A Monodrama for Carolyn August - Chapter 72

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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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Episode 72.
‘Then the White Rabbit must be…….’
A white rabbit dressed in a neat vest and trousers. That would be Aiden, up on the fourth floor.
Caroline felt her skin prickle. Not from fear. This was exhilaration.
Anna hadn’t simply given her something charming and pretty—she’d given her the perfect device, one that would prevent her from ever meeting the servants and allow her to guard the Heart.
She wanted to run back and shower her with kisses on the cheek.
‘I really do love you, Anna. You’re the best.’
But it wasn’t over.
Though she’d made quite a significant discovery, an unanswered question remained.
Caroline climbed back upstairs and opened her bag. Now all the rabbits except the white one were on the second floor.
‘Why the second floor?’
The Garden was the Garden. But not every floor level reflected accurately—they were all drawn one level higher than they actually were.
‘So what about the first floor?’
What if the first floor wasn’t the first floor? Could it be a hidden space? But Aiden’s room was on the third floor, and that would probably map to the fourth floor.
Either way, there was a first floor beneath the second floor, so there must be some space beneath that…….
“Ah!”
As Caroline climbed the stairs, she remembered a place she’d forgotten.
That rainy day, when twelve o’clock had arrived and Caroline still hadn’t made it back to her room. And Tobi—no, young Aiden—had taken her hand and led her down a secret passage.
‘There was a basement space.’
It had been too dark, too wet from the rain, and everything had happened too quickly for the interior to be clearly mapped, but the Basement had existed. A place never mentioned during Tea Time, during meals, or even while dealing with the various character personas.
‘Could it be a forbidden space?’
“With the exception of locked rooms, all spaces are open to guests.”
The words came back to her—something she’d asked once and received as an answer.
If the Basement had been locked, Caroline suspected she wouldn’t have been able to enter it even with young Aiden’s consciousness accompanying her. Still, it wasn’t a place a guest would normally go, so there was a chance a servant might have noticed her leaving.
‘I should go.’
There was no meaningless space in this Mansion.
Only spaces whose meaning Caroline had yet to discover—like a Maze waiting to be solved.
Most importantly, the fact that Anna’s gift had exposed the Basement meant she was meant to understand it.
So Caroline had returned to her room, unpacked her things, and planned to wait for the right moment to descend into the Basement.
‘The question was…….’
How would she get in?
Caroline could remember how she’d entered with young Aiden. She’d grasped a ring that protruded from near the Maze, pulled, and a trapdoor opened to reveal descending stairs below. She’d followed a narrow passage into the Basement and emerged on the western side, not the eastern side where her room was.
‘The problem is I don’t remember the exact details.’
Getting from the Basement to the second floor meant climbing through a total of three levels, and she definitely hadn’t come up the main staircase.
She’d used invisible stairs and somehow opened something to emerge, but…….
If Caroline wanted to reach that place, she’d need to find that ‘something’ on the western side of the second floor and reverse the process.
‘It’s almost midnight now.’
The hour and minute hands aligned perfectly. At the same moment, a knock came at the door.
“Miss Caroline, it’s twelve o’clock. Is there anything else you require?”
Caroline’s lips twitched, then she closed her mouth.
She would have liked to ask for matches, but doing so might raise suspicion. Besides, her bag already held a Lantern, so she’d be fine.
“No, thank you!”
Caroline declined, then waited for more time to pass.
She repeatedly opened and closed her bag, observing how the servants made their patrols. They moved individually—when one went up from the first through third floors, another simultaneously came down from the third to the first. Then the two of them circled the wide outdoors together. From near the Maze through the Garden, past the Parking Lot, and close to the Lakeside.
Once the patrol ended, a little over an hour had passed. Caroline watched the clock tick past one in the morning and waited for the next opportunity.
From her observation, she’d gleaned two things.
First: If Caroline wanted to move freely inside the Mansion, she needed to time it for when both servants were outside.
Second: No one patrols the Basement. She could hypothesize that the Basement wasn’t a familiar space to the servants either.
‘What’s in the Basement?’
What was there that she needed to see?
Caroline tilted her head and grabbed her bag. The two servants were just gathering outside again.
‘Now’s the time!’
Thanks to Anna’s gift, the risk had diminished. Anna probably didn’t even realize what kind of help she’d given.
Once everything was done and she returned, Caroline thought to herself, she’d buy Anna delicious things and plenty of new clothes.
And then she stood before the wall on the western side of the second floor, resolved and ready.
She passed all the rooms on the second floor and remembered emerging here with young Aiden’s hand in hers, from the protruding side of what looked like a ㄷ-shaped corridor.
‘It must be here.’
The passage is inside. But strictly speaking, she couldn’t quite remember how they’d come up through here.
‘Was it the floor? Was it the wall?’

There was a window, so a secret door in the wall itself seemed unlikely.
Still, Caroline tapped along the walls to be sure. Hidden doors usually appeared in places like this, but no matter how carefully she ran her fingers over the thick, ornate wallpaper, she couldn’t find a single crack.
Then perhaps the floor?
Caroline tilted her head and bounced experimentally on the floorboards beneath her feet. Nothing felt hollow.
‘Could it be the carpet?’
She lifted the edges, checking underneath, but found nothing there either.
‘I need to find it soon……’
In a few moments, the two servants would resume their patrol. Caroline was growing anxious, running her hands frantically over the floor, when she’d just watched the Black Rabbits circle the Garden once more.
“What are you doing over there?”
A chill raced down her spine.
Caroline had missed her Tea Time today. So who was standing behind her now?
‘So much for reaching the Basement today.’
She swallowed hard and turned around, keeping her expression as composed as she could manage.
She found James standing with his shirt carelessly unbuttoned, both hands shoved into his trouser pockets.
‘It’s been a while.’
It was strange that he’d appeared without anyone mentioning him.
It had been six days since the fourth day, and Caroline smiled at the joy of seeing him again after so long.
“I know what you’re looking for, but you’re doing it all wrong.”
James, his hair disheveled and his face marked with ash and cuts, looked at her with defiant eyes and pointed.
“What? Me? What do you mean?”
Caught red-handed, Caroline blurted out words that Lovelian would never have spoken, in her haste.
“That’s pathetic too. You’ll never be a Delinquent Youth, no matter what.”
James spoke mockingly and strode toward her. Having spent the day at the Academy, this was her first glimpse of Aiden’s face in ages. Caroline stared intently at him as he crouched down beside her. She’d been studying his expression closely.
“You’ve passed the age for that anyway.”
At her words, James—who had been looking at the floor—glanced up briefly to check her face.
“If you try hard enough to lie about your age, maybe it’s possible.”
“Really? That much?”
Caroline laughed and asked again, and James touched the floor lightly before standing up.
He walked over to the window and grasped the handle of the Blind that was often lowered during the day when sunlight was strong.
“……What are you doing?”
“Watch carefully.”
As he slowly pulled the handle, the Blind descended with a clatter. Caroline quickly checked her bag.
‘Oh!’
The servants were entering the First Floor.
“James, wait—this isn’t the time for this.”
Of course, she was safe enough if she was with Aiden in his Role. But that depended on the nature of the Role he was playing.
If James, in the guise of Aiden, looked down on Lovelian and brushed past her, she could be in real danger. And besides, she’d been trying to find the Basement quickly……
“Huh?”
The Blind descended all the way, completely blocking out the window.
Yet James didn’t stop pulling the handle.
What astonished Caroline was the sound beginning beneath her feet—a soft click, then a grinding noise.

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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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