Chapter 66: Third Floor (Requesting Monthly Votes)

The administrative officer’s residence was originally the castle of the Dariel nobility, designed entirely for defense, with windows placed high up, narrow and small, making lighting very poor even during the day; later, during renovations, the owner added numerous glass windows on the ground floor to make it livable.

Through a glass pane adorned with patterns, Lu Mi gazed inside and saw the grand hall, meant for banquets, empty and eerily quiet.

“Servants are indeed few…” Lyra murmured.

Since it was daytime, many windows were open, allowing fresh air scented with flowers to flow in, creating ideal conditions for Lu Mi and the others to infiltrate.

Taking advantage of the lack of servants on the first floor, the four of them slipped into the hall one after another but did not press forward immediately; instead, they found concealed spots nearby to hide.

Lyra turned her head toward Valentine, who was pressed against a decorative pillar, and said:

“I’ll scout ahead first. Get ready.”

“Mm.” Valentine gave a cold nod.

Lu Mi, crouching behind a stone pedestal holding porcelain vases, stuck his head out and added:

“No need to explore the first floor.

“It’s frequently used to host guests—nothing unusual here.”

Since Administrative Officer Beo Site and Madame Pualis moved in, his sister Aurora occasionally visited the castle to borrow a pony or just as a guest; on a few occasions, he tagged along and snacked on plenty of cakes, bread, and drinks.

When the administrative officer and Madame Pualis went out, he sometimes visited the butler Louis Lund, and under the man’s “company,” toured the first floor.

“I’ll head straight to the staircase.” Lyra acknowledged.

She did not attempt to walk straight across the empty banquet hall; instead, she hugged the wall and circled toward the staircase.

The four small silver bells on her again mysteriously made no sound.

As she passed one of the rooms, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching from right outside the door.

Lu Mi, positioned perfectly, could even see a male servant in a red shirt and white trousers appear at the doorway—about to collide with Lyra—and there was no cover nearby!

Lyra remained calm, turned her body, gripped the wall, and climbed effortlessly up to the oil painting hanging two meters high.

Then, rising onto her toes and stepping on the frame, she stood firmly against the wall, back pressed to it, without dislodging the painting.

Lu Mi wanted to applaud—it reminded him of the circus acrobatics he’d seen in Dariel last year.

The male servant stepped out of the room, instinctively glanced left and right, then walked toward the kitchen.

As soon as he took a few steps, Lyra immediately slid soundlessly down from the painting, hugging its surface.

Then, the woman performed two quick rolls and hid behind a pillar.

Only after the male servant vanished into the banquet hall did she resume moving along the wall.

Finally, she reached the staircase entrance and confirmed there was no danger.

Seeing this, Lu Mi darted out from behind the stone pedestal and sprinted straight over.

He moved extremely fast, reaching Lyra’s side in barely two or three seconds.

Yet he was not the fastest—Ryan Cos completed this stretch in a single breath.

Valentine was also not slow; his physical condition was clearly superior to ordinary people.

Without further words, Lyra led the way; the four of them spaced out and entered the staircase one after another, ascending to the second floor.

On either side of the corridor here were closed doors to rooms, with only one window at each end allowing in sunlight—the overall environment was unusually dim.

Ryan glanced left and right and said:

“We split up to search different rooms—it saves time and aids concealment—but no one can be more than one room away from another, in case something happens and we can’t respond in time.”

Lyra and the others nodded to show they understood.

Lu Mi immediately approached the nearest room, pressed his ear to the door to listen for any movement, then turned the handle and slipped inside quietly.

It was a maid’s room.

He rummaged through it but found no clues, so he moved on to the next room.

Thus, the four of them, occasionally dodging servants, explored most of the second floor.

Near the end of this round of searching, Lu Mi arrived at the door of the room that had left him with psychological trauma.

Louis Lund’s bedroom!

And according to the course of “history,” this butler should have given birth yesterday.

“His belly was torn open—even if stitched, he couldn’t recover in such a short time; he must still be resting in bed…” Lu Mi muttered silently, considering whether to push the door open and “talk” to Louis Lund.

As a firsthand witness to the strange events, this male butler surely knew a great deal.

But doing so would violate their pre-established rule: observe and explore, but do not interfere with anomalies—Lu Mi couldn’t guarantee Louis Lund wouldn’t tell Madame Pualis about his infiltration.

He’d already given birth for her—what else could he possibly keep secret?

As for silencing him—it would be equivalent to telling Madame Pualis outright: “Something’s wrong.”

“Too bad… if only I knew some hypnosis…” Lu Mi sighed silently, then instinctively pressed his ear to the door to listen inside.

Inside, there was no sound at all.

With the heightened hearing of a “Hunter,” even through a door and two or three meters of distance, it was impossible not to hear breathing.

“No one? Louis Lund just gave birth—where could he have gone?” Lu Mi turned the handle, pushed the door open a crack, and peered inside.

The room was neatly kept, the bloodstains from his memory gone—and so was Louis Lund himself.

Lu Mi frowned slightly, pushed the door open halfway, and stepped inside.

He could tell someone had slept here: the neatly made bed, the cigarette butt on the nightstand, the black coat hanging on the chair, the faint footprints barely visible on the floor—all indicated Louis Lund had been active here not long ago.

Besides these, Lu Mi also noticed faint traces of blood and grease along the edge of the bed.

“He really did give birth yesterday…” Lu Mi nodded silently to himself.

At that moment, he heard faint voices drifting in from outside the window.

He hurried to the glass window, turned his body sideways, and looked out.

At the stable, Louis Lund—with black hair and blue eyes—wore a white shirt underneath a black suit, dark trousers, and leather shoes, walking as he conversed with Sevel, the coachman who had transported the siblings to the Otherworld in the previous loop.

His complexion was quite ruddy, his gait steady and strong—Lu Mi stared, dumbfounded.

This was a man who had given birth yesterday?

And it was a cesarean section!

Lu Mi forced down his shock and strained to hear what Louis Lund and Sevel were saying.

But the two were merely exchanging tips on weeding and gardening.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing Lu Mi Chichibuchulai , Ryan, wearing a dark round hat, also entered the room, followed by Lyra and Valentine.

Lu Mi quickly lowered his voice and told the three outsiders about Louis Lund’s behavior.

Ryan listened carefully, then thought for a moment and said:

“Are you familiar with the ‘Earth Mother’?”

Dariel borders the Kingdom of Fenepot; shepherds often migrate there, and with his sister’s basic education, Lu Mi was no stranger to this:

“Yes—the deity worshipped in Fenepot.”

Ryan nodded:

“That deity governs childbirth, and correspondingly, healing and life itself—this is also reflected in the abilities of adepts along those paths.

“I’m not saying this situation is connected to the ‘Earth Mother,’ but merely that childbirth, healing, and life are often linked—if Louis Lund can give birth, then his recovery in a single day is understandable.”

“I see…” Lu Mi thought about it and found it reasonable.

If men can give birth, what’s strange about a cesarean patient being active again the next day?

“Any findings?” he asked Ryan and the others.

Ryan shook his head:

“All were ordinary servant rooms.”

“Then we’ll have to go to the third floor,” Lu Mi felt an inexplicable heaviness.

The third floor housed Madame Pualis and Administrative Officer Beo Site ’s bedroom, study, sunroom, sitting room, and more.

And that meant great risk.

“Alright.” Ryan did not hesitate.

Soon, the four infiltrated the third floor.

Many doors on this level were open, and the corridor was noticeably brighter.

Lu Mi went straight to the point, stepping into Madame Pualis and Administrative Officer Beo Site ’s bedroom.

There was a bed covered with light-colored velvet quilts, a small bookshelf holding bedtime reading, a spacious wardrobe filled with clothing, a safe for precious items, a set of soft, comfortable beige sofas, a table holding five photo frames and documents and books, and a thick, fluffy white carpet covering the entire floor…

Lu Mi and the others glanced around, then all chose the same table.

The books were common popular novels, including Forsyth Wall’s masterpiece “The Great Adventurer 5: Disease Within,” and Aurora’s latest work, “The Double Detective”; the documents were mostly official decrees issued by Dariel; the five photo frames contained four pictures of Madame Pualis and one of a man Lu Mi did not recognize.

“No administrative officer?” he whispered in surprise.

All four of Madame Pualis’s photos showed only her—dressed in different formal attire, posing differently—yet the lone male photo was not of Administrative Officer Beo Site .

After all, he was the master of this household—how strange was that?

Lyra nodded thoughtfully:

“The administrative officer’s status in this family may be no higher than the butler’s.

“Have you ever seen a family display a photo of their butler?”

“Then who is this man?” Lu Mi looked toward the farthest photo frame.

Inside was a color photograph: the man looked twenty-seven or twenty-eight, wearing a red shirt, a black velvet coat, dark trousers with tassels at the cuffs, and lace-up short boots—dressed very fashionably.

His features resembled Madame Pualis’s: slightly sparse eyebrows, bright brown eyes full of laughter, brown hair styled in an exaggerated three-seven part, lips slightly curved upward—as if someone who frequently moved in high society but carried a touch of rogue charm.

Overall, his features weren’t outstanding, but he looked pleasant to the eye.

“Madame Pualis’s brother or younger brother?” Lu Mi speculated based on appearance.

ps: Requesting monthly votes~

(End of chapter)