Magic Manor 13

"Okay," Lu Mi said. He stepped out of the dining room to check, then returned to Noel's side. "He's gone."

Noel murmured something, and two butterflies flew in through the window, settling slowly over her eye sockets.

Lu Mi picked up a napkin and gently wiped her mouth. "That was an excellent performance. Try to control yourself and eat a little less at dinner too, all right?"

Noel nodded obediently, lifted her skirt, and said goodbye to them.

The scene was so harmonious that Jiang Chunyan's eyes widened. She let loose a string of curses, only for Lu Mi to sternly stop her. "Noel hasn't gone far yet. What if you set a bad example for her?"

Jiang Chunyan: "..."

"Good thing the butler didn't keep watching, or Noel would've had to pretend to lose control and lunge at us again," Lu Mi muttered as he cleared the dishes.

"Buddy, you have my respect," Jiang Chunyan said, helping him clear up. "But can you tell me how you did it?"

Then she held up a finger warily. "Don't tell me to go see for myself. I'm not that smart. Don't worry, I won't hunt you down, and I definitely won't reveal your plans to the butler."

"All right."

In the kitchen, Lu Mi closed all the doors and windows before explaining quietly, "I've been looking for clues these past few days."

Jiang Chunyan nodded. "I know. We've all been calling you a model worker behind your back. But we already searched everywhere. Hasn't everything been destroyed beyond recognition?"

"The castle's huge, and there are only so many of us. We spend the days teaching and cooking, and the nights playing hide-and-seek with Noel. Of course we're going to miss things."

Lu Mi told her about entering the dreams during the day. "In the most recent dream, Mr. Bart had already left, and the fake butler had taken control of every aspect of the manor. He even said he would withdraw the guards. I think war is about to arrive."

After listening, Jiang Chunyan gave him an admiring thumbs-up. "I knew there had to be some clues in this instance. Turns out we needed to enter Noel's dreams. But why are you limiting how much Noel eats? Aren't you afraid the butler will notice?"

"The day we played that game, I realized that without the butler deliberately provoking her, Noel could actually try to control herself."

Following his train of thought, Jiang Chunyan recalled the day the players had been summoned to the lawn. Before the butterflies flew away, Noel had indeed restrained herself from hurting them.

"It would be better not to feed Noel dog meat at all, but the butler does come to check on every meal... whether it helps or not, I want Noel to feel a little better."

Lu Mi looked out the window. "As for the butler... I'm afraid he really is getting suspicious, so I've asked Roman to take turns cooking with me."

Jiang Chunyan quickly said, "I can help too. We can get Mo Yu involved as well."

Lu Mi smiled. "Sure."

As they cleaned up together, Jiang Chunyan sneaked a few appraising glances at the young man.

He's pretty good. If I could introduce him to my good friend Mo Yu...

The moment that thought surfaced, a pair of icy eyes appeared in her mind. No, no. That man is too scary.

Jiang Chunyan asked tactfully, "By the way, where's that friend of yours? Doesn't he follow you everywhere? How come I haven't seen him?"

"You mean Roman?" Lu Mi scratched his head. "Maybe he went to play in the snow. Kids grow up and stop wanting to stay home."

Jiang Chunyan stared at the waist-deep snow outside and fell into a long silence.

Roman was indeed playing in the snow.

He had found a spot sheltered by the eaves and was pulling human fingernails out of his right palm, one after another.

Threads of flesh and blood clung to the roots of the nails. These tiny things had been growing densely across Roman's palm nonstop over the past few days.

Players were forbidden from killing one another.

"What a nuisance," Roman complained softly. After cleaning them all out, he buried them in a hole he had already dug in the snow.

The snow here would keep piling higher, forever burying whatever lay beneath it.

At noon, Lu Mi and Roman put Noel down for her usual nap.

To keep the butler from getting suspicious, they chose a different location every time.

This time, it was a cramped storage room on the castle's fifth floor.

Roman laid out the bedding. Lu Mi was singing a lullaby when he suddenly stopped.

Noel opened her eyes. "Sir, I'm not asleep yet."

Lu Mi held an index finger to his lips. "Someone's here."

He stood up and crept to the little door, where he heard He Shengguang's voice.

"What's this? What's this..."

He Shengguang's recent behavior could hardly be called abnormal, but he had been acting a little strangely, often muttering to himself and rarely engaging with the other players.

Even when he ran into Jin Bi, who had cost him his eyes, the two simply walked past each other without a glance.

Now, hearing him muttering outside, Lu Mi's heart suddenly clenched. He had been so focused on guiding Noel to control herself and guarding against the butler that he had forgotten about He Shengguang.

Noel saw bright, beautiful scenes through her butterflies. What, then, did He Shengguang see through the butterfly eyes he now possessed as well?

Lu Mi checked the time on his wristband. He knew he needed to get Noel into a dream as soon as possible. But...

He Shengguang seemed to have discovered something, and his voice grew excited. "Butler-butler!!"

Alarm bells went off in Lu Mi's head, but someone pinned him firmly against the door from behind.

Roman's voice came from beside his ear. "If you rush out without even knowing the butler's weakness, you'll only add another death."

Lu Mi calmed down. Roman was right. He respected He Shengguang and felt for him, but he had no chance of winning right now.

Still, a dull ache lingered in his chest.

Ning Zhuangzhuang's brightly smiling face, her little tuft of hair bobbing as she bounced along, appeared in his mind for what must have been the countless time.

If only I were a little stronger, if only I could find a way out a little sooner...

The scream he had expected never came.

Roman slowly released him. "He should be fine. Not everyone can kill someone silently. Enter the dream first."

Noel had already fallen asleep on her own. Lu Mi steadied his emotions and soon fell asleep as well.

Something cold landed on his face. Lu Mi opened his eyes and found himself lying in the snow.

"It wasn't snowing last time... how much time has passed?" Lu Mi murmured as he stood up. Looking around, he recognized the lawn in front of the castle.

The western tower had already been blasted into the shape it had in reality. The fountain had run dry, and the statues were missing arms and legs. It seemed war had already swept through Bart Manor.

Just then, he heard a girl crying.

A large group of soldiers emerged from the castle. Several at the front were escorting Mrs. Bart and Noel under guard.

There was also an elderly woman whom Lu Mi had seen in the previous dreams-Noel's grandmother.

Noel sobbed, her nose twitching with every breath. "Give me back my daddy! Give him back-"

The soldier holding her viciously yanked her hair. "Stop crying!"

Mrs. Bart called out through tears as well. "Noel, darling, be good. Daddy will be back very soon."

Lu Mi approached them and realized that the soldiers looked very familiar.

"Miss, your daddy isn't coming back." The speaker seemed to be their leader. The instant Lu Mi saw him, he remembered-these were the soldiers he had encountered on his first day in the instance. Mr. Bart had died under their gunfire!

Judging by the timeline, Mr. Bart was still hiring tutors at this point, yet they were already certain he would die.

Then their encounter on the road that day had been no coincidence!