinary person like the countess, it worked perfectly.

Who would’ve thought the sachet would prove its worth at a moment like this?

“Baron Jiken, you say…”

Seeming to trust his wife deeply, the count withdrew his suspicion toward Karina and issued an order to the head butler.

“Tell them to tighten security. Don’t let even rats slip in.”

At the count’s warning, the head butler and servants bowed deeply.

Seeing that, Karina smiled inwardly in satisfaction.

It seemed Isaac’s team would have an even harder time infiltrating the estate now.

* * *

“They say once the count enters his office, he stays holed up there all day,” Ariel said.

Isabella added to her words.

“When I replaced the sachet pouch for the countess, I heard that he doesn’t discuss any work-related matters with her at all.”

So extracting information by charming the countess was off the table.

Still, getting the countess wrapped around Isabella’s finger was a major gain.

At the very least, the count seemed indulgent toward his wife.

It was like having a safety net.

Ariel, too, had earned a fair amount of trust among the servants.

In contrast, Karina lived like a shadow—present yet unseen.

No matter where she was, she left no trace of her presence, quietly slipping in and out of places.

As she mopped the corridor floor and kept an eye on the office the count had entered, Ariel’s voice suddenly whispered into her ear.

“Hoo— Karinaaa—”

Ah— that startled me.

So focused on the office, Karina hadn’t even noticed Ariel approaching. She rubbed her ear where Ariel’s breath had brushed it.

Even with her severely diminished inner power, not sensing someone approaching at all was unacceptable.

I need to reflect on myself. It’s embarrassing to even say I was once the leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

“What is it? If you had something to say, why not use the communicator?”

At Karina’s curt response, Ariel pulled something out from her clothes and held it out.

In Ariel’s palm was something emitting a rich, sweet aroma.

“What’s this?”

“Egg tart! Karina, you’ve never had one of these before, right? I got it as a reward for doing well in the kitchen. Let’s share!”

Grinning brightly, Ariel split the tart in half and popped one piece straight into Karina’s mouth.

Caught off guard, Karina ate it and widened her eyes.

‘What is this? It’s actually pretty good.’

It was a flavor completely different from the candied fruits or mooncakes she’d eaten in the Central Plains.

And there was no way the ducal family would ever share such a precious dessert with adoption candidates like her.

“It’s good, right? If I get another one next time, I’ll share again.”

Seeing Ariel smile proudly, Karina scratched her cheek awkwardly.

Just then, the head maid spotted the two chatting and approached with a stern expression.

“You two—don’t you know chatting in the corridors is forbidden?”

At her harsh tone, Ariel snapped her mouth shut.

“Aren’t you assigned to the kitchen?”

“A-Ah! Yes! I’ll return to my post!”

As Ariel hurried off, the head maid glanced over the remaining Karina.

Karina calmly continued mopping the floor as if nothing had happened.

A girl who always seemed present yet absent, diligently cleaning without complaint.

After studying Karina’s composed and steady demeanor for a moment, the head maid finally spoke.

“Was it Bessie?”

Bessie was the alias Karina had taken upon entering the estate as a maid.

“Yes.”

“Would you… be willing to clean the underground prison? Of course, I won’t force you.”

The underground prison…

Even veteran maids avoided going down there.

They said you could hear ghosts whispering, or beasts crying.

Though it was probably nothing more than imaginary fears cooked up by timid maids.

Because it was so unpopular, male servants usually handled the cleaning, but lately they’d been stretched thin with other duties.

If there were prisoners down there, she might even overhear useful information—so it wasn’t a bad offer.

As Karina considered it, the head maid seemed to think she was frightened and softened her voice.

“If you take charge of cleaning the underground prison this time, I’ll assign you to an easier area next time.”

That caught Karina’s interest.

While senior maids exclusively handled the count and countess’s rooms, this might allow her to assist as a secondary maid.

They wouldn’t entrust someone who’d been here barely a week with sole responsibility, but even assisting would be a major gain.

“Yes. I’ll do it. The underground prison cleaning.”

At Karina’s calm response, the head maid looked genuinely surprised.

* * *

Karina cleaned the dimly lit underground prison, constantly scanning her surroundings.

Since she only needed to clean the underground corridor rather than the cells themselves, it wasn’t too difficult.

Contrary to her expectations, there didn’t seem to be any prisoners incarcerated.

But then what was that sound people talked about hearing? In an empty underground prison?

Ghosts, my foot.

“Creeeak—”

At that moment, a strange sound—like a beast’s cry—echoed through the space.

What was that? She’d clearly checked and confirmed that all the cells were empty.

“Grrrrooo……”

Just what was this bizarre sound…?

 Could there really be a ghost here…?