2026-06-29 02:20:39
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SHOULD YOU TAKE IT OFF?
"Yes... someone looked back at me."The words settled over the hidden study like a heavy fog, draining every trace of warmth from the room.The ticking of the old clock suddenly became louder than before, each swing of its pendulum echoing against the stone walls while rain continued to beat relentlessly against the windows outside. Ethan remained where he was, his gaze fixed on the Dragon Ring circling his finger as if it had suddenly become something unfamiliar.Alfred did not respond immediately.His weathered face revealed almost nothing, yet the slight tightening of his grip around the polished wooden cane betrayed what years of discipline could not completely conceal.Scarlett noticed it at once."You knew there was a chance this could happen, didn't you?" Her voice remained steady, though concern had quietly replaced the irritation from moments earlier.Alfred drew a slow breath before answering."I knew there was a possibility…. I simply prayed the possibility would never beco
THAT CHANGES THINGS
"The ring shows what you need." Alfred replied very smoothly, Ethan sighed quietly to that response, while his brows knitted together further."What if I want answers about something else?""Then you'll probably be disappointed."Scarlett tilted her head slightly. "So it decides what information he receives?""More accurately, it decides what information he is ready to receive." Alfred corrected it smoothly, the answer unsettled Ethan more than he expected.Having his own memories controlled would have been disturbing enough…. Having access to someone else's memories controlled somehow felt even worse.Alfred's eyes narrowed slightly. "When the vision happened, did you hear anything?"The question came so suddenly that Ethan blinked in confusion."Hear what?""Voices."He considered the memory carefully before answering. "No."The old man's shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly. "Glad to hear that.” Scarlett noticed the shift in expression of the old man immediately. "That reaction
WHY ME?
"Did it begin after touching water?"Alfred's question lingered heavily inside the hidden room while the distant sound of thunder rolled somewhere beyond the mansion walls.Ethan remained silent for several moments as memories from earlier that afternoon resurfaced inside his mind with startling clarity.The kitchen sink…. The cold water running over his fingers…. The sudden vision.His grandfather was standing beside the old man, and the shadowed figure whose face had been scratched away both in the photograph and in the memory itself.Finally, he drew a slow breath."Yes," he replied quietly. "As far as I remember, the first vision happened during the time I washed my hands, I thought it's a random hallucination after a long day." The old butler closed his eyes briefly, there's no surprise or panic in his face, only recognition of something he was already aware of.Scarlett noticed the subtle shift in his expression immediately."You expected that answer, didn't you?" Her voice car
WHAT EXACTLY DID HE FEAR?
"It seems the old master was right after all," the elderly butler said quietly as his eyes rested on the envelope in Ethan's hand. "The day you opened that letter was always going to be the day everything truly began."For several seconds, neither Ethan nor Scarlett said a word.The only sound inside the hidden room came from the soft ticking of an old clock resting somewhere among the bookshelves.Ethan was the first to recover."You knew about this room already?" he asked, his voice carrying equal parts disbelief and suspicion.The old butler looked around the hidden chamber almost fondly before giving a slow nod."I should know about it," he replied calmly. "After all, I helped your grandfather build….. I became his butler when he was way younger than you young master.” Scarlett's eyes immediately narrowed as she questioned. "You helped build a secret room hidden behind a bookshelf inside another room?" The old man looked genuinely confused by her surprise."Yes."Scarlett folded
GRANDFATHER'S BUTLER?
"Why would he expect someone else to find it first?" Scarlett asked quietly, her eyes instinctively moving toward the silent room around them.Ethan slowly shook his head while staring at the envelope in his hands."I don't know," he admitted honestly. "But if Grandfather really wanted me to find this, he could've left it inside his study openly or hidden it somewhere only I would understand. Instead, he hid it inside a secret compartment behind a bookshelf which is something I'm not aware of….”His gaze shifted toward the photograph once again."That feels less like leaving something for family and more like hiding something from enemies."Neither of them managed to say anything, and the atmosphere inside the hidden room had changed completely.Just moments ago, Scarlett had been treating this like the world's most exciting detective adventure.Now, the room felt heavier, and strange,cas if the walls themselves carried secrets they weren't ready to hear.Eventually Scarlett crossed h
WHAT IS IT?
"Why do you look so happy?"Ethan narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he glanced toward Scarlett, who was currently sitting in the passenger seat with an excitement that seemed entirely inappropriate for their current situation.Scarlett immediately looked offended by the question. "What kind of question is that?""The kind of question normal people ask when their wife looks like she's about to attend a festival instead of committing a crime." Ethan sighed while concentrating on driving.Scarlett crossed her arms without the slightest shame. "First of all, we are not committing a crime.""We're literally sneaking into my family's mansion in the middle of the night." Ethan stared at her with an annoyed face.She pointed a finger at him immediately."Correction…. We are conducting an unofficial investigation.” "That's still trespassing.""You own the mansion, you're the real heir of that mansion." Scarlett proudly shrugged her shoulders. “So, it can't be called trespassing.” "That isn't
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