Supervisor Cornelius walked ahead the entire way, leading Iver and Bayard to the end of the Secret Passage.
--In fact, as the supervisor, personally taking Miss Bayard through the Secret Passage could also be considered a show of sincerity.
Although they were all Children of the Moon and had a close cooperative relationship—and Crescent Moon Manor might even need to borrow money from Miss Bayard again later—shoving someone into this dark corner, unknown to anyone and impossible to call for help from... sounded far too dangerous.
Whether there were traps, rituals, seals, or ambushes along the way, any of them could be fatal. Moreover, the passage was so narrow that if a fight really broke out, there would not even be room to dodge.
"Is there only one Secret Passage?"
Feeling Iver's fingertip lightly scratching her palm, Miss Bayard asked knowingly, "The passage is so narrow... What if, while we're walking through it, someone happens to come in from the other end?"
"You needn't worry about that. We'll expand it later."
Supervisor Cornelius shrugged. "Having too many Secret Passages isn't necessarily a good thing. We can't monitor that many entrances and exits at once; it would only make the manor less safe. No more, no less—one is enough. Not many people use this place normally anyway. If too many people really did block the way, they could just turn into bats. Don't you agree?"
"Indeed."
Miss Bayard nodded.
She scraped her sharp nail across Iver's palm, signaling that she had confirmed it: there was only one Secret Passage.
"And to get out from here..."
Supervisor Cornelius reached out and pressed the rune on the wall.
With his movement, three overlapping rings—white, yellow, and black—gradually appeared. The areas where two rings intersected were filled with blood-red color. At the very center