I'm the Friend of a Male Lead who went Crazy after the Female Lead Died

Bang!

The door made a sound as if he was about to fall, then a knight in a white armor burst into the room.

 “Are you okay? I smelled the scent of a demon coming from here!”

Oh.

Elshnain blinked as she examined the man’s face.

He had a more mature face now, but she recognized him. He was Killian’s loyal subordinate in the book and someone she had persuade Killian to rescue in the past.

Did he feel the demon even though the barrier was in place?

He had indeed grown into an exceptional knight.

Elshnain couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.

It was thanks to her that Killian had such a knight by his side.

Ahem.

“Mikhail.”

 “Yes, my Lord.”

 Yes. That was his name.

“Argh, I apologize, my Lord. Even though I knew the demons were going to try to sneak in here……. I should have captured it . . .” Mikhail, who hastily checked the demon’s body, wore a pained expression. His healthy, ruddy complexion from earlier had turned pale.

“It was second-grade demon snake, specialized in stealth. It’s not easy to notice them.”

“Second grade!” the knight exclaimed.

Wait, he knew they were going to infiltrate.

Killian, noticing Elshnain and Mikhail exchanging glances, suddenly paused and gestured towards the flowers he had taken out of the vase earlier.

“I appreciate the gift. Now, why don’t you go back to your room with Mikhail.”

“Yes?”

Surprisingly, the question filled of confusion didn’t come from Elshnain, but Mikhail.

“What do you mean by that……” he asked again, glancing at Killian and Elshnain in turn, and both tilted their heads at his actions.

I thought it was weird because he had been pretending not to know me since earlier.

Even though it had been a while since they last met, she found his indifference surprising. After all, she had saved him, or rather, her in her spirit form had saved him. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had already forgotten about her.

 “Hello.”

“Yes? Yes?”

Mikhail jumped up from where he was standing upon receiving her greeting.

What’s going on? Why was he acting like that?

Elshnain, who was also startled by his brisk movement, blinked, trying to calm her pounding heart.

“Hick. My Lord. The specter moved! It even talked……!”

Specter? What specter?

With a pale and horrified face, Mikhail, who had been pointing his finger at her, let out a gasp, and then, as if he suddenly realized something, he clapped his hands softly.

“Oh! My Lord’s conjuration magic has already reached this level! It’s amazing. I almost thought it was really Lady Elshnain…”

“That’s right.”

“Pardon?”

“I am Elshnain.”

Mikhail’s eyes widened like saucers, and his mouth also opened widely.

“Really? Lady Elshnain, it’s you? You’ve returned?”

“Yes. But I have no memories.”

Kilian slowly crossed his arms, and leaned back against the couch before calmly saying, “You erased them yourself.”

“…….”

Elshnain didn’t have anything to say.

A person who didn’t remember anything couldn’t argue about what the truth was anyway.

So, she decided to just sit there with a dumbfounded face.

Haha. I don’t know anything.

“You erased it yourself……. Then, do you not remember me? Lady Elshnain saved my life.”

I remember.  I remember it very well.

I remember the little child who almost died then.

However, Elshnain looked up at him with an innocent face, “I don’t.”

“Sniff.”

Mikhail started to weep at her innocent answer. Then, he asked with a trembling voice, “Then…What about Lord Killian?”

“I know we were friends.”

“Such a sad thing . . . How much lady Elshnain meant for the Lord……! Did you hate him that much?”

“Mikhail.”

“Yes, yes!”

Mikhail abruptly shut up at Killian’s call.

He looked nervously at his master because Killian’s voice was quite cold.

Elshnain, who shrank heavily, carefully alternated between the two.

“The demons must have planted blood slaves in the mansion. It will take me two days to regain my strength, so in the meantime, take care of everything.”

Killian was referring to the people demons used to corrupt  with their blood. They were troublesome monsters that roamed around even after their master died.

“Alright. I understand.”

“Take responsibility for letting demons into the mansion.”

“Yes! Mikhail responded before swiftly walked to the door.

It seemed that he intended to guide Elshnain back to her room like his master had instructed.

Elshnain, looking a bit awkward, got up from her seat, preparing herself to follow the knight.

But Killian suddenly called out to her.

“Elshnain.”

“Yes?”

For some reason, seeing her beautiful face somewhat sunken, made him hesitate for a moment.

Then, he retrieved something from his desk and handed it to her.

“There’s a gemstone embedded in this bracelet. If you were to ever find yourself in danger, just place your hand on it and call my name; it will activate. Use it if things get risky.”

She didn’t really understand what use was the jewelry, but since Killian told her to use it in case of danger, it must be something good. It would  be a loss for him if something were to happen to Elshnain after all.

So, Elshnain simply nodded and fastened the bracelet around her wrist.

* * *

Phew. Still, I did achieve my goal, and killed the demons that infiltrated the mansion.

On the other hand, she didn’t expect the demon to suddenly appear while she was there.

Elshnain followed Mikhail, breathing a sigh of relief.

The setting sun pouring through the corridor’s windows added a warm glow to the knight’s hair in front of her.

Thanks to this, his red hair appeared more vivid.

“Even though you don’t remember me, it’s an honor to see you again, lady Elshnain.”

“Ah, yes…”

As the left the study, thanks to Mikhail’s plea to be treated like before, Elshnain could comfortably address him as she used to.

“I’m glad to see you too, Mikhail.”

 “Mph, yes…….”

For some reason, he seemed emotionally overwhelmed since a while ago. Observing him acting like that, Elshnain awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

Neither of them could have imagined that they would meet again under such unfortunate circumstances after having been close friends in the past.

Elshnain couldn’t help but think that he, who made her heart feel warm, looked rather pitiful.

Setting that feeling aside, she had a question to ask.

“By the way, what exactly was that ‘specter’ you mentioned earlier?”

“Oh.”

Turning to face Elshnain, he wiped his face with his sleeve and then tilted his back a little.

Did he……cry?

Elshnain stared at him with a bewildered expression.

 Mikhail then responded with a slightly hoarse voice, “Sometimes, Lord Kilian would create an apparition of Lady Elshnain based on his memories.”

“Ah…?”

“So the servants of the house are used to Lady Elshnain being around lord Killian.”

Elshnain blinked in astonishment.

He made an apparition of her based on his memories?

Shivers ran down her spine.

Did he look at this copy of her every day, reaffirming his determination to catch the traitor who betrayed him?

Was that it?

Suddenly feeling cold, Elshnain trembled and shrugged her shoulders.

“The other servants, like me, probably didn’t realize that you were real since you were always by Killian’s side.”

“Oh . . .”

Now that she thought about it, when they first entered the property, the gazes of the servants lined up in a row, never seemed to fall on her.

Elshnain nodded gently, acknowledging Mikhail’s statement.

 “I guess that’s true,” she answered.

However, the maid, being a demon, probably didn’t think Elshnain was an illusion. That’s why there was no surprise on her face when Elshnain spoke to her.

“Right. And he didn’t do it only in the mansion……. Oh, no. I don’t think that’s something I should be talking about. Is this your room, lady Elshnain?”

“Uh-huh.”

Not only in the mansion?

Looking at Mikhail, Elshnain found his extremely troubled expression as he shook his head quite strange.

But she had no choice but to take a step back and let him go.

.

.

“Ugh. It’s been such a long day.”

Elshnain, now in her room, quickly washed up and headed straight to her bed.

And as she was rolling around on the huge bed, she pondered on her day.

Hmmm. Making room for a spirit. How ridiculous.

In the past, shortly after Killian took on the position of the head of the family, he had a room arranged for her not far from his own.

‘Huh? A room? Why?’

‘You will need it when you’re in your human form.’

‘Will I? Really?’

She never felt the need to be in a human form in the first place since it was much more convenient for her to remain hidden, and deal with humans when she was a spirit.

However, Killian had wanted Elshnain to be in her human form very often.

Elshnain’s eyes rolled towards the chessboard.

Even that chessboard, too.

 It was also around then that Killian began to constantly bring games that required a physical form to her room.

“Well, thanks to that, I’m able to be this comfortable.”

She never expected to return to this place, but here she was.

Elshnain mumbled softly and closed her eyes.

“The demons were temporarily dealt with, so the next thing I need to take care of is the New Year’s Festival…”

As she checked the successful progress of her plan, a strange sound caught her attention.

“Kr…….”

Huh?

Elshnain’s eyes snapped open.

Her face turned pale as she realized what the noise was.

It was the blood slaves, and they were surrounding her room.

 Shit.

She quickly assessed the situation.

There were five bloodsuckers, but one defenseless spirit.

She didn’t have the confidence to subdue these many blood slaves, by herself, in one go.

Her vessel’s magic hadn’t been fully restored, and she couldn’t borrow Killian’s powers.

So, just as Killian had instructed her, she grabbed the bracelet, and screamed, “Killian!”

She could faintly hear Mikhail’s voice calling her from the other side of the door.

And as the scenery rapidly changed before her eyes, Elshnain was left in shock.