Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 28

Julia calmly assessed the situation.

“It was dangerous, but thanks to it, we made great gains today. We found a lead and safely secured His Excellency’s talisman. If it had  fallen into someone else’s hands or gone missing, it would have been a serious problem.”

Lily glanced toward the door and replied.

“Exactly. Then, I’ll go and tell His Excellency he can come in now.”

Aiden was inside the room, but Lily still opened the door and stepped outside. He followed her.

Aiden, who had once been so excited about seeing the outside world, now stood stiffly as if that had been ages ago.

“Are you alright?”

When Lily asked, Aiden only rolled his eyes to look at her.

[I’m sorry.]

At the sudden apology, Lily widened her eyes. It was far too heavy to be just an apology for entering the room without permission.

[For everything that happened. I told you not to put yourself in danger, but the truth is, just being involved with me is dangerous. Madam Dienta was right. Escaping that day would have been the best future for you.]

It seemed he had overheard almost all of Julia’s regrets.

‘Even so, isn’t the apology a bit much? He’s been strangely vulnerable since that unauthorized break.’

While Lily was still feeling bewildered, Aiden continued.

[If I truly wanted you to be safe, the right thing would be to let you go even now. Just telling you to be careful without doing that is no different from deceiving you. But please understand me, Lily.]

Lily blinked.

[You know. You know I can’t let you go. Instead, from now on, I’ll make sure you’re never in danger. I’ll protect you from all harm…]

Aiden Kashimir had made countless similar pleas in front of her.

Don’t leave, don’t leave me alone, come back quickly, and so on. But somehow, today felt different.

Staring at Aiden’s face, Lily realized why. There wasn’t a hint of calculation.

Before, she could always sense his intention to manipulate her. He knew exactly how to act to win favor and behaved very deliberately.

Still, Lily had never thought badly of his behavior or felt deceived. It was just human nature.

Everyone tries to steer situations to their advantage, to varying degrees. Even Lily often acted extra polite to please her superiors.

So when Aiden carefully crafted his tone or expressions to sway her, she simply thought, ‘Wow, he’s putting a lot of effort into it.’

But now, there was no polished smile, no soft voice. He was showing his desperation raw and unfiltered.

And that weighed on Lily’s heart differently from usual.

[Lily.]

She swallowed hard.

‘Does he even realize what kind of voice he’s speaking with right now?’

That low, sinking voice was somewhere between pleading and coaxing.

As if he desperately wanted her. As if she were an incredibly important person…

It was amazing that all of this was pouring out from his true heart. But more than that, what lifted her spirit was the fact that both assumptions were actually true.

A mere maid was the most urgent and important being to Aiden Kashimir.

Feeling slightly proud, Lily spoke in a tone fit for a noble lady.

“I may be just a lowly maid, but I do know how to keep a promise. I will never leave until I safely return Your Excellency to the palace. Ask me as many times as you wish about my decision.”

Lily smiled brightly, her eyes curved.

“I’ll answer you every time.”

A declaration delivered with a bright smile, made only of pure sincerity.

An indescribable joy spread through Aiden Kashimir’s heart — a joy even he couldn’t fully understand.

 

 

****

 

 

Lily led Aiden back into the room. Julia greeted them politely and then immersed herself in her work. Lily also returned to the window and took out the ring.

The ominous energy was still there. When she touched the rippling energy with her finger, it felt completely different from slicing through air.

‘I get that the talisman is holding onto a soul that almost left. Then, could I pull it out? If I pulled it out and forced it into a body…’

Lily tried to grab the haze and tear it away from the ring. Nothing happened. She tried a couple more times, but it was the same.

It was clearly an important item, but she had no idea how to make use of it. With a sigh, Lily placed the ring on the window frame.

To be honest, she didn’t really want to touch it much anyway, given how ominous it looked.

‘Why is this thing so dark and murky? Was the emperor’s soul always this rotten-looking? And… hasn’t it gotten even murkier than when I first saw it? Or is it just my imagination?’

She stared closely at the ring, deep in thought, but gained no new insight.

In the end, she hid Julius’s ring deep in a drawer and spent time cleaning Julia’s room or reading her translations.

In the afternoon, someone knocked at the door. It was Wolfram. Lily’s face brightened. She had so much she wanted to discuss with him.

Just as she was about to bring up Aiden’s talisman, he raised his palm to stop her.

‘Oh, look at you, acting all noble. Fine. Let’s see how important your news is.’

Lily inwardly sneered at his annoying gesture.

“The emperor is searching for His Excellency’s talisman.”

“That’s exactly what I was about to say!”

Lily exclaimed in disbelief and rummaged through her pocket.

“I have it. I took it out this morning.”

She opened her hand. Wolfram stared down at it with his mouth slightly open.

“His Excellency’s soul is tied to this. He can’t stray too far from it. Thanks to that, he’s able to stay here right now.”

“So…”

Wolfram let out a sigh. He bowed lightly in the direction Lily indicated and said,

“The emperor has turned the whole main building upside down searching for it.”

“He turned it upside down?”

When Lily asked again to make sure she heard right, Wolfram nodded.

“You’ll see — there’s a lot to clean up. Drawers, boxes, everything’s a mess.”

“A thief in broad daylight, and he’s the emperor? I’m really worried about the empire… Well, I get that it’s an important item.”

“I have a lot of questions for you.”

“Hold on a sec.”

Lily, getting in a small, petty jab, retrieved Julius’s ring from the drawer.

“This is Emperor Julius’s ring. His true soul is bound here. He’s probably somewhere in the residence too.”

Wolfram opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying,

“Let’s call for tea first, and then talk.”

 

****

 

 

Marie entered, carrying a tea tray.

She looked around the room, puzzled: the scholar was scribbling at her desk, the maid and the baron were sitting across from each other having a conversation.

After setting the tray down, she quietly left.

Surprisingly, Wolfram offered to pour the tea himself. Meanwhile, Lily pulled the ring back out of her pocket, worried about leaving it out in plain sight too long.

“So, here it is—ah!”

“Are you alright?”

As Wolfram handed her a teacup and Lily tried to show him the ring, their hands bumped, and the tea spilled onto Lily’s arm.

[Lily, are you alright?]

“What’s going on?” With so many people in the room, even a small incident caused a stir.

Aiden’s transparent hand fumbled over Lily’s arm, while Wolfram wiped it carefully with a handkerchief.

“I’m fine. It’s not that hot.”

[Still, you should cool it down with cold water.]

“Good idea. Ah, just a second— I’ll rinse it off quickly.”

Without thinking much, Lily grabbed the ring and stood up. Wolfram looked up at her with an uncomfortable expression.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

She was puzzled by the strange look, but didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Just then, the door swung open, and she smacked her forehead right into it.

“Ugh.”

“Oh no, Lily! I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”

It was Marie, rushing in with the refreshments she had forgotten, without knocking.

Marie looked genuinely sorry for the mistake, something she normally would never have made.

“I’m okay. Come on in.”

Leaving the room, Lily rubbed her forehead as she descended the stairs.

[Lily, you should really be careful.]

Aiden spoke with genuine concern.

[You tripped earlier too, remember?]

Lily nodded. It seemed wise to take his advice.

Falling, getting scalded, bumping into doors—three accidents in one day. She usually wasn’t this clumsy. Something definitely felt off.

That thought had barely formed when—

Five steps from the bottom, Lily missed a step. Fortunately, she managed to grab the railing and avoided falling completely.

She awkwardly crouched where she was, her face scrunched in frustration.

‘What… what is going on!?’

 

****

 

 

Julius Sheiwartz hid at the top of the stairs, watching the poor maid sitting awkwardly on the floor.

The moment he saw Aiden kneel down beside her, he quickly turned and fled, as if trying to erase the evidence of his guilt— far, far away.