A threatening letter had been thrown into her room, she'd been splattered with water that had fish guts in it, and she was fine. That took abnormal nerves.

Maki was munching on a croissant with cold pumpkin soup, ham salad, and yogurt with black tea.

In contrast, I couldn't summon an appetite and nursed my soup.

"Is Tohko still asleep?"

"...So it seems."

"So you didn't wake her up? You slept in the same room, didn't you?"

I said nothing.

"Did you get swept away by how adorable she looks when she's asleep?"

Her eyes crinkled and she shot me a meaningful look. I had no intention of being needled, so I asked a question in return.

"Have you reported what happened yesterday to the police yet?"

Maki grinned.

"Did you forget why I came here? To prove there's no such thing as a curse. If rumors got out that Shirayuki had appeared again, there wouldn't be much point, would there?"

"If the police catch the person who did it, I would think that would fix all your problems."

"So you think the one who did it is human."

"It usually is. Water with fish blood in it got dumped on you, right? So the perpetrator was on the roof then. It doesn't take a ghoul to pour water out of a bucket they brought up there."

"Hmmm. So what about the threat? It would be tough to throw that in from the roof. Does that mean there's two ghouls instead of one?"

"It's not a supernatural creature, it's a person. If you made a hole in a piece of paper that was wrapped around a rock, put a string through the hole, then hung it from the end of a stick and threw it in from the roof using a pendulum, you wouldn't have to move. One person could do it. The paper was torn diagonally, as if it had been yanked from above by a string."

A bewitching smile resting on her face, Maki heard me out with apparent amusement.

"You picked up on a lot. And to think, Tohko was knocked flat by Shirayuki's appearance."

Actually there was one other thing bothering me. The red liquid that had been dripping in the hall on our way to Maki's room... Had the perpetrator spilled it in the middle of moving it to the roof? Which would mean they hadn't broken in from outside, but had come from within.

That thought made my spine buzz and I didn't feel good.

"In any case, the perpetrator is human. You should leave it to the police."

"No. No police," Maki answered flatly.

"Why? You know that Shirayuki is human, too, though. That's why you deliberately called the wreckers, in order to lure the person out and catch them, and you used yourself as bait. Am I wrong?"

In which case getting the cooperation of the police would be all the more important. Was there some other reason she couldn't call them in?

I didn't really understand arranging it so that the people of the mansion were exactly the way they had been eighty years ago, either. What in the world did Maki want to do?

Another smile came over her face.

"You're right. Shirayuki might be human. But there's still a curse on this house; it didn't disappear eighty years ago."

I saw the corners of her mouth lift suspiciously and recalled the way she'd looked yesterday on the balcony, covered in blood and smiling. It gave me goose bumps.

Feeling how dry my throat was, I asked, "The piece of paper they threw into your room said, 'Don't forget the promise,' right? What's the promise?"

Could that be the curse?

But Maki's eyes turned suddenly frigid, and there was something wasted in her voice when she murmured, "I don't know."

The room fell utterly silent.

Just as I was beginning to feel oppressed by the cold heaviness of the air, Maki's face became friendly and she stood up.

"That was a great breakfast. I'm heading out for a bit."

"What? By yourself? Now?"

"I've got to pack the schedule in order to get the renovation work done on the house."

Maki walked off. I hurried after her.

"You should stay home today. You just got a threatening letter, and if you go walking off on your own, who knows what might happen to you? It's better not to provoke whoever it is too much."

"So you're worried about me."

Maki chuckled, and without ever turning around, she walked through the front door and headed toward the gate.

Baron ran over and barked, as if to say he wouldn't let her go out, but Maki scolded him, "Go away, Baron," and he whined feebly and shuffled away from her.

He was acting completely different from the way he treated me!

While I was feeling shocked and annoyed, Maki strode away.

"Wait! Someone should at least go with you..."

Before I'd finished speaking, Maki spun her head around to give me a sensual look.

"Then you be my bodyguard, Konoha, and protect me."

How had this happened? I never wanted to get involved in any hassles.

As I walked with Maki down the street lined with souvenir shops, I wanted to scream.

"Hey! Why is your arm around mine?! Everyone is looking."

"Oh, let's show it off. It's more fun that way."

Maki pulled her sensual lips up provocatively.

A tall beauty stood out all on her own, but since she was wearing white low-rise pants that emphasized the curves in her hips and a flashy orange tank top with a big opening cut in the back, it was even worse. With her high heels, her head was four inches higher than mine. She was like a model onstage with a spotlight pouring over her. People passing by us got wide-eyed, and one after another, they turned around.

Tohko in her cotton dress had been like a refined young lady at a summer resort and had blended in with the peaceful scenery, but Maki stood out sharply.

I wanted to go back more than anything, but Maki was in high spirits, and she had her arm locked tight around mine and wasn't going to let go.

"I'm not having any fun. Let go of me, please."

"You hold hands with Tohko all the time, though, don't you?"

"That's not holding hands; that's her dragging me somewhere!"

"If you whine, you'll attract extra attention. We talked about how the young Himekura lady and her lover, the student, parted ways. How the student was the only one shouting, 'Let go of me; let's break it off,' and the young lady was cast aside."

When she saw that my voice was caught in my throat, Maki giggled with pleasure.

"Tohko should be waking up soon. She's going to be angry. She'll pout adorably and say, 'Konoha! You left me behind to go on a date with Makati!'"

"Who's on a date?!"

"Oh, but that's what I thought this was," Maki said teasingly, winding her arm through mine even tighter. Her ample breasts were practically touching my elbow. Unlike Tohko, she was doing it knowingly, so it was just gross.

She was ten times more exhausting than Tohko.

By the time we reached the office of the company that had taken on the renovation work, the humidity of summer had caught up to me and I was drained.

I sat on the sofa like an obedient little lapdog and drank the chilled barley tea they brought out for us.

Maki was discussing price quotes with a manager.

"What do you think of something like this?"

"Not bad, but I'd like to see a few others."

"That will take some time."

"That's fine."

Huh? Yesterday she'd been so energized to get started on the construction this very second, but today she seemed pretty laid-back about it. Even though she'd said that once summer break was over, it would be too late.

Wasn't Maki's goal to develop the mountain?

Though she'd called it a meeting, the content was pretty varied-what was happening in the village, or what the area was famous for making, or exactly which noodle shop was the best, or that the head of the Himekuras preferred the noodles there, too, and had given it every possible compliment, or that the master must be relieved to have such a wonderful successor.

When the topic of succession and blah-blah-blah came up, Maki, who until then had been responding pleasantly, gave a slightly bitter smile.

It was only for the briefest of moments, but it was an expression I had almost never seen before, so it left an impression that lodged into my chest.

We went to several companies that dealt with construction, ate noodles, and by the time we headed back to the house, the sun was setting.

The path leading to the mansion was dyed a pale gold, as if it led to a fantasyland.

"Your grandfather is the school director, right?"

I had seen him at the welcoming ceremony when I'd started school there. He was a tall old man with a stately look that was complimented by traditional Japanese clothes, and he wore a rustic lens like out of a microscope over just one eye.

"That's right. Mitsukuni Himekura-he's the head of the Himekura family and has more pride in the extensive Himekura family tree than anything. He's an awful, stubborn, crafty, self-righteous old man."

Even if he was her own grandfather, that was going a little far with the bad-mouthing.

I sensed something dark was lurking in her easy, cheerful tone, and my heart stirred.

"Grandpa has an unquestioned role within the family, like a god. Nobody opposes him, and no one is allowed to have an opinion. My father does exactly what he tells him to, too. It bothers me, but when Grandpa glares at me, I want to start shaking, too."

The light of the setting sun cast shadows over Maki's profile.

Maybe I ought to have stayed quiet...I had no desire to intrude on other people's lives after all. Especially not Maki's family.

But the words spilled out of my mouth.

"Did you come here in order to get your grandfather's recognition?"

Her strongly sculpted, alluring face looked down at me. Her long hair flowing over her shoulders sucked in the light and looked golden. Another bitter smile had come over her lips.

"I'm just killing time. It was better than going to Nice, that's all."

Maki turned her face away.

Her gaze was turned forcefully ahead, as if it was fixed on something.

"Besides, regardless of whether Grandpa appreciates me or not, I'm still a Himekura."

Her voice was harsh.

Maki's pace quickened just a bit.

"Grandpa couldn't stomach the fact that my mother was half foreign. So apparently when my mother got pregnant with me, he declared that it wasn't my father's child and had made preparations for a DNA test as soon as I was born.

"But when the child was born, it had proof that it was a Himekura."

She lifted her wavy hair with both supple hands.

A bluish birthmark appeared, running from her exposed back to the nape of her noble neck. It was shaped like a flower or a scale.

I gasped involuntarily at how seductive it was.