Chapter 2

Usually if you asked a crying person why they were crying and suggested they return to their room because it was late at night, you would’ve been able to notice how their creepy crying was slowly coming to a halt. But…

My survival instinct was telling me that I should not even approach this woman to begin with.

Although she had the appearance of a person, I was convinced that she was not human at all, and the goosebumps and chills that I had all over my body, were just supporting my suspicion.

I tried to closethe door since I did not have the confidence to face this ominous figure. But right in that moment, she slowly started to turn around. It didn’t even occur to me that she would start moving. I wanted to move backwards to try and hide myself, but I couldn’t even move a muscle because I was frozen in fear.

The maid’s face had finally been revealed to me and the first thing that I noticed was her white jawline, but the moment my gaze moved slightly above her lips, I had almost screamed. There was no face above that woman’s lips. My eyes had met the eyes of a faceless woman. No, our eyes did not meet considering that she did not even have them.

After she had been standing there for a while, she suddenly turned around and disappeared into the dark hallway. This action caused me to let out a slight scream as I tried to push myself into hiding.

This was the first time that I had ever seen something  like this.

The room was quiet and the sounds coming from the hallway had stopped as well. If I had been the protagonist, I would have probably followed her to find out more about this strange occurrence, but I myself would never do that even if I had to die. I’m not crazy enough to follow a faceless woman!

I slammed the door behind me and ran toward the bed, the first place where I woke up in, and quickly laid back down covering myself with a blanket in hopes that if I reopened my eyes, that I would end up in my room again. To be honest, I have never read a novel setting where a person returned back into their original world by just reopening their eyes. Just thinking about it made me feel desperate.

Why can I see the monster maid when I’m not even Lena?-Actually, I did see the maid in the game. The two of them are enemies. She is a ghost that occasionally appears to attack Lena, but there is no way to fight her back, so the only option for Lena is to either run away unnoticed or to die.

Why is Tess Voncador able to see the appearance of this maid? I can’t believe it. I hoped that all of this was just a dream as I buried myself deeper into the blanket.

But as I put my hand under my pillow, I heard the sound of paper rustling at the same time as I felt something touching my hand. And indeed it was a crumpled up piece of paper that had something written on it.

[Subject must promise not to disclose any of the information that they receive. The company is not responsible for any compensation of any kind in case of public disclosure.

The subject must follow all the rules below on every day of the crimson moon.

The company will not be liable for compensation if any harm is done to the subject in case these rules were not followed precisely.

1. On the night when the crimson Moon rises, the mansion will feel exceptionally quiet and dark, but that is a natural occurrence. Don’t be anxious.

2. Don’t be surprised if a bird dashes towards the window and breaks it. Do not open the window and do not try to inform people about it. We are not responsible for any danger that might occur if you do open it.

3. After midnight, every time you go out to inspect the mansion, make sure that there are no locked doors. The door on the first floor, however, is excluded.

5. If you find a room with a lock door, never try to open it. Place three pre-prepared flowers at the door and bow three times. Red flowers such as anemone flowers and red roses are a good choice. Please refrain from using lilies and white roses.

6. If something falls out of the window, never check out what it is, we recommend you leave the vicinity immediately.

7. If you hear a man shouting, immediately lower yourself to the ground and go into a hiding place. Hold your breath for 40 seconds. If you feel the need to stay longer then do so.

8. Occasionally you will be able to see a carpet in the mansion get red, but since the wine has already been spilled, you can ask someone to clean the carpet up.

9. The subject has to light up all the candles in the banquet hall before dawn. If you fail to light them all up,  leave the mansion immediately. Hide in the building with the altar and wait until you see the sun raise up.

10. If you hear a window break caused by a woman’s scream, stop the ritual that day, leave the mansion and start everything over again on the next day ( the crimson moon will still be present).

11. Never talk to a maid that is crying in the hallway and stays in the same space for a long time. Be careful she is not a person.

12. If you’ve done everything correctly up until this point, the maid will be the first one to leave, meaning, that the ritual has been a success.

13. If the door is locked on your way back from lighting the candles in the banquet hall, run. Find a place to hide in but be careful not to make any sounds by locking doors or turning off the lights. Do not be disturbed by the sound of scratching or choking breath. If you are lucky enough to stay alive until the sun rises you will have to repeat the ritual the next day again. This situation occurs rarely so do not worry about it in advance.

14. There is no rule number 4 on this list. In case you are able to see it, please burn the list and visita sorcerer.

We suggest you to be careful while using the procedure above.

We wish you endless peace in the future.]

I didn’t understand all of the rules from the ritual, but I had a vague guess about number 12. Tess has finished all the tasks from the list. The fact that the crying maid avoided her and left first means that the ritual had been a success.

And this instruction list feels like the tutorial of the Black Castle game. Birds flying through the window, three flowers in front of the locked door, screams and red carpets were all events in the game.

Does that mean that I awaken the monsters of the Black Castle through this ritual? So do they use them to hurt Lena?

Oh,  I’m screwed….

I thought that I could just do nothing, but if I don’t do anything, I will die. It was very frustrating that there was no compensation for the damage to the subject if the rules are not implemented.

The damage wouldn’t be something like my clothes shrinking because I turned on the wrong programme on the washing machine.

The damage caused by failure in complying to the rules may mean that it will cost me my life!

***

Tess did not live in the Voncador mansion. For some reason the people in the mansion hated her and Tess herself didn’t like living in the mansion either. Instead, she asked the head of the family, Wolfgang Voncador, to provide a separate house for her, and Wolfgang listened to all of the wishes of the child his deceased wife cherished.  Whether it was right or wrong.

Tess rarely came out of the Black Castle. She occasionally would be called over for dinner, which was just an excuse to get Tess out of the castle. Usually, the villainous character would also be the leaders of society, but Tess was not the queen of the social world….In fact, it was believed that the Black Castle didn’t allow any outsiders to visit.

The night of the crimson moon was still vivid in my memory as was the maid that had no face above her lips. The next days passed without many difficulties. The only owner of the Black Castle was Tess, so everyone listened to her.

I even found more information about the crimson moon. It seems like it raises roughly once a month. Strangely, the crimson moon seems to be a phenomenon that can be only found in the area of the Black Castle. It’s kind of similar to the aurora lights…….

I haven’t decided on what to do about the rules yet, since I was too busy getting used to my new life here. Fortunately, it seemed like no other monsters were wandering around the castle.

Now, let’s create a plan on how to stay alive in this world. The moment I made up my mind, I received a message from the main mansion. It was an invitation to join them for dinner. I asked if it was all right to skip the dinner under the excuse that I was sick, but it seemed that I wasn’t allowed to skip since everything had already been arranged.

So in the early hours, I got dressed up and got onto the carriage. The distance between the Black castle and the main house wasn’t too far.

“Miss, are you feeling alright?”

The maid that spoke to me was named Donna, she worked as Tess’s maid for a long time. She looked really young compared to her actual age.

“You look good. You always say that you don’t feel fine, but….”

“Huh…….”

I was worried that my and Tesses personalities  were too different, so people would notice that it was weird, but nothing happened. Whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate, our personalities seemed to be the same. At least it’s not causing any complications for me so I liked that.

“- Seeing you say that, I guess that I treated you badly whenever I was in a bad mood”

“-No, you’re not that kind of person.”

This is it, the most surprising thing about my life. Why do people around me treat me like the world’s biggest villain and judge my rationality as a human being? Shouldn’t people that are the closest to a person know them the best?

Tess is not too extravagant. Her dresses were simple and so was her jewelry.

Tess didn’t bother people around her. Everyone around her was neither fond nor were they too afraid of her.

Despite being a commoner in the past, Tess had aristocratic manners. While she was still in the mansion she got a tutor and received a high level of education.

What was the secret of Tess? Why was she treated as the villain of the game?

While I was thinking about all of this, a splendid mansion came into my view. Both this mansion and the Black castle gave off a different vibe. They were located not too far from each other. I was curious as to why Tess had the desire to stay away despite the distance being this short.

“Welcome, miss.”

It was the butler who greeted me. It was a smart looking older man whose hair has gotten white with his age. His movement felt refined and his outfit was impeccably neat. He was a man who suited the position of butler in this large mansion.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

” Yes, indeed. It has been a long time.”

His answer was polite and didn’t feel out of place, after all, he did not show any signs of surprise as he guided me to my room.

“Please rest here, we will see you at dinner time.”

“Yes. I will see you then.”

After the door had been closed, Donna immediately started to arrange my luggage. Tess’s room was luxurious, but it didn’t reveal the owner’s taste at all. I started opening and checking everything out in the room in hopes of finding more clues. Perhaps, there would be more information to the guidelines that I had found on the night of the crimson moon, or as I call them, the tutorial.