"When did they become like this?!"
Alice whispered excitedly from behind the wall, thoroughly enjoying the drama.
"I don't know either!"
A heartbroken Hisako gripped the wall's edge tightly, her expression conflicted:
"When I went to fetch the young mistress this morning, I opened her door to find she'd already risen. After searching everywhere, the staff told me she'd gone for breakfast. When I came down... this was the scene."
"So it must have happened before this morning, then?"
Alice rubbed her chin, feeling like a detective - Alice Holmes? That actually sounded quite fun.
"Then there's only one truth."
"It happened last night!"
"Was there anything unusual about Erina yesterday evening?"
"Unusual?" Hisako thought carefully before answering uncertainly: "Not really?"
"After the banquet, didn't the young mistress accompany Miss Alice and Miss Fujiwara to the hot springs?"
"Ah, right, right." Alice suddenly remembered something, her face flushing red.
She'd nearly forgotten about last night's mixed bathing until Hisako mentioned it, making her feel quite embarrassed.
"After that, the young mistress seemed rather distracted - she didn't hear me several times. When I asked if she was tired, she said yes and went to rest in her room."
Hisako Arato hesitated as she spoke:
"After I escorted the young mistress back to her room, I returned to my own to read. Nothing unusual seemed to happen?"
Alice Nakiri suddenly realised something, her expression turning unnatural as she asked:
"Are you certain you took Erina back to her room last night?"
"What time did you take her back?"
"Around 9 o'clock," Hisako replied.
Hearing this, Alice fell silent for a moment, glanced at Luo Shu and Erina Nakiri in the dining area, then turned and strode towards the reception desk.
"Miss Alice?"
Hisako blinked in surprise, looked back towards Erina's direction, then gritted her teeth and hurried after her.
Since the reception lobby was some distance from the breakfast area, Hisako quickly caught up with Alice by jogging slightly. She asked:
"Miss Alice, have you discovered something?"
"There's something I need to ask at reception."
With that, Alice briskly walked up to the reception desk and directly inquired:
"Is the night shift staff from last night still here?"
The two receptionists were startled by the young mistress's sudden approach. A female staff member hastily responded:
"That would be us. Is something wrong, Miss Alice?"
Alice immediately said, "Pull up the surveillance footage for me. I need to see Erina's room from last night – check whether she went out in the evening."
"Wha—" Hisako exclaimed in shock. "Th-that's not appropriate, Miss Alice!"
Meanwhile, the two staff members exchanged glances, their expressions hesitant.
"What's wrong? Can't you do what I asked?" Alice immediately sensed something amiss. "Or has Erina told you something?"
"The young mistress didn't say anything," the staff member replied awkwardly under Alice's gaze. "But the Director instructed us not to disclose the young mistress's whereabouts last night to outsiders."
"Grandfather?" Alice was taken aback, then frowned. "What happened last night? Why would Grandfather order you to keep quiet?"
After a pause, she added: "Grandfather told you not to tell outsiders, correct?"
The two staff members nodded.
Alice curled her lips into a smile: "Then am I an outsider?"
The staff members nodded.
"Hmm?" Alice's eyes widened.
The staff panicked and quickly shook their heads, then said:
"We're not actually very clear about the details ourselves."
"Then tell me what you do know," Alice said, then added: "Just the key points."
Hearing this, the staff hesitated before replying:
"Last night, around 11 pm, young mistress Erina and Mr Luo, who checked in yesterday, passed by reception. They seemed to be heading towards the forest area."
"Eh?!" Alice froze.
"That's impossible! The young mistress went to bed at 9!" Hisako's eyes widened as if the sky had fallen.
The staff member glanced at Hisako before continuing:
"Later, the Director seemed to have found out about something and stormed out in a rage."
"Ah?" Alice's mouth fell open.
Then the staff member added:
"Not long after, the Director returned, and he looked... quite pleased."
At that moment, another staff member added, "When the Director returned, he seemed to mutter something about wishing he had a great-grandchild or something along those lines."
"What?" Alice Nakiri was dumbfounded.
The staff member suddenly remembered something else and continued:
"Oh, not long after, Lady Erina also returned, though she seemed to have some difficulty walking. She was being supported by Mr Luo."
"That's all we know."
Alice Nakiri and Hisako Arato were completely stunned after hearing this.
Connecting the dots based on this description, it seemed that Erina Nakiri and Luo Shu had sneaked out together in the middle of the night and done something in a secluded corner that had sent Senzaemon Nakiri into a furious rage, prompting the old man to storm out to catch them.
Then, for some unknown reason—likely because the pair had managed to placate him somehow—Senzaemon had returned in high spirits.
As for the condition... his muttered wish for a great-grandchild was highly suspect!
Add to that the fact that Erina had needed Luo Shu's support to walk back, and even an idiot could guess what those two had been up to last night.
"Erina... how bold..."
Alice Nakiri was wide-eyed:
"That was outdoors..."
"I thought she hated mosquitoes the most?"
"My lady..."
Hisako burst into tears, squatting on the floor as she clutched her head and wailed, the very picture of a heartbroken girl unable to accept reality.
Gin Dōjima, who had just gotten up to exercise, heard the commotion and approached from the elevator direction, asking:
"What's going on with you two? Did something happen?"
"No way, I need to ask Erina directly." Alice ignored Gin and charged recklessly towards the restaurant.
"Lady Alice, wait for me!" Hisako, no longer caring about her breakdown, hurried after her. She refused to believe this was true without hearing the truth from Erina's own lips.
"You two..."
Gin scratched his head and sighed:
"What's with girls these days? Always so weird."
As Gin finished speaking, Senzaemon Nakiri also emerged from the stairwell. Seeing the scene, he asked curiously:
"Did something happen?"
"No idea, it was like this when I came out."
With that, Gin and Senzaemon exchanged baffled looks.
"Whatever, let's go exercise. Haven't started today's training yet."
"True enough."