Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 26

The Emperor’s ring was dark red and gave off an ominous feeling, while Aiden’s simply had a clear and calm aura. Like the faint light emitted from his soul.

[Lily. Is that correct?]

“Yes, yes. That’s right.”

Snapping back to her senses at Aiden’s call, Lily quickly gathered the rosary and put it into a pocket without the ring.

Then, after putting the rosary case and nightstand back as they were, she picked up one of the books usually found in a noble’s room.

To exaggerate a bit, she moved so fast it was like she could create a gust of wind.

She ran down the stairs at full speed, not even caring about having fallen earlier.

Just as she was passing the second-floor staircase, she encountered an imperial knight.

“You seem to be in a hurry. Did you find the item?”

The knight swept his sharp gaze over Lily’s entire body.

It must have taken too long to find it. The knuckles gripping the book stood out. Her heartbeat was so loud she could hear it in her own ears.

‘What if he searches me? What should I do……?’

She had to act shameless, but the situation was so grave she just couldn’t. Her whole face burned, and the area under her eyes trembled.

It was no wonder the knight was suspicious, seeing how nervous she looked.

‘Right. At this point, it’s better to act terrified to the extreme.’

Deciding on a strategy, she hugged the book tightly and trembled.

“I-It came out.”

“What do you mean?”

“It came out, I said!”

Lily hurried closer to the knight, her eyes wide open, the arm holding the book almost brushing against his armor.

[Lily…]

A grumpy voice sounded beside her, but Lily didn’t have the presence of mind to respond.

“You heard the noise from the fourth floor too, didn’t you, Sir Knight? There’s no way you didn’t hear it. Honestly, if I weren’t assigned to the office, I wouldn’t have even set foot in the main building. Ahh! Unless it’s a ghost or something!”

Pretending to be mad, she tried to rush down the stairs again. But the knight blocked her way.

‘I didn’t expect him to let me go easily anyway.’

Lily quickly lifted her head to meet the knight’s eyes.

‘Oh?’

His pupils were bigger than before, and he seemed a bit flustered. There was no sign that he was trying to interrogate her for lying.

“What do you mean? Does something like that happen at the Duke’s castle too?”

Lily clearly heard him say “too” about the Duke’s castle. “Too”? Does that mean something similar is happening at the Imperial Castle as well?

‘Ah, there’s the Emperor’s soul.’

She quickly came to a conclusion. The knight seemed eager to talk more about this. His suspicious gaze had completely disappeared.

The advantage had shifted to her side.

“W-What did I say again?”

Keeping her scared act, she pretended she had misspoken.

“You mentioned ghosts……”

“I think you misheard. I didn’t say anything.”

“No, you definitely……”

“Shh.”

Lily raised her index finger to stop him. Then, widening her eyes, she whispered in a fearful tone.

“If you don’t want to be accused of heresy for talking about nonsense like ghosts, you’d better forget it.”

The knight wore an aggrieved expression, as if to protest, ‘But you’re the one who said it first.’

“Just pretend you didn’t hear anything. Got it?”

Driving the point home, Lily tried to slip past him down the stairs. But the knight grabbed her wrist, showing no intention of letting her go quietly.

“Please wait.”

At that moment, Aiden’s patience snapped.

With a loud thud, a candlestick embedded in the wall was ripped out and smashed by an invisible force. One of the few remaining furnishings in the main building was now destroyed.

Lily looked up at the wall with a dizzy gaze. The Emperor was supposed to visit the main building today, and now it was a mess again……

“Did you see that?”

“Huh? See what? I didn’t see anything.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

The knight looked around seriously.

“When did these things start happening at the Duke’s castle? Is it related to His Grace’s collapse?”

Without thinking, he tightened his grip on Lily’s wrist.

Lily let out a small, involuntary whimper.

“Ugh……”

If the knight could see spirits, he would’ve collapsed in fright after seeing the furious look on the Duke’s face.

Lily desperately shook her head, trying to meet Aiden’s gaze.

At this rate, it felt like the fallen candlestick might fly into the knight’s head. She even started to hear faint rattling noises.

“Do you know anything? I’m currently……”

“That hurts!”

Lily struck the knight’s arm with the book she was holding. Compared to dragging away a corpse with a candlestick stuck in its head, standing up to the knight was nothing.

Finally realizing his inappropriate behavior, the knight let go of her wrist.

“My apologies.”

Lily stepped down a few stairs, picked up the broken candlestick, and looked around nervously as she warned him:

“I really can’t tell you anything. No one in the Duke’s house would dare to open their mouth. It’s the same with the Imperial Castle, right?
So just forget everything you saw.”

They exchanged glances for a moment. The knight struggled for a second, then made up his mind.

“I understand what you mean. It’s something better left undisclosed.”

His voice was filled with deep skepticism. After checking the book Lily had picked up, he finally let her go.

Outside, Lily glanced back at the main building.

‘Should I have listened a bit more?’

She hesitated for a moment but quickly shook her head. It wasn’t her place to get involved.

Getting tangled up with the Imperial Castle was way beyond the scope of a mere maid. Aiden had seen it all — he would handle it.

Right now, she needed to hurry back to the lodging and hide herself.

‘Let’s see. How is His Grace doing?’

Pretending to admire the scenery, Lily checked on Aiden. He was walking right beside her.

Compared to how terrifying he seemed earlier, ready to drag someone to hell, he now looked almost adorably dazed.

‘Is he that happy to be out of the main building?’

Lily slowed her pace. She was in a hurry to return, but she wanted Aiden to enjoy this moment.

Maybe later, they could take a walk around the castle with the rosary. They absolutely had to visit the garden bathed in twilight.

Even when the master was asleep, the Duke’s castle garden was beautifully maintained.

The wind blew, and nearby leaves rustled loudly. Aiden closed his eyes and stood still, as if sensing the flow of the air.

Lily stopped walking altogether to wait for him.

Standing there in the middle of the path was sure to draw attention. Lily hated standing out like that, but just this once, she didn’t care.

Finally, when the rustling leaves quieted down again, Aiden opened his eyes.

Meeting Lily’s gaze, he smiled brightly. It was such a warm smile that calling him a cold-hearted person felt like a mistake.

This heartwarming moment was ruined by the Emperor’s soul, following them from far behind. It kept trying to run away but was dragged along like it was tied to a leash.

Watching that, it was clear as day that the Emperor had wronged Aiden somehow. Though the cult leader had used sorcery, it didn’t mean the Emperor was completely innocent.

Lily narrowed her eyes. Sensing something, Aiden quickly asked:

[Lily, what are you thinking about?]

“Nothing at all.”

Lily answered lightly and hurried her steps.

Inside, she couldn’t help but continue her reckless thought: ‘He’s not really on our side anyway…… Could we maybe experiment with the Emperor’s soul…?’

 

 

****

 

 

 

Unfortunately, despite all her rushing, Lily just barely missed the morning assembly.

Because of that, she had to go directly to the head maid’s office. With only the sound of her swallowing echoing in the room, Lily politely held out the broken candlestick with both hands.

Angela simply stared at her without asking why she was late or what the candlestick was.

Lily, using the most formal speech she had ever used, bowed her head low.

“Mrs. Dienta urgently requested some documents, so I had to enter the main building without informing you. This candlestick somehow fell down, so I brought it here. It’s the candlestick from the wall on the central staircase between the first and second floors. I-I’m sorry.”

Aiden was quietly watching the whole scene from the side.

She felt like dying from embarrassment, but since she had committed a wrong, she had no choice but to humble herself before Angela. All she could hope for was that Aiden would remember the humiliation she was enduring for his sake.

Angela silently observed Lily. Lily’s head drooped lower and lower. In a barely audible voice, she apologized again.

“I’m truly sorry……”