CH 1

On a private road in Solzbourg where bell and pine flowers were in full bloom, a car, shining like a black beetle, drove along well-polished pavement.

Originally, it was a road that only luxury cars carrying Beldam nobles could use. Sitting in the back seat, Giles imagined aristocrats in formal suits and organza silk dresses driving down the street, laughing and chatting.

But times had changed. 

The Beldam nobility no longer existed. 

This car, too, originally belonged to a nobleman. The nobility was now ruined, and the Ipswin Revolutionary Army had requisitioned their property and used it to trample them.

The car Giles was in was requisitioned. There were a total of four people in the car. Except for Giles, all three were his subordinates. The car was noisy with the chatter of his men, but Giles did not engage. He wasn’t very friendly.

At first, they were reluctant to serve under Giles.

-No matter how desperate it is, fighting under a Beldam noble… isn’t that a contradiction?

It was when they got a little closer to their destination.

The subordinate in charge of driving pointed out the window.

“I can see it! That mansion over there!”

Then the rest of his men leaned in to look.

“Wow, they built a fancy house.”

“How many rooms are there? I bet half of them were unused. Tsk. How vain. We can use it as a school later.”

He could feel his men were conscious of him. Giles was also able to see the mansion where the aristocrats lived. It was a beautiful antique mansion built in the Beldam style. Of course, all the people who lived there were long gone.

Revolutionary forces had occupied this area before. They dragged out the nobles, confiscated everything in their mansions, and took them away. It was no different from an abandoned house now.

Nevertheless, the reason Giles and others returned to the mansion was for an inspection to review whether it could be an asset for the new era. If it could be used as government property, it would survive… if not, it would be mercilessly demolished.

Just like the Beldam nobles who boasted a brilliant reputation in the past.

They invaded from the mainland, occupied other people’s land without permission, chewed up the people of Ipswin and became rich. It was a time when the country’s original citizens, the people of Ipswin, lived like slaves.

However, in the aftermath of the Great War, Beldam was weakened. Because Beldam was busy defending its country and abandoned Ipswin altogether, the position of the nobles weakened, and the people of Ipswin took advantage of the gap to launch a revolution.

After about two years, the revolution came to an end.

All Beldam nobles were executed or banished. Now it was hard to find a Beldam native anywhere in Ipswin.

Giles was the only Beldam to survive those stormy days. He was the son of a landowner who lived in a mansion a long time ago and was treated as its young master.

Although he was now a Revolutionary Army officer who defected to Ipswin.

“May I ask you something, Captain?”

“Yes.”

“That kind of mansion… Are the bathrooms really the size of a living room? A colleague of mine once told me that. That the bathroom of an aristocratic mansion was bigger than the house he lived in.”

It was a pointed question. They, too, knew that Giles had the blood of a Beldam noble. He could not escape their hostile glances even after giving up all his possessions and handing over his weapons.

Giles gradually gained their trust by imprisoning and shooting people from his own neighborhood.

“You shouldn’t ask me that.”

“Captain is the only one of us with experience, right? We all grew up sharing a small bathroom with our families.”

Although Giles was their boss, he had to be careful with his answers.

Even being lauded as a hero who contributed to the revolution could not change his lineage.

“I don’t remember because it was so long ago.”

“I don’t think it’s been that long.”

The driver grumbled. Peterson, who was in the passenger seat, intervened.

“Oh, what does it matter? It doesn’t matter if the bathroom is made of gold or silver. They’re ours. Please understand, Captain. Robin is in a bad mood because he argued with his lover over drinking yesterday.”

“That didn’t happen!”

“Right now you’re thinking of a gift to give to Rosia. I hope the two of you reconcile quickly. I’m losing my will to live when I look at your face.”

Robin quickly shut up.

While they were talking, the car pulled up beside the mansion. The large iron gate surrounding it was broken and did not function properly.

Weeds grew in and out of the space that used to be the garden. The mansion building, which looked beautiful from a distance, was clearly dilapidated up close.

Giles got out of the car.

“See if there is anything left of use. I’ll look at the structural integrity.”

“All right.”

Giles and his men dispersed and entered the mansion.

‘It’s a spectacle.’

The once shiny marble floor had lost its luster. Not only that, it was a mess from the fallen leaves outside. The crystal chandelier was completely smashed and had turned into a mangled pile of wires and tubes.

The large mansion was empty. 

They had taken all the furniture, including the wardrobes, beds, and bathtubs. Not a single pen was left. Without objects, the scale of the mansion became more defined. As his subordinate said, converting it into a school would be able to accommodate many students.

After opening many doors, Giles found a door embossed with a colorful pattern. It seemed like a special space, and the fact that the door was firmly closed set it apart.

There was a large grand piano in the room. Surprisingly, it was intact. 

It was probably the only original piece to the house.

Intrigued, he approached the piano. When he ran his finger over the surface, it turned white with dust. The keys that had been sleeping under the lid were all fine. He bent over and pressed the keys one by one. It was still well tuned.

The reason they didn’t take the piano was self-explanatory. It was useless for the revolution and too heavy. It was highly likely to be damaged during transport. Instruments occupied a lot of space.

Giles could play a simple sonatina but he decided not to. In a situation where everyone knew his background, there was no need to support that fact.

His job was not to play the piano but to find and arrest more Beldam nobles. 

Giles left the piano and opened the little door in the corner. The sound of ungreased hinges echoed ominously.

There were many instruments that were broken due to a lack of upkeep. The owner of this house seemed to have loved music quite a lot. He couldn’t bring himself to sell them for money. While thinking, Giles’ eyes gravitated to the corner.

A large instrument bag was strewn about. It was a case made for a cello. Giles approached the case slowly. The zipper was open. He didn’t know why, but he felt the need to open it.

He lifted the lid.

What was inside was not a cello.

A skinny, black-haired woman was trembling, curled up.

Giles, who had not expected to find a person in a case like this, was taken aback for a moment. He could see blue eyes looking up at him through sweaty and sticky hair. The woman was not even appropriately dressed. All she was wearing was a white chemise dress, commonly used as underwear. Old beating marks were visible on her bony legs.

Giles sighed and asked.

“Who are you?”

The woman, barely breathing, did not answer. She didn’t take her eyes off him, not even for a moment. As if to protect herself, she wrapped her arms around herself.

“What is your name?”

The woman answered right away. She had a hoarse voice, typical of someone who hadn’t spoken in a long time.

“Lily.”

“What are you doing here?”

“…”

“Did you used to live here?”

“What happened to the residents?”

Lily asked. It was clear that she was trying hard not to tremble.

“The people who lived here, they hit me… That’s why they were taken, right? Because they abused and bullied people. That’s why they were punished, right?”

“Who hit you?”

“Count and Countess Bismar… Everyone.”

“Have you been here all this time?”

Not only had all the nobles been dragged out, but all the servants who were working were sent away. If she was bought with money, why would she be hiding in an abandoned house like this?

Lily answered.

“I’m hungry. I was lying here so I wouldn’t faint. It’s more cozy than I thought… I thought I was going to die soon.”

“…I will take you to where the food is.”

“No!”

Suddenly she cried out. Fear flickered in her blue eyes.

“I can’t go outside. Please.”

“There is nothing here. Everything was confiscated for the revolution. There is no reason for you to be here any longer.”

“Who are you, and why should I follow you? You might sell me or abuse me yourself.”

“I can show you my ID if you want.”

“I still don’t want to go outside.”

He was suspicious of her strong refusal even though he offered her something to eat. It wasn’t because she didn’t trust him, but she was afraid to leave the mansion.

Looking at Lily’s face, Giles recalled old memories. He had directly interrogated the nobles and servants who lived in this mansion.

-There are five people on the list. See for yourself and answer. The last name is written here. Is she family?

-…Yes.

-We only arrested four people. Where is this woman now?

-She’s already dead. So of course you couldn’t find her.

-Ah! I’m telling you, I’m telling you! She’s not even my daughter! She’s a shallow, useless woman, so we locked her up in a place no one knew and killed her. She hadn’t had a sip of water in months. There’s only a body left. Trust me. I’m telling you…

-The youngest lady was the daughter of the master through a maid. She was a lady like the rest of us.

-She was so depressed that she was clumsy and lacking in everything. She got hit a lot… she couldn’t even eat properly.

-I think it’s been several months since I have seen the youngest lady. She’s probably dead. Because no one can live without eating…

He ordered the house to be searched again for the body.

After some time, a message came from one of his men.

-I found a woman’s body. She was in the closet.

The corpse was so severely decomposed that it was impossible to tell if it was the woman in the painting. In any case, it was consistent with testimony.

The case was thus settled.

Giles still remembered the woman’s face in the painting. Her shiny black hair and piercing blue eyes. Of course, the painting was much prettier, and she looked happy, but it was easy to distort a portrait.

He felt manipulated.

“I will ask you one thing.”

Giles looked down at Lily and asked in a low voice.

Their surroundings became frighteningly quiet.

“Are you Heloise Bismar?”