“...”
But wait...
Zeldryn, who had frozen moments ago, slowly furrowed his brows.
‘Who even is the Mansion's Head Administrator?’
He tried searching through the fragments of the old Zeldryn's memories that still remained inside his head, looking for a name or a face.
But...
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
‘I don't even know who he is??’
“...”
Zeldryn blinked several times.
‘Then why the hell did I panic too?’
The moment Hera told him that the Mansion's Head Administrator had been found dead without his head, his thoughts had immediately gone into chaos.
Even though he didn't even know the man.
But...
“...”
‘Wait.’
Zeldryn fell silent again.
There was something far more important than that.
Dead without a head.
His eyes unconsciously drifted toward the bed.
More precisely...
Under the bed.
The place where he had hidden a human head only a few minutes ago.
“...”
‘Don't tell me...’
Zeldryn immediately stopped himself from thinking any further.
Not necessarily.
He didn't even know who the person whose head was currently under his bed actually was.
There was no point jumping to conclusions just because the timing happened to match perfectly.
Zeldryn looked back at Hera.
“Who is the Mansion's Head Administrator?” Zeldryn asked.
!!
Hera looked slightly surprised by the question.
Her eyes widened.
Her lips parted as though she were about to say something.
But...
“...”
A few seconds later, Hera's expression suddenly changed.
As though she had just remembered something very important.
Zeldryn noticed the change in her face.
“What's wrong?”
“N nothing, Lord.”
Hera quickly shook her head.
“I just remembered that you lost your memories...”
“...”
Right.
Zeldryn had almost forgotten that he now had an official excuse for asking questions like this.
At least in front of Hera.
Hera then continued explaining.
“The Mansion's Head Administrator is Lord Gerald. He is the person responsible for managing the finances, matters involving the Main Residence, and various other affairs related to the management of this mansion, Lord.”
!!
‘Right, of course...’
Only now did Zeldryn realize something that had never even crossed his mind before.
During the few days he had spent in this mansion...
He had barely thought about how a place this large was actually managed.
Food was available every day.
The servants had their duties.
The guards remained stationed around the mansion.
Stolen novel; please report.
Necessary supplies continued to be provided.
Not to mention wages.
Expenses.
Supplies.
Communication with the Main Residence.
And who knew how many other matters Zeldryn had simply never seen directly.
‘Even though I said I wanted to become strong and rich, then live peacefully in this world...’
‘I almost forgot.’
‘Who has actually been managing the finances of this mansion all this time?’
Apparently, the answer was Gerald.
Zeldryn slowly nodded.
But when he looked at Hera again...
“...”
Hera had lowered her head.
Her hands were clasped together in front of her body.
Her lips moved slightly several times, but no words came out.
She looked like she wanted to say something.
But she was hesitating.
Zeldryn stared at her for several seconds.
“...”
‘Again?’
Finally, he let out a sigh.
“What's wrong with you now?”
Hera immediately raised her head slightly.
Zeldryn looked at her with a tired expression.
“How many times do I have to ask what's wrong with you?”
“...”
“From now on, if you want to say something, don't hesitate like that.”
Zeldryn rubbed his forehead.
“It's tiring having to keep asking you.”
!!
Hera immediately became nervous.
“M my apologies, Lord.”
She quickly lowered her head.
“From now on, I will tell you immediately and won't hesitate anymore.”
“Yeah.”
Zeldryn gave a small nod.
Hera slowly raised her head again.
Her eyes met Zeldryn's face.
She still seemed slightly hesitant.
But after remembering what Zeldryn had just told her...
Hera finally opened her mouth.
“Actually...”
She paused for a moment.
“Before Lord lost his memories... you were very close to Lord Gerald.”
!!??
‘Huh!!?’
Zeldryn immediately stared at Hera.
‘The old Zeldryn was close to someone else?’
For some reason...
That information felt extremely strange.
From everything he had heard about the previous owner of this body, the old Zeldryn didn't seem like the type of person who easily formed close relationships with others.
At least not relationships that sounded normal.
And...
“...”
‘This feels familiar.’
Two names immediately appeared in his mind.
Henry.
Aeglo.
Two adults who had approached the old Zeldryn and then used his status and authority for their own benefit.
And now there was Gerald.
Zeldryn didn't know what kind of relationship they had.
But he couldn't ignore the possibility that the same thing had happened again.
“How old was Gerald?” Zeldryn asked.
Hera tried to remember.
“I don't know for certain, Lord...”
Then she answered,
“But I believe Lord Gerald was already over forty years old.”
“...”
Zeldryn immediately frowned.
‘Over forty?’
The age gap was enormous.
Zeldryn asked another question.
“Why was I close to him?”
Hera remained silent for a moment.
Then she slowly shook her head.
“My apologies, Lord... I don't know.”
“...”
“Because whenever Lord was with Lord Gerald, Lord Gerald would always order everyone else to leave.”
Zeldryn stared at Hera without saying anything.
“...”
‘Ah, damn it.’
‘She's the one who made me curious, but she doesn't know either.’
‘Fuck, now I've got even more things to think about...’
Zeldryn massaged his temple.
But the more he thought about the information...
The stranger it became.
‘The old Zeldryn seriously wasn't right.’
He didn't have any friends his own age.
Henry and Aeglo were already much older than him.
And now Gerald was apparently over forty.
‘He didn't have any friends his own age...’
‘And instead he was close to people way older than him.’
Zeldryn stared at the floor while thinking.
Two possibilities immediately came to mind.
‘First...’
‘Zeldryn saw Gerald as some kind of father figure because he was so lonely.’
After all...
The old Zeldryn had lived far away from his biological father since he was an infant.
If there really was an adult man who was always around him, talked to him, gave him attention, or simply listened to him...
It wouldn't be strange for a child to eventually become attached to that person.
But the second possibility was much worse.
‘Or...’
‘He was being used by another adult again.’
“Haah...”
Zeldryn let out a long breath.
‘Even if I want to get angry at him...’
‘I guess it makes sense.’
The longer he lived inside this body...
The more things about the old Zeldryn began to look different in his eyes.
He was still an asshole.
That hadn't changed.
He abused servants.
Did whatever he wanted.
Abused his status.
He had even done plenty of things that still made Zeldryn feel disgusted every time he remembered them.
But...
When he really thought about it...
‘I kinda feel bad for this kid, damn it.’
He had been separated from his family since infancy.
His father lived at the Main Residence.
His mother was there too.
His siblings didn't live with him either.
He had no friends his own age.
There was no one who truly guided him.
And the adults who had approached him so far were people like Henry and Aeglo.
“...”
‘How the hell was he supposed to not turn into a troublesome brat?’
That didn't mean everything the old Zeldryn had done could be justified.
Not at all.
But now...
At least Reka was beginning to understand a little better where all of it might have come from.
‘I'm starting to sympathize with you, damn it, old Zeldryn.’
Zeldryn let out a small sigh.
‘Even though you really were a fucking asshole.’
He finally stopped thinking about the old Zeldryn.
For now, there was something far more important to deal with.
Zeldryn looked back at Hera.
“Was there anything else?”
Hera blinked.
“Anything else, Lord?”
“Yeah.”
Zeldryn nodded.
“Like anything important that happened last night.”
Then he looked at Hera's still exhausted face.
“And why are you this tired anyway?”
“Oh...”
Hera finally understood.
“Umm... I'm exhausted because everyone in the mansion except you was questioned one by one by the guards.”
Zeldryn continued listening.
“And we were also ordered to help search for the culprit,” Hera continued.
!!??
Zeldryn immediately froze.
“...”
‘What?’
He stared at Hera.
Hera looked completely serious.
‘What kind of fucking logic is that??’
Zeldryn could barely believe what he had just heard.
The servants.
People whose jobs were cleaning the mansion, cooking, washing clothes, and taking care of household needs...
Were ordered to help search for a murderer?
‘Even if they actually found the culprit...’
‘The servants would probably just get fucking killed, wouldn't they?’
Zeldryn closed his eyes for a moment.
His head was starting to hurt again.
‘Goddamn it...’
‘One day, I'm seriously going to have to fix the guards' basic common sense.’
He had no idea who had made that decision, but sending servants around to search for someone who had just decapitated another human being sounded unbelievably stupid to him.
At least none of the other servants had ended up dead.
Zeldryn sighed.
“And?”
“Umm...”
Hera began thinking.
“Something important...”
Her eyes shifted slightly upward.
She seemed to be going through the events of the previous night one by one.
Zeldryn didn't interrupt her.
A few moments later...
Hera seemed to remember something.
“I don't know whether this is important or not...”
Zeldryn immediately focused his attention on her.
“But when Lord Gerald's body was found... apparently there were a lot of documents scattered around the room.”
“...”
Hera seemed slightly hesitant before continuing.
“I don't know whether this rumor is true or not...”
She looked at Zeldryn.
“Apparently, Lord Gerald had been embezzling money from the Main Residence for himself and his family...”