The mansion in the royal capital that Sanada Shoko had supposedly owned contained nothing but Japanese landscape paintings that appeared to have been created during her lifetime.
"It seems the rooms only contain paintings of some town or other as well."
"Yeah, looks like it... By the way, do these paintings have any value?"
"They're beautifully painted, and there are surely people who would desire these depictions of a fantastical town whose location is unknown... I never expected Her Majesty the Queen Dowager to have such an artistic sensibility."
Celestine gazed at the softly rendered landscape paintings with a distant look in her eyes.
"To me, Her Majesty the Queen Dowager was someone who stood far above me—nothing short of terrifying. I never knew what she was thinking. Being stared at constantly as though being appraised was truly unsettling..."
"...I see."
To Rest, who had met Sanada Shoko in her inner world, this was hard to believe, but that was apparently who the queen dowager had been.
She had been consumed by resentment, so she was practically a different person entirely.
"What will happen to this mansion? Will it become mine too?"
"No. This isn't part of Lord Rodele's inheritance, so it has nothing to do with you, Rest. Since there's no owner or heir, it becomes state property."
"I see... If they do demolish the mansion, could I at least buy the paintings?"
It was a little sad to think that Shoko's legacy would be mercilessly discarded.
Even for Rest, whose homesickness had faded, it would be a loss for paintings depicting Japanese scenery to disappear.
"I understand. The final decision will be made by the royal family, so I can't make any promises, but I'll see to it."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
After looking through the entirety of the mansion... Rest and Celestine prepared to leave.
But just before stepping through the front door, Celestine suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"Oh..."
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's just that the wall over there feels off..."
Celestine pointed at the wall next to the entrance.
At first glance, there was nothing unusual, but upon careful observation, Rest noticed a line etched into part of the wall.
On the old, yellowed wallpaper, a square outline roughly the size of a palm had been carved in.
"You're right, something does seem to be here. I don't sense any mana though...?"
"The duke's mansion has something similar. Of course, it's hidden much more skillfully."
Celestine touched the square carved into the wall.
"A mechanism that doesn't use mana. A hidden door that magicians can't detect."
When she pressed the square, a section of the wall swung open, like a revolving door in a ninja hideout.
If it had been a mechanism powered by magic, Rest would have been able to pick up on it.
But precisely because it didn't rely on mana, it was something he could never notice... a complete blind spot.
"Behind the hidden door is... a staircase. It leads underground."
He tried probing with the magic of presence detection, but there were no unusual auras to be found.
When Rest glanced at Celestine's face, she gave a slight nod.
"If Rest doesn't mind, I'd like to investigate. Would that be all right?"
"Rather, I'd be more worried if we came all this way and you told me 'let's go home today.' Let's go down."
Rest lit a light with magic and descended the dark staircase.