“First, stay in this room and don’t come out,” the Duke said, pointing to the children one by one with his finger.
Then, grabbing me who had fallen, he helped me up. As he did, the coat covering my legs slipped and fell to the floor, revealing the charred hem of my dress.
“…”
The Duke picked up the fallen coat and offered it to me. I blinked and just stared at him, not immediately understanding his intention.
“Cover yourself…”
“Oh, yes…! Thank you.”
I nodded and accepted it, wrapping the coat around my waist. Fortunately, it was long enough to cover the burned part of the dress.
This is kind of embarrassing…
I thought to myself as I suddenly looked up and locked eyes with the Duke. In response, the Duke turned his back and silently left the room. I quickly followed.
“Do you know where the Young Marquis went?”
I asked as soon as we emerged into the corridor.
“I can make a rough guess, but he’s never been one to stay in one place for long…”
He replied, shaking his head.
“Then let’s start by checking the places we think he might be.”
In response to my enthusiastic voice, the Duke firmly replied, “No. You go back now.”
“What? Why?”
“You might have hurt your leg. Go and get it treated.”
“It doesn’t feel that bad. I’m perfectly fine.”
To demonstrate, I stamped my foot on the floor. The Duke did not respond positively to my enthusiasm; he continued to look at me with a stern expression.
“No, you’re not going. Go back.”
With those short and decisive words, he turned and walked to the end of the corridor.
Alone… He’ll be scared alone… What if ghosts come out?
Although I was grateful that my employer didn’t make me work overtime, we couldn’t predict when Theo would turn into a malevolent spirit. He was like a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment.
I’ll secretly look for the Young Marquis! I’ll tell the Duke about it later, so who will care?
I turned and headed in the opposite direction. As I walked quietly down the corridor, I saw someone’s silhouette approaching.
It was Sonia. She ran up to me and asked cheerfully as soon as she saw me.
“Laura, where are you going?”
“Uh… um… to the bathroom…”
“Really? I was called by Anne, so I was on my way to her room. Go later, let’s talk!”
I’m sorry, but I don’t have the time to play with you right now…
But I couldn’t explain the situation. Who would believe me if I said, “There’s a ghost named Theo living in this house, and we’re trying to get him to ascend before he turns into a malevolent spirit?”
“Um… my stomach hurts, so I’ll go when my stomach calms down…”
I blurted out an answer that came to my mind. Then, I cried inwardly.
At this rate, I’ll be labeled as someone with irritable bowel syndrome!
“Oh, I see. You seem to have stomach issues quite often. Alright, I’ll leave first.”
Sonia smiled brightly and passed me. But suddenly, I grabbed her arm.
“Wait, Sonia.”
“Yeah?”
“You came from the end of that corridor, right?”
“Yes.”
“By any chance, did you see the Young Marquis on your way here?”
“The Young Marquis? No, I didn’t see him but I think he is in the garden.”
She pointed towards the window. I turned my gaze in that direction and under the illuminated lights of the Duke’s garden, I saw the figure of the Young Marquis.
It’s late for a walk. But anyway… I found him!
“I found him!”
Suddenly, a high-pitched voice rang in my left ear. Startled, I turned to look beside me. A blonde-haired child who should have stayed in the guest room was standing next to me, peering out the window. I had forgotten that children of this age don’t listen well. Asking them to stay still was wishful thinking.
I was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the child and let out a little shriek.
“Ah!”
The child, however, seemed unfazed by my reaction.
“Sister, I found the young master Theo was talking about! I’ll go get Theo! Hold that person!”
With that, the child disappeared like smoke.
This is the problem with ghosts. They appear unexpectedly and startle people, always leaving me to deal with the consequences.
“What’s wrong, Laura? What happened?”
Sonia asked with concern. She looked quite startled by my sudden scream.
“Well… actually, I have to scream periodically.”
“?”
“…They say it’s good for one’s health.”
I blurted out another strange excuse.
What on earth am I saying? Sonia must think I’m weird.
I had to scream inwardly once more.
“…I see.”
No, Sonia! Are you going to just accept anything?! You’re way too open-minded!
My feelings were complicated. I wanted to explain but for now, I had to postpone that desire because of the problem outside.
“Sonia, then I… um… I’ll go to the bathroom.”
“Sure.”
I rushed past Sonia and ran down the stairs. Exiting through the front door, I headed straight to the Young Marquis. It wasn’t long until I could see his back as he walked down the garden path.
“Young Marquis!”
He turned to look at me. Under the subtle lighting, his hair sparkled dazzlingly. The Young Marquis smiled lightly.
“Lady Haien.”
“Why are you here?”
“Well, I was thinking for a bit.”
He shrugged in response to my question.
“I was surprised when you weren’t in your room.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here so I went out for a moment. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no. I’m just glad I found you.”
I was panting, trying to catch my breath as I had been running. The Young Marquis stared at me for a moment and then spoke slowly.
“…Did Theo appear? Should I go back now?”
I replied, shaking my head lightly.
“…No, there’s no need for that. He’s in front of the Young Marquis right now.”
Then I turned my gaze towards the ghosts who had suddenly appeared.
Theo was hiding behind the blonde girl despite her being much smaller than himself. Then, looking at his brother, he slowly approached the Young Marquis.
“He’s here?”
The Young Marquis asked, sounding slightly puzzled. He couldn’t see Theo, so he had no idea what to do even though his little brother was right in front of him.
“Young master…”
Theo reached out his hand, calling to his brother but his hand passed through the Young Marquis’s body.
“…”
The child stopped in his tracks, then let his arm drop dejectedly. He looked up at the Young Marquis with a sad expression, his brother couldn’t see him.
The Young Marquis turned to me and asked, “Lady Haien, where exactly is he?”
An idea suddenly crossed my mind. Moving behind Theo I took off the long coat that had been tied around my waist and knelt on the ground.
“Lady Haien? What are you doing?”
The Young Marquis spoke with a surprised tone.
“Young Marquis, I’m right behind Theo now. Our eye level is the same. You can just look at me!”
“…”
Then he looked straight at me. I briefly hoped that no one would witness this scene as they would find it very strange, but I pushed that thought out of my mind. The Young Marquis gave a small smile, then squatted down.
“You’re still small. I’ve grown a lot during this time.”
His voice sounded a bit softer. I couldn’t see the Young Marquis’s expression clearly because I was behind Theo’s blurry figure, but I could sense he was feeling conflicted.
Theo said, “I’m happy to see you again.”
I quickly repeated the child’s words.
“Theo says that he’s glad to see you again, Young Marquis.”
“Oh… yes. I can’t see you… but I’m happy to see you again.”
Then, looking at me he hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“I’ve thought a lot about why you haven’t ascended yet, Theo…”
“…”
“…I want to officially include you in our family register. It may be a bit late, but it’s the right thing to do. You didn’t do anything wrong. It might take some time… but I’ll make sure it happens.”
The Young Marquis spoke with a lowered voice. I was a bit surprised and my mouth fell open. I could tell that his decision had been made after much consideration. In the end, he decided to carry the guilt of Theo’s mother.
But Theo said something unexpected.
“I don’t know.”
You don’t know? What?
After thinking about it for a moment, I still couldn’t figure out what he meant so I just told the Young Marquis what Theo said.
“…I see.”
The Young Marquis responded in a somewhat perplexed tone, mumbling as if to himself.
“When you visited, you said that he’d remained the same age…”
Then, I suddenly realized. Theo saying, ‘I don’t know,’ wasn’t a rejection of the Young Marquis’s proposal. The young Theo just didn’t understand the meaning of his words.
“…So, is there anything else you want from me? I’ll listen to anything.”
“I just… wanted to see you.”
Theo responded to the Young Marquis’s words, and I relayed his response.
“…”
“I tried to take care of the lion, but I’m sorry it got burned.”
“No… don’t be.”
“I’m sorry for always asking you to play with me.”
“And I’m sorry for not being able to rescue you.”
“Thank you.”
“…Yes.”
The Young Marquis’ voice seemed to be on the verge of tears.
“I think I can leave now.”
“What?!”
The Young Marquis suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled. I tilted towards him, almost bumping my head into his chest. His expression was contorted and he looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.
“Wait, don’t go.”
He shouted desperately. However, Theo’s soul was already fading, shrinking, and condensing to about the width of two fingers. Then, his soul gathering into a small sphere, he rose into the sky.
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