"The ocean… it’s incredible. Truly."
Rest opened the window and stepped onto the balcony. From there, he could see the ocean in its entirety, the majestic vista of nature spreading out before him.
"Did Her Majesty the Queen Dowager… love the sea?" Celestine murmured with a sigh.
This room was the bedroom. It contained only a small table, a bed, and a closet. There were no expensive artworks or jewels to be found.
"It’s not at all what I expected…"
To Rest, the Queen Dowager had always been an elusive, transcendent figure. She was the woman who had rallied powerful nobles to drag a tyrant from his throne. Yet, after contributing so much to the kingdom, she had spoiled her grandson Rodel, raising him into a tyrant of the same ilk.
A contradictory woman whose true motives remained a mystery—a monster of a woman. That was Frederica Aiwood as Rest imagined her.
(But this room… I can feel a sense of her humanity here somehow.)
It was a modest space. On the table sat a famous collection of poetry and a small vase. The flowers inside had long since withered and crumbled, leaving their original form a mystery. Then there was the vast expanse of the ocean visible through the window. She had spent her final years in this room, watching the waves day after day.
(I wonder what she thought about as she lived out the rest of her life here?)
"…There is nothing else in this room. Shall we check the study next door?"
Celestine’s voice pulled Rest away from the ocean view.
"If you wish to learn more about Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, there might be a diary or something similar in the study."
"…Good point."
Rest nodded and turned back. He closed the window tightly before leaving the room. They stepped into the hallway and entered the study adjacent to the bedroom.
"Nothing but a desk and bookshelves here. As for the books…"
"…Poetry collections, botanical encyclopedias, and nothing but novels."
"Yeah…"
There were no confidential documents, nor were there even any grimoires. The shelves were filled strictly with books related to her hobbies.
"…Is it possible there’s actually nothing hidden in this villa?"
The thought crossed Rest's mind that perhaps this was simply a quiet retreat where she had intended to spend her final years in peace.
"By the way… did Her Majesty the Queen Dowager die in this villa?"
"…I do not know."
"What?"
"It is unclear where Her Majesty actually passed away. She had supposedly left the Royal Palace to recuperate… but one day, her body was found laid to rest in her own bedroom back at the palace. It appeared someone had transported her there, but it was never discovered who."
"……"
That was another strange tale. The mysteries surrounding the Queen Dowager only seemed to deepen.
"If that’s the case… there is a potential she died in this villa. And maybe she was living here with someone else?"
No—the bed was single. It wasn't sized for two. Of course, there was a potential that someone had been staying in the living room or the basement.
"There might be something inside the desk."
Celestine began searching the drawers. Inside, she found a thick bundle of papers.
"What are those?"
"They are, um… Eek!"
"Lady Celestine!?"
Celestine suddenly shrieked, dropping the papers she had taken from the drawer. Her mask of a refined lady shattered, replaced by the panicked cry of a girl her age.
"What on earth is written on—yikes!?"
Rest reached down to pick up the fallen papers, but his hand froze mid-air. The bundle from the desk drawer contained something truly terrifying.
"This is…"
"H-How scandalous…"
Rest and Celestine spoke in a strained, twitching unison. The secret of the Queen Dowager was finally laid bare, and its true nature was beyond anything they could have imagined.
"No way… they’re BL books…!"
The papers scattered on the floor featured detailed, explicit illustrations of men… entwined with other men.