Heisenberg Mansion was a three-story building in total.
The first and second floors were the main living spaces, and the third floor housed the guest rooms, but it seed people rarely set foot there.
As I toured facilities like the kitchen and laundry that maintained the household, I had one impression.
“The facilities are very well maintained, but there’s not a single servant... It feels kinda creepy.”
“No need to be scared. This is probably thanks to magic.”
“Magic cast on the whole mansion? That’s huge.”
“It must have taken considerable skill and cost.”
“But is the Countess a mage?”
“No, but the mansion obeys the Countess. She can borrow as much magical power as needed. So you won’t need to toil over cleaning, laundry, gardening. Actually, the sa goes for cooking.”
“Oh wow, convenient. Should we stay here for a while then?”
Reid just smiled faintly.
Before long, I saw more subtle signs that the mansion was deeply tied to magic.
Passing through the grand hall that had been the funeral venue, we arrived at the library. The shelves were packed with books, all related to magic.
“I recognize all these.”
Reid flipped a few books closed with a look of disdain.
I scanned the titles, hoping for a lucky discovery.
Reid walked slowly, matching my pace on the opposite side of the shelves. Occasionally we exchanged glances and brief «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» conversations through the gaps between books.
“Usually places like this hide important clues, right? Like a diary of the previous lord or historical records of family secrets.”
“That’s right. But there’s no need to look too hard.”
This ti, the dungeon didn’t flare up about spoilers. I asked without worry.
“Why not?”
“Because if you search hard, it only leads to the protagonist’s death ending.”
“What? Really?”
“Yeah. Clues aren’t used for the escape ending. They do appear in the eternal imprisonnt ending, but there you don’t need to find them yourself—they co to you later.”
Curiosity ant the bad ending. I imdiately stepped away from the shelves and stood up straight, then declared solemnly:
“I can’t let you die. Let’s never look for those.”
“Thanks. You’re the only one for , Ai.”
“Hmph, no problem.”
We shared a tender gaze across the empty bookshelf, making my heart flutter a little. Just then—
[“Inspector of Forbidden Revelations” sighs, saying you’re having too much fun.]
Snapped out of it by that chill ssage, I left the library.
We went up to the second floor. It was originally where the Heisenberg family’s retainers stayed, but now only the Countess lived in the mansion.
Except for the Countess’s bedroom, the other rooms were used to store jewels and dresses.
“Every room’s stuffed with the Countess’s clothes and jewelry.”
“They’re all gifts. The Countess was much loved, even if she herself disliked that love.”
There were quite a few unopened boxes that looked like they’d been shoved aside.
“Hmm, sounds like she had an unwanted marriage with the Count.”
Given the dark genre, it seed the Count’s love was not normal.
The Countess probably went mad enough to beco the villain of a confinent story because of a possessive husband.
“But then, at the funeral, she sees a handso, innocent priest and falls in love at first sight, unleashing her madness... That was the setup, right?”
“Ai, I’ll give you a hint.”
“What?”
“The Countess and the guest pretend to be strangers, but they actually know each other.”
“...Oh?”
Co to think of it, there was only one visitor at the funeral. It might have been a planned visit from the start.
[“Manager of the Creative Economy” likes a clever deduction.]
[“The Scales that Judge the Soul” complains they wish there was more physical action and less thinking.]
After finishing the second floor tour, only the third floor remained. Unlike the well-kept lower floors, the third floor was barely tidied up, with only the guest room properly arranged.
Especially walking away from the east side where the guest room was located toward the west along the corridor, the signs of long neglect were blatant.
Walls were so old and worn it was hard to guess when they were last repaired, the floor creaked with every step, and broken lamps gave the hall a dim, uneven light. Together, these created a gloomy atmosphere.
While walking to the end of the corridor, sothing caught my eye: large and small portraits hanging on the walls.
They all depicted the Countess, covering nearly every inch of the walls.
At first glance, one might think the Count loved his wife deeply, but knowing he was obsessive made it feel like stalking.
Still, it was a bit strange. Although the faces on the portraits were blurred from ti, they oddly resembled . The hair was also the sa pink shade.
Reid, who carefully admired the portraits as if in an art gallery, also found this point interesting.
“The Countess was blonde in the novel. Looks like the dungeon was made with you in mind.”
“Seems so. Makes it easier to get imrsed... Wait! What’s this?”
I jumped in surprise.
Going deeper into the corridor, the portraits beca couples’ portraits rather than solo, and they were all severely damaged.
The deep scratch marks were mostly focused on the male figures standing with the Countess.
“Did the Countess do that?”
“Yeah.”
“Must have really hated him.”
“Looks like it.”
“Unwanted love and obsession... See, Reid? Don’t be like that.”
“...”
Suddenly, I noticed sothing odd on one portrait: a blue gemstone earring shining unusually on the Countess’s earlobe.
On closer inspection, it was a real sapphire earring hanging like a picture fra.
“Why is this here?”
“That’s one of the items the Countess asked to be found. You’ve found it ahead of ti.”
“Oh, right. The favors.”
I quickly took out the paper listing the mansion rules and read the Countess’s and guest’s rules one after the other.
“The Countess may ask the guest one favor per day if she wins enough goodwill... The guest cannot refuse the Countess’s requests...”
Reid, a reader who had finished the original, unlocked the information.
“I rember the first favor started on the fifth day after arriving at the mansion.”
“I see. So it takes five days to build affection...”
At that mont—
[ The guest’s affection toward the Countess has reached MAX. One favor per day can be requested.]
[ ‘Countess’s Plan (1)’
Use the guest’s goodwill and affection to ask for a difficult favor.]
“Hey, Reid. They say you can ask a favor? Right now.”
“...”
“You’re already maxed out on affection.”
“Well, since you’re the Countess, there’s no helping it.”
[“The Scales that Judge the Soul” fusses that if this were a dating sim ga, you’d be seeing a 100% affection bar.]
In reality, the only visible gauge was the world-ending ter stuck at 19%.
By the way, since entering this dungeon, the world-ending ter stayed unusually low. Almost like when I got the parenting genre.
I suggested to Reid.
“I don’t think we need to rush the story. Let’s ask favors later.”
But things didn’t go as planned.
[ Ask the guest for a favor.]
[ Ask the guest for a favor.]
The system window fluttered annoyingly and refused to disappear. It seed mandatory.
Reid already seed to anticipate the situation and smiled.
“It’s okay. You can ask.”
“Alright.”
There were several options for favors I could request.
[1. Find and pick a golden rose blooming in the garden.
2. Find a treasured diamond necklace.
3. Repair the broken grandfather clock in the dining room.
4. Restore the damaged portrait.]
One choice imdiately caught my interest.
“Reid, can you paint?”
“...”
[“Inspector of Forbidden Revelations” wonders about the protagonist’s painting skills.]
[“The Cynical Balancer of Order” chuckles, wondering if this will turn into surrealist art.]
I pointed at the damaged couple’s portrait where the Count’s face was badly scratched. He sighed.
“You want to restore the painting?”
“Yeah. Retouch the blurred parts, and carefully fill in the Count’s face.”
Reid gently touched the man’s nearly gouged-out face.
“I don’t have a reference face. But I can’t just paint any man next to you.”
“Yeah, so paint it as the most handso man in the world.”
“Who do you an?”
“Look in the mirror.”
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