IOHH 3

“Just a moment. I’ll come out.”

Had he been waiting for the concierge to leave before knocking? If not, there’s no way he could’ve shown up this quickly. But the concierge had just said the general manager was unavailable. Did they pass each other by mistake? Pushing aside the whirlwind of questions in my head, I straightened my dress.

When I opened the door, a tall man, almost like a streetlamp in height, was standing there with a smile that crinkled his eyes. He placed a gloved hand gently over his chest and gave a slight bow. His neatly styled curls and textbook-perfect manners were a stark contrast to the mischievous glint in his boyish smile.

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss. The concierge told me to visit you right away, so here I am. I hope everything about our hotel has been to your satisfaction.”

“Nice to meet you. Yes, the hotel is lovely. Thank you for preparing such a nice room.”

Keeping my response polite and brief, I moved straight to the point.

“I know it might seem rude to jump into serious matters right away, but I wanted to speak with you as soon as possible about my uncle. The letter I received from him felt more like a will than anything else… Has he truly passed away?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The director has indeed passed on.”

I let out a small sigh and clenched my fists. So there really was no hope after all. I’d been clinging to the tiniest sliver of possibility, but that fragment shattered instantly into despair.

I didn’t truly believe the letter had been faked, but I had hoped—just maybe—it was all a misunderstanding. Even though Uncle had clearly written in his letter that the message wasn’t sent by mistake, people make errors all the time, don’t they?

But standing face-to-face with this man, I could tell. At the very least, the fact of my uncle’s death was undeniable.

Something about the general manager’s calm demeanor rubbed me the wrong way. His lips were still curved in that same pleasant smile, and even when he spoke of death, his eyes didn’t flinch. For someone simply being professional, it felt… off. A normal person wouldn’t react this way.

“Then… when and how did he die? He was healthy and had no known illnesses. It’s not like him to die so suddenly.”

“Ah. Please, try to calm down, Miss. I can’t very well explain everything while we’re just standing here. How about we take a walk around the hotel while we talk?”

His tone was almost like someone soothing a child as he gestured toward the hallway. Is he trying to lift my mood? Or does he just not take any of this seriously? Either way, he was right that this wasn’t a conversation we could have standing at the door.

Pressing a hand to my throbbing temple, I stepped out of the room and followed him.

“Seeing the hotel’s scenery might help ease your mind a bit. Belvedere has many beautiful spots. Shall we head to the back garden first?”

I nodded slightly. Honestly, it doesn’t matter where we go. I doubt I’ll see anything clearly anyway. Whether or not he sensed my indifference, the general manager walked ahead toward the garden without changing expression. We didn’t run into any other guests or staff along the way, which made the hotel seem even quieter—and emptier—than I’d initially thought. Even the front desk appeared to be momentarily unattended.

As we stepped into the garden, the scene was completely different from the grand fountain at the entrance. The blue roses I’d seen earlier bloomed here as well, this time forming a maze alongside tall hedges. And I don’t mean that figuratively. It looked like someone had intentionally shaped the vines and shrubs into a real maze—probably to entertain guests. Though for a “fun” maze, it looked far too complex. If I went in alone, I’m not sure I could ever find my way out.

The general manager stopped in front of the maze and turned to look at me. It seemed like he was asking whether I wanted to go in. I shook my head. Now’s not the time for games.

But then he stared at me for a moment, smiled again, and suddenly stepped into the maze without another word, murmuring just loud enough for me to hear:

“Please, follow me.”

“Wait! Hold on!”

He didn’t look back. What the hell is going on? Alarmed, I hurried after him into the maze. I could see him walking just ahead, moving with ease as if he knew the layout by heart. And then, as though we weren’t in a chase, he began speaking again—casually, as if we were walking side-by-side.

“The director was such a delightful man. Kind, funny, fascinating…”

“Hey! I can’t keep up if you walk that fast…”

“It feels like just yesterday that I first met him, but it’s already been two years. Time flies, doesn’t it?”

Something was wrong. No matter how much more athletic he is, this gap doesn’t make sense. I was practically running, clutching my dress to keep it from getting in the way, yet I couldn’t catch up. The general manager never even broke into a jog—he just walked steadily ahead. And yet I was the one out of breath, the one struggling to keep pace, the one forced to keep talking back just to continue the conversation.

“Lately, the director had grown very weak, so we didn’t speak much. But in the past, he always looked after the staff and told us such amusing stories.”

“Please… slow down.”

“In recent days, he’d flinch whenever I so much as said a word to him. That really hurt. Why was he so afraid of me, I wonder? I only ever wanted to be his friend.”

Every time I thought I’d caught up—when I was sure I’d finally closed the distance—he would somehow already be far ahead again. And just when I feared I’d lost him completely, he would reappear nearby and pick up the conversation right where he’d left off.

We must’ve been wandering this maze for nearly ten minutes, and there was still no sign of an exit.

The blue roses, which hadn’t smelled like anything before, now carried a headache-inducing scent. What does he want? The thought of being trapped here with this strange general manager, in this twisted maze, made my breath hitch and my anxiety climb.

“Why is it that people fall apart so easily? Why is the human mind so fragile?”

The intense floral scent stung my nose, and I hit my physical limit faster than usual. Am I really going to lose sight of him now? Just as I had that thought, the manager came to a sudden stop and turned to face me. In the blink of an eye, he stepped in close and murmured in a low voice:

“So in the end, I…”

His blue eyes shimmered red for a split second—like something out of a horror story. Did I imagine that? I blinked again. His eyes were blue once more, but his face had come even closer.

Just as I instinctively started to back away—

“General Manager! What are you doing here?”

A cheerful voice rang out.

“And the person next to you… I haven’t seen her before. You must be a new guest at the hotel!”

I turned to see someone standing nearby, a straw hat hanging behind their neck. They wore gloves and held a sack of fertilizer in one hand and gardening shears in the other—probably the gardener who managed this place. But the fertilizer sack… Did it just twitch? Maybe I was imagining things.

Clueless to my unease, the gardener beamed at both of us.

“Nice to meet you, miss! I’m the gardener here at Belvedere, in charge of all the flowers and trees!”

I gave a small nod and returned the greeting. He laughed brightly in response, then tilted his head at the manager in surprise.

“I came in to tend to the flower beds in the maze—I didn’t expect to run into you! Don’t tell me you got lost in there? That’s a first!”

“…Ah, it’s been a while since I came in here, and I guess I lost my bearings a bit. I must’ve caused trouble for the young lady as well.”

“Haha! So even our manager can get turned around sometimes. Honestly, not a surprise! This maze is so tricky that even I get lost now and then—not that I’m bragging!”

I took a moment to catch my breath as I watched the two of them chat. My ankles throbbed from all the frantic walking, and my head was pounding. And that smell—Why is the scent of the flowers so strong? I just wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. Knowing it was rude, I still interrupted their conversation.

“Sorry, but the smell is giving me a terrible headache. I’d really appreciate it if someone could show me the way out.”

“The smell? …Ah! Of course! I can’t believe I left a guest standing around like this. The exit is this way!”

Following the gardener’s lead, we reached the exit in under five minutes. All that wandering, and it was this close the whole time? The urge to just collapse was strong, but I forced myself to stay upright.

Next to me, the manager stood with the same pleasant smile, as if nothing had happened. The image of his red eyes from earlier felt more and more like a hallucination. I stepped closer to him.

“I just have one question.”

“Yes, miss. Ask anything.”

“Why did you suddenly stare at me like that back there?”

When he suddenly leaned in at the garden, it had sent all my nerves into high alert. It wasn’t just surprise—it was something closer to fear.

And those red eyes. Even if the sunlight had hit him just right, there’s no way blue eyes should suddenly look red. Maybe it really was the overpowering scent making me hallucinate.

The manager replied calmly and smoothly.

“You had a flower petal in your hair. I was going to help you remove it. I should have asked your permission first… I apologize for the impropriety.”

So he’s just going to play dumb, huh? There was nothing I could say to that. I was sure his action hadn’t been about a stray petal, but I had no proof. Even so, something about this hotel—and its staff—felt deeply unsettling.

I turned to the gardener instead.

“Thank you for guiding me. Thanks to you, I made it out of the maze.”

“Oh, it was nothing! I’m sure the manager would’ve found the way out in no time too!”

Compared to everything else at this strange hotel, the gardener seemed relatively normal. I was about to strike up more conversation when the manager smoothly jumped back in and suggested we head to another part of the hotel—already starting to walk off without waiting for a reply.

Caught off guard, I quickly turned to follow him. The gardener waved enthusiastically until I was out of sight. But just as I glanced back—

He was crouched beside a rose bush, whispering to it.

“No, shhh. Not now! Hold it in! That’s a guest…”

…Correction. The gardener might not be entirely sane either.