The Way that Noble Ghost Survives

Episode 2

While everyone was in shock, she first reassured her worried parents.

“Mother, Father. I’m okay!”

“Avery, you…”

Immediately after, she executed what she had wanted to do as soon as she returned to her body.

“Die! Just die! Damn Olive! Die!”

“Ah! Ah!”

Thud. Thud.

A terrifying sound echoed in the room. As everyone inside the room stared at the siblings, speechless, only one person looked at the scene with interest: the doctor, Horn.

The sight of the patient who had come back to life was, to put it nicely, lively, and to put it another way, rather shocking.

The young lady, who had seemed dead just moments ago, was now up and hitting her elder brother.

Unlike the count and countess, who were likely in greater shock than when their daughter had not awakened, Horn’s eyes sparkled.

‘This is a research opportunity for the academy…’

***

The news that the Countess’s daughter, Avery Grand, who had fallen into a coma, had safely awakened spread quickly through noble society.

Since it was a crime committed against nobility, with the perpetrator still at large, Avery was the only witness. Investigators sent from the royal family visited the count’s residence daily.

“Do you not remember anything?”

Feeling sorry for the exhausted investigator, Avery could only repeat the same words.

“I went out for an errand and entered an alley, and someone stabbed me with a knife.”

“Why did you enter that alley? It wasn’t a path you usually took.”

“I… I don’t remember.”

It was true. On the day of the incident, she had gone to a costume shop and a jewelry store with one knight and one maid, and when she regained consciousness, she found herself alone in the alley.

It could only be speculated that it was a necessary plot point for the beginning of the original story, regardless of her will.

After that, her memories were of the approaching murderer, the distinct pain, and the descending red blood…

“Hah…”

Avery bent her waist and wrapped her arms around her stomach. The area around the stitched wound throbbed with pain. As vividly as that day.

“Young lady? Are you okay?”

The investigator, Aiden, rushed over from his seat and examined Avery. It was clear at a glance that she didn’t look well. She trembled all over, sweating coldly, and could hardly keep herself together.

“…It’s cold…”

“…Hey! Young lady!”

After that, she couldn’t remember how time passed. The summoned doctor, Horn, and family members hurried in, and Avery was moved to a different room.

When Avery finally calmed down and woke up, it was already pitch black outside. Inside the room, Oliver was by her side, and a striking silver-haired man was staring out the window. It was the investigator, Aiden.

“Due to the shock, your memory may not fully return. There’s no need to force yourself to think.”

The investigator treated her even more kindly than before. A faint sense of guilt was evident in his eyes.

“That day, a hibiscus was placed in front of me when I collapsed. It seems the perpetrator left it.”

“We found the hibiscus at the scene. I’ll look into it further and let you know.”

They couldn’t continue the investigation with Avery still not fully recovered. Before leaving the room, Aiden briefly scanned the guards at the door.

“Since the perpetrator knows that you are alive, they may target you again. We need to strengthen security for a while. I will send knights from the royal family as well.”

“……”

“Young lady?”

“…Yes…”

“Then please rest.”

After he left, Avery stared blankly at the door for a moment before speaking.

“Should I offer him a meal next time?”

Though he maintained a consistently businesslike demeanor, she could feel he was being considerate.

Above all, he was handsome.

Normally, Oliver would have teased her about it, saying how ridiculous it was for her to think that way, but he said nothing.

“Oliver?”

“There’s no need to force it.”

“What? Since I’ll just be rejected anyway?”

“You’re still shaking your hands right now.”

Oliver gently covered Avery’s hands with his own. The tremors transmitted through to him.

This studious type, who resembled his father and knew nothing but studying, would sometimes show surprising awareness like this. Avery quietly pulled her hands away. She didn’t want to worry him more.

“Your saliva-covered hands are dirty.”

“You always have to say something, even now!”

“Did you really wash your hands?”

“Of course!”

He brushed his hair back in frustration and hesitated, his mouth moving as if he were about to speak. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, reminiscent of a goldfish.

“Are you getting hungry?”

Oliver sighed at her unamusing words and finally spoke up.

“Should I stay next to you while you sleep tonight?”

Pause.

What did he just say?

As she stared at him blankly, Oliver seemed awkward himself and added more words.

“Since you have that going on, and the mansion is chaotic right now…”

“Are you crazy? Get out right now.”

Avery shot up from the bed and pushed him away without mercy, shoving him all the way to the door and slamming it shut with a bang.

Why is he acting like that? It’s creepy.

Avery began to turn off the lights one by one in the room, sweeping her arms down. She left only the candle next to the bed lit and lay down.

She quietly closed her eyes. Thanks to Oliver’s nonsense, or maybe because of it, her trembling hands had already calmed down.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

“…….”

How much time has passed? She opened her eyes again. Sleep wouldn’t come.

After Oliver left, the room felt particularly quiet. Any noise seemed like it would be swallowed by the silence.

It was just yesterday that she could fall asleep with just her head on the pillow. All of this was because of that murderer.

“Why me…?”

She recalled the original story she had immersed herself in, a story she had never cared about before. She hadn’t read it all, just skimmed through, but there was a description of the murderer in her memory.

Just once. In the original, the male and female leads had faced the murderer right before their eyes.

That detail was definitely…

One thing was certain, if nothing else: he fully enjoyed the act of killing. There was no way he could leave the crime scene so leisurely while laughing otherwise. Helen still couldn’t forget the chilling voice of that man.

“Ah, I don’t know, I don’t know.”

Thinking about it just made it scarier.

Avery extinguished the candle beside her bed and took drastic measures to fall asleep.

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep…

…But was there a vase like that?

The vase she had seen on the table just before turning off the lights suddenly bothered her.

It’s annoying, should I just sleep?

“…….”

I can check it tomorrow.

“…….”

Tick-tock.

The sound of the clock ticking was unusually loud, and sleep still wouldn’t come.

“…Ha…”

Feeling uneasy, she finally rose and lit a candle, approaching the table. The distance from the bed to the table didn’t seem far, but today it felt distant.

In the darkness all around, the only light came from Avery’s candle. Finally reaching the table, she found a vase she had never seen before.

As she brought the flame closer to the vase, its shape and color were revealed, along with something that was stuck in it.

“…What is this….”

A bright red hibiscus was stuck in the vase.

“You have a good eye.”

With a chilling voice, the candle’s flame was extinguished. In an instant, her body was flipped. A stranger, whose origin she couldn’t identify, wrapped around Avery’s body, and just like that…

Thud.

Avery’s strength drained away, and she collapsed.

“Strange. I thought I had definitely killed her then.”

The man’s chilling voice was enough to freeze her body. The murderer from the original story was unmistakable.

“…Is that why? I think I trembled and made a mistake.”

Unlike last time, the man muttered to himself, but he didn’t properly hear anything due to the burning pain.

The only thing Avery could do was clutch her stabbed abdomen. It was the same spot as last time. There was no limit to the malice.

Step by step.

How did he get past the guards? Are my family okay? If i had known this would happen, i would have told Oliver to stay. No, he’s smart but useless when it comes to physical stuff.

Amid her chaotic thoughts, the man’s footsteps exuded calmness.

The sound of his footsteps, like a dance in offbeat rhythm, even sounded lively, revealing how excited he was.

She thought she should call for help, but no voice came out. She felt tears flowing from instinctual fear.

Am I going to die like this? So futilely?

The man walked steadily and placed the tip of his shoe in front of her.

“Sleep well.”

His voice, gentle as if lulling her to sleep, carried a hint of laughter.

If only she had one more chance…

She would change all the guards.

Once again, it was darkness.