60. Bloody Honeymoon at the Haunted Hotel (4)
The five people who met in the hallway gathered again for dinner after unpacking in their respective rooms.
Katya and Nikolai arrived at the dining hall last after finishing their bath.
Manager Mengano served the food warmed up with magical devices from the kitchen, saying the morning shift staff seemed to have prepared it before leaving.
Katya sat down and gazed at the table filling with dishes, lost in thought.
This hotel seemed strange from top to bottom.
Where had all the original staff gone, leaving Mengano alone to struggle handling everything?
Though Mengano had clearly said earlier that all rooms were fully booked, strangely only these people appeared to be staying tonight.
Besides Manager Mengano, there were Katya and Nikolai, the painter Baron Lantskoĭ and his assistant Judith, and Viscountess Borodin.
Among them, Judith and the Viscountess were teacher and student, while the Baron and Viscountess clearly knew each other despite their unclear relationship.
Mengano, who had been filling wine glasses, formally introduced himself again to those gathered today.
[I am Manager Mengano. Though there are many shortcomings with my colleagues absent on my first day, I will serve you all wholeheartedly today.]
This hotel, which had been falling into ruins after closing due to financial difficulties, was recently acquired by an Arsetian investor.
They had then headhunted Mengano, who had been working as a manager at a famous hotel in the Arsetian capital.
Given that Arsetian tourists made up a significant portion of visitors to Vasnetsov, it was a strategy targeting their own countrymen.
“I’m sorry for startling you earlier. I was really shocked thinking I’d seen a ghost when I found someone in what should have been an empty space.”
Viscountess Borodin said jokingly.
“I apologize for my rudeness at our first meeting.”
She placed her hand on her chest and slightly bowed her upper body in apology before straightening up.
She truly didn’t seem to recognize Katya.
Katya knew well the vicious nature hidden behind that gentle smile.
How many children she had tormented with that face.
Though she might have truly reformed, it was a somewhat implausible hypothesis.
Katya knew this. That a person’s true nature rarely changes easily.
Ivan Petrovsky was a good recent example.
“I heard there was an unfortunate incident at this hotel a few years ago.”
“An unfortunate incident?”
“They say a young lady staying in Room 404 threw herself into the river in despair over a failed romance. After that, rumors spread throughout the area about seeing either an evil spirit or water ghost in that room, and the hotel had to close for a while as guests completely stopped coming.”
Things were getting more and more outrageous.
Boris’s comment about it being like the beginning of a horror novel had become reality.
While Viscountess Borodin was telling the story about Room 404, Mengano, who had been going around pouring wine, lingered longer in front of Baron Lantskoĭ, pouring his wine slowly.
Having been glancing at the Baron the whole time, he didn’t forget to whisper that he was an ardent fan of his paintings before leaving.
Surprised by the unexpected confession, Baron Lantskoĭ choked and started coughing.
Pushing away Mengano’s hand that was offering a napkin, he took out a well-ironed handkerchief from his br*ast pocket and covered his mouth to finish coughing.
“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. It’s not because I have bad feelings, but because I’m quite obsessive and can only use handkerchiefs I bring from home.”
After saying this, he threw the used handkerchief into the trash bin under the table.
“If you only use handkerchiefs from home, why throw it away right away?”
Nikolai who was sitting across from him made a sharp observation.
“Ah, that’s why I always carry several in my pocket. My assistant handles most of my household affairs, and whenever I buy new handkerchiefs, she washes and irons them like this.”
Lantskoĭ said while naturally draping his arm around Judith’s shoulders beside him.
“At times like this, you’re just like a wife, aren’t you? You go through so much trouble because of me, Judith.”
“Not at all. It’s just what I should do.”
Seeing his hand gradually moving lower, Katya deliberately dropped her spoon as if it had slipped from her hand.
When she went under the table to pick up the spoon, she saw the painter groping Judith’s thigh under the tablecloth’s cover.
Though she kept pushing him away showing resistance, the painter’s hand persistently clung on.
‘Is he crazy?’
Angry, Katya didn’t think twice before deliberately bumping her head hard against the table while pretending to get up from under it.
Thanks to this, her side of the table lifted and the dishes naturally tilted to the opposite side.
As a result, wine glasses spilled over onto the painter’s clothes.
“Damn it!”
Lantskoĭ jumped up, cursing as his clothes were soaked.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I accidentally…”
“You think saying it was an accident makes everything okay? So if you kill someone, saying sorry because it was an accident makes it all fine? You careless girl!”
As he glared with his eyes while achieving a triple crown of rudeness with his words and pointing finger, Nikolai stood up with his expression completely changed.
Seeing the difference in their build and his murderous gaze, Baron Lantskoĭ stepped back nervously.
“Ah, d-damn! I need to go change!”
Intimidated by Nikolai’s presence, he avoided eye contact and stormed up to his room first.
In truth, Nikolai didn’t have good feelings toward Lantskoĭ.
He had become famous for painting a picture imagining the former Empress Tatiana during her time at the Pavlovsk Monastery.
Her cause of death was drowning.
The monastery by the Neda River had experienced flooding, and Tatiana, unable to evacuate in time, died trapped in her flooded room.
In Lantskoĭ’s painting, Nikolai’s mother stood on tiptoe on her bed, looking down precariously at the water rising from the floor.
Having made his dead mother the subject of people’s gossip once again, it was understandable that Nikolai would hate him.
“It was my fault anyway. Don’t be angry.”
Katya said while pulling on her husband’s arm.
Only after Nikolai sat down suppressing his anger did she feel relieved and try to resume eating. Then Judith smiled at her.
“Thank you. For saving me.”
Though she only moved her lips for her last words, Katya understood immediately.
“It must be tough. Making his assistant even wash his handkerchiefs.”
“No, it’s all work I do because I want to. He’s someone I can learn a lot from, both in terms of his work and way of life.”
“Learn a lot?”
“We can learn from negative examples too.”
When Judith used the phrase ‘negative examples,’ she only moved her lips again.
Katya giggled after successfully reading her lip movements.
The two women of similar age quickly became close, chatting away like young girls.
Lantskoĭ, who had left to change clothes, didn’t return even after everyone in the dining hall finished their meals.
Getting worried about her boss who wouldn’t return, Judith stood up abruptly.
“I should go check. He’s taking too long.”
At that moment, the window latch, which had been precariously shaking from the heavy rain and strong wind, came loose and the window flew open.
The outside wind extinguished all the decorative candles on the dining hall walls simultaneously, darkening the surroundings.
Mengano activated a light-emitting magical device he carried for emergencies, and together with Nikolai closed the window again and firmly secured the latch.
Only after closing the window did he light the wall candles one by one.
The dining hall became bright again like before.
“Could someone come with me? He hates having people in his room, so I’m worried I’ll get scolded.”
“Why would he scold you when you’re going out of concern?”
“He extremely hates having his alone time disturbed, saying he never knows when inspiration will strike.”
“Then let’s go together. We’re done eating anyway.”
Though the Viscountess, who had finished her meal, outwardly pretended not to be interested in their conversation, she was actually paying close attention.
She soon took out the rouge Judith had given her and applied it to her lips with a tense expression.
Even that action seemed suspicious to Katya.
Why reapply rouge when it was time to go wash up and sleep?
As if there was someone she wanted to look good for.
As everyone showed signs of returning to their rooms, Mengano approached and said,
[The hallway candles might have gone out too, so I’ll guide you to your rooms.]
So Nikolai and his wife, the manager, Judith, and Viscountess Borodin set out like some kind of expedition party.
Baron Lantskoĭ always stayed in Room 504 whenever he came to this hotel, and today was no exception.
Come to think of it, Katya and Nikolai were in 404, Judith was in 408 across the hallway, and the Viscountess was in 409—everyone except the Baron was staying on the fourth floor.
After arriving at Room 504, Mengano knocked on the door.
[Are you there? Baron Lantskoĭ?]
There was no response from inside despite knocking several times.
[Surely he hasn’t slipped in the bathroom or had an accident?]
Mengano asked with a pale face.
He hurriedly took out a bunch of keys from his pocket but couldn’t distinguish which was the key to Room 504 in the dark hallway.
Nikolai, who had been watching quietly, seemed to decide this wouldn’t do and moved Mengano aside before ramming his shoulder against the door with great force.
The locked door flew open with one body slam.
In the middle of the brightly lit room, Lantskoĭ lay face down on the floor.
“Baron…?”
Judith carefully approached and shook his shoulder.
As his body flipped over limply, dark red blood flowed from Lantskoĭ’s mouth.
“Kyaaaah!”
Viscountess Borodin, who witnessed this sight, let out an ear-piercing scream.
