Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 124 - End of Main Story

Lily Dienta showed not the slightest sign of being shaken.

“Yes, I did make remarks against Her Majesty the Empress. But it was mere coincidence that they overlapped with the cultists’ summoning downstairs. Ramond Kelper’s claim is pure conjecture.”

Her answer was calm and steady.

“What I said was actually a code His Majesty and I had agreed upon beforehand. It meant that reinforcements needed more time, so we had to keep up the act of opposing each other a little longer.”

“Why didn’t you come with reinforcements from the start? Weren’t you, by the Duke’s side, informed of the whole plan?”

“The Duke himself would have gone alone as well. It was to avoid suspicion from the cultists and to lull them into carelessness. If only we had known they were actually conducting a serious ritual, the plan would have changed.”

The investigator wrote down her statement.

Lily waited comfortably. It was a calm Q&A session without blood or spirits involved—so peaceful that she had to remind herself not to look too relaxed.

“Still, I question whether the code needed to be such insulting words toward the royal family. Isn’t it possible His Majesty suffered psychological shock from your crude insults?”

“To fool the enemy, the words had to be outrageous. Every line was something His Majesty agreed to as well. Count Ots can testify to this.”

Lily lowered her eyes and added in a dark tone.

“But neither His Majesty nor I could have imagined the apostates in the basement would succeed with their sorcery. Objects shattering and moving on their own, hunting down Lord Lumion’s faithful… the thought of it still makes me tremble.”

Aiden placed his arm around Lily’s shoulders.

“She’s still recovering. Didn’t you promise not to burden her?”

“My apologies, Your Grace.”

He tilted his head slightly. The investigator switched the apology’s direction.

“My apologies, Lady Dienta.”

“It’s all right.”

“One last matter: regarding Ramond Kelper’s accusations. He insists you are in fact one of the cult, even more deeply connected than they are—that you can see souls.”

“But really, Investigator, how could that even be possible? A person seeing souls? Good heavens, Lord Lumion.”

Lily Dienta crossed herself and spoke without the slightest change of expression.

“It seems Mr. Ramond Kelper is simply too immersed in the cult’s doctrine. To be fair, I expected as much—wearing that brooch so openly showed his unusual zeal. Otherwise, perhaps he’s just slandering me in a desperate attempt to shake off his own guilt.”

Even a seasoned investigator found nothing odd in Lily’s words. Her testimony was consistent from beginning to end, matching the Duke’s written account. And the gaze of the Duke, who still had his arm around her, left little room for doubt.

The investigator nodded.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“She’s unwell, so she won’t be able to see you off. Please, take care.”

After the door shut, Aiden turned to check on Lily.

“Was it too much for you?”

“Not at all. They were just scratches to begin with. More importantly, how was I? I did well, didn’t I?”

“Better than anyone could.”

Lily grinned proudly.

The final deception of their long ordeal had been all for the sake of the crown prince’s legitimacy.

If the truth—that Julius had used the cult leader to wield forbidden sorcery and lost his body to possession—were revealed, the temple would never let it pass. Julius, still unconscious, would be deposed, and the empress and prince would be in peril as well.

Aiden did not want to see the Empire thrown into chaos. Needless disputes had to be avoided. The throne had to be passed on smoothly.

He had promised the Empress that he would safeguard her son’s place.

For that reason, he had hidden the fact that the cult leader’s body had been discovered in a secret passage of the imperial palace, and even the emperor’s odd behavior had been neatly repackaged.

Not out of pure kindness, of course—Aiden had been clear that he hoped for a strong alliance.

Two days after the investigator’s visit, when all had been settled and it was becoming accepted that the emperor would not wake, Aiden took Julius’s ring to a goldsmith.

Before leaving the mansion, Lily had worried over the ring’s ominous aura, but strangely enough, nothing had happened while it was near him.

Aiden suspected this was because of the scathing ridicule Lily had hurled at Julius. He had read her words in Ramond Kelper’s testimony—they were piercing enough to wound even the soul. Hearing such things would crush anyone’s thirst for vengeance or even their will to live.

Perhaps Julius truly thought death would be preferable now.

The end was simple. Aiden gave the ring to the smith, who melted it down before his eyes into a lump of gold.

When the separated diamond was heated and struck with a hammer, there was no longer anything in the world that could be called Julius Sheiwartz’s talisman.

Nor anything left to guard or tether Julius’s soul.

 

 

****

 

 

 

Today was finally the day Julius’s talisman would be destroyed.

Once it was gone, the spell’s effect would rebound, and Julius would breathe his last. She had checked this principle again and again through interpretations of the cult’s scriptures, but still, unease gnawed at her.

He had said it would be fine, but what if he was put in danger while carrying the ring? What if, in the very instant it melted, some final attack was unleashed? She could not calm herself.

Should she have gone with him after all? No—staying behind had been her own choice. If he happened to see her and recall the insults she had hurled at the mountain lodge, it might provoke something disastrous.

And so Lily wandered aimlessly, pacing windows, hallways, rooms, and the front entrance. Books and needlework slipped uselessly through her hands. Then, at last, through a window, she spotted a carriage approaching and bolted straight for the entrance.

She herself flung the door wide and flew down the steps two at a time.

The carriage door opened a beat later. Before Aiden could even set foot on the ground, Lily rushed forward in panic.

“Are you all right? You’re not hurt anywhere?”

“Hmm…”

Aiden gently eased her aside as he stepped down, closing the carriage door behind him with a mysterious smile.

Lily’s face crumpled as though the world were collapsing.

“Oh! I knew it, I should have gone with you! Where are you hurt? Can you walk? Should I fetch someone to carry you?”

“No, Lily, no. I’m fine.”

Aiden sighed softly.

“I didn’t expect you to come all the way here. Still… that in itself makes me happy.”

“Really, you’re not hurt?”

“No. You can check if you like.”

With his permission, Lily examined him head to toe.

Move your arms. Show me your hands. Tilt your head back. Every small command she gave, Aiden obeyed with an amused expression.

“You really aren’t hurt anywhere.”

Relief left her in a long breath as she stepped back.

“If you’re done checking, may I ask a favor too?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Just turn around for a moment.”

A strange request. Lily was puzzled but did as he asked, straining her ears.

“The carriage door opens… a rustling sound… Did he bring a gift?”

But surely, he would rather hurry back to her side than waste a moment in a shop.

Her lips pouted unconsciously—when suddenly Aiden tapped her shoulder.

She turned. In his arms was a massive bouquet.

She clutched it in surprise. A fragrance of fresh greenery, unseasonal yet vivid, wafted up.

“I love you.”

Bending close to meet her eyes, Aiden whispered as she buried her face in the flowers.

Her eyes went wide. He had always been generous with affection, but it had been a long time since he had spoken so directly.

“From now on, let’s love each other with no reason at all—not because of an incident, not because of helping me. Just our love, for ourselves.”

A bond stripped of necessity, built only on feeling. What could be more uncertain, more dangerous, to stake one’s life upon?

Once, Lily had been terrified of such uncertainty. She had even resolved that if separation was fated to come, she would cut things off herself before it arrived.

But no longer. Neither status nor worlds apart could hinder her now.

No—if obstacles came, she would simply ask Aiden to take her hand. And he, with joy, would lift her high.

Her heart pounding, Lily answered:

“All right. I want that too. And I also, I also… love you.”

At her whisper, faint enough to vanish into the wind, Aiden Kashimir smiled.

So brightly that even the bouquet between them seemed to lose its color.

 

 

Working at a Huanted Mansion- End of Main Story