Chapter 53: The Hidden Floor
It was the butler.
He was the first person they had seen in quite a while. Yet his eyes weren't focused on them, they were fixed entirely on the object in Alina's hands.
The moment Nuri noticed that, he knew they were in a rather unpleasant situation. They could probably try to play it off, but judging by the look in the butler's eyes, Nuri had a feeling that wouldn't end well.
“So?” the butler asked. “What are you two doing?”
Nuri's mind raced. What should I say? He needed an answer that would get them into the least amount of trouble.
“Actually, we were just looking around the mansion,” Alina explained. “We decided to sit down for a while, but then we found this thing on the floor. Do you know what it is?”
The butler stared at her silently, his expression remaining completely unreadable. It was almost as if he were carefully assessing whether Alina was telling the truth.
After a few seconds, he reached forward and took the crystal from her hand.
“You do not need to know.” His voice was cold. “You are guards. I hope you do not meddle in matters that do not concern you.”
And just like that, their only clue was gone. The butler turned and walked away without another word.
The siblings remained silent.
“Let's go back to our room,” Nuri finally said, standing up with several dark lines seemingly appearing across his forehead from frustration.
As soon as they entered their room, Nuri closed the curtains. He checked the door, locked. He looked around the room, but nothing seemed out of place.
Only after making sure they were alone did he walk toward Alina and sit her down on the bed. His expression had become unusually serious.
“Why are you acting like this?” Alina looked at her brother with concern.
“Listen carefully.” Nuri lowered his voice. “That crystal... it's a drug.”
“A drug?” Alina stared at him. “How could something like that even be inside this mansion?”
“I don't know.” Nuri shook his head. “But listen. It's not a simple drug.” His expression darkened. “That thing is usually fed to monsters to control their outbursts.”
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Alina's eyes widened. “What do you mean, control their outbursts?”
“Exactly what I said.” Nuri leaned closer. “Researchers use it when they're studying monsters, they use it to investigate their weak points. Obviously, the monster will take the crystal as something it can eat, but the drug inside it is meant to sedate them.”
Alina's expression slowly changed. “Wait...” She looked toward the door. “For something like this to be inside the mansion...” Her voice became quieter. “You mean there might be a monster inside?”
“I'm guessing that's what knocked me down last night.”
Silence filled the room.
The situation had become far more complicated than they had expected. If there really was a monster being kept inside the mansion, then there was a possibility that Talia was involved in something far more serious. And if drugs used to control monsters were being stored here, there could be other people involved as well.
They needed to proceed carefully. They couldn't simply accuse someone without proof; they had to find out what was happening first.
“This is too much,” Alina muttered as she collapsed onto her bed. “I just wanted to have a nice day, but somehow it ended up turning into this me—”
Thump.
Both siblings froze. The sound had only happened once, but that was enough. They recognized it.
It was the same sound they had heard the previous night.
Alina slowly lifted her head. “It's not nighttime yet...” She looked toward the ceiling. “Then why can we hear it?”
Thump.
This time, they heard it much more clearly.
Nuri's expression changed. “It isn't coming from outside.” He looked upward. “It's coming from the roof.”
Alina stared at him. “Wait...” She suddenly remembered something. “Now that I think about it, this mansion is definitely big enough to have more than one floor.”
Nuri nodded. “But we haven't seen a single staircase.”
That was strange. Very strange.
The sound continued.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Then it suddenly stopped.
The siblings remained silent, listening carefully. Nothing.
Alina thought about the sound for a moment. “From the sound alone, it's pretty heavy...but not heavy enough to be a monster.”
Nuri looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“The footsteps.” She carefully considered what she had heard. “They're strong, but they don't sound like something enormous.” She paused. “It sounds more like... something agitated.”
Nuri nodded slowly. “But definitely not a monster.”
That only made the situation stranger. If it wasn't a monster, then what was making those sounds?
“And you're sure it's the same sound as last night?” Nuri asked.
“Yes.” Alina nodded firmly. “I'm sure. I heard it more clearly than you did last night. I'm almost certain it's the same thing.”
Nuri sighed. “Just when is this rain going to stop?” He looked toward the window. “It's been pouring nonstop.”
He fell backward onto his bed. For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.
“Nuri?”
“Yes?”
Alina hesitated. “I'm sorry about yesterday.”
Nuri turned his head toward her.
“I said those things in the heat of the moment and...”
“It's fine.” Nuri smiled faintly. “Don't even think about it.” He paused. “Besides, since when do you apologize?”
“Hey!” Alina's face flushed. “I'm actually trying to be nice here!”
Nuri laughed, not saying anything else. Soon, Alina started laughing too. For a brief moment, the strange mansion and everything happening around them seemed to disappear.
Then Nuri suddenly sat up. “I have an idea.”
“What?”
“Let's steal the key from the butler.”
Alina stared at him, but Nuri was still grinning.
“I think I know where the stairs are.”
Alina raised an eyebrow. “Ha. Of course you do.”
Nuri's smile widened. “Trust me.”
Somewhere above them, something shifted. Neither of them noticed.