Bang!
Casey slammed the door shut without meaning to.
“It’s rude to close the door so loudly.”
Her sister’s voice came through, and Casey sighed as she reopened it.
“...Sister.”
Startled to see Marias waiting there so perfectly timed, Casey decided it was as good a chance as any to argue.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“What I’m doing? I have no idea what you mean.”
“Don’t play dumb. Why was I assigned to the same room as th-this man?”
“Because there’s no other room?”
“What?”
Casey scowled.
“What about the room I used before? That was my private room.”
“That one? Naturally, I cleared it out.”
“Why would you clear it out without permission!”
“Well, the owner didn’t plan to come back, so it sat empty for years. Having servants constantly clean and maintain it seemed wasteful, don’t you think?”
“That’s all? That’s your reason?”
“All? It’s a perfectly valid reason.”
“I’m a direct heir of this house. Even if it’s for the servants, you crossed a line.”
“My dear sister, I am the head of the house.”
That was as good as saying: don’t complain by rank.
Still smiling softly, Marias asked,
“What, you don’t like it here?”
Casey silently stepped aside to gesture at Ludger.
“Oh my. So the fiancé is here too. That’s a relief.”
“It’s not a relief! Why should I share a room with him?”
“But he’s your fiancé. Isn’t it fine?”
“Even with a fiancé, there are boundaries!”
“You seemed so close earlier. I thought this would suit you well. The room is large; surely it isn’t uncomfortable.”
“That’s not the point!”
“Then what is...? Unless you find it hard to live together despite being engaged?”
Her smile subtly darkened as she narrowed her eyes, pressing on Casey’s nerves.
“Earlier you two looked awfully sweet. After all that, I doubt sharing a room should be a problem.”
“Hmph. Even so, sharing a room is a different matter. We’re not even living together yet—it’s too much.”
“Shouldn’t you be thankful?”
“What?”
Marias lowered her voice so only Casey could hear.
“You brought a man home as your fiancé. That means you really like him, doesn’t it? So this sister of yours is trying to support you.”
“Wh-what... I don’t need your help. I’ll handle it.”
“Handle it? When?”
“Ugh, forget it. And he’s sharp. If you push too hard, it ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) might backfire. Don’t you realize?”
Marias didn’t answer.
Instead, she stared into Casey’s eyes to judge if she was telling the truth.
Again.
That same look from childhood, when Casey would always break and confess.
But not anymore.
She had grown too much to keep losing to her sister.
Her sharp mind and talent had matured even further after facing countless cases and crises.
Casey met Marias’s stare without wavering.
Marias’s eyebrows rose slightly, then she curved her lips in a smile.
Casey had expected her to call it arrogance, so that pleased look puzzled her.
“...Anyway, change the room.”
“I understand your position. But I can’t.”
“What? Did you even hear me?”
“Don’t whine. My hearing’s fine.”
“Then why?”
“There are no spare rooms. Parts of the estate are under repair. Especially the servants’ quarters—they practically need rebuilding.”
“Then make them commute.”
“Some have served House Selmore exclusively for decades. You wouldn’t know, since you neglected the family’s affairs.”
The sharp rebuke left Casey speechless.
As head of the house, Marias was defending the servants. What could Casey say to that?
It was her weak point.
She bore the Selmore name but had wandered the world, absorbed in her detective work. She had no grounds to argue.
“Then, have a good day.”
“Thanks to you, not good at all.”
Casey snapped back as Marias left, just to ease the sting of defeat.
The door shut softly.
Casey lingered at the entrance, unable to move.
The argument was one thing—but now she truly realized she would be sharing a room with Ludger.
“Seems your sister still suspects us.”
Ludger had sensed it already, watching the sky outside.
It was still gray, as if rain might pour any moment.
Casey sighed and trudged to the bed, dropping onto it.
The softness showed it was a luxury bed, but the fact it was the only king-sized bed in the room weighed heavily on her.
Like it or not, tonight she had to share this room with Ludger.
Her head spun.
“What do we do now?”
“At the very least, we should organize our next steps.”
“You’re not even flustered?”
Casey glared at him.
Her head was about to explode, yet Ludger sat on the sofa looking completely at ease.
“Being flustered won’t change anything.”
“Oh, really? What, is it so normal for you to share a room with a woman that this doesn’t bother you?”
“How did the conversation turn that way?”
He gave her an exasperated look.
“Well, if not, then you can’t possibly be calm about sharing a room with a beauty like me.”
“I won’t deny you’re attractive...”
Ludger let out a mocking chuckle anyone could recognize.
“...But with a personality like that, it hardly seems appealing.”
“What was that?! What do you know about me!”
“And what do you know about me? You talk as if it’s obvious, but this is my first time in such a situation too.”
“What? First time? What do you mean?”
Casey blinked.
“You don’t mean... first time sharing a room with a woman?”
“Is that supposed to be an issue?”
“Are you kidding? With that face?”
Ludger scowled in irritation.
“People would think I go around seducing women with my face. But if you consider my situation, you’d know I never had that luxury.”
“Uh, ah... sorry.”
Casey apologized honestly.
Yet inside she was startled. That such a man had lived alone all this time.
It seemed a waste of such looks and talent... but strangely, she felt relieved.
What am I even thinking?
Casey shook her head, brushing the thoughts away.
What mattered now was keeping up their act and matching each other in front of Marias’s scrutiny.
“So what do we do now? If she cornered us like this because she openly suspects us, then we need to respond somehow.”
“What I find strange is this. I thought we’d just talk a bit and it would be over. But at this rate, we’ll be stuck here for several days.”
“...I thought it would end quickly too. But it seems she won’t let us go until she’s convinced.”
“And if we simply tried to leave?”
“You’ve spoken with her enough to know. She wouldn’t give up over something like that. She’d get more persistent.”
“Troublesome.”
Ludger shook his head, clearly fed up.
“Still, she seems to treat her little sister with unusual care. Were you two close?”
“Close? Are your eyes broken? She’s always dying to tear me apart.”
“It doesn’t look that way. Well, I suppose her personality is twisted, so she expresses herself wrong.”
“You clearly don’t know. Do you know why I have a phobia of rats?”
Casey—fearless against anything—was terrified of one thing: rats.
The idea of the genius detective being afraid of rats was laughable, yet it also sparked curiosity.
“Judging from context... your sister’s doing?”
“It was when we were kids. We were playing hide-and-seek. She was it. I hid in a crate in the family’s underground storehouse, sure she’d never find me. But she found me easily.”
Recalling it made Casey shiver.
“You know what’s absurd? Even knowing I was inside, she didn’t call me out. Instead, she caught a few rats that had sneaked into the storehouse and tossed them into the crate with me.”
A clueless little girl suddenly trapped in the dark with rats crawling all over.
No wonder she was traumatized.
“I screamed and bawled. A rat chewed some of my hair, and my favorite dress was torn. Do you know the worst part?”
“There’s more?”
“What she said to me while I cried. ‘Didn’t we promise not to hide in the storehouse? You broke the promise, so of course you’re punished.’ Can you believe it? She did something that awful, and instead of apologizing, she said I deserved it. That’s why I’m scarred for life.”
“...That’s a bit much.”
“She did sneak back at night later and leave a stuffed toy I’d wanted.”
“So she showed some form of apology.”
“Why do you flip your words like that? Because of her, I still freeze stiff whenever I see a rat!”
“Giving you the toy you wanted was, in her way, a gesture of remorse.”
“Whatever!”
It sounded like childish whining, but her feelings were understandable.
Marias Selmore probably hadn’t realized it would leave such a deep scar when she put rats in the crate.
But the reason was simple: Casey broke the rules.
She cared for her sister, but that made her unrelentingly strict.
If she was like that since childhood, then she had a near-obsessive fixation on promises and rules.
Now I see why Casey Selmore asked me this favor the moment she got my letter.
With a sister like that, had Casey stubbornly refused to return to the family, Marias would have come herself and dragged her back.
Thanks to Casey’s story, Ludger could now sketch out the outline of Marias Selmore’s character.
He ought to be glad, but in truth it only made things more troublesome.
If this goes on, we may be stuck here until she’s satisfied.
He had agreed to play the fiancé role, yes.
But he had his own objectives, and he wanted answers sooner rather than later.
“This is a problem.”
“It is a problem.”
Both let their thoughts slip out aloud.
Casey Selmore and Ludger Cherish.
They glanced sideways at each other.
Their eyes crossed as if to protest—why are you copying me?—and broke apart.
“Any ideas?”
“That’s what I want to ask.”
“I asked first.”
“You’re the smart one—think of something.”
“You’re family—you’d know better.”
“Family? More like sworn enemies.”
Bickering even while their minds raced for a solution.
“There is one. Knock her out and escape.”
“That’s dripping with personal grudge.”
“What, you didn’t know? Every sibling grows up with the thought of killing each other planted in their heads. The fact we don’t actually do it means we’re close.”
“Isn’t your sister a high-ranking official in this country? I have no wish to be branded a national criminal.”
“You’ve already made enemies of several nations. What’s one more? ...Fine, fine. We’ll think of something else. Stop looking at me like that.”
“All we really need is to convince her.”
“Convince her that you and I are truly engaged?”
“That’s right.”
“And how do we do that?”
Ludger voiced what crossed his mind.
“Public displays of affection?”
“What, more than wiping tea from my lips? A kiss?”
“Are you insane? I’d rather kiss a pig.”
“What, you bastard?! Like I want to kiss you!”
Casey slumped her shoulders.
“Look at my situation. The target I must capture is right in front of me, yet I’m wasting time plotting how to defeat my sister.”
“Wasn’t that case already over? And I said we’re figuring out how to convince your sister, not topple her.”
“Same thing.”
“Don’t drag me into your personal grudges.”
“Haa. Couldn’t some incident just break out already?”
She had just muttered that when—
Ludger suddenly leapt from his seat and lunged toward her.
Casey blinked, startled. “Uh, wh-what?”
Before she could react, Ludger shoved her onto the bed.
Casey looked up wide-eyed at him above her.
Crash!
The window shattered. A bullet tore through the air where Casey’s head had been moments before.