A potato lodged itself in the back of my throat. I wasn’t as distinguished as the maids perceived me to be; I’d never set foot in the Academy! I was merely chosen to accompany the Duke in being scared.
Cough.
As I thumped my chest to dislodge the potato stuck in my throat, the woman sitting on my right-hand side gave me a glass of orange juice. I took it, drank it, and looked up.
All the women sitting at the table had their eyes widened, staring at me. They had either momentarily stopped eating or were chewing their food very slowly, waiting for me to speak.
“No, he just chose someone to organize his documents. I guess he wanted to relieve himself from some of the work since he’s extremely busy.”
I awkwardly smiled and replied.
“Really? Then why did His Grace choose to bring in someone new?”
The woman across from me asked with a puzzled expression. The others seemed to have grasped the conversation somewhat, nodding their heads in understanding before returning to their meal.
“By the way, is that your natural hair color? That’s not dyed, right? We also have a girl with fiery red hair like this, but she went on vacation. She’ll probably be back the day after tomorrow.”
“That girl is quite attractive, too. But all her siblings have black hair, which is weird.”
The two people sitting on either side of me continued their conversation but the conversation soon veered in a completely different direction.
Thinking they were quite chatty, I let the stories flow in one ear and out of the other. I picked up my fork and continued eating.
The chef was really skilled. The food tasted like a Michelin three-star restaurant.
The woman across the table questioned me again.
“By any chance, did you hear someone running in the hallway last night? They were light footsteps, like the sound of a child running.”
I choked on my orange juice, creating a scene similar to a soap opera. Looking at her I widened my eyes as if asking for an explanation.
“Oh, it seems that the child went over there this time.”
“So that’s why it was quiet yesterday.”
The women laughed softly at my reaction. I felt dazed.
“Do you all know about that sound?”
When I turned to them with a bewildered expression, the women started explaining as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“She’s a ghost that has been in this mansion for a long time. Every night, she runs along the corridors like that.”
“But she’s just mischievous, not bad. If it’s noisy when you’re trying to sleep, tell her to be quiet and she’ll disappear.”
“His Grace looks tired for some reason; he probably didn’t sleep well. Since he’ll also go to the corridor to speak to it when it appears, it seems like the ghost went over there yesterday.”
I was amazed.
Hello? If everyone can hear the sounds then it’s a powerful spirit, to the point of being dangerous!
“From the voice, it sounds like a girl. A long time ago, there was a girl in the Duke’s family who died very young. Everyone thinks it might be her spirit.”
Everyone hears the voice, too? This is really dangerous!
“Yeah, she’s not a bad one.”
“She listens well.”
Another maid added.
What is this? Why is everyone so unconcerned? Am I the only one finding this strange?
In an instant, I felt like all the common sense I had built up about ghosts in my life was crumbling. Why isn’t anyone even slightly scared?
“It’s your first day, so stay strong. His Grace might be… a bit… irritable.”
The woman on my left stood up and spoke cheerfully.
“But he’s not a bad person. He pays the servants better than anywhere else.”
The maids who had finished their meals also got up from the table. I downed the orange juice in one shot and stood up with them.
The maids streamed out of the dining room, each scattering to their own tasks. The voices that had been buzzing faded away with them. Soon I was left alone in the quiet corridor.
Everyone… What’s going on…? Since the ghost is invisible to you, isn’t it scary? No, even though I can see it, it’s still scary…
Feeling perplexed, I ended up heading to the Duke’s office. In this strange situation, I needed someone who would be scared with me.
After knocking and entering the study, the Duke greeted me with a face that seemed to be weighed down by exhaustion.
“You’re here?”
He glanced up at me briefly, then lowered his head again to scan the documents. He seemed to have assessed the dark circles under my eyes.
I frowned, realizing that even my face had a lot of shadows now.
“Your desk is set up, so sit there and start your work.”
The Duke spoke calmly. I turned my head to look at the large desk placed next to his.
However, something seemed odd. The desk was too luxurious. It even looked even larger than the one the Duke was using.
As I got closer, I realized that it was made of solid wood.
No, seriously! This was expensive!
I immediately moved my gaze to the other side of the desk.
There was an ornate chair that looked like it belonged to an emperor. Seriously, this chair. Why the hell are the armrests carved with lion heads and the backrest with elaborate leaves? What’s that red thing on top? It can’t be a jewel, can it?
Why? Why did he go to this extent…?
I turned my head to look at the Duke and our eyes met. However he immediately averted his gaze, pretending not to have seen me.
“That should be comfortable enough to sit on. Even if you have complaints, I have no intention of accommodating anything more, so sit down and get to work.”
‘Your Grace! I know it’s nice to have someone else who can see ghosts besides you, but this is too much!’
If someone who didn’t know saw this, they might think that I’m the Duke and the Duke is my assistant!
I kept my gaze fixed on the Duke but whether he noticed or not, he continued to be immersed in his work, seemingly glued to the desk.
Ah… I don’t know.
I sat down in the chair that looked like an emperor’s throne.
The Duke’s profile appeared right in front of me. The line connecting his forehead and nose was quite graceful and beautiful. Looking at him from this angle, he seemed to be quite handsome.
In fact, the eyes I only briefly saw last night seemed to have a cool and pleasing shade; the blue of his irises resembled a clear sky. His facial features were also harmonious.
However, the face that could have been perfect was covered by dark circles and exhaustion. Workaholism will take a toll on people like this and because of that, I hadn’t seen his real beauty.
I observed him for another moment.
The Duke pressed his temple firmly with the fingers of the hand holding the pen. Then, furrowing his brows as if deep in thought, he resumed examining the documents.
He looked incredibly tired and although I couldn’t say for sure, he seemed anxious, like someone chased by something.
“Your Grace, did you get enough sleep? How about taking a break for a moment?”
“It’s fine.”
The Duke answered firmly without even looking up. Then after a moment of silence, he opened his mouth again.
“I have a lot of work to do, so I’d better get to it.”
His tone had softened compared to earlier. It seemed like he was belatedly trying to justify his previously brusque words.
I didn’t insist any further. If he overworked himself and collapsed, that was his business. I was only slightly bothered by the request of the kind butler who wanted me to help him.
“What should I do?”
I asked, looking at the spacious desk, clean except for a single pen. I directed my gaze beyond it to where the Duke was sitting.
“Read a book or something.”
The Duke raised a finger and pointed behind me. I turned and saw a tall bookshelf that reached up to the ceiling. On the shelves, countless books were tightly packed. I didn’t see this bookshelf yesterday, probably I was too preoccupied with the ghost to examine the room.
Even so, to read books during work hours? I was told there wouldn’t be much to do, but this seemed a bit extreme.
Assigning ‘work’ like this was a cowardly tactic you would use when trying to encourage someone to resign… But considering he set up such a giant desk for me, that probably wasn’t the case.
‘Am I really getting paid 2,500 florins just to see ghosts…?’
I wondered as I brushed the spines of the books with my fingertips. Then, I randomly pulled out a book.
《Fundamental Concepts of Art Philosophy》
Just by looking at the title, I felt sleepiness pouring over me. Even the cover was dull, a deep burgundy color without any pattern. The other books were no different:
《Management Through History》
《Psychology Lecture》
《Capitalism》
…and so on.
‘Does he only read these kinds of books? Or are there erotic novels hidden inside the book covers?’
I wondered while opening the book on art philosophy. But all I found were sentences that seemed to be about art philosophy. I only read until, “satisfying sensory and mental desires with the use of proper proportions,” before closing the book again. Other books seemed to be the same.
Life is really boring…
I put the books back absentmindedly. Reading stuff like this would only put me to sleep during work hours. I continued to skim along the books with my fingertips.
Finally, at the bottom of the shelf, I found 《People Who See the Dead.》
Should I read this?
The Duke certainly had picked the right book for this place, a haunted house. But it was clean and unmarked, so it didn’t look like it had been read.
I pulled the book out and went back to the desk, sitting down. Opening the book, the first question was about what happens after death. I thought it might have information about the different types of ghosts or their characteristics, but it seemed to be more of a philosophical type book, similar to the previous ones.
〈People who think they’ve seen ghosts are actually mentally unstable. They are experiencing phenomena commonly referred to as hallucinations or illusions, and these cases are more common than you’d think…〉
No. Who wrote this? Of course, there might be cases where people mistake hallucinations, but ghosts are real, okay? I’ve seen so many of them! Hey! Author of this book! Don’t casually say there is no such thing as ghosts!
“Sister!”
‘See? This voice belongs to the girl ghost I saw yesterday!’
And the moment I thought, that my entire body stiffened.
Why can I hear this voice?
I slowly lowered the book I was holding. I first saw the top of a round, blond head, followed by eyes and a nose.
As her lips came into view, I dropped the book involuntarily. My heart pounded loudly, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
The girl with braided hair whom I saw yesterday was standing in front of the desk, looking up at me.
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