Part 2: The Child in the Closet
The room was quite spacious. It had a bed, a dresser, a table, a couch, and a lot of furniture, almost as if someone was living there. I walked over to the dresser and ran my fingers over the top as if confirming its existence. A thick layer of dust was touched, suggesting that the room had been left untouched for a long time.
“Is this your friend’s room?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Your friend lives here?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, could it be that your friend’s surname is Covozhalden ?”
“Um… I think so.”
The child answered. I looked around the room a bit more. A vanity cluttered with intricately carved decorations caught my eye. Expensive-looking jewelry was haphazardly placed on top of it.
It seemed like a woman’s room.
If that was the case, then it meant one thing. I was in the wrong place. It seemed like the right thing to do would be to leave now.
“My friend and I used to play here. But since my friend doesn’t play with me anymore, I don’t play here. But that’s okay. You can play with me, sis.”
“Playing is nice, but let’s play somewhere else other than here… What are you doing?”
As I turned to look at the child, I paused. The child had pushed their upper body into the closet, leaving only their lower body sticking out.
She seemed to be searching for something as they moved around inside. Suddenly, something fell with a thud from under the closet.
“Sis, look at this.”
“What is it?”
I leaned down to examine what had fallen beneath the closet. It was a thick notebook.
“My friend used to show me this and tell me various stories, but now I can’t listen to them anymore.”
Listening to the child’s words, I pulled it out and examined it closely. The red leather cover had faded with the marks of time. It definitely seemed like a rather old item.
- • • • • • •
The Duke had been asleep for quite a while. He lay motionless, almost as if… well, I’m not sure if this metaphor is quite fitting, but he looked like he was lying in a coffin.
He appeared to be in a deep slumber, so it was difficult to rouse him abruptly. Hence, I sat on the opposite side and simply stared at him intently. I can’t say for sure whether he felt my gaze, but before long, he blinked his eyes open.
“You’re awake?”
“Hmm.”
He pushed himself up and pressed his palms onto his eyes. I walked over to the window, and drew back the curtains, revealing the slightly darkened sky outside.
“I slept quite undisturbed. How did you manage that?”
The Duke inquired.
“Your Grace. Actually, I think I went into your mother’s room while I was playing with the child.”
However, I had a different story to tell in response to his question.
“Then, I came across a notebook that the child had taken out from there… I apologize.”
Saying that, I approached him again and extended the notebook with a red cover. The Duke took it with one hand.
“Oh, this. I couldn’t find it.”
He muttered briefly, then placed the notebook back on the table.
“It’s okay. It’s not a big deal. Was there anything strange or unusual written in it?”
“Your Grace, does every ghost listed here live in this mansion?”
Ignoring the Duke’s words, I pointed at the notebook. A little while ago, I discovered a list of countless ghosts within this notebook. Among them, I found a story about a boy with green eyes.
〈Theo. Four years old. Seems to like cookies but doesn’t eat them. Sometimes hides inside the wardrobe.〉
It was a very brief description, but it was enough to evoke the image of a ghost named Theo. I skimmed through the notebook a bit more frantically. Then I found a record about a blonde-haired girl as well.
Both of them were ghosts living in this mansion. So, could it be that every ghost listed in this notebook lives here? An overwhelmingly long list of ghosts, all of them?
“…No. My mother would bring such beings in and then send them away repeatedly. These are records of those incidents.”
“So, all of the hundred ghosts listed here aren’t in this mansion? Many have been sent away, too?”
“…Yes.”
The Duke responded briefly. That was a relief. But…
“Your Grace, then how many ghosts are still here in this mansion? Please tell me honestly.”
“…Seven.”
“…That many?”
“… “
“Ah… Can I submit my resignation?”
“I’ve already given you your salary. It’s not possible.”
The Duke replied dryly. I had to pay rent for the inn where my siblings were staying, and I also had to fix the collapsed roof of the house.
Damn it. Good heavens. Geez! The mistakes of the past were now holding me back.
“Yes, I understand…”
I answered, rubbing my face with both hands. Next month, I must find another job… or something.
“But, Your Grace, there was something impressive written on the first page of this notebook.”
“What is it?”
“Since you mentioned that the Madam repeatedly brought them in and sent them away… It said that souls lingering in the mortal realm for too long without ascending become malevolent spirits. So, one must soothe and guide these souls to ascension. Only then can they be helped in their reincarnation.”
I had seen numerous ghosts so far, and while only a few were malevolent, I always pretended not to notice and avoided them. There was never any benefit in acting like I knew, and it was even frightening. So, I never really knew how a ghost became a malevolent spirit.
“That’s what mother always said.”
The Duke said, rising from his seat. I scrambled to my feet and caught up with him.
“But… this seems a bit dangerous. If that’s true, then there are seven ghosts lingering here. If they turn into malevolent spirits while in a restless state, it will be a big problem.”
I didn’t know the process of a ghost becoming a malevolent spirit, but I was well aware of how terrifying malevolent spirits could be. They could exert a strong influence on the mortal realm, and unlike mere spirited souls, they didn’t hesitate to harm people.
“Get back to work.”
He said, sitting back at his desk, telling me to work without actually giving me any tasks.
“Your Grace, this isn’t something we can ignore…”
I followed him and stood in front of his desk, speaking.
“It’s all stories from Mother’s imagination. Reincarnation and malevolent spirits, do they make any sense?”
“You see ghosts. So you believe in ghosts, don’t you?”
“…”
“Your Grace, there is reincarnation. Just as there are ghosts, there are also malevolent spirits.”
I had been born through reincarnation; how could I not know? Moreover, I even remembered my past life. Reincarnation was granted to everyone.
“Don’t talk about such fanciful things. Get back to work.”
The Duke hesitated for a moment, then said. No, he’s been telling me to work since earlier. You have to give me tasks if you want me to work.
He’s afraid because he can see ghosts in his mansion, but why not believe in malevolent spirits and reincarnation?
I huffed and slumped into my oversized desk.
Well, whatever. I know what I need to do. I’ll submit my resignation in a month and leave. After that, I won’t care about whatever happens in this mansion!
I went to the bookshelf behind me and took out something about art philosophy or whatever. I needed to use philosophy to untangle this frustrating feeling.
• • • • • • •
“Laura! Laura! Are you in there?”
Someone called my name and knocked on the door urgently. I opened the door in a daze, half-asleep. Outside the door, Sonia stood with a bewildered expression.
“What’s going on?”
“Come out quickly. There’s a fire in Madam’s room.”
‘Madam? Does she mean the Duke’s mother?’
As I pondered, Sonia quickly grabbed my wrist and yanked me out of the room and down the hall. Without a chance to consider anything, I was just dragged along by her.
“It doesn’t seem like a big fire, but we should be careful just in case. Let’s find the furthest spot from Madam’s room.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry. Just trust me.”
Following Sonia, we arrived where the maids had gathered. They were all dressed in nightclothes, appearing to have come out from their sleep.
I tried to ask them what was happening, but I didn’t get the chance. The head maid promptly lined us up side by side along the corridor. And soon, we were frantically passing buckets of water down the line.
I received a bucket from Sonia on my left and passed it to another maid on my right. The bucket kept moving along without stopping. The end of it was probably the Madam’s room.
Amidst all this, I suddenly remembered the Duke’s usually composed face.
Even the Duke would be sad if his mother’s room burned down, right?
He was an expressionless person, and he rarely showed emotions unless it was something truly frightening.
So, even if traces of his mother were to burn away, he probably wouldn’t shed tears in sorrow. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t sad. There would probably be a sense of melancholy, somehow.
“Laura, if it seems like the fire won’t go out, we have to escape. If there’s no sign of it dying down anytime soon, we’ll all escape together.”
At that moment, Sonia whispered from beside me. She was really a wise girl. I nodded firmly in agreement.
“Okay.”
The problem was that we had positioned ourselves too far from Madam’s room, so we couldn’t properly observe the progression of the fire. Hence, it was difficult to gauge when it would be safe to flee.
“The fire’s out!”
Fortunately, not long after, someone shouted. With that, there was no need to flee cautiously anymore. I breathed a sigh of relief internally.
“It wasn’t a big fire, so it must have gone out quickly.”
“Thank goodness.”
“I thought I was going to lose my job.”
“Ugh. What’s this even about while we’re sleeping?”
The maids grumbled, one after another.
“Quiet down, all of you. Go inside and rest. Quickly.”
The head maid reprimanded them, chastising them for their raucous behavior.
“Let’s go inside and get some rest. I’m really tired.”
Sonia turned to me and said. I also bid goodnight to the others and settled in for the night.
In this manner, the maids returned to their respective rooms. I also went back to my room and lay down on the bed. My body was so exhausted that I felt like I could fall asleep immediately. However, for some reason, I couldn’t.
The face of the Duke kept coming to mind. I felt worried for him. Was he really alright?
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