Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 16

It was an embarrassing question, but not a difficult one.

“Well, he’s my master and I’m his maid.”

Even with her perfect answer, Julia’s face didn’t brighten. She asserted, even though she wasn’t directly involved.

“No, you’re not.”

“Aren’t we? he’s my master and I’m his maid…”

Lily had every right to be more confident. They were in an employer-maid relationship. But Julia clearly thought otherwise.

“Lily, you can be honest. I’m not going to scold or blame you. I just want to hear about my granddaughter for once.”

Lily truly couldn’t understand what Julia was talking about.

“Grandma, I swear, it’s nothing more and nothing less. There’s absolutely nothing to ‘confess’ to you honestly!”

But Julia was persistent. It seemed like she had already decided on the answer she wanted, and wouldn’t stop until she heard it.

“It’s really okay. Don’t overthink it, just tell me. Who confessed first?”

“Grandma!”

“So it was the Duke who went first, wasn’t it?”

“What are you even imagining right now?!”

Afraid someone might overhear beyond the door, she shouted in a hushed voice.

But Julia didn’t care and took Lily’s hand, pulling her to sit on the chair.

“Alright, if you’re that determined to keep it secret, I won’t pry.”

“It’s not a secret…”

Lily’s repeated denials fell on deaf ears.

“Just remember, nothing’s more foolish than trusting the sweet words of a noble. Right now, of course you feel drawn to each other because of the special situation you’re in, but once things return to normal, he’ll lose interest in no time.”

Julia gently stroked Lily’s hand.

“No matter how fancy his promises sound, you have to stay strong. Otherwise, you’ll be the only one left heartbroken.”

It was driving her mad. If there were even the tiniest hint of anything going on, it wouldn’t feel so unfair!

“I understand what you’re worried about, Grandma. And I agree with you on all of it. But again, I have to say. There’s nothing between me and the Duke beyond a strictly professional relationship.”

Lily spoke in a tired tone, hoping her sincerity would get through her grandmother.

“I’m not hiding anything out of fear of getting in trouble. There’s just nothing to hide in the first place.”

“Then… you really aren’t anything to each other?”

“That’s right.”

“But surely he at least confessed?”

“No! Why would His Grace confess to me? I’m telling you, there are absolutely no feelings between us!”

“But Lily, think about it logically.”

Julia looked confused.

“He destroyed an entire building just because you ran away, didn’t he?”

“That’s because I promised to help him and then betrayed him. He was angry, that’s all.”

“So it was just an expression of rage?”

“Yes.”

Lily answered plainly.

“Then how do you explain all that drama earlier?”

“Drama?”

Were they even in the same room?

“Yes! Swearing over and over how sincere he was, demanding your trust, stubbornly insisting you not leave his side for even a moment, accepting all my excessive conditions just to take care of you. That kind of drama!”

That was obviously just part of his effort to keep Lily from leaving. It wasn’t anything new. He had acted that way from the very beginning.

But Julia seemed determined to interpret everything as a romance and now turned her accusations on Lily, too.

“And you weren’t exactly acting appropriately for someone speaking to a high noble, either! Smiling with all your teeth showing, making some meaningful promise not to leave him alone…”

“Well… hearing it like that does make it sound a bit strange. But I think you only heard part of the conversation and misunderstood.”

“Oh, Lily… At the very least, I’m sure that man has feelings for you.”

“I don’t know. It didn’t really seem that way to me. Nothing about His Grace’s actions stood out as particularly unusual.”

Julia’s mouth dropped open halfway in disbelief, then closed again.

If he had a proper physical body, Lily might’ve found things a little confusing too. He was just so overly kind about everything.

But their relationship was unique, and Lily didn’t find Aiden’s obsession with her all that strange.

She was the only one who could see and hear him, a person irreplaceable and absolute. Of course he would cling to her.

Lily hugged Julia. After all, Julia meant no harm. She was only asking out of concern for her granddaughter.

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Hah… Please just keep thinking of it that way.”

Sadly, her tone still sounded like she didn’t believe her.

Lily stood up. It was really time to go. If she was any later, Aiden would probably start pestering her, asking why she was so late.

Julia also stood up. Then, suddenly, she smiled and said,

“It’s a shame for him, really.”

“What is?”

“Usually in fairy tales, a cursed beauty is awakened by a kiss or a tear from their true love, right? If your hearts had already connected, I would’ve told you to try that before decoding any forbidden books.”

“Ugh, Grandma! That only happens in fairy tales.”

They parted ways, planning to meet again in the evening. On the way back to the main building, Lily’s mind was unsettled.

Hmm. I guess we do act a little too close. But I can’t just act like a wooden puppet when His Grace is being kind to me. Still… do other people really see it that way? That he…?

Julia’s firm belief left a strange feeling in her chest.

With mixed emotions, Lily opened the main building’s door.

[Lily.]

He hadn’t moved an inch from where they had parted and was waiting for her. A trace of life returned to his usually dull eyes as he looked at her.

[You took a while. Did you have a lot to talk about with your grandmother?]

It was the kind of gentle tone that would’ve made Julia feel even more certain of her suspicions. It was truly a relief she hadn’t heard more of the conversation.

Since the main building was bustling with people cleaning, Lily couldn’t respond.

Her coworkers spotted her and walked over.

“Lily! Weren’t you supposed to come back tomorrow?”

“Something came up, so I came back a bit late.”

“Whatever it was, we’re glad. You were assigned to this building, so you could’ve gotten caught in this mess. One of the soldiers only survived by hiding under a bed!”

“Yeah. And you hate ghost incidents like this.”

If she had come back as planned, this whole incident might not have happened at all, but her friends, unaware of the truth, greeted her warmly.

Lily had originally planned to go straight to Wolfram, but she had no choice but to join the cleaning crew.

While they focused on cleaning, Aiden remained quietly nearby. Watching people clean couldn’t have been very entertaining, yet he didn’t leave.

Eventually, the setting sun signaled the end of their day’s labor.

Lily made an excuse about stopping by the office and slipped away. It was just to say goodnight to Aiden.

The third floor hadn’t been cleaned yet, and it still looked like a storm had torn through. Shards of glass crunched underfoot with every step.

Lily carefully spoke through the partially open door, which didn’t sit right on its frame.

“It’s going to be a bit chaotic for a while.”

[Yeah. I liked it better when it was just the two of us.]

Lily’s eyes widened. Now that she was paying attention, this ghost really did say strange things.

She quickly reworded her response.

“Right. It was more comfortable when it was just us.”

[I’ll never let that happen again.]

He said it with such determination that Lily couldn’t help but laugh.

“Okay, okay. How many times are you going to promise that?”

Aiden stared at her intently. Lily suddenly recalled what Julia had said about her “inappropriate behavior.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was being too familiar…”

Come to think of it, her clashes with Wolfram had also stemmed from this kind of thing.

[No. It’s fine. This is perfect.]

He said it was fine, again!

Lily turned her face away without meaning to. After her talk with Julia, her thoughts kept wandering into ridiculous places.

Anyway, it was probably best to head back now. She needed to calm herself down.

She turned to leave, hurriedly saying her goodbyes.

“Thank you. Still, I’ll be careful. Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

[Right… Wait, Lily!]

At the sound of her name, she turned her head. Aiden was reaching toward her.

Just as she felt a cool sensation brush against her wrist, his face twisted and he looked upward.

Lily followed his gaze. A decorative piece, sloppily perched above the door, was falling.

But it didn’t fall straight down, instead, it was hurled into a corner by some invisible force.

It all happened before Lily could fully register what was going on. When she came to her senses, Aiden was standing right in front of her.