“How do you feel, Mr. Simon?” Eve asked expectantly as Simon woke up.
“Pretty good,” Simon replied.
“Really? I can help you relax every day.” The maid was brimming with enthusiasm.
“If we did it every day, it wouldn’t work as well. Everything should be done in moderation.” Simon sat up and straightened his clothes.
Eve lowered her head and gave a disappointed “Oh.”
“Let’s make it once a week instead,” Simon said.
“Okay!” The maid looked up happily.
Simon smiled. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he patted his lap. “Want to try it yourself?”
Eve happily agreed. She carefully straightened her maid uniform, smoothed out her hair, and lay down with her head on Simon’s lap.
Simon gently stroked her long, pale-golden hair. Instead of using the [Little Doors in the Woods] ritual, he switched to an ordinary meditation ritual and guided the maid to imagine a sunlit meadow.
Looking at the petite maid’s peaceful, pretty face, he sighed inwardly.
In the [Blood Queen] storyline, all the servants of the manor, including Eve and Maria, had perished in the flames.
[Simon guided Eve through a meditation session. Eve felt peaceful and relaxed.]
[Simon’s relationship with Eve improved.]
Humph. She gets so many different versions of her portrait, while I don’t even have a single one! Elisa glared at the screen of light.
Once Eve had finished relaxing and left, Elisa contacted her male servant through the [Mirror of Mist] and handed him the [Lighthouse Badge].
[Simon marveled at his teacher’s generosity. He wondered how many gold pounds might be stashed away in the Intelligence Department’s secret coffers.]
“!!!”
What are you planning?! Give me that badge back!
Elisa clutched her head, realizing she had made a terrible mistake.
As a mere servant at the manor, her male servant had already dared to embezzle funds and pad expenses. Now that he was the acting branch head of the Lighthouse Intelligence Department, wouldn’t he drain the Lighthouse’s coffers dry?!
Was it too late to take the badge back?
Forget it. She would just keep a closer eye on her male servant. Besides, the Intelligence Department’s secret coffers weren’t filled with her money. If her male servant embezzled some, then so be it.
And however much her male servant pocketed, she could harvest just as much from him through the Magic Mirror. In the end, it would all wind up in her pocket anyway!
Keep it up! Together, master and servant would bleed the Intelligence Department dry!
[Simon asked his teacher whether he should tell Eleanor about the [Little Doors in the Woods] ritual.]
Eleanor?
Eleanor had provided quite a bit of information and assistance during the discovery of the [Little Doors in the Woods]. Most importantly, her questioning Susanna about William’s belongings had put Susanna on alert, prompting her to immediately contact her male servant and hand over the photograph.
Eleanor didn’t have a [Finger Bone] anyway, so even if she knew the meditation ritual, she wouldn’t be able to enter. And if she did have a [Finger Bone], even better. That would immediately reveal the location of another [Finger Bone] and complete an intelligence assignment.
Elisa gave her approval.
***
A paper crane rose from Simon’s desk, carrying the steps of the [Little Doors in the Woods] ritual along with Simon’s hand-drawn sketches of the five doors, and slipped into the cracks of reality.
An hour later, the paper crane emerged from the cracks of reality and landed on Eleanor’s desk.
Eleanor unfolded the paper crane and read Simon’s account, her expression twisting.
What do you mean, when Simon visited Susanna, she suddenly remembered that William had left behind a photograph and gave it to him?
I spent half the day with you and you didn’t remember a thing, but after chatting with him for a little while, it suddenly came back to you?!
“Information is always easier to obtain from the opposite sex than from the same sex,” the necklace said from Eleanor’s chest.
“I never thought Susanna would be just like those maids!” Eleanor sighed. “Mr. Simon certainly is witty and amusing, but I would never throw myself at him so shamelessly like Susanna and the others!”
Miss Eleanor sternly condemned their behavior.
At her chest, the sapphire threaded by a platinum chain flickered. The Madam residing within it wanted to say something but held back.
That time you made a nighttime raid on that gentleman was far more extreme than anything Miss Susanna and the others have done. No matter how you look at it, the word ‘reserved’ has absolutely nothing to do with you.
Considering Eleanor’s ability to handle such a remark, Madam Necklace kept those words to herself.
“What kind of ritual is this?” Eleanor returned to the matter at hand.
“It’s a [Spirit Realm Traversal] ritual. This drawing is quite accurate and can be used for visualization, though I don’t know whether there are any other requirements. That gentleman should have already tried it, but he didn’t tell you everything he knows.” Madam Necklace hinted that Simon was withholding information and had not placed his full trust in Eleanor.
“That just means he trusts in my abilities. Only a three-year-old needs every little thing spelled out for them.” Eleanor raised the paper and committed the drawings to memory.
The sapphire flickered. Madam Necklace said nothing.
“Let’s give it a try.” Eleanor looked down at her chest.
“Very well.”
They quickly made an attempt, but sure enough, it failed.
“We’re missing a [Key],” Madam Necklace said. “I can pick the lock for you, but it’ll only work once.”
“Okay.”
“I found five doors in that region of the Spirit Realm: red, black, blue, green, and yellow. Which one do you want to enter? From what I can tell, the Red Door represents strength, the Black Door madness, the Blue Door wisdom, and the Yellow Door emotion. The Green Door is less clear. It seems to have something to do with art.”
“I’ll choose the Blue Door….wisdom. What do you think, Madam?”
“I think wisdom is a good choice as well.”
The sapphire at her chest flashed, and an illusory blue door appeared before Eleanor’s eyes. She pushed it open and stepped into a world of darkness.
……..
….
Eleanor lowered her head and stared at the sapphire on her chest. The sapphire stared right back at her.
Wasn’t wisdom supposed to correspond to mysticism? Why was she being given a math problem?!
“Time is almost up,” the voice in the darkness reminded her.
Eleanor hesitantly gave an answer. “C?”
The sound of a door closing rang out, and Eleanor returned to reality.
She and Madam Necklace tacitly skipped over what had just happened and began searching for whatever she had lost.
Using a [Finding Ritual], they located her missing shoe. Eleanor sighed. “I think I understand why Mr. Simon didn’t mention what he encountered in there.”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t mention it either,” Madam Necklace agreed.
***
The [Little Doors in the Woods] could only be explored once a week. At noon a week later, Elisa summoned Eve and had the maid attend to her.
This time, the experienced Miss Elisa avoided the Blue Door and continued onward until she found and opened the Green Door.
Behind the Green Door was a brightly lit room with a chessboard sitting in the center.
Three minutes later, the Green Door closed and Miss Elisa returned to reality, cursing under her breath.
After sending Eve away, Miss Elisa decided she needed some time alone.
These [Little Doors in the Woods] were pure torture! First a math problem, now chess. Couldn’t there be anything easier?! Why couldn’t I ever run into the Red Door?!
She opened [Simon’s Log] to spy on her male servant, silently cursing him to encounter the Green Door too.
[Simon remained in his room and welcomed Eve after she came over from Miss Elisa’s bedroom. Elisa’s scent still lingered on Eve’s legs.]
What the hell kind of description is that?! It makes it sound like my male servant and I are two customers who booked the same woman back-to-back! No, it feels more like a male servant secretly meeting with the lady of the house after the master has gone to sleep!
One of these days, I’m going to drain every last drop of your blood!
Elisa glared irritably at [Simon’s Exploration Log].
[Simon pushed open the Yellow Door.]
[The Yellow Door will ask him three questions about information he has access to. If he answers all three correctly, he may ask for one piece of information in return.]
Three pieces of information in exchange for one?
If it only asks about information my male servant has access to, it shouldn’t be too difficult.
If he succeeds, we can ask about what happened fifteen years ago….or at the very least, ask about the [Finger Bone]!
Elisa perked up.
[The Yellow Door asked its first question: What color underwear is your master wearing?]
“?!”
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