"The sea… it's magnificent, truly."
Rest opened the step and stepped out onto the veranda.
From the veranda, one could take in a panoramic view of the ocean, the grand natural vista rushing in to fill his eyes.
"Was Her Majesty the queen dowager… fond of the sea?"
Celestine murmured with a sigh.
The room had been a bedroom. It contained only a small table, a bed, and a closet.
There was nothing expensive—no works of art, no jewels.
"How should I put this… my image of her is changing…"
The queen dowager had always carried an air of mystery about her, something inscrutable and aloof.
She had rallied numerous powerful nobles to her side and dragged a tyrant from his throne.
Having seemingly contributed so much to the nation, she then went and spoiled her grandson Rodele, raising him into a tyrant of the same mold.
Inconsistent, impossible to read—a monstrosity of a woman.
That was how Rest had always seen the queen dowager: Frederica Aiwood, the person.
(But this room… it carries a certain human warmth about her.)
A spartan room.
On the table sat a well-known poetry collection and a small vase. The flowers placed in the vase had withered and crumbled beyond recognition.
And beyond the window—the vast, open sea. In this very room, she had spent her final years gazing out at the ocean nearly every single day.
(What on earth must she have been thinking, spending the rest of her life here?)
"There's nothing in this room. Shall we examine the study next door?"
Celestine called out to Rest, who was looking down at the sea from the veranda.
"If you'd like to learn more about the queen dowager, there might be a diary or something in the study."
"...That's right."
Rest nodded and turned on his heel.
He secured the window shut before leaving the room.
Stepping into the hallway, he entered the study next to the bedroom.
"There's nothing here but a desk and a bookshelf. What's on the bookshelf is..."
"...Nothing but poetry collections, flower encyclopedias, and novels."
"Right..."
There were no classified documents, nor anything resembling grimoires.
Truly... the bookshelf was lined with nothing but hobby books.
"...Could it be that there's nothing at all in this villa?"
Perhaps there were no secrets here whatsoever — just a villa meant for passing the rest of one's days in peace.
That thought crossed Rest's mind.
"Come to think of it... did the queen dowager die at this villa?"
"...I don't know."
"Huh?"
"It's not clear where the queen dowager passed away. She had apparently left the royal palace for her recuperation... but one day, her body was found placed in her bedroom at the palace. It seems someone had transported her there, but no one knows who."
"..."
That, too, was a peculiar story.
It seemed yet another mystery surrounding the queen dowager had deepened.
"If that's the case... then it's possible she died in this villa. And she might have been living here with someone...?"
No... there was only one bed. It wasn't large enough for two people to sleep in.
Of course, it was possible someone had been staying in the living room or the basement.
"There might be something inside the desk."
Celestine examined the desk drawers.
The drawer was packed with a large bundle of papers.
"What's that?"
"This is, um... Kyaaah!"
"Miss Celestine!?"
Celestine suddenly let out a shriek and dropped the bundle of papers she had pulled from the drawer onto the floor.
The mask of a lady had cracked, and Celestine was screaming like the young girl her age truly was.
"What on earth is written in... Hiii!?"
Rest reached to pick up the fallen bundle of papers, then froze.
The papers that had come out of the desk drawer... they depicted something terrifying.
"This is..."
"How... how indecent!"
Rest and Celestine cried out simultaneously with strained voices.
At last, the queen dowager's secret had been laid bare... and its true nature was beyond anything they could have imagined.
"No way... it's a BL book...!"
The bundle of papers that emerged contained... detailed illustrations of men entangled with one another, meticulously drawn.
—————— Work Introduction The Poison King: Having Awakened to the Greatest Power, I Command the Fair Princesses and Become the Master of a Lustful Harem Book 3 now on sale. Manga adaptation also in progress!!
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