The Coffin in the Basement

The hinges of the expensive Oak Door gave a soft, smooth turn, and small leather boots clicked crisply across the spotless marble floor. Sonia stepped into the dim first floor of the villa, crossed the foyer, and quietly tightened her left hand around her sword hilt.

By the faint starlight streaming through the windows, her ruby eyes took in the entire first-floor living room, paying particular attention to the shadowed areas where someone could hide. There was no one there.

Her gaze climbed the stairs to the second floor. By the second-floor railing, there was only a Night Madam Orchid swaying faintly in the starlight, while the rooms farther in lay hidden in darkness. The restless Golden Fish, Seven-Colored Tail, and Colorless Dream Secret Poison immediately quieted down. The Clawing Sword Saint loosened her grip on the sword hilt slightly and turned sideways to let her teammates in.

"The decor's actually pretty nice. Looks like your brother really isn't home." Aisha came in and looked left and right. "I thought we'd stumble into some interesting scene of your brother fooling around!"

"Although Felix has some bad rumors about him, he's had very high standards for himself since he was young. That kind of thing wouldn't happen." Dimi defended his younger brother with great conviction. "He'll become a model among nobles in the future."

"A model among nobles? You mean fooling around, living in luxury, and drowning in Drunken Dream?" Adas sneered.

"Adas, I know you've seen ugly, shameless nobles, and I also know that the noble class has grown increasingly fallen in recent years, no longer possessing the glory of their ancestors. I'm just as angry about this as you are, because none of it should be like this." Dimi did not deny it, but accepted Adas's mockery frankly. "In