I went up the low hill. I looked to see if I could see inside, but the curtains were tightly closed beyond the terrace glass.
I checked the other terraces too, but the only open place was Rilke’s room. I looked down absently at a rabbit leisurely grazing on grass.
Rilke and rabbits.
They really don’t suit each other.
“Did you really come from there?”
Naturally there was no answer.
The wind blew. The purple curtains seemed about to be visible or not, fluttering slightly before settling down.
“Young master! Oh my, where did you go again?”
It was the last night.
Jake’s voice could be heard from afar. This time, I had come out early right after eating dinner and hidden behind the bushes under the big tree.
It wasn’t something that required this much caution, but just in case it might really be related to Rilke. Soon Jake’s voice disappeared.
Today as well, the terrace of that child’s room was slightly open.
The night grew deep.
And,
Hop—
A rabbit jumped down. From the terrace of Rilke’s room.
The purple curtains stirred slightly, then a ball of fluff ran to the terrace, and hop, through the gaps in the railing. It jumped down.
It was a familiar fellow like the two that had been found so far. I looked at the rabbit once, at the terrace once.
The thick, dark curtains remained tightly closed, having sent out only the small rabbit.
Rilke really raises rabbits.
If he lost them, why didn’t he acknowledge it?
I picked up the white baby rabbit with light brown spots. Come to think of it, they’re really brave rabbits. I think I once read in a book that young animals don’t know to fear heights.
The rabbit seemed startled as its tiny nose twitched rapidly. I rubbed its forehead with one finger while talking to it.
“Let’s go together.”
Holding the warm friend in my arms, I entered through the back door where servants came and went. I had made an excuse to Jake and received the key. I didn’t forget to lock it again from inside.
Even until then, I didn’t have any particular thoughts. I even enjoyed walking through the corridor with the rabbit, receiving the tranquil moonlight together.
I turned the corner. In the windowless corridor, there was only darkness and silence. Faint moonlight followed from behind, and the carpet under my feet was soft. Soon I arrived at Rilke’s room.
I readjusted my hold on the rabbit and slowly turned the doorknob of the room.
‘I didn’t know you locked the door when sleeping.’
Rilke didn’t lock the door.
Through the gap in the door.
The smell wafting from there. Hot… and fishy.
Rilke was sitting on the floor. In that space that used to be my room, something bizarre had appeared. With Rilke in the center as the radius, black lumps protruded irregularly. It was irregular, and looked somewhat like poorly placed stepping stones.
Rilke was in the middle of lifting up a squirming black lump.
In that moment, I realized why the three rabbits had no choice but to be brave.
Quietly,
I closed the door again.
My head and chest sank coldly.
The rabbits had escaped.
The black lumps around Rilke were all dead rabbits.
“…!”
Then, I felt a presence from inside the room.
I stared at the doorknob. In the stillness, I quietly backed away. I didn’t want to be caught knowing that I had seen. Click, I saw the doorknob move. I ran.
I urgently turned the corner first. Fortunately, the carpet laid in the corridor hid my footsteps. But this was also advantageous for Rilke. The carpet on the floor was too soft, so I couldn’t tell whether he was chasing me or not.
I was breaking out in a cold sweat as I climbed the stairs.
Should I just say I saw?
No. That’s not it.
A warning rang in my head.
Whether it was a mistake or not, it seemed like I could hear footsteps from behind.
I turned another corner. I thought it was fortunate that it was an old mansion with inefficient use of space.
At the end of the left corridor facing me, I could see a single room door.
Rilke came in.
Really, he followed me.
“…I’m sure… it seemed like they went in here?”
Only that child’s breathing could be heard in the quiet room.
After a moment, Rilke moved. He examined the room, lifted the well-arranged bedding and carpet. He opened the wardrobe and rummaged through it roughly. Clutching the rabbit, I watched Rilke even check under the bed.
Finally, Rilke approached this way.
He grabbed the tilted doorknob and, swiftly, checked behind the door.
“…”
“…”
Rilke was right in front of my nose.
“…No one’s here.”
Rilke stood in that spot.
Submerged in silence, soundlessly. He stood still for several minutes.
Even though there was nothing, that child barely even blinked. From my position, I was facing Rilke at an arm’s length apart. Perhaps because of the mood, even the rabbit in my arms seemed to be holding its breath.
Finally, Rilke turned his back.
The door closed.
Only after quite a long time had passed did I carefully emerge from the passage.
This room was the room where Mother had stayed.
There was a secret here.
I looked back at where I had come from. What looked like just a wall to the eye—right behind the room’s door was an entrance leading to a secret passage.
There were conditions to open the door.
First, knowing that there was a door here. Second, having the blood of the Count Meyer family. Third, knowing the spell to open the passage.
Mother, who had been a mage, deliberately made this room with the secret passage she had discovered into her bedroom. Even Mikhail didn’t know of this place’s existence.
I shifted the rabbit to my other arm. I was shaking out my tingling hand and about to grab the doorknob when.
I recalled the persistence of Rilke, who had chased all the way here, quietly staring at the space where I had hidden.
I took my hand off the doorknob. I stepped back and silently muttered the spell. Killing my presence, I entered the secret passage again.
Deeper, I walked in even deeper.
* * *
The next day, when I opened my eyes, my whole body was drenched.
I had a nightmare of wandering through the secret passage. I opened the window wide and calmed myself while looking at the familiar garden that was still unmanaged, densely overgrown with bushes.
By the time I arrived at the dining room, it was even funny. To have such nightmares to that degree. I newly realized that I had only seen good things since returning to the past.
Rilke was the same as usual.
However, before sitting in the chair pulled out by the servant, he staggered slightly. That was all.
I too chewed meat mumblingly as usual. Mikhail was in the middle of a busy period, bowing his head deeply as if he would enter into the documents, eating or not eating.
“Hyung-nim. Look at this invitation.”
Rilke handed Mikhail a small letter.
Mikhail, who had glanced at it with an indifferent face as if he had no leisure, turned his eyes back and they widened.
“Isn’t this Her Majesty the Empress’s seal!”
Rilke took out one more letter.
“There’s one for Joachim too. As you said, hyung-nim, I worked hard.”
Joy spread across Mikhail’s face, but even though I received an invitation from the imperial palace, I had absolutely no interest.
“Joachim. Aren’t you going to open it?”
Last night was too intense for that.
“I’ll check it in my room. Thanks, Rilke.”
To think that Rilke had such a hobby.
I had seen strange sights in back alleys once or twice, but I didn’t know Rilke would be like that. No, thinking about it, it might not be particularly strange. That might have been a preview of the actions that child would calmly perform in the future.
“Were you looking for this?”
Rilke held up the apricot jam.
I actually had been looking for it. It was awkward to say no, so I accepted it. A strong perfume smell wafted from the bent body.
Between the dizzying fragrance, a strange fishy smell spreading.
I scooped up jam with the butter knife without showing it. It was fortunate that I had a strong stomach. The bread was delicious.
“Where were you last night?”
After finishing the meal, I stopped Rilke who was trying to leave the dining room with the invitation.
I wondered why the formal speech, but before I knew it, only the two of us remained.
“I went to look for you yesterday but you weren’t there.”
“Well. Around when did you come?”
I said I had been in my room the whole time.
“…Past 12 o’clock. The bed was empty though.”
I looked down quietly at that child who was testing me.
“I’ve never left the door open.”
Even if he really had visited my room, he wouldn’t have been able to open the door. Because I had locked it before leaving.
I wondered if he needed to be this sensitive.
Even if Rilke was caught by me killing rabbits, there was no reason for him to be anxious. Tell Mikhail? He’d just say to stop such a hobby and that would be the end. Spread rumors? Everyone wouldn’t even be interested in what I say.
“I have something I want to ask too.”
I didn’t know if it would be possible if I went through the difficult process of gathering trustworthy witnesses and then storming into Rilke’s room all at once to find traces, but I didn’t particularly want to do that either.
“How exactly did you find me at the great mansion?”
In the past and in the present.
On the day I would fish Prince Benedict out of the river, Rilke found me accurately heading to the garden.
“By coincidence.”
“That day, entry to the great mansion’s garden was restricted.”
“…”
“Did you put a tail on me?”
‘Who’s there!’
That day in the garden, when I hid thinking I’d be caught, there was someone the knights chased after.
The position where the sound came from was behind me. The knights wouldn’t have seen me, but that someone was in a position to see me clearly.
Rilke seemed flustered by the sudden question and lost his words for a moment. That child opened his mouth again, but the hesitation was answer enough. I turned my back.
You tried to sell me out.
And then you pinned it on my gambling-addict cousin.
