Behind the door lay a long, narrow corridor covered in a magnificent scarlet carpet.
On the corridor walls, several candles flickered, casting a dim, yellow halo.
In the cold night wind blowing through the hall, the candle flames danced uneasily, stretching the shadows of those on the wall like ghosts with bared fangs and brandished claws.
A female figure wearing a long white dress was pacing back and forth restlessly in the room behind the window.
Alfred's shrill voice drifted out from that room intermittently.
Just then, a completely different female voice—cold yet melodic—rang out clearly with a hint of impatience and condescending rebuke.
"Pull yourself together, brother. Is it really necessary to go to such trouble to deal with that kind of woman?"
The voice sounded very young, yet it carried a queen-like majesty and indifference that was completely inconsistent with its age.
"I'm sorry, sister."
Alfred's voice immediately became full of flattery and fawning.
"I just... I just wanted to give you an exquisite gift, a unique work of art worthy of your noble status."
"A gift?"
A hint of obvious sarcasm seeped through the woman's voice.
"But the revival of the Family, the glory of our Ashford Family, is all resting on your shoulders alone, brother."
"I know, Alexia, of course I know!"
Alfred's voice became excited and fanatical again.
"I will, I will definitely use these hands of mine to reclaim the glory that belongs to us! I will make you the glorious and rightful head of the Ashford Family!"
"Leave the rest to me."
The woman called Alexia interrupted her brother's crazed oath with a commanding tone.
"Let me take care of these annoying little mice who have broken into our home."
Afterward, the voices of the two gradually lowered until they vanished completely.
Immediately following that, the heavy sound of a door closing echoed from deep within the room.
Everything returned to silence once more.
Noah, Claire, Ada, and Leon stood in the dim shadows outside the door, quietly exchanging glances.
Everyone's eyes held a hint of solemnity (except for Noah's).
As expected, there was someone else hidden in this castle.
A woman who sounded even more dangerous and unpredictable than that madman Alfred: Alexia.
The four hesitated no longer and carefully made their way through the long, narrow corridor.
Noah led the way. He gently grasped the ornate wooden handle carved with intricate patterns and slowly pushed the door open.
Inside was a female bedroom decorated in an extremely luxurious style.
The air was filled with a strange scent—a mixture of expensive perfume and dust.
In the center of the room was a princess bed covered with white lace sheets.
On the dressing table by the wall, various expensive-looking women's cosmetics were scattered about.
Around the room stood dozens of ceramic dolls, ornate in design but eerie in appearance.
The dolls' faces all bore the same stiff, hollow smile.
Their eyeballs were made of black gems, reflecting an unsettling glint under the dim candlelight that made one's skin crawl.
The room was empty.
The two people who had just been talking seemed to have vanished into thin air.
A classical Music Box, about half a person's height, sat opposite the nightstand.
Its delicate metal disc was slowly turning, tirelessly playing a beautiful melody that carried a hint of lingering sadness.
"The music is quite nice."
Ada stepped forward, examining the exquisitely crafted Music Box with interest.
Below the slowly rotating metal disc, two lines of English letters, like a riddle, were engraved in elegant script.
"When the Red Queen and the blue king return to the promised land, the road will be opened."
When the Red Queen and the blue king return to the promised land together, the road will be opened.
"How boring."
Leon curled his lip, showing an undisguised look of disdain.
"I strongly suspect that old bastard Irons back at the Police Station learned these pretentious puzzle games from a place like this."
As he spoke, he impatiently reached out and snapped the lid of the Music Box shut with a "clack."
The melodious music came to an abrupt halt.
The moment the lid closed, they saw a lifelike ant carving embedded on the ornate gold-plated cover.
The ant's body was crafted from silver inlaid with translucent, deep red rubies.
Noah reached out his finger and gave the ruby ant a gentle pry.
With a soft "click," the ant was completely removed from the groove on the lid by him.
(In the game, you find two gem ants to set into the Music Box, but the process is tedious, so it is modified here to a red-blue swap.)
He weighed the cool gem ant in his palm.
"This should be that 'Red Queen' thing."
"Very likely."
Claire nodded in agreement.
"Whether it is or not, it can't hurt to take it first."
The four searched the entire room thoroughly once more but found nothing else.
"Strange."
Leon leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms as his brow furrowed deeply.
"Where did those two people go? There aren't even any windows in this room; they couldn't have just walked through the walls, could they?"
"There might be a secret passage we don't know about."
Noah said in a low voice.
His gaze swept over every corner of the room, trying to find even the slightest trace of a hidden mechanism.
However, the walls and floor here were seamless, showing no signs of any joints or gaps.
Just then, Ada, who had been silent, took out a detailed structural map of the mansion from her tactical pouch, though it was unclear where she had obtained it.
She spread the map out on the dressing table, her slender, jade-white fingers tracing over the areas they had already explored.
Finally, her fingertip landed on a side hall on the first floor of the mansion labeled as the Entertainment Room.
"We haven't been here yet."
Ada looked up, her deep almond eyes turning toward the group.
"Let's go take a look. Maybe we can find a way to open the secret passage."
They walked in silence.
The four returned to the mansion's gloomy and oppressive main hall, then followed the markings on Ada's map to quickly find the Entertainment Room hidden at the end of a remote corridor.
The heavy oak door was locked from the inside.
However, the lock didn't look particularly sturdy.
Noah didn't even bother trying to pick the lock; he simply raised his right leg and delivered a clean, sharp front kick.
"Bang!"
A loud crash!
The entire wooden door, along with its frame, was kicked inward by the brute force, collapsing with a roar!
Behind the door was a vast space filled with an air of luxury and decadence.
Several Slot Machines that looked quite old were lined up against the wall, their colorful paint peeling and faded from years of neglect.
Several card tables covered in green velvet and a large gambling wheel were arranged orderly in the center of the hall.
Scattered atop them were some yellowed, brittle playing cards and dust-covered chips.
The entire space was permeated with a decaying smell of alcohol and cigars.
A brownish-yellow Grand Piano stood silently in the deepest corner of the room, looking somewhat out of place with the overall atmosphere.
"Hey, guys."
A cynical smile appeared on Leon's face.
"Anyone interested in playing a few rounds? Loser buys late-night snacks tonight."
Noah and Claire both waved him off, their faces clearly saying "not interested."
Thump.
Ada reached out and gave Leon a light rap on the head.
"I hate gambling," she said, her voice as cool as ever.
"Yeah, I hate it too."
Leon immediately nodded solemnly, his expression changing faster than one could flip a page.
The four began to split up and search the large Entertainment Room thoroughly.
Soon, they discovered that the piano standing in the corner seemed unusual.
The slot where the automatic player piano's roll should have been was empty.
Obviously, this was a mechanism that required playing the correct piece of music to open.
"Could it be the music from the Music Box we heard in that room just now?"
Noah said thoughtfully as he looked at the piano.
"Does anyone know how to play the piano? Try playing that melody."
Claire and Leon shook their heads in unison.
They hadn't invested any skill points into something so artistic.
However...
Ada said nothing.
She simply stepped forward with her long, straight legs clad in black tactical pants and walked straight to the dust-covered piano.
With great elegance, she sat down on the piano stool, which was also covered in dust.
Those slender, white hands that had once held countless lethal weapons gently settled onto the yellowed black and white keys.
In the next second...
A melody identical to the one from the Music Box—beautiful yet tinged with sadness—began to flow slowly from her fingertips.
The notes and tempo were perfectly precise.
It was as if an invisible, perfect sheet of music were laid out before her.
Standing not far away, Leon watched the elegant back of the woman in black as she focused on playing the piano.
He watched her soft black short hair swaying gently with the music.
And those fingers, leaping across the keys as nimbly as elves.
He couldn't help but be a little dazed.
At the very moment the last note of the piece faded...
On the other side of the room...
From beneath a Slot Machine, there suddenly came a faint but clear sound of mechanical gears turning...