A Monodrama for Carolyn August - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21.
Caroline took another step forward.
But the number of triangles remained the same. Moving closer hadn’t made it increase to two.
‘Is it just a warning, then?’
The moment that thought crossed her mind, a strong force suddenly wrapped around her.
“I told you that you can’t go in there……!”
In an instant, the distance from the Maze grew, and the red triangle vanished.
Caroline’s face flushed crimson once more.
The man who smelled of soap clung to her like a dependent child.
She needed to gather as much information as possible before midnight, but his proximity threw her thoughts into chaos.
“……Why can’t you go in there?”
“You said it’s a dangerous place.”
Aiden, absorbed in his role as Ipros, chided her gently.
“A place where it’s hard to come out alive. A place I certainly wouldn’t return from if I entered, though Isaha could attempt it.”
‘Attempt it?’
Caroline frowned in thought.
She had no memory of such a line in the play. Could it be from the source novel then? Would she need to consult it again?
‘I don’t think I brought it with me……’
“But Isaha mustn’t rush in recklessly either.”
Ipros’s voice dropped lower.
He whispered mysteriously.
“You must prepare thoroughly before entering.”
The tone was so grave that Caroline sensed this was more than just dialogue from a script.
‘The triangle did appear, after all.’
So the Maze was genuinely a dangerous space. Given how tall and densely constructed it was, that made sense.
“What kind of preparation should one do?”
No answer came immediately.
A breeze swept lightly across the nape of her neck in the sudden silence.
She turned slowly and met Aiden’s gaze. He was staring at her with a puzzled expression.
Caroline had a sinking feeling that a triangle was about to appear.
“Isaha wouldn’t fail to know that.”
[▲]
And her prediction was correct.
Her body went rigid.
It seemed unwise to press him further. Probing too deeply into mere stage dialogue would make him suspicious.
Besides, Ipros had shed his awareness of being Aiden, and emphasizing his role outside the play in this moment could only be dangerous.
“……I wouldn’t have asked you for an answer.”
Caroline imitated Isaha’s coldness with a trembling voice.
“I only asked in case you’d somehow figured out that you meant to follow me. Fortunately, that’s not the case.”
Despite the reproaching tone, Ipros’s expression cleared as though he’d suddenly understood.
“Ah, I see. But I don’t do what Isaha forbids anyway.”
‘Thank goodness we got past that.’
Relieved, Caroline decided she should return to her room.
Midnight was drawing near, and the longer she talked with him, the more likely she was to slip up.
“I’m going to look around a bit more, so you go fix the mechanism.”
“……I don’t want to go alone.”
“Strictly speaking, you left without doing what you were supposed to do.”
“All right.”
It wasn’t difficult to speak sternly to a despondent, beautiful doll.
Though his lovely face, which looked ready to whimper like a puppy, sent a tingle through her chest.
Caroline suppressed the feeling and sent him away. Then she, too, headed back to her room.
* * *
“All right, let me sort through this.”
Caroline sat down, pressing a hand to her heart, which still thudded as though bruised.
She had learned a great deal so far.
“First, about Aiden’s changes.”
Aiden sometimes became so absorbed in his Character Role that he forgot himself.
Usually in the evenings. From after dinner until sometime before breakfast, probably.
‘The latest I’ve seen him is around midnight when the bells chime, so I can’t be certain.’
And it happened every day.
“And the character role seemed to change every day.”
Putting everything together so far, it had been James, Friedman, James, Ipros in that order.
‘What kind of sequence is this?’
After thinking it over carefully, Caroline arrived at an answer.
‘It becomes the character role mentioned in the previous Night Tea.’
On the first day, Will appeared.
On the second day, after talking about the story of ‘The Quiet Graduation’, James showed up.
On the third day, after discussing ‘The Oyster Man’, Friedman appeared.
On the fourth day, it was James again.
Today, after the story of ‘What Sylvia Left Behind’, Ipros came.
“Let me set that aside for now.”
In this state, she couldn’t allow Aiden to recognize her as himself.
As if she were the opposite role to the character, Caroline also had to deliver her lines and match the rhythm. Otherwise……
“I’d lose a Heart.”
She didn’t want to think about what would happen if she lost both Hearts remaining.
“Probably my mission is to find out why Aiden is doing this when he said he’d retired and wasn’t practicing acting.”
It seemed she’d need to search for the answer through somewhat more direct means.
And……
“I could borrow that child’s power.”
After all, the child had mentioned the 3rd Floor Western Room that the Key could open.
“Of course, I don’t know what that child’s identity is…….”
Caroline shuddered at the chill that ran through her.
Thinking of how that child hadn’t reflected in the Mirror, she could feel that she truly didn’t exist in a world of reality.
‘Let me organize the Rules while I’m at it.’
Caroline unfolded the copy of the Rules she’d received on the first day and the two Notes she’d obtained.
Then she arranged them in a line on a wide notebook and pasted them down.
[First. Your Summer Vacation is thirty days, one month. You may only leave this place on the day that marks exactly one month. It is impossible to leave before thirty days have passed, and it is also impossible to remain after thirty days have passed. For guests who find it difficult to meet this requirement, please do not sign and leave this place.
Second. While you are in the Mansion, we do not recommend contacting others through Letters. We will deliver any Letters you send, but before that, they undergo one review within the Mansion to ensure there is no harmful content. If you absolutely must send a Letter, please do not include personal matters.
Third. Within the Mansion, only the adult Aiden Deerbell and servants exist. No child exists within the Mansion. Should you discover a child or boy within the Mansion, do not speak to them and keep your distance.
If you have already had a conversation with them multiple times, take the child to the room on the 3rd Floor Western side. Use the Key to open the door, place the child inside the room, and lock the door. Then, when you open it again a day later, the child will have disappeared. And they will never appear again.
Fourth. After Midnight, do not leave your room. The servant will visit for the last time at Midnight, so please mention anything you need at that time. The Dressing Room and Bathroom exist within your room, and we will bring any necessary items, so after Midnight you must absolutely not leave your room.
Fifth. If Aiden Deerbell, whom you meet at the Mansion, seems very different from his usual state, do not be too startled. Do not respond to what he says, and tell him to regain his senses and return to reality by calling out the name Aiden Deerbell. Then he will soon return to his normal self.]
“Goodness, there’s so much to read.”
Caroline shook her head at the flood of words.
The fifth Rule about Aiden was backwards. And the third one, about children, was also false.
‘That they don’t exist.’
And that she should go to the 3rd Floor Western Room and make that child disappear.
Strictly speaking, that wasn’t a lie, but the problem was that not making the child disappear was what helped Caroline.
‘In other words, the Rules can recommend bad things to me or hide good things.’
If that were the case, might the other Rules also be written backwards or have hidden information?
‘But then the number of possibilities becomes too large.’
At the moment Caroline bit her lip with a feeling of vertigo.
Knock-knock.
When she answered the knock, a servant’s voice came through.
“Miss Caroline, it is 11:59. I’ve brought your Night Tea. Is there anything else you might need?”
‘Night Tea?’
Was there such a thing?
It seemed like the first time she’d had it since arriving here.
“No, that’s fine. Thank you!”
But her throat was dry, so Caroline opened the door and accepted it.
While reading through the Rules again, she poured the tea into the Teacup.
“?”
It had no aroma, and the color of the water was completely transparent.
“What is this?”
‘Did they forget the Tea Bag?’
The moment she opened the lid of the Teapot.
Caroline could see that inside was not a Tea Bag.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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