Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 1

Part 1. The Haunted Main Building and the Maid

“The main building? You’re asking me to take care of the main building?”

Lily was horrified.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Do I look like someone who jokes around?”

The head maid’s gaze was sharp. Lily instinctively knew she’d better change her attitude before things got worse.

“N-no, of course not…”

As she shook her head, her simply braided hair swayed behind her back. It was a bright light brown, almost orange.

“But, head maid, you know, right? The main building… it’s…”

Even though she spoke carefully, almost groveling, the head maid’s expression darkened immediately.

“How dare you bring up silly rumors in this place?”

The head maid had worked at the duke’s castle for a long time and treated the family’s honor as her own. It was only natural that she would be furious at such a topic being brought up.

But Lily had no choice. She had been pushed into being a maid for the main building.

“It’s not silly rumors! Everyone says they really experienced it!”

“Miss Dienta!”

The head maid’s voice rose even higher.

“So are you saying that in this noble House of Kashimir, there really are ghosts? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

Lily wanted to shout, ‘Yes, exactly that!’ but she wasn’t brave enough. She just mumbled, “But still…”

The head maid sighed and pressed her forehead. Lily felt the same way.

‘Marie said it’s real! It’s seriously real!’

Marie was Lily’s best friend, and they had become close because of their similar-sounding names and because they were both low-ranked maids.

Unfortunately, Marie had been assigned to the main building a few days ago and had been working there ever since. Right after her first shift, she said this:

-That time, suddenly… bang! The door swung open. There was definitely no one inside, and all the windows were closed, not even a breeze could get in. So, who else could it be? It had to be a ghost!

There were plenty of stories besides Marie’s that proved ghosts lived in the main building. The maid who worked there before Marie had gotten hurt by a window shattering for no reason and had to quit.

There were also frequent incidents like books falling off shelves or chairs shaking on their own.

Lily Dienta absolutely hated anything supernatural. Just hearing Marie’s ghost stories gave her nightmares.

Clasping her hands together, she pleaded earnestly.

“Please, Ma’am. I’ll even clean the stables. I’ll clean every bathroom in the castle all by myself. You know cleaning is my specialty. So please, just don’t send me to the main building. Please?”

“Yes. Cleaning is your specialty.”

Lily’s face brightened for a moment but quickly fell at the head maid’s next words.

“So go clean the main building.”

“Head Maid!”

“All you have to do is open the windows once in a while and dust a little. Why would you go looking for hard work when there’s an easy job waiting for you?”

Because there are ghosts, that’s why!

Lily’s unspoken answer was clear in her rebellious expression.

The head maid stared at Lily intently.

‘Oh no… I went too far…’

Lily’s neck felt a chill.

Of course, she knew better than to act up in front of the head maid. The head maid controlled the fate of all the maids. Making her angry was never a good idea.

‘If she says it one more time, I’ll just agree.’

Lily gulped.

“Haah…”

The head maid looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh.

“Lily Dienta.”

“Yes, Head Maid.”

“Twenty percent.”

The head maid held up two fingers.

“I’ll give you a 20% raise. As payment for doing such an easy cleaning job. You’ll even get a paid day off once a month. Your grandmother lives nearby, right? You could go visit her.”

Lily blinked rapidly.

“How about it? Still don’t want to? If not, I guess I’ll have to find someone else…”

“I’ll do it! I absolutely want to clean the main building!”

She changed her mind at lightning speed. For a low-ranking maid with little hope of promotion, extra pay was too tempting to refuse. She could almost hear coins clinking in her ears.

“Good. I don’t plan to burden you for long either. Just until His Grace wakes up. After that, you’ll return to your original duties.”

“Yes, Head Maid.”

Right. Think positive. Like the head maid said, there wasn’t much to do.

Since the Duke had fallen into a coma for over three weeks, very few visitors came to the castle. Only part of the main building was open, and the floor where the Duke stayed was managed personally by the head maid.

In other words, this was a golden opportunity not to be missed. She just had to stay strong and ignore any ghosts.

“Oh, one more thing.”

The head maid, Angela spoke as if she had just remembered something.

“I don’t like the Duke’s name being dragged through the mud over trivial matters.”

As soon as she started speaking, Lily realized this was something she absolutely had to obey.

“If something breaks, just report it for repairs. If you get hurt, go see the doctor. There’s no need to add extra gossip when His Grace is already unwell. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

“I trust you since you hate that kind of talk anyway.”

“Yes, Head Maid. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Being assigned to a haunted house just because she hated ghosts… Lily truly felt the unfairness of the world as Angela waved her hand, signaling the end of the conversation.

Lily left the head maid’s office and let out a deep sigh in the hallway.

Anyway, this was a chance. Even if she worked another ten years, her salary would never rise this much.

Even if it was temporary, it didn’t matter. If she added this money to what she had already saved, she could take her grandmother out for dinner on New Year’s or buy her a pair of shoes as a gift.

‘Alright. I’ll just close my eyes and do it. I can do this! I’m not scared…!’

Lily prayed that her greed would defeat her fear.

 

 

****

 

 

 

The next day, Lily gathered cleaning supplies from the main building’s tool shed and started cleaning from the first floor.

The main building was quiet. Although she was anxious about when the ghost might act up, the continued peace gradually calmed her nerves.

Plus, the work was absurdly easy. Without having to worry about bumping into nobles, she moved freely, and the first floor was cleaned in no time.

Lily gathered her supplies with a bright face.

‘This is easy! I didn’t even meet a ghost!’

Hope blossomed inside her. Maybe the head maid, Angela was right after all.

Ghosts were just silly rumors. The castle was old, and people had just exaggerated things by linking broken furniture to the Duke’s illness.

Filled with hope, Lily headed up to the second floor. But the moment she looked down the hallway, she immediately turned around and rushed back down.

Standing by the window was an unreal figure.

‘A ghost!’

Lily’s eyes widened to the point they might pop out.

‘Why? Why when I’m working? No one has actually seen a ghost until now!’

There had been plenty of stories about ghostly happenings, but no one had actually seen one with their own eyes. Lily had thought it would be the same for her.

But this changed everything. Cleaning up after sudden messes was one thing, but facing a ghost directly was on a whole different level.

Lily took deep breaths. She rubbed her eyes with both hands.

Maybe she had seen wrong? Maybe, out of fear, she mistook a column or statue for something else?

Holding into that hope, she cautiously peeked back.

The result was the same. A translucent figure with only light and shadow stood looking out the window.

She immediately ducked her head back in.

‘Oh dear Lord, I knew it. I knew there were ghosts!’

Dizziness from terror washed over her.

“R-right. I forgot to finish cleaning the first floor. Y-yeah…”

Muttering nonsense, Lily hurriedly scurried down the stairs.

She placed herself by the window furthest from the stairs and swung her duster around, trying to calm herself by replaying what she had seen.

The ghost had the appearance of a tall nobleman. Though there had been some distance, he had looked strangely familiar.

Which was odd, because a low-ranking maid shouldn’t recognize any noble’s face.

But whether she knew the ghost or not didn’t really matter. Lily sighed deeply.

‘What do I do about the second floor?’

She wanted to run away from the main building immediately, but that wasn’t an option. If she showed any weakness on her first day, she would surely fall out of favor with the head maid.

Suddenly, she remembered her grandmother’s advice:

-Lily, when that happens, just pretend you don’t see or hear it. Don’t talk to it either. Act like you didn’t notice it. That’s the best way to avoid getting involved.

Her grandmother had always loved ghost stories and the supernatural things, telling Lily such tales almost every day.

At the time, Lily had cried a lot from fear, but looking back, it was actually useful.

Feeling grateful to her grandmother, Lily steeled herself to face the second floor.

“Alright… pretend you don’t see it, pretend you don’t see it…”

[What are you pretending not to see?]

“Aack!”

Lily squeezed her eyes shut. Her legs gave out and she plopped right onto the floor. Her duster rolled away.

[You can see me…]

A voice echoed inside her head, not like a normal voice, but with a surreal kind of vibration.

[Right?]