Serena clenched her fists tightly, trying to restrain herself and stay calm. She forced her gaze away, but the corner of her eye was always drawn to that moonlight-like snow-white figure, uncontrollably following it. Especially the white feet wrapped in black ribbons, they lightly swayed, mischievously and alluringly, as if stepping on the tip of her heart.
"Is it beautiful?" Startled, Serena trembled as she looked up, but the expression she saw was not the disgust and disdain she had imagined. The young Earl looked at her calmly and gently, blinking his rosy eyes.
"Beautiful... it's very beautiful." Serena bit her lip, blushing with embarrassment, but she obediently nodded - she really liked it.
"Heh! You're being honest." Chille made a cold snort, seemingly annoyed. Serena felt even more ashamed, her face flushed.
"Alright, I'm almost done here." Chille closed the book and slowly got up, taking small steps towards Serena. "It's late, I'll walk you back."
"Okay... okay." Serena still nodded obediently, secretly despising her lack of resistance. She realized that she couldn't gather any courage in front of Chille. Her chest was filled with confusion and unease, pounding rapidly.
Then, she felt her hand gently being held, her palm warmly clasping onto a cool touch.
"Hmm?"
"Why are you standing there? Didn't I say I'll walk you back to your room?" Chille furrowed his brow, looking at Serena's avoiding gaze and mocking her with a sneer.
"Tsk, if you like what you're seeing, just be upfront about it, you fool." With that, he held the girl's hand and walked towards the door. Chille kicked his leg and looked disdainfully at the sandals he was wearing. "I don't know why Delfina Delettrez Fendi always picks these clothes and shoes for me. These ribbons are really unnecessary."
Serena remained silent, holding an absolute denial towards the Earl's opinion and evaluation. As she looked at the black silk butterfly tied to Chille's white and delicate ankle, she felt a resonance with Delfina Delettrez Fendi in certain aspects - You truly live up to expectations.
"So all of Chille's clothes are personally picked by Delfina Delettrez Fendi?" Chille naturally nodded, raising his leg slightly to look at his adorned but impractical shoes. He pouted and spoke gently, "And she even helps me put them on."
With a slight bite on her lower lip, Serena's gaze fell on Chille's slender legs, imagining the sensation of Delfina Delettrez Fendi gently touching them. A feeling of suffocation and bitterness lingered in her chest.
"Speaking of Delfina Delettrez Fendi, why is Serena cousin afraid of her?" Chille turned back and softly asked, his curious eyes fixed on Serena. "Did she bully you?"
Silence. Faced with Chille's question, Serena didn't know how to answer. Your maid is not a human being? Um... Is Delfina Delettrez Fendi a monster? Hmm... Apart from the fact that such absurd and bizarre statements would be hard for anyone to believe, Serena felt like she would be slapping Chille in the face by saying that, considering how much trust he had just shown towards Delfina Delettrez Fendi.
"What's wrong?" Looking at Chille's curious eyes, Serena hesitated and worriedly squeezed his hand, finally deciding to tell him honestly, recounting everything that had just happened.
...
"So you're saying... you saw two Delfina Delettrez Fendis in the hallway just now, and one of them had all-black eyes, clearly not human?"Chille tilted her head and let go of Serena's hand. She stood on tiptoe and gently brushed aside Serena's flowing linen-colored hair with her fair fingers, touching her forehead and muttering,
"You're not feeling hot."
"I'm not making things up because I'm sick!"
The frustrated girl stomped her foot and crossed her fingers over her heart, swearing that every word she said was true.
"Mhmm."
Serena looked at Chille with a somewhat annoyed expression, as if she was saying, "I really tried to believe you," and pouted her cheeks, while having no place to vent her current frustration.
"Alright~"
After playing around for a bit, the young countess restrained her smile, hiding away the unchanged coldness and indifference in her eye's depths, and put on a serious expression again, humphing lightly,
"It's probably just a prank by Delfina Delettrez Fendi. She enjoys bullying others and has a truly dark heart."
With a confident posture, Chille put her hands on her waist and swung her fist threateningly towards her,
"Don't worry, I'll help you teach her a lesson later and take revenge for you, Serena."
"..."
The noble and cute appearance of the young countess made Serena unable to resist a smile at the corners of her mouth. She nodded aggressively,
"Yes, exactly."
"Good~"
The childish words of the boy and girl echoed in the long corridor,
Their eyes met, and the pupils shimmered,
*Chuckle* - a crisp sound of joyous laughter rang out lightly.
Seeing the lovely and sweet smile in Chille's rose-red eyes, Serena felt as if she had never been this happy before. A luminous radiance unknowingly appeared between her brows.
*Inhale* *Exhale*
Taking long breaths, Chille tried to calm down, gradually quieting down, and stared deeply into Serena's eyes,
"By the way, Serena, do you know?"
"Know what?"
Still caught up in the happy atmosphere from before, the girl's tone was lively, but she didn't notice that the other party's expression was gradually becoming gloomy.
"The Lorraineland Manor has actually had a long, long history. Many terrible and tragic things have happened here."
The relaxed atmosphere slowly became heavy after the young countess finished speaking,
A faint cold wind blew from a distance, passing through the quiet corridors and making strange sounds.
The smile on the girl's face froze for a moment and became somewhat forced.
"Chille?"
Ignoring her, the young countess lightly lifted the golden candlestick, and the swaying flame cast a large and distorted shadow of him,
"For example, this corridor. Someone was betrayed and assassinated here. A dagger was stabbed into their stomach, and then it was dragged, with their intestines flowing out of the wound. They screamed in agony before reluctantly dying... Their desperate wails still echo here..."
Serena felt the atmosphere becoming increasingly eerie, and she started to feel a chilling sensation on her body.
"And also, that room we were just in. More than one Lord of Lorraineland died there. They died from illness, old age, poison, assassination, throat-cutting, and beheading..."
"Chille!"
The smile disappeared from her face completely. The girl watched as the young countess slowly turned around, and faint speckled shadows danced on her delicate little face, giving her a mysterious and eerie appearance,
"It is said that their resentful spirits still linger and gather in this ancient mansion, maliciously watching for an opportunity to prey on those who are vulnerable."
Her eyes, as bright as blood, stared at her intently, reflecting Serena's increasingly panicked expression, filled with thick and mischievous malice.
