Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 112

Wolfram made a suggestion to Julia, who was standing up.

“I’ll assign some soldiers to you.”

There was no harm in being prepared.

Contrary to Aiden’s expectations, Saul Oetz could truly be hostile toward Julia.

Most likely, the cult leader was angry because of Lily, who had not shown herself. In such a situation, her relative would seem like a good target of threat to the leader.

Sending the steward was to use a personal connection to lower her guard, and if the steward himself was holding a grudge and waiting to take revenge for a bad parting…

However, Julia seemed to think differently.

“It’s fine. If someone else is watching, it’ll be hard to talk about private matters. And he wouldn’t cause a disturbance in the duke’s mansion anyway.”

“In that case, I’ll have men wait outside the door, so if things don’t go well, please be sure to let us know.”

“I will.”

With a pale face, Julia left the room.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

Saul paced back and forth inside the parlor. He simply couldn’t sit still. His hurried steps were full of nervousness.

Through the open door came the sound of a couple of footsteps. He quickly glanced at his reflection in the window and straightened his clothes.

Suddenly, he frowned. His wrinkled forehead and ashen hair looked especially unsightly today. Casting a scornful glance at his own face, he turned toward the door.

Before long, she appeared.

“It’s been a while, Saul.”

At the calm greeting, Saul couldn’t open his mouth. She was there. Julia Midrof, she herself.

‘How many years has it been?’

He forgot even to greet her and just stared blankly.

If one counted the time he had spotted her from afar and then run away as a meeting, then it was their first reunion in over thirty years.

Time had passed fairly, leaving marks of age not only on Saul but on Julia as well.

The wrinkles on her face and the backs of her hands, the thinner voice, the slightly smaller frame—all showed the years they had been apart.

The young and radiant woman preserved in his memory no longer existed, yet Saul could not take his eyes off Julia Midrof.

Her eyes, which had once sparkled as purely as the morning star, now shone with deeper maturity, and the smile he had so loved was still just as mysterious.

The distant days of their academy years came rushing back. It felt as if she might suddenly shove a dusty old book in front of him, saying, “Look what I found.”

“Thank you. Yes, it’s fine.”

Julia briefly spoke to her companion and then closed the door. Those few seconds she turned away gave Saul the chance to pull himself together.

Julia asked,

“You wanted to meet me.”

“Yes.”

Saul pulled out a chair for her. Seated, Julia looked up at him with a smile.

“Thanks.”

He gripped the backrest with both hands before letting go. Julia waited for him to sit across from her before speaking.

“To be honest, I never thought you’d come to see me. I doubt our time together is a pleasant memory for you.”

Her tone was calm, as if she were speaking of a past that no longer left even scars.

‘To her, it’s all just ancient history.’

Saul lowered his gaze and stared at the empty table. Suddenly, a heavy sense of futility filled him.

What had he been expecting by coming here?

There was no sign of shock or longing from Julia. She was treating him like a worthless tie that had ended long ago and was never worth revisiting.

To have come into enemy territory just to see such a woman—was that truly the right choice?

If their secret meeting were exposed, the cult leader would never let it pass. Tonight could be his last as steward.

Of course, that was nothing but Saul Oetz’s own burden. It was only natural that Julia didn’t realize the risks he was taking. Nor had she any reason to care.

And yet, disappointment surged against his will.

He wanted to throw her past mistake in her face. If she had even a shred of conscience left, she couldn’t possibly act so calm.

“Right. Of course it wouldn’t be pleasant—to come see the woman who abandoned me.”

He spoke with a biting tone. To his surprise, Julia let out a small laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Just… this feels like when we first met.”

Back then, they had bickered constantly, like cats and dogs.

It had started with Saul’s one-sided hostility. Julia, who had taken the top rank at the academy, was a thorn in the side of someone like him, who wanted the highest place.

Julia, sensing his animosity, had also grown to dislike him, and before long she couldn’t even stand being in the same room with him.

Saul bit his lip at the memory of those foolish days. He had wasted his time, and for years afterward he regretted it deeply.

Even now, when none of it mattered anymore, the old feelings came flooding back.

At the same time, Saul’s face hardened. Clearly, this woman had freed herself from that day long ago. He was the only one still bound.

Calming her laughter, Julia said,

“I’m sorry. I always wanted to say that. I really am sorry about back then. I should have at least spoken properly before I left, but I just couldn’t get the words out.”

At her excuse, Saul froze.

“Even though I told you again and again that you were the only one I wanted to be with, I had to marry another man, so I said we should break up… I was ashamed, sorry, and just kept wondering why my life was like that. So I ran away.”

Julia looked Saul straight in the eye, as if piercing through him.

“I’ve never once forgotten the wrong I did you. Say whatever you want. Curse me, despise me. Isn’t that why you came?”

“What?”

“You came straight to me the moment I arrived in the capital because you still can’t forget the betrayal you feel toward me, isn’t that it?”

That wasn’t Saul’s intention at all.

Not that he hadn’t felt betrayed when Julia left without a word. He had blamed her.

Were the nights they dreamed of the future nothing but fleeting illusions, not promises? If she alone decided to end it, was that all? What about his heart?

They had both held on to that bond. Just because one let go didn’t mean the rope vanished instantly.

Saul had held onto his end for a very long time. Even after it became clear no letter would come and that he was clinging to a vain hope…

It was impossible to describe all the feelings he had gone through in that time.

Yet despite all the resentment, despair, and sorrow, one thing remained impossible: to hate Julia. For she too was nothing more than a victim of fate.

There was only one man Saul truly hated—Johann Midrof.

“I didn’t come here for something so base.”

“Didn’t you?”

Julia narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at him.

“If not revenge, then what reason is there for us to meet now?”

His chest pricked as if stabbed by glass shards. This woman had always known how to twist words cruelly.

He shot back, not to be outdone.

“Right. Not even when your husband died.”

Julia pressed her lips together and quickly made the sign of the cross.

‘And that counts as a husband?’

The pathetic man who had taken Julia Midrof only to keep her locked up at home. It was laughable that she still regarded such a man as her husband.

“Then why did you come? At such a late hour, without even arranging it. That’s a grave discourtesy to the master of the house.”

At last, the time had come to state his true purpose. He barely held back a sigh.

Would she really obey the unreasonable order of an uninvited man? He couldn’t be sure.

But he had to say it. Saul spoke with the authoritative tone he used so often in the Imperial City.

“Leave the capital immediately.”

As expected, Julia frowned and asked back,

“Leave?”

“Yes. I’ve prepared everything. A carriage is waiting right outside. So pack your things and go now. Don’t stop until you’re outside the city’s borders.”

Julia stared at him intently. There was no sign of alarm. She neither asked why nor dismissed his words as nonsense. She only observed him with cold, steady eyes.

That calmness told Saul she already knew the whole story.

The link was obvious—Lily Dienta. The short young woman who clung to Duke Kashimir’s side, rumored to be deeply tied to him.

Julia’s granddaughter. She must have passed the news along.

For a brief moment, Saul hoped this might make things easier. If she valued her life, she might see his help as salvation from the heavens.

But contrary to his expectation, Julia gave no answer. Growing uneasy, Saul urged her.

“Quickly. We must hurry.”

“No.”

It was a flat refusal, spoken without a trace of hesitation.

‘That cursed habit—she still has it.’

He barely restrained himself from shouting at her.