It was deep in the early morning. In the dry, silent bedroom, the only sound was the occasional crackle of the fireplace.
The count, who had woken up due to thirst, frowned at a strange sensation. He blinked at a blurry shape. What is that?
As he rubbed his eyes, his foggy vision gradually cleared. And what came into view was—
“Gasp. A-Agnes?!”
The count jumped in fright. As he gasped in shock, he began coughing spasmodically.
“Cough, cough… Am I dreaming?”
A translucent woman was wavering in the dress she had worn in life. Her body was see-through, and the fireplace behind her was visible right through her.
He had heard rumors of Lariette’s ghost wandering about, but never that it was Agnes. Milena’s mother stood there, weeping tears of blood.
Despite the warmth of the room, the eerie sight sent chills down his spine.
[Why did you do it?]
“W-What?”
Milena’s mother drifted closer, peering down at the count. Startled, he clutched his chest and shouted.
“Why have you come here?! Ah, right. That brat came by, so you showed up? Is that it? Pretending to be a mother now, are you worried about your daughter? Huh?! If you hadn’t died like that, would Milena have had to live being treated like garbage? This is all your fault!”
Sweating coldly, the count jabbed a finger at the ghost.
“After you died, the money from the temple stopped! Even though she’s your daughter, she’s useless. The temple won’t even look at her! I even thought of selling her to the temple after you died, but they refused. What a worthless girl. Then again, she somehow got into the Duke’s house, so maybe I should’ve been nicer to her.”
[…]
The ghost silently stared at the count before speaking in a chilling tone.
[Why did you treat my daughter that way?]
“W-What?!”
A thin, ethereal hand reached toward the count’s throat, a cry of injustice in her voice.
[You shouldn’t have done that to my daughter.]
Although her hand passed through him without gripping, the count still found himself unable to breathe.
“S-Save…”
[My daughter suffered a hundred times more than this.]
“W-What nonsense… Gah!”
Wheezing and coughing alone, the count eventually passed out from the shock. The ghost, letting go, turned to look at a woman who had been hiding in a corner.
“Gasp…”
The woman who had entered the count’s bedroom, as she often did in the middle of the night, clapped her hand over her mouth. It was Lariette’s birth mother. She trembled at the sight of the ghost.
“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
The woman muttered apologies like a madwoman. The ghost silently passed her by and exited the room—as if not even deeming her worthy of confrontation.
Click.
The door opened and shut quietly, and silence returned. The ghost, who had calmly exited the count’s bedroom, walked down the corridor and suddenly stopped.
[Ah.]
In the middle of the hallway, she came face-to-face with Milena. Surprised, the ghost forgot to teleport away.
Their eyes met. Milena’s green eyes narrowed in confusion. She could clearly see the ghost’s form.
“What are you doing here? That’s… my mother’s dress.”
It was bizarre. A man, mismatched with the oversized dress, was awkwardly stuffed into it. The cross-dressing suited him strangely well—but why was he wearing her mother’s dress?
“Why…?”
Just as she was about to ask why, a scream rang out from the count’s room. Her father’s shrieks clued her in to what had happened.
“Milena, this is… um…”
Lexion, who looked completely flustered and couldn’t even make a proper excuse, stood frozen.
That’s when Milena noticed the glowing red gem dangling from his ear. Right… the earring that changes appearance. He had used it to impersonate her mother?
“You scolded the Count?”
“Huh? Oh! Yeah, I did. Uh, darling, I didn’t mean to—about wearing the deceased’s clothes—”
“Pfft.”
“Milena?”
“Ahahahaha!”
She burst into laughter. Lexion, reaching out in panic, froze at the sound and looked at her.
“You… you scolded my father dressed like that? Pretending to be a ghost?”
“Yeah… I guess I did?”
Her laughter wouldn’t stop. It was unbelievably satisfying. With the Count’s frantic yells in the background, Milena doubled over laughing.
Ah, I wish I could’ve seen it for myself. Judging from the Count’s screams, he had been properly terrified.
“Next time you do something like this, take me with you. I haven’t laughed this hard in forever. You’re the funniest thing in my life, you know.”
“A-Ah, thanks…”
Still awkward in the dress, Lexion forgot all about his appearance and reached for her face. He gently wiped away the tears from her eyes.
“You’re the most beautiful.”
His voice was heart-flutteringly sweet—but in that dress, it only made her laugh more.
“Haha. Thank you. You’re… uh, pretty too.”
He scratched his cheek awkwardly. To Milena, who was immune to magic, he probably looked like some weirdo sneaking around in women’s clothing.
At least she hadn’t seen her mother’s ghost directly. Still, she seemed to be having fun.
“Shall we go? The mansion will be in chaos all morning hunting ghosts.”
“Yeah.”
The Count’s shouts had already woken everyone. She took Lexion’s hand, and they headed to their room.
Though the dawn’s commotion would be dismissed as the Count’s nightmare, a quiet smile played on both their lips. A shared bond formed between their clasped hands.
“Good thing Ashdel is asleep. If he saw this, he’d definitely think you’re some pervert.”
“That’d be terrifying.”
His answer made her chuckle again, imagining Ashdel’s reaction.
His large hand in hers felt reliable. Before she knew it, they stood before their room. When she turned, he was back to his regular self.
Probably magic. He now held her mother’s clothes in one hand.
If she had come alone, her insides would’ve been in knots. She lifted his large hand and placed a kiss on the back of it, just like a lady receiving a gentleman’s courtesy.
“Shall we go in, my lady?”
At her teasing words, he gave up trying to stay composed and just laughed.
The unpleasant memories they had here were already long gone.
By morning, Milena took Lexion’s magic pouch and returned to the attic. Her main goal was retrieving her mother’s belongings. Once this was done, her ties with this family would end.
Her mother’s clothes and jewelry vanished into the pouch in an instant. She gazed at the now-empty attic.
She had wanted to escape.
To live a normal life.
Even while learning resignation and despair, she never let go of hope.
“I’ll escape you.”
“Darling.”
With this man by her side.
“Should we just burn it all down?”
Though his frightening words hinted at torching the place, he still looked at her with concern, making her smile faintly.
“No need. This place isn’t worth that. But Lexion—”
“Yeah?”
Did Calion already know about the Tower Master? Or that Lariette had a man? This was useful information—something that could obstruct Lariette’s path and help the man opposing the Grand Duke.
“What do you think? Do you think the Grand Duchess has a lover?”
“Hmm…”
“I remember it all. Mom holding another man’s hand, abandoning me.”
He had already sensed something was off when he overheard Milena and Ashdel’s conversation, but he had pretended not to know.
“Lariette has an accomplice.”
“I see.”
He had expected as much. No woman could escape the Grand Duke’s surveillance alone and fake her death without help. That must be why the Grand Duke went berserk—certain someone helped her, and he was desperate to find out who.
“I know who the man is.”
But the identity of that helper was more shocking than he could’ve imagined. He could hardly believe what he heard.
“What?”
“The Tower Master.”
Lexion’s silver lashes trembled slightly, blinking in disbelief.
“You asked who I resented or hated? It was all because of the Tower Master. He cast a spell on me because of what she said.”
“You mean… the Grand Duchess’s lover is the Tower Master?”
“Yes. They’ve been together for a long time. Maybe even longer than I realize.”
