Shwaaaa—
Just then, I heard the sound of rain. I turned to the window and saw thin raindrops tapping against the glass. It was a sudden shower and I couldn’t help but think of our house with the roof torn off.
‘This is going to be another watery mess. I’ll have to clean like crazy…’
It suddenly wasn’t easy to step away from this 500-florin job. Especially now, when the economy wasn’t doing well, it didn’t seem like I could easily find another job like this.
‘No, I just can’t work in a haunted house like this. They aren’t simple ghosts as the energy feels so strong… It’s probably okay with this level of rain. Just a passing shower, after all.’
Shwaaaa—
Instantly, the sound of the rain intensified with raindrops falling heavily.
At this rate, all the furniture inside the house would be completely soaked. Mold might start to grow, or things might rot, and I would have to throw everything away.
“The rain is heavy, isn’t it? I’ll lend you a room, so why don’t you stay a while? It seems the roads will be dangerous if you leave now.”
The man approached the window and looked out at the fierce weather.
“…I’ll lend you a room where ghosts don’t enter,” he quickly continued.
‘How could I possibly want to stay here even if this was my own house?’
I thought crookedly. No matter what, I wanted to get out of here but the worries about making a living weighed heavily on me. It was like an anchor around my ankles.
‘No, it’s fine. As long as lightning doesn’t strike, it won’t matter that the roof was torn off our house. I’ll earn money and fix the roof quickly, then clean up… Well, the wooden furniture can just be thrown away… Yes, that should work.’
Rumble, boom─ crash─
“Ha…”
A thunderbolt struck with a loud sound. I saw a blindingly bright flash of light through the window then it was gone… I lost the words I was about to say.
Why was everything going as I worried about earlier… in a direction that’s not good?
Ah… Mom told me not to set foot in places with ghosts…
With no other choice, I sat back down in my seat. I rested my elbows on the table, put my hands together, and rubbed my forehead. The Duke looked at me quizzically.
I weakly opened my mouth under his gaze.
“…Your Grace, could you give me double the amount you offered? There are ghosts here, after all.”
This simply wasn’t the time to turn down a high-paying job like this, not when our house’s roof had been torn off. Besides, I couldn’t keep my siblings staying at the inn forever.
If I couldn’t bear the ghosts later, I could just resign. Well…
“I’ll give you five times.”
The Duke smiled and sat down. What did he say, five times? My eyes widened at his words. In my mind, I immediately calculated the salary.
Five times was 2,500 florins. Even if I worked at the funeral home next to the public cemetery cleaning corpses, I certainly couldn’t earn this much.
“Five times?!”
“Yes. Let’s write the contract before you change your mind.”
As I exclaimed in surprise, he tapped on the contract he had placed on the table and spoke. I glanced up at him. His tone was indifferent and he stared at me with an expressionless face.
“2,500 florins per month. The job is as I mentioned a little while ago.”
I hurriedly gave a loud affirmative response.
“Yes! Of course!”
Then, feeling like I had reacted too loudly, I tightly bit my lips. I felt embarrassed. He probably thought I was someone who only cared about money, thinking it could solve everything.
I composed my voice. It seemed a bit late now, but I still spoke to him more respectfully.
“Yes. Let’s do it that way.”
Was it really 2,500 florins? Is that even reasonable for a salary? If so, then my siblings could attend the academy like children from other noble families!
The Duke immediately filled in the employment contract with the monthly salary I would receive. Yes, it was clearly 2,500 florins.
With a pen, he pushed the contract in front of me. I accepted it and admired the beautifully written characters, ‘2,500’. This person’s handwriting was absolutely gorgeous. I signed at the bottom of the page as if I were enchanted.
〈Laura Haien〉
Through that process, I became a maid in Covozhalden. Ghosts or not, it ultimately came down to surrendering to money. I didn’t know until later that it would come back as a big regret.
• • • • • • •
The butler guided me to a room and spoke.
“This is the room where you will stay. If you need anything else, please let me know.”
I carefully looked around the room. A bed, wardrobe, and decorative shelves were all neatly arranged. The wood seemed to be of good quality, as it gave off an ‘alive’ smell, like wet foliage after the rain.
I thought this small room was better than any in our house and put my bag on the floor.
“The dining room is on the first floor. You can ask for meals whenever you want but it’s preferable if you have your meals with the others during regular mealtimes.”
“I understand, thank you.”
“Then, rest well.”
The butler bowed his head and seemed to be about to leave but I stopped him with a question.
“Butler, does the Duke usually work until this late?”
I thought again about the Duke sitting at his desk as I left the study with the butler. He was busy going through documents.
It’s nice to see someone so hard working, as those who focus on their work are objectively quite impressive. But isn’t it a bit much to continue work until the dark circles under your eyes reached your cheeks?
Moreover, it was already so late at night.
“He works late like this all the time. Please help him a lot from now on.”
The butler replied with a cheerful smile. Oh well. It seems he has been working this late for more than a couple of days, but if he overworks himself… what can anyone do? Is it because he’s the Duke? The workload seemed quite heavy.
I nodded and replied to the butler, “I’ll do my best to help within my scheduled work hours.”
“Yes, I would appreciate that.”
After he left, I stretched out on the bed. I was exhausted from the journey to get here, and this made me quite sleepy. So as soon as my skin touched the freshly laundered bedding, sleep washed over me. I closed my eyes without even trying to resist the feeling of my eyelids becoming heavy.
Dadadada─
However, my eyes soon opened wide at the noisy footsteps outside the door.
Ah, right. There are ghosts here. I had forgotten about them because of the 2,500 florins…
It seemed the young female ghost was running up and down the hallway, occasionally letting out a shout. The noise wasn’t loud enough to prevent sleep, but I couldn’t completely ignore it either.
Scary…
I pulled the covers over my head. I was familiar with ghosts as I had been seeing such beings since I was young. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t afraid.
“Aaah!”
The child let out a strange scream.
Why is she doing this? Seriously!
If that kid had been an ordinary child, I would have opened the door and yelled, “I’m trying to sleep! Be quiet!”, but she was a ghost. Following a horror movie cliché, the ghost would come into my room if I opened the door.
‘Damn it!’
I tightly wrapped myself in the covers and closed my eyes. My body was tired but I couldn’t fall asleep. All my senses were focused on the other side of the door. The whole situation was scary.
Yeah, I should imagine something scarier to divert my attention.
For instance, what if our house collapsed completely? What if we were scammed out of all our money on top of that? What if I had to roam the streets helplessly because job prospects were so bleak? And what if Ryan fell sick as well?
…Sniff.
Suddenly, tears welled up in my eyes. No, I couldn’t sleep anymore.
It was fortunate that work started in the afternoon as I had spent the entire night tossing and turning, only managing to fall asleep around dawn. It was only after a substantial amount of time had passed that I could finally get up.
After washing, I looked in the mirror to tidy my hair. The face reflecting back at me had dark circles under my eyes, descending like crescent moons similar to the Duke’s.
I had to say, I looked really bad.
After brushing my hair and changing into fresh clothes, I headed to the dining room to fill my hungry stomach. Several women who appeared to be servants were already seated at the table, having their lunch.
“Oh my, a newcomer.”
“Come sit with us.”
The women were all cheerful. Unlike me, who had been tormented by the ghostly noises all night, they seemed bright and happy.
“Thank you.”
I also took a seat at the dining table. As the cook served the food, the women passed the plates down the line until they reached where I was sitting.
The woman sitting to my left placed a plate in front of me and asked, “I heard that His Grace hired an aide. Is that you?”
Judging by her familiarity with me, rumors about the new employee must have spread while I was asleep.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I replied, smashing the potato salad with my spoon.
“I see. He’s been working alone all this time. Lately, he seems quite busy.”
“The Duke?”
“Yes. He’s a perfectionist and doesn’t let anyone else touch his work, so we were all very surprised when he suddenly hired an aide. Originally, they were planning to hire an assistant for the kitchen.”
The woman sitting across from me chimed in.
“If His Grace himself personally chose you, could you possibly be a graduate of the Central Academy? Maybe even a top-ranking graduate?”
“Uh? No…”
“Or did you work in the royal palace? Or could it be that you have other extensive experience? Do you speak Crenticean?”
“What?”
Wait, what? I just see ghosts, you know?
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