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Chapter : 8
The entrance to the basement was unexpectedly connected to a door beside the garden.
From Lacal’s carriage, the garden had looked quite different.
It had seemed like a shabby yard with only two flowers and a couple of trees.
But from inside, it felt like a dense little forest.
“So there’s spatial expansion magic here too. I’ll have a picnic after I deal with the basement mage.”
Unlike the first floor, the basement had very few lamps on the walls.
Instead of proper doors, there was only a pitch-black iron door.
To avoid giving anyone a reason to complain later, Charlotte politely knocked.
Bang bang.
“I’m the owner of this building. Please open the door.”
“….”
“I said I’m the new owner. Please open the door.”
Even after calling twice, there was no response.
“Pretending no one’s home won’t work. I know there was an explosion earlier—you’re inside.”
Provoking Pierce, Charlotte pressed her ear against the iron door.
But the thick metal blocked even the slightest sound.
“Are you avoiding me right now?”
After staring at the door for a moment, she spoke haughtily.
“You’re not afraid of killing people, but you’re afraid of me? Interesting.”
Still no answer.
Silence filled the hallway.
Charlotte smiled faintly. How ridiculous.
Even if they didn’t meet, there were plenty of ways to deliver a message.
“You’re a mage, so you’re probably watching me through some magical device or recording my image somewhere.”
Stepping back from the door, she declared clearly,
“Sir Pierce, please vacate this building within three days.”
“Laila, I’m back.”
Calling out loudly, Charlotte headed toward the late countess’s study.
She had remembered Lacal’s words while issuing the eviction notice.
Legal procedures for inheritance.
That meant she needed to check the tenant contracts.
Of course, the eviction itself was justified for a serial-exploding tenant…
“But there’s no way that shameless mage will leave just because I say so.”
So she needed a legal method as well.
The late countess’s elegant study was neatly organized, reflecting her meticulous personality.
Charlotte pulled open every drawer. Opened every box in sight. Searched every corner of the bookshelves.
But there were no tenant contracts.
Only countless books and a single ledger with very few rental entries remained.
“How obsessive can someone be? Did she even delete the contracts while organizing?”
She searched again. Same result.
“No. Maybe she entrusted the documents to someone else. Could that person be Lacal?”
He had handled the inheritance, so it was possible.
But how was she supposed to contact him?
“Ah! He said to send a letter with a blue ribbon if I wanted to reach him.”
Charlotte left the study to retrieve the ribbon Lacal had given her.
Just then, Laila came out into the hall and spotted her.
“Miss, it’s time for lunch.”
“Already?”
Charlotte checked the grandfather clock in the living room.
While searching the study, she hadn’t even noticed time passing.
Her morning heaviness had already disappeared, thanks to Pierce—like she had overdosed on digestive medicine.
“Fine. I should eat first. In this novel, eating properly is part of survival.”
The blue ribbon wasn’t going anywhere.
The dining room was unchanged from the morning.
Sunlight like soft yellow chicks poured through the window.
A marble table engraved with delicate grapevines.
Everything felt warm enough to comfort her disappointment over the missing contract.
Even the soup smelled delicious.
But…
“Taste is probably still going to be terrifying.”
She sighed.
“I should find a solution soon. If necessary, I might have to grab Laila and train her harshly.”
Otherwise, eating Laila’s cooking would probably kill her prematurely.
Charlotte, now planning her three-meals-a-day survival strategy, closed her eyes tightly.
Then grabbed the spoon.
“…Huh?”
Her eyes widened.
What is this taste?
She tried the soup again.
A rich, full-bodied flavor that preserved the ingredients’ natural taste.
It was completely different. Shockingly different.
Nothing like the earlier breakfast that had felt like compressed sawdust.
She turned to Laila in disbelief.
“It’s delicious, Laila.”
“Really, yeo?”
“Yes. Really delicious.”
Charlotte smiled brightly.
She tore a piece of bread and dipped it into the soup.
Maybe her tongue had been tortured at breakfast.
This simple bread and soup felt like a dish from a famous chef.
“So delicious… but there’s still not enough.”
“Hm?”
That voice… familiar.
Charlotte lifted her head mid-bite.
A man stood there.
Pierce.
He wore a long red apron tied around his waist like a waiter and held a plate in one hand.
Startled, Charlotte choked on her bread.
She thumped her chest and quickly drank water.
“Why are you here?”
“I usually eat here.”
“…Why?”
“It’s part of the tenant contract.”
“….”
“In exchange for me cooking, I eat all my meals here.”
So he was basically saying he came here every day as a personal chef.
“That’s absurd.”
“Even if it sounds absurd, that’s the contract.”
“So you’re saying you come into my house kitchen every day?”
“Only when I’m not busy.”
“Then you don’t have to come anymore. It must be inconvenient for your work.”
“It’s fine. It’s my hobby. Cooking helps me relieve stress.”
Pierce placed a dish in front of her.
A grilled salmon steak.
“If you don’t believe me, check the tenant contract.”
His grin was irritatingly smug.
She should have checked the contract before anything else.
And evicted him immediately.
But it wasn’t too late.
“Good timing. I was just looking into tenant issues earlier in the basement.”
“Really? I was cooking here, so I didn’t notice you.”
Hmph. As if he didn’t know.
He was a mage capable of long-distance teleportation.
Who would believe he didn’t have surveillance magic in the basement?
But arguing would be troublesome, so she let it go.
Charlotte wiped her mouth with a napkin and set it down gracefully.
“Please vacate.”
Pierce blinked.
“Vacate? Why?”
“Because having you as a tenant makes it feel like this mansion will collapse from explosions soon.”
“Ah, that? Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
“Oh? Did you not see the huge crack in the first-floor wall?”
“I saw it.”
“Then please pay for repairs before leaving.”
“Hm.”
Pierce leaned back in his chair, thinking for a moment.
“Well, fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s a bit disappointing, but if you’re letting me go, I’m grateful. Leaving here is actually beneficial for me too.”
Charlotte almost smiled in satisfaction—but paused.
Beneficial?
She had expected him to be upset at eviction.
Was there something in his tenant contract?
Pierce picked up a silver knife.
“But there’s one condition. If you agree to it, I’ll pack up and leave immediately.”
“What condition?”
With a meaningful expression, he sliced the salmon steak cleanly in half.
“Burn the tenant contract in front of me.”
After leaving the dining room, Charlotte stopped by her room to retrieve the ribbon.
She did, however, finish the salmon steak deliciously.
She even smiled sweetly and thanked Pierce.
Pierce looked annoyed by her reaction.
But Charlotte wasn’t going to suffer through Laila’s cooking when she could actually eat properly.
Her body was precious.
And Pierce’s cooking really was excellent.
“Maybe the late countess tolerated his explosions because of his cooking.”
Charlotte searched the study again in case she had missed something.
But again, there was nothing.
Not even a trace that documents had ever existed.
“I definitely need Lacal. He might know where the documents went.”
She picked up a quill to write a request, then hesitated.
Lacal was a Duke of Statua.
Not someone she could casually summon.
“Hmm… what should I do… ah, right.”
She began writing an invitation.
[Thanks to your kindness, everything was resolved quickly.
As promised, I would like to repay you with tea.
Would tomorrow’s tea time work for you?
If not, please let me know a suitable time.
Charlotte Abel.]
She tied the invitation with the blue ribbon Lacal had given her.
At the end, she wrote: Lacal Statua.
“Is this right?”
The moment she let go, the invitation glowed.
Then it dissolved into light particles and vanished.
“It should have been delivered properly, right?”
Charlotte left the study.
Now she only had to wait for Lacal’s reply.
She sat on the living room sofa hugging a cushion with tassels.
“Now that I think about it, I know nothing about the other tenants besides Pierce.”
Who lives on which floor, how many tenants there are, how long their contracts last.
What if they’re all troublemakers like Pierce?
The uneasy feeling that this mansion might be a cursed asset slowly returned.
“Laila.”
“Yes, yeo.”
Laila waddled forward, tripped, and slid across the floor like a slide.
She stopped right before the carpet.
Charlotte reached out in alarm.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay, yeo.”
Laila stood up smiling brightly and patted her belly.
“I fall a lot, so it doesn’t hurt anymore. And…”
She pointed at the spot she had slipped on.
“It’s faster when I slide.”
“…Right. Good job, Laila.”
Charlotte quickly agreed, worried she might embarrass her.
Don’t be too positive, Laila.
You’re making me feel guilty for even calling you.
“But why did you call me, yeo?”
