The Forgotten Room and a Family Portrait’s Secret

“Previously, there were two mechanisms leading to the secret chamber.”

“One was located in Father’s bedroom, specifically on that inkwell.”

Arriving at Godia’s desk, Seraphina tugged at the inkwell resting upon it. She distinctly felt its base loosen.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, after she pulled it, the bedroom remained entirely unresponsive.

“Ah,” Cardo scratched her head awkwardly, confronted by the lack of reaction. “It might have been moved, hahaha…”

“Let’s go find the second one then. That one’s in my room.”

Leaving Godia’s bedroom, Seraphina proceeded to Cardo’s room.

The moment she stepped inside, Seraphina was struck by a stark contrast: compared to Iqiyah’s room, this one was far more dilapidated and disheveled.

The windowpanes were so caked with dust that the sky outside was obscured…

A velvet quilt, riddled with countless holes, revealed its internal fluffing…

Innumerable cobwebs and strands of mold hung from the ceiling, dangling directly onto the bed and even the floor.

If Iqiyah’s room had been perfectly preserved for ten thousand years, then this room had been utterly forgotten for just as long.

“How was your relationship with your dad?” Seraphina asked Cardo.

“Uh… actually, it was quite good right up until the last day…”

Gazing at her room, now a shadow of its former self, Cardo appeared somewhat taken aback.

“They say parents usually favor the second child… but this favoritism is a little too blatant, isn’t it!?”

“Oh my… I never thought Iqiyah’s confidante and big sister would have a day where she’d be jealous of Iqiyah~”

Having been led by Cardo for so long, Seraphina had been holding back.

Now, seeing Cardo flustered, she naturally wouldn’t miss the chance to mock her.

“Heh… as an older sister, how could I possibly be jealous of my younger sister?”

Cardo walked to the small table in her room and pointed to a photo frame on it.

“Please pick up this photo frame.”

“What’s this? A Scarlett family photo?”

Picking up the frame, Seraphina brushed away the dust clinging to its surface.

Suddenly, a tiny prick of pain pierced Seraphina’s fingertip.

“Hiss… Why is this photo frame broken?”

Perhaps due to the excessive accumulation of dust, Seraphina hadn’t noticed the crack beforehand.

Gazing at her bleeding finger, Seraphina narrowed her eyes and looked at the yellowed photo frame.

It was indeed a Scarlett family portrait, though the photograph itself appeared incredibly ancient.

Standing in the picture were a man, a woman, and an infant.

The man stood tall, cradling the baby in his arms, appearing somewhat nervous.

The woman stood beside him, leaning in to support his arm, her face radiant with a blissful smile.

“I know this person,” Seraphina said, pointing at the figure in the photo, seeking confirmation from Cardo, who was leaning on her shoulder. “He’s so robust, clearly your dad.”

“Ah, yes.”

“And this one? That must be little Iqiyah, right?”

As she gazed at the tiny, adorable Bloodkin nestled in her father’s embrace, a warmth bloomed within Seraphina’s chest.

“Oh my… look at those little ears…”

Through the glass of the frame, Seraphina playfully poked at Iqiyah’s tiny ears in the photo, feeling an urge to just nibble them.

“What? Tempted?”

Unexpectedly, Cardo hooked Seraphina’s sensitive ear with her finger, instantly making Seraphina’s face flush and her heart pound.

It was well-known that Bloodkin ears, much like those of elves, were laced with sensitive nerves. Even a slight touch could cause them to flush and warm, making them a secondary erogenous zone for both races.

“Didn’t you used to raise a miniature version of Iqiyah? Why didn’t you indulge yourself back then?”

“You, you can read my thoughts?”

“Hoo~”

“Eek!”

Without answering Seraphina’s question, Cardo simply blew warm breaths into Seraphina’s ear, all while gently kneading her soft earlobe.

“I can do more than just read your thoughts… I can also see everything you see~”

“Mmm~” Seraphina suddenly felt a soft, moist sensation as Cardo pressed her lips directly against her ear.

“Thanks to you… I can not only witness a side of Iqiyah she never shows others… but also savor that adorable, youthful charm I haven’t relished in so long~”

“You, you pervert…”

“Oh my,” Cardo chuckled, covering her mouth as she pulled back slightly. “Your indignant expression is truly adorable; it doesn’t lose out to Iqiyah’s at all~”

“Guh…! Lolicon! Peeping Tom! The heroine of those ‘big car’ doujinshi!”

“Hehe, thank you for the compliments❤ The more you curse, the more excited I get~”

“Ughhh!”

Confronted by Cardo, who was clearly toying with her, Seraphina was on the verge of exploding with fury.

‘Damn it! I need to get one over on this woman right now!’

Angrily glancing around, Seraphina suddenly spotted the key to victory right within her grasp.

“And this one? Is that you?” Seraphina pointed to the woman beside Godia. “Wow, I never would’ve thought that a formidable woman like you would be so demure and clingy in her youth, sticking to your dad like a lover!”

“So fond of your dad, could it be… you’re…?”

“What, what are you thinking!?”

With a swift reversal, it was now Cardo’s turn to blush.

Instantly losing all composure, a mortified Cardo raised her hand and delivered a sharp chop, striking Seraphina’s head at light speed.

“You damned bastard, that’s my mom!”

“Huh? Your mom!?”

“Don’t curse me indirectly!”

“I wasn’t cursing you… it’s clearly just your own guilty conscience…”

As the conversation shifted to the woman who had remained hidden behind the scenes, all playful banter ceased instantly.

“…Honestly, your mother truly resembles you.”

“…Thank you.”

Gazing at her mother’s photograph, the excitement gradually faded from Cardo, and her eyes softened.

“She left us when I was very young.”

Seraphina recalled Godia’s words: like most of the Scarlett family, their mother had perished in the internal conflict of the Bloodkin.

“I still have some faint memories of Mother…”

“But poor little Iqiyah… she barely spent a few days with Mother, she probably doesn’t even remember her face.”

Gazing tenderly at her mother, Cardo reached out and stroked her mother’s face.

However, to Seraphina’s surprise, Cardo’s finger paused on the photo frame, settling precisely over her mother’s face, completely obscuring it.

“What’s wrong?”

Noticing Cardo’s unusual behavior, Seraphina turned to look at her face.

As her eyes shifted back and forth, Cardo’s expression slowly grew solemn.

“N-nothing.”

Cardo didn’t elaborate on the strange anomaly on the photo frame.

‘For now, let’s just call it a coincidence. A coincidence.’

“Next, place the photo frame here…”

Cardo pointed above the desk, and only then did Seraphina notice a portrait hanging there—exactly where Cardo’s portrait had been in Iqiyah’s room.

As for why Seraphina hadn’t noticed it until now… it was likely because too much dust had accumulated on it, making it almost blend seamlessly with the equally dusty wall.

Following the direction of Cardo’s finger, Seraphina swept her hand over the dust-covered frame, revealing an oil painting of a young woman in a military uniform, adorned with countless golden medals.

“What is this?”

“Oh, that’s my portrait.”

“A portrait of yourself in your room? How narcissistic…”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Cardo retorted with another hand chop. “It has meaning!”

“Now, place your hand over the heart of the portrait… Do you feel a groove?”

Seraphina reached for the portrait’s heart. “Hey, there really is one.”

“Good, please pry this part open… Yes, that’s right, pry it open… Oh, be a bit bolder, you won’t break it.”

Gripping the heart of Cardo’s portrait, Seraphina pulled with force, instantly prying off a square-shaped inlay.

However, neither of them noticed that, the moment the inlay was removed, a slip of paper also flew out.

“Alright, retract the photo frame stand, then embed the photo frame into the missing section.”

“What kind of idiotic mini-puzzle is this…?”

Following Cardo’s instructions, Seraphina embedded the photo frame into the gap, then stepped back a few paces, gazing at the portrait with anticipation.

‘Embedding the family photo into my own heart… it certainly holds special meaning.’

‘Only…’

Seraphina nervously watched the portrait, her ears perked, listening intently for any sound.

Yet… after waiting for nearly a minute, there was still no movement around the portrait.

“Hey, Cardo, are you sure this is how it’s done?”

Seraphina looked at Cardo with a skeptical expression.

“Huh? Th-this isn’t right, is it?”

A bead of sweat trickled down Cardo’s forehead, tracing a path along her cheek, all the way to her shimmering, indistinct golden form.

“Let me see what’s going on…”

Leaning closer, Cardo meticulously examined the oil painting before them.

As she continued to stare, her brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

“Seraphina… help me wipe clean the other parts of the oil painting.”

“Oh, alright.”

Despite her aversion to the dirt, Seraphina extended her hand and brushed away large patches of dust from the portrait.

“What the hell…”

Before Seraphina could even finish, Cardo had already noticed something amiss.

“What the… How did this turn into Iqiyah?”