_Okay, calm down... If you get scared and show that you can hear a ghost, it will latch onto you. Just pretend nothing is happening._
"It's strange..." Kanna murmured, examining the kitchen. "They cooked here, but didn't eat."
_It was probably an offering for the ghost. That's why he didn't touch it._
"Maybe Troy ate it?" Daisy suggested.
_Daisy's right. Troy was lurking around here recently—probably snacking between drinks._ Evangeline latched onto the rational explanation. _What ghosts? Nonsense..._ But a small voice whispered in the back of her mind: _Although... this is fantasy... what if it's true?_
"There's nothing else to see here."
Of course, Evangeline wasn't eager to leave the dining room because she was scared. _Absolutely not._
As soon as they stepped into the corridor, the strange sound echoed again. This time, it seemed, she wasn't the only one who heard it.
"What is that?"
They followed the noise, their candles casting dancing shadows on the walls, until they discovered a room tucked away in a far corner.
"What room is this?"
"The headmistress's office..." Daisy whispered.
_The headmistress's office in such a secluded place? She must be honest—not stealing money from the orphanage like so many others._ That would explain why Daisy still trusted her.
Kanna pressed her ear against the door.
"It's coming from inside."
_So the sound originates in there. But Troy is with Jelly... Could it be a thief? An accomplice of the kidnappers? Perhaps they hid here after hearing us arrive._
A scraping sound emanated from within—like fingernails dragging across wooden walls.
_But if this is an accomplice, why make noise and draw attention? And anyway... is this even a person?_ After conjuring the image of a starving orphan's ghost, Evangeline found everything suspicious.
"I... I won't go in there..." Daisy's voice trembled.
"Are you afraid?"
"...Yes."
Daisy shook her head, fear etched across her features. _Maybe she's afraid of ghosts too? Good—at least I'm not the only coward here._
"Don't be afraid. I'm with you."
Daisy calmed slightly at the reassurance, though Evangeline doubted it would help much. _Even if you can knock out a person with one blow, that trick won't work on ghosts._
"I'll open it," Kanna announced.
_Here comes Kanna! Look how brave she is! Like a true heroine—afraid of nothing._
No one knew what lurked behind that door—an accomplice or a specter. _It's like Schrödinger's cat... only it's the headmistress's office._
Kanna threw open the door.
The room was empty.
But the grinding noise continued.
_That's it... it's definitely a ghost!_
Evangeline's eyes stung with unshed tears of terror. There was absolutely no way she was setting foot in that room.
"Stop... please... stop..." Daisy begged, her voice cracking. She was even more terrified than Evangeline.
Kanna, ignoring their fear entirely, began methodically opening every door in the room. _She's not scared at all?_ A real heroine indeed!
When Kanna yanked open the closet door, something **leaped** out.
Someone beside Evangeline sucked in a sharp breath. _It wasn't me... I forgot how to breathe long ago._
"A rat?"
A fat gray rat shot out of the closet and vanished into the shadows. Pudding didn't even twitch—he was busy yawning. _A dog who doesn't care about rats... Further proof he's no ordinary dog, but a werewolf._
"It looks like a rat was scratching inside the closet," Kanna observed.
Indeed, the scraping had stopped. _No ghosts... no accomplices... just a rat..._ Evangeline felt utterly foolish.
"Mistress, look!" Kanna called.
Evangeline stepped into the office. Suddenly, she found it difficult to breathe—as if the air had thickened, grown heavy with something unseen. _I must be imagining it..._
On the floor, illuminated by Kanna's flickering candle, Evangeline spotted a familiar pattern etched into the wood.
"A summoning circle?"
_Where did this come from?_ Evangeline stood frozen. Suddenly, she remembered the piece of paper Gabriel had shown her.
A priest from the monastery had claimed he'd managed to perform the ritual using Donau's drawing. _This must be the same thing. This is the headmistress's office... so she drew it?_
"Daisy!"
Evangeline wanted to ask if Daisy knew anything about it, but the girl was already backing away. She stumbled into someone behind her and staggered, too shocked to even scream. She nearly fell—but Jelly caught her just in time.
"Jelly?!"
"Jelly, what are you doing here?"
_Did he really appear for this plot twist—to save a stumbling Daisy? You abandoned Troy alone? He could wake up at any moment!_ Evangeline wanted to scold him, but Jelly spoke first.
"He said he needed to talk to you." Jelly nodded toward the figure standing behind him.
Troy. He stood with his eyes averted, shoulders hunched.
Daisy's face instantly twisted into a grimace of disgust. Troy reached timidly for Jelly's sleeve, seeking some kind of support, but Jelly yanked it away. Troy's hands curled into fists at his sides. Then he bowed—deeply, desperately.
"Daisy... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I couldn't stop Mom..."
"What do you mean?" Daisy's voice sharpened. "What does the headmistress have to do with this?"
Troy's voice came out strained, as if every word cost him dearly.
"Mom... she... took the children..."
---
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Daisy's confusion was absolute.
The headmistress? The *headmistress* kidnapped the children? Not Troy? _He's just trying to buy time!_
"Don't lie!"
"I can't believe it myself..." Troy pushed past them into the office and began rifling through the drawers. "It must be around here somewhere..."
His movements were clumsy, sluggish—he was clearly still recovering from the blow to his head. Evangeline found herself helping him.
"Th... thank you..." Troy mumbled, embarrassed, not even looking at her. He directed his gratitude somewhere to the left. _I'm standing right here... who are you thanking?_
Finally, Troy found what he was searching for.
"There are more of them..." he muttered, his face draining of color.
"More of what?" Troy began reading a document, his hands trembling. Daisy, burning with curiosity despite herself, stepped into the room.
"What is this?"
"Proof." Troy's voice was hollow. "Proof that my mother sold the children. I only found out about this recently myself."
The first thing that caught Evangeline's eye was the numbers—columns and columns of them. She wasn't yet accustomed to local currency, so she couldn't tell whether the amounts were significant or paltry. Next to each number was a date.
These were payments received for children. Entries had been made regularly—at least once a year, sometimes twice.
_So the kidnapper wasn't Troy at all, but the headmistress Daisy thought was so kind?_
Evangeline realized she'd made a catastrophic mistake. She'd completely forgotten the cardinal rule of detective fiction: **the least likely character is always the criminal.**
---
## — The Basement —
"Headmistress! Headmistress!"
The headmistress, lost deep in thought, didn't immediately register Lanan calling her name. Blinking back to awareness, she realized the girl was speaking not for herself, but for Mary. She turned her gaze to the little one.
"Headmistress... my arm hurts..." Mary whispered, her lower lip trembling.
"...Fine."
The headmistress released her grip. Bright red marks from her fingers remained imprinted on Mary's pale skin. _I think I overdid it a bit..._ She rubbed her forehead wearily. She hadn't wanted to use force, but her nerves were fraying at the edges.
Mary was rubbing her arm when she suddenly raised her head.
"Troy came again..."
_That stupid, stubborn boy_ was wandering around the orphanage once more. He never listened. In this, he and Merai were complete opposites. _They say parents always lose to their children..._
"Troy?"
Lanan heard the footsteps too. _Was he already here while I was sleeping? Why did he come back?_ Then realization struck—there were *multiple* sets of footsteps.
_He brought reinforcements!_
Hope surged through Lanan like a wave.
Just a few days ago, the headmistress she'd trusted and loved had suddenly locked them in this basement and begun "fattening" them up. At first, Lanan thought it was some kind of strange joke. But when she saw Melek—chained, blindfolded, starving—she understood this was far more serious.
Only the older children grasped the danger. Younger ones like Mary, though sensing something wrong with the headmistress, still clung to their trust in her.
_That's probably why Yulma told everyone about being sold... so the little ones wouldn't be too trusting._
_I wonder if they know about the basement?_
Lanan had lived her entire life in this orphanage, and she'd never known a basement existed. Troy, who'd searched every corner of the building, apparently didn't know either. The headmistress had hidden it even from her own son.
_We should have examined the office more carefully..._ But even if they'd found the entrance, could they have opened it? One day, Lanan had tried to follow the headmistress when she left to fetch lunch, but the door had been locked tight. Only the headmistress knew the secret of opening it.
"It seems Troy has brought reinforcements," the headmistress said, her voice flat.
Unfortunately, she had also noticed the multiple footsteps.
"That disobedient boy... always contradicting me!" Merai hadn't told Troy about the basement. She'd hoped he would come to understand her someday—and she'd planned to reveal her secret only when he started behaving properly.
"We need to hurry."
She had to finish this before Troy and whoever he'd brought found the entrance. Merai's hand moved unconsciously to her arm, her nails digging in, scratching. Angry red welts rose on her skin, raw and bleeding.