Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 5

“A merchant from the capital said the corpse was hung on the city gate.”

Wolfram ignored Lily’s words entirely and instead spoke into the air.

“I’ll begin by investigating whether any remnants remain. I’ll also check on developments in the capital. Do you have any specific orders, Your Grace?”

[We need to find a Solmon translator.]

That was all Aidan said. No further explanation.

Was it because the remaining heretics might be Solmon people, so he wanted a translator present during interrogations? But he had clearly said translator, not interpreter.

Lily was itching to know why. But judging from Wolfram’s attitude earlier, it seemed smarter to stay in her lane as a worker who knew her place.

Suppressing her curiosity, she relayed the message to Wolfram.

“His Grace says we need to find a Solmon translator.”

“Your Grace, that’s…”

Unlike Lily, Wolfram seemed to understand the Duke’s intention right away. He looked troubled for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

That brought a hush over the office. After a moment of gauging the atmosphere, Lily felt the situation had settled down and spoke politely.

“Then, I’ll excuse myself for now.”

[Where do you think you’re going? You know your role doesn’t end here, right?]

The ghost really needed to learn that smiling didn’t always make someone look kind.

Lily sharply picked up on the hint of distrust and scrutiny hidden beneath her superior’s smile.

She explained, hoping not to ruffle any feathers.

“I believe I’ve completed what needed to be done here for now, so I’d like to return to cleaning. Sir Wolfram, I’m currently assigned to cleaning the main building, so if you need to communicate with His Grace again, please feel free to find me.”

She was only there to relay the Duke’s words. Until Wolfram came back with new information and wanted to discuss the next steps, she didn’t really have anything else to do.

The ghost seemed satisfied and nodded. Just as she was about to turn to leave, Wolfram stopped her.

“Wait. There’s something I need to consult with His Grace about.”

He walked over to the desk in the center and picked up a stack of documents. Then he began reading aloud.

“A petition regarding a land dispute in the Randell region. On either side of the Semiviela River as the boundary…”

From his words, Lily barely grasped that it was an investigation. The names, places, and legal terms were all in Imperial tongue, yet they didn’t feel like real words as they passed through her ears.

By the time he finally finished explaining, enough time had passed to clean at least an entire break room.

[What about the supporting documents?]

“What about the supporting documents?”

Tired from standing and annoyed about falling behind in her tasks, Lily echoed the ghost’s words word-for-word.

Wolfram didn’t notice her mood at all and brightened.

“They’re right here, all prepared!”

He hurriedly gathered another set of papers.

“It must’ve been one stubborn case…”

Lily gently tapped one leg against the other beneath her skirt, trying to sympathize with his situation. Calculating her remaining tasks and path, she figured sparing 30 to 40 minutes would be manageable.

But Wolfram didn’t know when to stop. After the first matter was finished, he brought up a second, then a third.

In the end, Lily was tied down for several hours before she was finally released. And that only happened because she had pitifully pleaded that if she delayed her other work any longer, it would be disastrous.

“I trust you won’t be foolish enough to speak a word of what you’ve heard today.”

As she tried to leave, Wolfram threatened her with a cold glare.

To be fair, what had been discussed here was far beyond what a lowly maid should ever know in her lifetime. His attitude was irritating, though.

“I’ll keep it in mind, sir.”

After that, Lily moved like a madwoman. Even so, by the time she finished putting away her cleaning tools, the servants’ dinner was nearly over.

She dashed toward the dining hall, stomach growling. She was just peeling the skin off a lukewarm boiled potato when Marie came up to her.

“Lily, the head maid was looking for you. She said to stop by after you eat.”

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”

Lily’s lips trembled slightly as she smiled in thanks. She was so done with getting involved with superiors!

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

Lily, filled with frustration and sorrow, shoved dinner into her mouth and then headed to the head maid’s room.

She had a rough idea why she was being called. It was clear the soldier from the third floor had tattled about her outburst.

As she walked, Lily tried to come up with a reason for why she’d barged in so recklessly. But all that came to mind was a ridiculous excuse about confessing her feelings to the aide she secretly admired.

With a sense of doom, Lily knocked on the door.

“Head Maid, this is Lily Dienta.”

[Come in.]

Lily entered and quickly read the head maid’s expression. She didn’t seem particularly angry.

But she couldn’t let her guard down. A calm conversation could snowball into a heated scolding in no time.

Lily looked more closely. Angela was reading a logbook at her desk. Lily’s eyes widened.

It was the logbook—the one that recorded everything about the head maid’s duties. Details about the maids and evaluations of their performance were written in it.

Her body began to tremble. So it really was about what happened on the third floor. What if the promised pay raise got canceled?

Desperately, she rehearsed her lines:

“I’m sorry, Head Maid. I’ve always admired Sir Wolfram. When I stood in front of his office, I couldn’t control my burning heart…”
Yes. That’s what she’d say.

Angela finished writing and looked up. Then, to Lily’s surprise, she began praising her.

“Lily, I knew I made the right choice putting you in charge of the main building. Sir Wolfram himself came to tell me how impressed he was with your cleaning.”

Lily blinked.

“I already knew you were capable, but I didn’t expect you to catch the aide’s attention on your first day.”

“Um, Head Maid, I’m not sure what you mean…”

“Didn’t you clean the office today?”

“Oh, yes. That’s right. I helped Sir Wolfram!”

It wasn’t a lie. She hadn’t cleaned the office, but she had helped Wolfram.

Angela said with a pleased smile:

“This afternoon, the aide personally said he was relieved that the maid management was going smoothly, even though His Grace was bedridden.”

Lily let her tense shoulders relax. She’d been scared for nothing—what a relief.

“That’s why starting tomorrow, go directly to the office.”

“What?”

That one syllable—”what?”—held the full weight of “Why is this happening all of a sudden?”

Normally, Angela would have scolded her for questioning orders, but this time she answered kindly.

“The aide said he could trust you to handle the office. He doesn’t want you to be distracted with other tasks, so he asked for you to be assigned there full-time.”

The more she spoke, the brighter Angela’s face became.

“I was actually against it at first. I told him that no matter how good you were at cleaning, you weren’t quite qualified to handle the office. And really, does that little room need a full-time maid? A morning shift would be plenty…”

Lily silently agreed. Anyone unaware of the situation would think Lily Dienta had landed the cushiest job ever.

But whether one was a lowly maid or the head maid, both had no choice but to follow orders from above.

“But since the aide specifically asked, we can’t refuse.”

Angela added with a smile:

“Keep making the maids proud.”

“Y-yes, ma’am! You can count on me!”

“Good. Off you go, then.”

Lily left the room and returned to her quarters.

When Marie asked how the main building cleaning had gone, Lily said it was fine, then enjoyed her first bit of free time in what felt like forever.

She changed into comfy clothes and chatted with her friends as they wound down for the day. Her memories of the main building began to blur. Partly on purpose.

But it wasn’t something that could just be erased.

That night in her dreams, Lily was floating through the air, running endlessly down the hallway, trying to escape the ghost duke chasing her.

The corridor never ended, and the ghost kept chanting “Lily… Lily…” in a chilling voice—only for Sir Wolfram to suddenly burst out of a door midway yelling, “His Grace needs your opinion!” in a nightmare that could only be called horrifying.

 

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

With her dust cloth, broom, and tray in hand, Lily sighed and muttered,

“I’m probably going to keep having nightmares like this…”

The fear was one thing, but more than that, it felt like she was working in her dreams, and she just couldn’t shake the fatigue.

The third-floor soldier didn’t stop her this time. He must’ve been informed ahead of time.

“Hello!”

She greeted him brightly as she entered. Wolfram hadn’t arrived yet.

Maid shifts began extremely early. That was intentional—to avoid crossing paths with nobles, their schedules and movements were meticulously calculated.

But that no longer applied to Lily. She wasn’t just there to clean—she was basically the ghost’s interpreter now.

Even so, she brought cleaning tools and came early because she couldn’t stand the office looking like a pigsty. It was chaos—enough to awaken her professional pride.

Yesterday’s sandwich plate, and even the one from the day before, were still on the desk. Several teacups with dried contents sat around, too.

Lily picked up a plate and muttered,

“They could’ve just set it outside. Now there won’t be a single clean plate left in the cabinet.”

[Back when I was alive…]

“Ahhh!”

Suddenly, a voice tickled her mind. Lily reflexively gripped the plate tight.

There was no way she could afford to break one of these fine plates—a noble-grade set that even a baron might hesitate to use. That’d come straight out of her paycheck!