Chapter 41

Kai's curiosity quickly overcame him, and he made the decision to fully explore their haven—something he and Kaori had never done before. Slipping out of the sitting area, he headed for the bedrooms in silence.

Kai stood in the corridor, weighing his options. There were other chambers, but the two had only looked through one or two in detail. The contents of the others remained a mystery to them.

Taking a deep breath, Kai selected a room he had only momentarily entered.

As Kai pushed the bedroom door open, he was greeted with a rush of cold air. The room was dimly lit, with only a sliver of light filtering in from the hallway.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kai could make out the shape of furniture—a bed, a dresser, and a desk. He quietly stepped inside, his boots making little noise on the plush carpet.

Scanning the room, Kai's gaze fell upon a small wooden chest sitting on the dresser. A spark of curiosity drove him to approach the chest, his hand tentatively reaching for the lid.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Kaori's voice teased from the doorway, her eyes fixed on Kai's hand, which was still clutching the piece of lace.

Kai's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. He quickly dropped the garment back into the chest, his hand fumbling in his haste to close the lid.

"I, uh, I was just..." Kai stammered, his mind frantically searching for an excuse that wouldn't make him look like a perv.

"Sure, sure," Kaori said, her grin widening.

Before Kai could form a coherent sentence, his eyes were drawn to something else in the room—a picture frame, its contents partially obscured by a layer of dust.

He inched towards the frame, picking it up gingerly. As he wiped the dust away, a young woman's face emerged, her features soft and delicate. Her lips were curved into a gentle smile, and her eyes were warm and inviting.

"Who's this?" Kaori asked, her interest piqued.

Kai shook his head. "I have no idea. The former occupant of the house I guess."

Kaori couldn't help but tease Kai further. "I bet she's the one who owns all those lacy underthings you were so fascinated by," she said, a smirk playing on her lips.

Kai rolled his eyes, his face still flushed with embarrassment. "Ha-ha, very funny. I'm serious, though."

"Alright, alright," Kaori relented, her gaze shifting back to the picture. "So, who do you think she is? A girlfriend, maybe?

Placing the picture frame back on the dresser, Kai remarked, "I have no idea, but something tells me we're going to find out."

After saying so, he turned and walked from the room, his thoughts already on the next riddle to solve.

He was soon followed by Kaori, whose curiosity was the same as his. Kai's gaze instantly landed on a door at the other end of the next room, slightly opened and offering a glimpse of what lay beyond.

Kai gingerly pushed the door open, and they were greeted with a musty, sweet smell of old books. The room beyond was dim, the weak light filtering through the curtains casting a gloomy ambiance over the area.

Kai stepped inside, the floorboards creaking under his weight. Bookshelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, each row filled with books of all shapes and sizes. But months of neglect had taken their toll; a thick layer of dust coated the spines, making it difficult to read the titles.

"Wow," Kaori whispered, awe coloring her voice.

While gingerly removing the dust from the books in an attempt to reveal their titles and authors, Kai observed something unusual. There was one history book that didn't appear to belong among all the science books.

With a frown, he grabbed for it, only to be startled when, with a subtle whirring sound, the book seemed to sink farther into the shelf. Just then, a secret door behind the wall clicked open, revealing a set of stairs that descended into the night.

Kaori let out a scream, her shocked eyes expanding.

A moist, cold air enveloped the two as they came down the steps. The room was lit by Kaori's torch, which created unsettling shadows on the walls. The smell of chemicals was overpowering, akin to a tongue-smacking experience, blending with the peculiar taste of preserved flesh.

There were many unusual and intriguing items in the room. Shelves were stacked with jars of various fluids, their contents glistening with a ghostly light. Unusual devices, a few featuring cables and tubes, were positioned on different surfaces with unclear intentions.

In the furthest corner, Kai saw a row of glass jars, each one holding what appeared to be organs—hearts, brains, livers. Each organ was perfectly preserved, as if frozen in time. It was a macabre sight, yet somehow mesmerizing.

Kaori moved closer to the jars, her gaze drawn to the intricate details of the organs. "What kind of person would do this?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kai shook his head. "I don't know. But whoever it was, they were clearly obsessed with something."

Bunsen burners, test tubes, beakers, and other equipment that Kai was unable to identify were scattered throughout the room, giving the impression that it belonged to a mad scientist. He was drawn to more than just the technology, though; the walls were covered in equations and diagrams that were written in what looked like unintelligible gibberish.

"Take a look at this," Kaori remarked, pointing to a diagram. "This looks like some kind of mathematical formula, but I've never seen anything like it before."

Kai moved in to take a closer look, a confused expression on his forehead.

As Kai studied the equations, his eyes were drawn to a name written in the margin: Dr. Kaito Faust. The name was familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite place it.

In the silence that followed, a sudden scuttling noise from the corner of the room made both Kai and Kaori jump. A flash of movement in the shadows revealed the source of the noise: a large, brown rat, its beady eyes reflecting the torchlight.

Kaori suppressed a shriek, her hand instinctively moving to grasp Kai's arm.

"We should leave," Kai said, his voice low and urgent. "There's something not right about this place."