Swan Grave - Chapter 39

CHAPTER 6. The Day of the Red Moon

Rose resented her own carelessness in failing to assume Anna might be a swan. But the summoning circle had been designed not to succeed in the first place. Who could have imagined that a swan would be summoned through it? It was so absurd that it was only natural she hadn’t guessed.

“My calculations were flawless… With the modified formula, summoning a swan should have been impossible no matter what. Could it be… that the information my teacher left me had an error?”

Rose chewed her thumbnail to bits. Dark shadows hung under her eyes from anxiety.

It hadn’t even been a year since Anna had arrived at the mansion. If she was a swan, then when on earth had she been summoned? Last year? The year before? After retracing her thoughts for some time, Rose muttered hollowly.

“…What use is there in knowing that now?”

The deed was already done. Having recognized the new swan, Rothbart had immediately cut off the black magic experiments, leaving no room for Rose to interfere any further.

“But that woman isn’t the Marchioness. I still have a chance…”

She entertained a fleeting hope, but even that was meaningless. If Rothbart had truly wished for the Marchioness to be summoned, then, regardless of Anna being summoned, he would have continued the experiments. Rather, it would have been more like Rothbart to press her to find a way to summon the Marchioness, even if it meant sacrificing another swan.

In truth, summoning the Marchioness was only ever a matter of if possible, and as long as it was a swan, perhaps it had never mattered who was summoned.

He might even secretly be pleased that Anna, younger and healthier than the Marchioness, had been summoned instead…

“If only that woman disappeared… Yes. If only that woman disappeared, in the end, Master will seek me again.”

Rose’s eyes gleamed. Had she been a little more rational, she might have realized it wasn’t a wise choice, but the demon’s allure had set her madness and obsession aflame. Remaining by Rothbart’s side—nothing else mattered to her.

But how could she eliminate Anna?

Within the estate, she couldn’t directly harm Anna. This was the swan gained after eleven years. Rothbart was surely keeping a close eye on her, so Rose had to tread carefully to avoid provoking the demon’s wrath.

‘If only she would leave on her own, like the Marchioness.’

At that moment, realization struck Rose like lightning. Yes. If that woman was a swan, of course she would want to return to her original world. As long as she knew the way…

Unlike summoning a swan, Rose also knew how to send a swan back. Because it wasn’t a ritual requiring a sacrifice, and since only a swan could perform the spell, there was no need to hide it. Among black magicians, it was quietly passed around.

Of course, it wasn’t knowledge known to everyone. After all, it concerned swans and demons.

But Anna, being a swan, wouldn’t know it. In this mansion, the only ones who knew of the swan return spell were Rothbart and Rose, and Rothbart would never reveal the method to Anna.

Rose pondered how she could let Anna know of the swan return spell. Until now, Rose and Anna hadn’t been on good terms. Even if Rose secretly summoned her, Anna might not come. With an excuse, she might somehow manage to lure her out, but…

‘It’d be easier to use someone else. Someone she trusts, but someone I can easily manipulate…’

Then Rose remembered Joseph. Anna’s repulsive brother, whose slimy gaze always clung to her. Judging by the circumstances, he must be a swan as well…

Of course. That explained Rothbart’s abandoning of the swan summoning research without considering Lady Brabant’s situation. Since a male swan had been summoned as well, and the two demons had each secured their mates, further summoning was no longer necessary.

The existence of another swan was good news for Rose as well. If she used Joseph, things would become much easier. He would surely share any information she leaked with his younger sister Anna.

It would be best to approach Joseph as soon as possible. If he truly was a swan, Odile would soon realize his existence too. Once Odile recognized him, Rose’s chance to approach would sharply diminish. There wasn’t much time left.

Right now. Rose quickened her steps. For the first time, hope lurked in her footsteps as she strode down the corridor.

***

“Is the work manageable?”

At Rose’s sudden approach and friendly words, Sehyun was taken aback. The world that had felt so bleak until now suddenly seemed to transform, as if opening a path for him.

Since coming to this world, nothing had ever gone right. Especially after arriving at this accursed mansion. All he had wished for was that Anna would find a way back to their original world quickly, but ever since she had become the Marquess’s personal maid, she hadn’t shown her face to him at all.

Unable to rely only on Anna, he had been trying to find a way to make connections within the mansion, and now, right on cue, here she was walking straight to him.

And that person was none other than Rose, the one he had already been watching with interest.

A seductive scent drifted from Rose as she came closer. The feminine fragrance he hadn’t smelled in so long made Sehyun’s lower body throb violently. But showing haste would only earn him scorn. Sehyun pretended to be indifferent and continued the conversation.

“Of course. It’s manageable. How about you, Miss Schwartz? How is teaching the young master?”

“Our young master is so gentlemanly that I have little trouble. But you, Joseph, are taming Lohengrin’s wild stallions, aren’t you? That’s impressive.”

Sehyun’s heart pounded fiercely at the fact that Rose remembered his name. Could it be that she, too, secretly had feelings for him? His gaze flicked toward Rose’s chest. At the sight of her full bosom, his throat moved hard.

In truth, Sehyun had hardly held a horse’s reins more than a few times, and at best, only cleaned up horse dung, but he couldn’t admit that to a woman he was attracted to. Puffing up his chest, he lifted his chin and boasted.

“Well, it’s nothing.”

“How wonderful. You haven’t even been here long, yet you’ve become so skilled. Did you work with horses before?”

“No, I first learned here.”

“My, you must have a talent. A man who handles horses well is always attractive.”

Saying so, Rose curved her eyes into a long smile. The beauty of a woman smiling with her eyes was enough to make Sehyun dizzy.

“Actually, I was just thinking of going for a light ride in the nearby woods with the young master in a few days, when I ran into you at the stables and struck up a conversation. I didn’t know you would turn out to be such an entertaining gentleman.”

“Haha, you should have found out sooner.”

“Of course.”

As she said so, Rose’s green eyes gazed at him intently, carrying a meaningful light. As if to hint at something… Could this be a suggestion of a secret meeting? Sehyun’s mouth went dry. Pretending to know nothing, he asked calmly.

“Then, when do you plan on going riding?”

“Well… since the day of the red moon is in a few days, I don’t know how it will go. The young master is always in poor spirits around that time. It would be nice to go out for a change of mood though…”

“Is something happening then?”

“Oh, you don’t know?”

Rose blinked her green eyes innocently.

“That was when the Marchioness departed to her original world. Perhaps because of that, both the master and the young master are in very low spirits around that time.”

“Her original… world, you say?”

Sehyun’s heart pounded. For the first time since working at the mansion, he had come across a clue to returning.

“It’s fairly well known that the Marchioness was a swan. Do you know what a swan is?”

Sehyun nodded urgently. It was a talk often heard openly in village taverns. But inside the mansion, everyone shut their mouths tight whenever it came to the Marchioness, so he had never been able to ask.

This was his chance. Thinking that this woman might know something, Sehyun pressed her immediately.

“Of course. But since I’m not familiar with the customs of the Western Continent, is there a reason swans must leave on the day of the red moon, or…”

He tried to keep his face calm, as if it were only innocent curiosity. He had heard many rumors of swans’ fates entangled with demons. And the rumors swirling around this mansion were notorious.

The mansion’s lake, said to be dyed red with blood. The corpses carried out the back door… If word spread that he was a swan, nothing good would come of it. Sehyun’s heart thudded as he tried to hide his identity.

Fortunately, Rose didn’t seem to suspect his true nature. More than that, almost unbelievably, she revealed to him the very method he had so desperately longed for.