I waited anxiously for Carlton to return after identifying the missing women.

Carlton only came back to the inn where Ascan and I were staying the following evening. With a grim expression, he reported what he had discovered.

“There have been an unusually high number of missing women wherever this Harrison fellow has stayed. In this village alone, it’s already the thirteenth case. The strange thing is, every single one… had black hair.”

It felt as if I’d been struck on the head with a blunt object.

The fact that many women had vanished near Harrison, and that every one of them had black hair, pointed to one terrifying possibility.

That Harrison might still be committing murders.

‘Why specifically women with black hair? Could it be connected to Mother?’

I pondered seriously, but there was no way to know what thoughts lurked inside a madman’s mind.

Yet, given Harrison’s peculiar obsession with black-haired women, the likelihood of a connection to Charles was high.

I abruptly stood up from my seat.

Angela had gone missing not long ago. If my suspicion was correct—that Harrison was behind it—and if she was still alive, I had to rescue her.

The image of a middle-aged woman desperately crying out, mistaking me for Angela, flashed in my mind.

The pain of losing family…

I didn’t want anyone else to endure that.

“Harrison’s residence seems suspicious. For one, there’s no record he ever owned a dog, yet he built a doghouse. Also, no one knows what that enormous furnace is for.”

It was only through the laborers who worked on the house that the existence of the doghouse and furnace became known; even neighbors had no idea such things existed inside Harrison’s home.

Carlton opened his mouth cautiously.

“Miss, pardon me, but I seem to be the only one who doesn’t understand—what exactly makes the doghouse and furnace suspicious?”

“…It’s not certain, but I suspect the place they called a ‘doghouse’ might have been used to imprison the missing women—and perhaps their bodies were burned in that large furnace.”

“Gasp!”

Carlton, realizing the implication belatedly, sucked in a sharp breath.

We had inferred the crime from circumstantial evidence gathered so far—we hadn’t yet found concrete proof that Harrison committed murder.

But knowing more victims might appear, we had no time to hesitate.

I turned to Ascan and declared firmly.

“We may have to forcibly enter Harrison’s residence.”

I wanted to see with my own eyes the furnace and doghouse mentioned by the laborers. If murders truly occurred there, evidence would remain.

Though we couldn’t legally search Harrison’s home, Ascan nodded without the slightest hesitation.

“Whenever you wish.”

Ascan was the former captain of the Royal Guard, a world-class powerhouse with countless identities, and I was the eldest daughter of House Brellof and the continent’s premier arms merchant.

Truthfully, if we set our minds to it, entering the home of Harrison—a retired butler—would be trivial.

Just as I was about to move—

Knock, knock. The door opened. The visitor was none other than Zen.

Zen, who had brought me a snack on a tray, sensing something was off, looked at us with puzzled eyes and asked,

“What are all of you doing here, excluding me?”

“Ah, well…”

I was momentarily speechless.

Since Charles held special meaning for Zen too, I hadn’t intended to tell him about investigating Harrison until things were certain.

That was why we’d excluded him from the investigation until now—but the more we learned, the stronger, not weaker, our suspicions grew.

I felt it was finally time to tell Zen, yet I struggled to find the right words to explain the situation.

Zen, with sharp eyes, looked at me, then Ascan, then Carlton in turn, and spoke.

“Miss, I understand you had your reasons for leaving me out—but now, wouldn’t you please tell me?”

Zen was too capable not to realize something was happening without him.

I no longer wished to hide anything, so I readily nodded and replied,

“You’re right. It’s time you knew too.”

Explaining verbally would take too long, so—as I had once done with Ascan—I pulled out the letter sent by Orland and handed it to Zen.

Zen read the letter I gave him with a puzzled expression. Gradually, I could feel his expression hardening.

He looked at me with confused eyes and said,

“This is… you’ve been investigating the real culprit behind Madam’s murder?”

“Yes. Since coming to this village, my suspicions have only grown stronger.”

Instantly, a murderous glint flashed in Zen’s eyes. We weren’t the only ones chasing the killer of Charles—he too had waited a long time for this.

“Shall I arrest him right now?”

Even before I told him the new findings, Zen spoke without hesitation. His anger was palpable, and I chuckled softly.

In truth, I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Capturing Charles’s murderer had long been our family’s deepest wish.

I stepped forward decisively and spoke.

“I was just about to suggest that.”

Ascan was the first to follow behind me. Then Zen and Carlton trailed after us like shadows.

We had circled Harrison’s vicinity, gathering ample information. Now it was time to enter his residence directly.

If we could see with our own eyes the doghouse and furnace inside his home, we’d uncover many truths.

As usual, when night fell, Harrison carefully wiped Charles’s photograph clean and headed toward the hidden underground chamber inside his residence.

When Angela, locked behind bars, began sobbing loudly in fear, Harrison frowned slightly and murmured softly,

“Charles never cried so crudely. Her tears were like jewels. When she cried silently, I wanted to hold her.”

“Hic, sob, sir, I’m not Charles!”

Ignoring her, Harrison replied as if he hadn’t heard a word.

“You’d better do exactly as I say. Defective products must be disposed of.”

“D-disposal? What do you mean by that…?”

Sensing something strange, Angela tried to question him, but couldn’t finish her sentence.

Screeeeech—

Harrison pulled out the poker he used to light the furnace, dragging it along the floor as he approached Angela.

His figure, holding the long poker, was terrifying—not merely frightening, but evoking real fear that he might harm her.

Once again ignoring Angela’s words, he spoke only what he wished to say.

“Last time, I disposed of another defective Charles. Upon closer inspection, her eyes weren’t quite right. I tried cutting them with a knife, but it didn’t work.”

Shiver, shiver, shiver.

Instinctively sensing danger, Angela trembled violently like a quaking aspen.

Though Harrison’s words were disjointed, “defective products” seemed to refer to the women he’d kidnapped before Angela. And “cutting the eyes” must have been something he did to one of them.

Angela had been terrified since her abduction, not knowing what lay ahead—but now, sensing she might truly die, her fear doubled.

Harrison gazed at her with a gentle expression utterly unfitting the situation. Once, she might have thought him kindly-faced—now, he was simply horrifying.

“You seem to have a slightly different voice.”

“Y-yes?”

“Our Charles had a clearer, purer voice. Yours is a bit rough.”

“S-sir, what are you saying…?”

Harrison paused briefly in thought, then ambled off somewhere. He set the poker aside and picked up a pair of scissors larger than normal size.

Smiling grotesquely, baring his white teeth at Angela, he said,

“I’ll have to cut out your tongue first.”

“S-sir!”

Angela screamed, but Harrison didn’t flinch. His perpetually benign expression now felt even more horrifying.

Terrified, Angela quickly cried out,

“P-please, spare me! I’ll do anything you say!”

“Then stay still. I’ll make you into the real thing.”

Harrison, holding the large scissors, crept closer—his approach sent chills down her spine.

Angela felt she might lose her mind. His threat to cut out her tongue didn’t sound like a lie at all.

“Sir! Sir! I’m not Charles! I’m Angela!”

When Angela screamed wildly, Harrison suddenly stopped, his expression hardening as he stared silently down at her.

A flicker of madness glinted in his seemingly calm eyes.

“I know. That’s why I’m going to turn you into Charles.”

“Aaaaaah! Help me! Someone, please help!”

Since Angela was already locked behind iron bars, even elderly Harrison could easily overpower her.

Just as he roughly grabbed her jaw and thrust the razor-sharp scissors toward her mouth—

“Mmmph!”

Amid Angela’s muffled scream, a faint bell sound was heard.

Ding-dong— Ding-dong—

If it had rung only once, he might have ignored it—but the bell kept ringing, as if determined to continue until Harrison answered.

With a resigned sigh, Harrison released Angela and muttered under his breath,

“Who on earth is it at this hour? So annoying.”

This was his true nature, beneath his reputedly dignified demeanor.

As if he’d never frowned, Harrison now wore a gentle smile as he looked at the terrified Angela.

“Wait, Charles. I don’t know who it is, but I’ll be right back.”

“H-help… mmph!”

Just in case, Harrison gagged Angela’s mouth with a random piece of cloth.

Though the underground chamber was soundproofed to prevent noise from escaping, his meticulous nature compelled him to prepare for every possible contingency.

Thus, Harrison expertly exited the hidden underground space within his home. By the time he reached the front door, his face had transformed into the kindly, familiar expression known to everyone.

Creeeak—

Harrison slowly opened the front door and began to speak.

“Who could be visiting at this hour—”

But he couldn’t finish the sentence he’d prepared in his mind.

Standing right at the front door was Charles herself. Black hair, snow-white skin—identical to her younger self, save for eye color.

Harrison nearly blurted out “Charles” before barely stopping himself. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Tanashia Brellof.

Having seen young Tanashia and Noxia Brellof in the past, he recognized her immediately.

For reasons unknown, Tanashia had arrived dressed in a maid’s uniform. Her attire only intensified the resemblance to Charles from long ago.

“Miss Tanashia Brellof?”

Harrison barely managed to speak her name, sensing something ominous.

Noxia Brellof had visited recently—and now Tanashia Brellof? Naturally, he felt deeply uneasy.

Tanashia grinned and said,

“Well, long time no see. I see you still recognize my face, even after all this time.”

“Of course. How could I ever forget Miss Tanashia Brellof’s face? But just recently Miss Noxia Brellof visited—what brings you here now…?”

Harrison tried to speak politely as usual, but this time, he couldn’t.

Wham!

Suddenly, Zen appeared and punched Harrison squarely in the face.

Blessed with dark-elemental abilities, Zen possessed strength far beyond any ordinary man. Harrison’s body flew backward and slammed into the corner.

“Ugh, what is this…?”

Harrison stared at Tanashia and Zen, utterly bewildered. Now he noticed she hadn’t come alone.

Beside Tanashia stood Ascan, a sculpted beauty of a man, and behind them loomed the large-framed Carlton, standing guard like a sentinel.

Zen strode forward, grabbed Harrison by the collar, and delivered a series of blows to his face.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Though nearly knocked unconscious from the pain, Harrison still couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

Then Tanashia’s low voice rang out.

“Zen, that’s enough. We need to hear what he has to say.”

The moment Tanashia gave the order, the barrage of punches stopped as if by magic. Harrison, his face already swollen, lifted his head.

“Ugh… what is the meaning of barging in unannounced and assaulting someone? Even if you’re Miss Tanashia Brellof, breaking into someone’s home and beating them is unacceptable. Outsiders might mistake you for thieves.”

Logically, he wasn’t wrong.

They’d only rung the doorbell—yet invaded Harrison’s residence and launched an unprovoked assault. It was behavior one might expect from thieves intent on robbery.

“Thieves?”

But Tanashia showed no concern for such remarks. Instead, she smirked and continued,

“You’re not wrong. I did come here today to ransack this house thoroughly.”

Outwardly, Tanashia seemed unchanged—but looking closely, anger smoldered in her bright blue, determined eyes.

Naturally. Facing Harrison—the man likely responsible for Charles’s murder—she couldn’t possibly feel nothing.

Tanashia’s eyes gleamed coldly as she spoke clearly and deliberately to Harrison.

“Then… shall we go together to that underground chamber you just came from?”