**#339. Side Story 3. The Colors of Love (6)**
—
Ray stepped onto the fourth-floor hallway.
Was it a kind of obsession or routine the couple had?
‘There are photos on the walls here too.’
As with the second and third floors, all of them were taken inside the mansion, but there was a decisive difference.
The couple in the photos were gradually aging.
As if to testify to the long years they had spent in the mansion.
Wrinkles had formed on their skin.
Their hair had lost its color.
Their posture had grown somewhat hunched.
In the most recent photos, they appeared to be of middle age.
That wasn’t the only change.
While the photos on the second floor all featured the couple together, the fourth floor displayed only individual portraits.
Ray slowly walked down the hallway.
Tap— Tap—
His footsteps echoed peacefully.
Perhaps they hadn’t expected an intruder to reach this far—there were no longer any magical traps in place.
And yet, because of the expressions in the photos—expressions that seemed angry or discontent—it felt more uncomfortable here than in the magic-riddled lower floors.
Creak—
Ray explored several rooms but found no further records.
He did, however, notice another peculiarity.
Each room now contained only a single set of furniture.
And there was no trace of shared presence anywhere.
A natural conclusion presented itself.
Though the couple had shared the mansion, they had lived in clearly separated domains.
There had likely been a major quarrel.
According to the wise man of life, Mr. Philip, humans were like flint stones.
They could be wonderful together, but if kept too close for too long, sparks would fly. The key was maintaining the right distance.
「Then why are you glued to Ayla 24/7?」
「Th-that’s…」
The wise man couldn’t answer that, but Ray agreed with the core advice through personal experience.
People were bound to clash if they stayed together too long.
Even for a married couple, what if they were forced to spend decades in the same space?
As Ray was lost in thought—
Vrrr—
A sound came from the direction of the stairs, and a speaker appeared.
“Warning. Intruder. Turn back. Further intrusion is not permitted.”
Wait, how did it get here?
Ray had wrapped it tightly in cloth and locked it in the safe.
Puzzled, Ray asked a question.
“Did you make up in the end?”
“Warning—What do you mean?”
“You fought with your wife, didn’t you?”
The speaker fell silent.
Ray seized the opportunity, grabbed the speaker, and tucked it under his arm.
Bzz! Bzzzzt!
The speaker thrashed wildly inside his grasp, but Ray ignored it and continued up the stairs.
He reached the top—the fifth floor.
Before him stretched a T-shaped hallway.
Unlike the floors below, which had many multi-purpose rooms, this one had only three.
Two rooms at each end of the corridor.
And one room at the center of the T.
Which one should he check first?
As he hesitated, the door to the room on the right began to slide open on its own.
At the exact same moment, the speaker in his arms fell silent.
Creeeak—
“A cat?”
Peeking through the open door was the same cat he had seen in several photos on the way up.
Graceful gait.
Lustrous white fur.
A gaze that looked down on others.
The very image of a model feline—but the multicolored mana coursing through its body revealed it wasn’t ordinary.
A spirit. And a high-ranking one, judging by the amount of mana it had stored.
Ray instinctively understood.
“You’ve been the one talking to me through the speaker, haven’t you?”
Of course, there was no answer.
Spirits couldn’t speak.
But another kind of answer came.
Vrrrm!
Mana surged from the cat’s body and formed shapes in the air.
Ray intuitively grasped the imagery.
─Leave. This is your final warning.
It was the language of spirits, formed without physical speech.
He had encountered this method before on the floating island.
Ray attempted to communicate the same way.
─Even if I wanted to leave, I can’t get out of this mansion.
Flinch.
The cat seemed surprised that Ray could use the spirit language, but it didn’t back down.
─That’s not my concern. Go down to the first floor. And do not come back up.
─I’m not trying to harm you.
─You are not permitted in this place.
─I don’t intend to break or steal anything.
─If you ignore my warning, I will have no choice but to hurt you badly.
The conversation was going nowhere.
Hoping that a fellow spirit might persuade it, Ray summoned Laqria.
The small snake with yellow-glinting scales slithered down his arm and crawled to the cat.
As it raised its head in a show of dignity—
Whap! Thwack-thwack!
It was batted viciously by the cat’s paw and flopped like a paper strip.
Laqria tried to resist, but it was hopeless.
After barely escaping the assault, Laqria hurriedly dissolved back into Ray’s body as mana.
‘So there’s no room for negotiation?’
Even when he called out, there was no response.
Only an overwhelming sense of fear and loss was conveyed.
Laqria clearly had more stored mana, but perhaps their species’ compatibility was terrible.
Regardless, the white-furred guardian now licked its paw and washed its face before glaring at Ray again.
Its gaze had turned even more hostile.
It seemed peaceful options were off the table.
Vrrrm!
Ray gathered his mana.
The spirit did the same.
Their clashing mana stirred up a whirlwind, making the furniture rattle.
A hair-trigger situation—one attack would ignite a battle.
The spirit’s eyes glowed white, and its limbs tensed for a leap.
─────!
The spirit transformed into a giant beast of mana and lunged at Ray.
And the next moment—
An eerie stillness settled over the hallway.
The mana, too, had stabilized to an unnatural degree.
That was because Ray had grabbed the spirit by the scruff of its neck and was holding it aloft.
“Miiyaaooww—!”
It thrashed and shrieked, but it couldn’t escape his grip.
Strangely, it couldn’t draw on its mana, and its body felt powerless.
The spirit was startled.
─Let go. If you don’t, I’ll tear your body to pieces.
“Hm.”
Ray tilted his head.
That didn’t seem like a viable threat given the current situation.
He scratched the spirit’s chin and pressed on its soft front paws.
“Kyahhh!”
“What can you even do, huh? Aside from meowing cutely?”
Using the excuse of subduing it, Ray indulged in his mischief. But soon he remembered his true purpose and stopped.
“You understand normal language too, right? I told you—I don’t intend to harm you. I won’t damage the mansion either. If anything, I’d like to leave with Karon as soon as possible. And if you’re in trouble, I’d be willing to help.”
─Don’t lie. Creatures outside the mansion can’t be trusted…
The angry spirit suddenly trailed off and widened its eyes.
Ray saw its gaze settle on the vessel on his chest.
“You can see my emotions?”
─What do you mean, ‘see’? I can’t see them. But I can feel them. Your words just now—you meant them.
Ray recalled what Grine had once told him.
「Animals are fundamentally capable of sensing emotions. Whether it’s a human’s, an elf’s, or even another creature’s.」
「They notice moods, offer comfort, and try to drive away negative emotions. It’s fascinating.」
「Sometimes, a creature is so attuned that it can read emotions almost as well as you can, Ray.」
“……”
That must also apply to spirits.
Even if they evolved into something else through mana, their origins as animals remained unchanged.
While Ray was lost in thought, the spirit wriggled free and landed softly on the carpet.
─Follow me. Keep three steps behind. I don’t trust you completely yet.
Ray followed close behind the spirit.
The room they entered was as expected—yet not.
The antique interior was in line with the other rooms, but one wall was entirely filled with monitors and panels—things not seen anywhere else.
The monitors lit up with views of various places in the mansion.
The panels seemed to control not only the monitors but also the floating speakers.
But that wasn’t what caught Ray’s attention.
In the center of the room was an armchair.
An old man lay slumped in it.
─That is Reeval, the master of this mansion.
Ray followed the spirit to stand before the chair.
The old man was no longer breathing.
─It’s strange. Reeval fell into a deep sleep and never woke.
“……”
Ray remembered that the spirit had only threatened harm—not death.
He asked carefully.
“When did he fall asleep?”
─It’s been a long time. So long I don’t even remember. Esua, in the room opposite the hall, is the same. Even before I gained intelligence, they were already asleep.
Reeval and Esua.
The stars of all the records Ray had uncovered on his way up here.
That they had died in separate rooms hinted that their final moments were not spent in reconciliation.
A terrible fight—and no chance to make amends.
Yet something didn’t add up.
A cluster of emotion hovered above Reeval’s chest.
It shimmered with changing colors depending on the angle—from longing, regret, and guilt—but above all else, it was love.
‘This is extremely rare.’
A creature’s emotions typically disperse into the atmosphere upon death.
But this emotion hadn’t vanished. It remained in place, with a distinct form.
There was only one explanation for this phenomenon.
‘The intensity of the emotion must have been unimaginably strong.’
So strong that it didn’t fade with the passage of time… and held its shape.
Reeval’s love, now present before his very eyes.
The object of that love was obvious.
When Ray brought the compass close to it, a portion of the emotion was absorbed—and, just as expected, it pointed in the direction of Esua’s room.
Reeval had loved Esua, and that feeling had not changed even at the brink of death.
But why hadn’t they reconciled?
“Could you tell me what happened between Reeval and Esua?”
─If I tell you… will you be able to wake them?
He could not.
The two had fallen into a slumber from which they would never awaken.
─Why won’t you answer? Is it because you can’t think of a way to wake them?
“……”
Instead of replying, Ray picked up the spirit, hugged it to his chest, scratched its neck, and ran his hand down its spine.
“Kyah!”
The spirit writhed violently, but before long, it quieted down under the dazzling—and slightly wicked—touch of the current butler, and began to purr in contentment.
Prrrrr—prrrrrr—
And so, the story began.
