Chapter 31: The Lavender Villa

Dragging his luggage, Ji Yi checked into a family-run guesthouse on the outskirts of the city.

"Are you here for a trip?" asked the innkeeper, Eiichi Harada, with a practiced familiarity.

"No, it's for work," Ji Yi replied with a polite, feigned smile, though he spoke the truth. "I’m a police officer. I’ve come from Tokyo to investigate a case."

Eiichi Harada paused, then cautiously lowered his voice. "Is it because of what happened at that villa?"

"That villa?" Ji Yi feigned curiosity.

"Yes," Harada continued in a whisper. "The elders say that ever since the events of twenty years ago, the family living in that villa has been… strange."

"Twenty years ago?" Ji Yi’s interest piqued. Wasn't the young lady’s death four years ago? Did the family in the villa have even older secrets?

"That’s right," Harada nodded. "The elders say the villa’s original owner, Soichiro Ichijo, was a wicked old man. He died suddenly one night over twenty years ago. Everyone said he was poisoned, but the police investigation yielded nothing, and the case was eventually dropped."

"Not long after that, the seven-year-old daughter of his second son, Tomotomo—a girl named Mana—disappeared along with the family butler, Masaro Koutani. Everyone whispered that they had found out something they shouldn't have, and were killed by the old man’s younger daughter, Takako, who was Mana’s aunt."

"Why would they say that?" Ji Yi asked at the right moment.

"Because according to Soichiro’s will, he left not a single penny to his two sons, bequeathing his entire fortune to his younger daughter’s family instead," Harada explained. "Strange, isn't it? Leaving nothing to his own sons, but giving everything to a daughter who had already married out. That’s why everyone suspected the will was forged."

"Then, four years ago, the incident occurred where the villa’s eldest daughter, Shino Ogawa, was killed by a maid."

"Everyone says that villa must be cursed!"

"Can events from twenty years ago really remain in people's memories for so long?" Ji Yi asked, looking intrigued.

"Well..." Harada looked a bit embarrassed. "That’s because Soichiro’s eldest son, Junya Ichijo, didn't inherit a cent. After he went bankrupt, he made quite a scene spreading these stories everywhere."

The owner then added cautiously, "But because the daughter truly had no heirs, the current owner of the villa, Toshiyuki Ogawa, invited the eldest son, Junya Ichijo, and his family back to live there."

Ji Yi pondered for a moment. "What about the second son’s family from back then?"

"No one knows. After Mana disappeared, the couple seemed to move abroad," Harada admitted, clearly lacking further information.

"I see. Thank you." Ji Yi cut the conversation short. After using the inn's phone to contact the local police station, he headed out.

The hour was still early, and he intended to pay a visit to the family living in that so-called "cursed villa."

The villa stood on a plateau halfway up the mountain. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, while the fourth overlooked a bottomless gorge. The only access was a winding mountain road.

The architecture was 19th-century Norman style: gray stone construction, sloped roofs, dove-gray tiles, and Gothic spires.

Ji Yi pressed the doorbell.

"Hello, may I ask who you are?" A middle-aged man in glasses appeared at the door shortly after.

"I am a police officer," Ji Yi said, revealing his identification. "I’m here to investigate a matter."

The man went silent, but opened the door anyway. "I am the butler here, Renzo Koutani."

*The son of the missing butler the innkeeper mentioned,* Ji Yi thought.

"Who is it? So noisy," a lanky, arrogant-looking man of about thirty, dressed in a leather jacket and jeans, strolled out of the villa. He looked at Ji Yi and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Ji Yi Tonoya," Ji Yi said, showing his credentials. "I am here to investigate a case."

"What is there to investigate? Wasn't it solved ages ago?" The lanky man walked away with a sneer.

"That was Master Shuping, the eldest son of Mr. Junya," Renzo Koutani explained once the man was out of earshot. "Master Shuping’s temperament is just like that. Please, do not take offense."

"I understand," Ji Yi replied with a sincere, mask-like smile that suggested he didn't care at all.

"The master and mistress are in the study." Renzo led Ji Yi into a long, curved corridor that seemed to be embedded into the villa like a ribcage.

Renzo walked ahead at a measured pace, with Ji Yi following half a step behind. The entire villa felt frozen in time, with nothing but a series of portraits hanging on the walls.

The first was of an elderly man sitting rigidly in an outdated charcoal-gray suit, leaning on a silver-headed cane. His gaze was profound. Beside him stood a woman in a pale purple western-style dress, looking gentle, her hand resting lightly on Soichiro’s shoulder.

"That is Master Soichiro and his wife," Renzo whispered.

Ji Yi paused to observe them for a moment, and Renzo waited patiently without hurrying him.

Further along were portraits of Soichiro’s children in their youth.

The eldest son, Junya, stood at the edge. His posture was upright, his suit neat, and his features were so regular they seemed stiff. His wife, Harumi, wore a smile on her lips.

Their son, Shuping, stood between them as a young boy, dressed in a meticulously tailored uniform.

"Mr. Junya’s family," Renzo said, his voice lowering. "That portrait was painted about fifteen years ago."

The next portrait was smaller than those of Soichiro’s generation, though hung with equal precision. However, there was a faint, almost imperceptible crack on the corner of the frame, as if it had been bumped.

"This is Mr. Tomotomo’s family."

In the painting, Tomotomo stood in the center with an awkward, forced smile. His hair was slicked back neatly, and he wore a beige suit. His posture was stiff, as if he didn't know where to put his hands.

His wife sat in a chair to his left, wearing a light blue kimono. Her features were regular and quite beautiful, yet she had the kind of ordinariness that made one feel she would disappear if placed in a crowd.

Standing in front of them was the girl who had vanished, Mana. She wore a white lace dress, and her shoes were polished to a shine. She stood with her hands folded, like an elegant little princess.

But she wasn't smiling. Her lips were pressed into a perfect arc, and her eyes stared straight ahead at something outside the frame.

At the end of the corridor was the final portrait.

The canvas was smaller than the previous ones, but it was set in an exquisite silver frame. The colors were bright, and it was placed closest to the natural light of a window.

In the painting, Soichiro was not sitting; he was half-kneeling in a field of flowers, dressed in casual clothes, a rare, faint smile on his face. Beside him stood a little girl of about seven or eight, wearing a beige Western-style dress. Her long hair was tied in two braids, and her smile was bright, as if she had just finished chasing butterflies.

She was holding her father’s hand tightly.

The girl’s eyes were sparkling, and instead of looking at the painter, she was gazing up at her father.

"That is a portrait of Miss Takako at age eight," Renzo said. "It was Master Soichiro’s favorite painting."

The door in front of them slowly opened.

Renzo turned back to him and said, "The mistress and master are just ahead."