Chapter 4

Arianna quickly recovered from her allergy.

The doctor applied the salve all over her arms. He even joked, "Signora Capuano is too weak. I didn't expect her arm to swell up so badly after just touching the stinging nettle. It's almost as if she scattered the nettle powder all over her arms on purpose."

A flicker of panic appeared in Arianna's eyes.

Fortunately for her, Papa, Mamma, and Giusto were all too worried about her arm that they didn't even hear what the doctor just said.

Arianna hurriedly got rid of the doctor after he was done treating her. Then, she hugged her arms with red-rimmed eyes.

Giusto roared, "Carlotta had better not come back! Otherwise, I'm going to teach her a proper lesson!"

I floated in the air, listening to Arianna's accusations and everyone's condemnation against me, feeling a wave of helplessness washing over me.

Meanwhile, Diego had come back to check Arianna's condition. His expression was visibly agitated. "I'm going down to the basement to take a look."

Arianna panicked for a second, but she recovered pretty quickly. "The basement? What for?"

"I keep having this feeling that Carlotta never left the house. And the only place in the mansion we haven't searched is the basement. I'm just going down to have a look."

"No way!" Arianna immediately stood up, her voice louder than usual. "The basement is so dingy and dirty. How could she possibly have gone there herself?"

Diego didn't stop.

Arianna immediately ran after him and said, "If you're still worried about her, I'll accompany you as we continue looking for her elsewhere. I'm sure that there's nobody downstairs in the basement…"

Still, Diego continued making his way down.

I followed right after him.

The farther down we went, the more damp and musty it became. The air was thick with the stench of dust and mold, and maybe even a hint of something else.

It was so faint in the air that it was also indiscernible.

However, my soul could sense it very well. It was the smell of blood—the smell of my own blood mixed with the stench of my rotting corpse.

Arianna grabbed Diego's arm again.

"Something stinks down here. It must be dead rats. Don't go down there, Diego. Dead rats carry all sorts of dangerous diseases. We'll just have to wait until the butler cleans it out.

"You know Carlotta. She'd never bear to stay with dead rats at all."

Diego finally stopped in his tracks. "Then where else could she be?"

Arianna comforted him gently and said, "Maybe Carlotta just needs some time to herself to think things through. She'll be back as soon as she's finally gotten over herself."

In the end, Diego listened to her and went back up with Arianna behind him.

As they turned the corner of the stairs, she stopped suddenly, turning around to look in the direction of the door at the end of the hallway leading into the basement, and smirked.

I was floating right behind her when I saw her smirk.

She knew where I was the whole time after all.

…

That night, after Arianna had gone to sleep, Papa, Mamma, and Giusto chatted in the living room for hours before finally retiring to bed in exhaustion sometime past midnight.

I floated in a corner of the living room and heard Mamma sighing. She said, "Diego is a good person. It's a pity that his family background isn't powerful enough to be a good match for Arianna. Otherwise, they would be a better fit together.

"Did you know that he was at the forefront while we rescued Arianna yesterday?"

I froze at once.

Papa then replied casually, "Yeah. Diego can assist Giusto with the Famiglia's affairs, and Arianna has feelings for him, too. It's just such a pity—"

Mamma interrupted him and said, "It's fine. It doesn't matter if he married Carlotta after all, since it doesn't affect his ability to take care of Arianna afterward. Arianna simply deserves someone else from a more powerful family."

As it turned out, Mamma never objected to my relationship with Diego because she felt that he wasn't good enough for Arianna but good enough for me.

Suddenly, the overhead light flickered twice before plunging the entire mansion into complete darkness.

"Why's the power out?" Mamma asked with a frown. "Giusto, go down into the basement and check the main power switch. Go see what could be the matter."

Giusto nodded and headed down to the basement.

The more he neared the basement door, the thicker the decaying stench was in the air.

"What's that smell?" he muttered.

Papa and Mamma also followed him down to the basement.

Giusto then pushed the door open, flashing his torchlight into the space.

A nauseating stench immediately assaulted his nostrils.

In the darkness, a half-decomposed body lay in the center of the basement, the white wedding dress on its body soaked in blood. Meanwhile, the corpse's eyes were staring resentfully at the basement doorway.

Giusto nearly lost his mind at the sight.

"Carlotta?" he called out.

I grinned.