Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 75

Part 10. The Banquet

At the doorman’s signal, a servant approached to guide them.

‘Shortness of breath? Shortness of breath?!’

Though she had to turn away from what would surely be the most glamorous banquet, Lily didn’t feel the least bit disappointed.

Instead, she just wanted to kick the slow-moving servant—probably acting under palace protocol—in the behind.

She didn’t even register the decorations in the imperial hallway. Lily followed the servant anxiously.

When he finally opened a door, Lily shoved past him and slipped through the moment there was enough space for her body to get through.

“Your Grace, are you alright?”

She shouted as she entered the room, expecting to find Aiden and a royal physician.

But there were more people than she had imagined.

Aside from the physician, there were two attendants—and not just one emperor, but two.

That’s right. There were two emperors!

Just as Lily froze at the sudden sight of ghostly figures, Wolfram brushed past her and jabbed her in the side—hard enough to snap her out of it.

Wolfram naturally stepped forward and bowed deeply, almost blocking Lily from view.

“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”

“I—I greet the Sun of the Empire,”

Lily barely managed to follow suit. With her head lowered, she could finally take a breath, now unable to see anyone.

She bit her lip. She felt utterly foolish.

Would she keep screaming at thin air and falling on her butt forever? How long would she keep the title of mentally fragile maid plagued by hallucinations?

More than anything, Aiden was sick. Could she really keep acting this pathetically?

This wasn’t the time to be scared of some ghost-like slime. She needed to steel herself and say, “Oh, did someone stack manure here?”—and move on with grace.

“Raise your head.”

The fake emperor was far more fluent in the imperial tongue than when they first met. Then again, if people told him to raise his head several times a day, it would be stranger if he hadn’t gotten used to it.

It’s do or die, Lily thought, lifting her head. If she was going to scream, she might as well bite her tongue off.

Once she made up her mind, it wasn’t so hard. The ghost of Julius was stuck to the emperor like glue.

[My… body…]

Amazing how even in that broken state, he still recognized his own body instantly.

But Julius or manure piles weren’t the most important thing right now. Lily turned her desperate eyes toward Aiden.

He was sitting on a chair across from the fake emperor. That meant she could only see his back from where she stood.

Still, Lily scanned the surroundings for any clue about his condition.

His necktie, which should’ve been around his neck, was on the table. His collar was more open than usual—she could tell even from the back, meaning he must’ve unbuttoned a few. His sleeves, resting on the chair’s armrests, were loosely rolled up.

Color drained from Lily’s face. He really had suffered from shortness of breath.

How far would Aiden Kashimir’s cursed fate go? Losing his parents before he could even talk, being bullied through childhood, having his soul forcibly taken—and now, even after recovering, he couldn’t breathe properly?

If the heavens had any conscience, they would just leave him alone already.

“You’re late.”

Aiden turned around.

“My apologies.”

Lily responded automatically, her eyes scanning his face in detail. He looked a bit tired, but his complexion had returned to normal.

Lily breathed a deep sigh of relief. It didn’t seem to have turned into anything too serious. Of course, shortness of breath was serious on its own, but for now, he looked okay.

She turned to the physician and said,

“If he’s feeling up to it, I’d like to hear a more detailed explanation.”

She acted like a true personal medical advisor. One of the older men standing behind the emperor stared at her and asked,

“Is this the counselor His Grace has been waiting for?”

“Yes.”

The stern-looking old man seemed familiar. He had been the head attendant who served the emperor back at the duke’s residence. Lily remembered him clearly—she had encountered him face-to-face when he came to retrieve the emperor late at night.

The head attendant frowned slightly and asked again,

“Wasn’t she a maid from the duke’s residence?”

Lily wasn’t the only one who recognized someone. And worse, someone else in the room also had an excellent memory.

The emperor’s gaze had been fixed on Lily ever since she entered. He slowly scanned her limbs with his eyes.

“Healthy.”

His tone made it sound like her being healthy was unexpected.

“What happened to the ring?”

The implication was clear: if she still had the ring, her limbs wouldn’t be intact.

Fortunately, that wasn’t a hard question to answer.

She replied politely,

“I hid it in a place no one knows the moment I received it. I plan to pass it down as a family heirloom through my will when I die.”

That should be enough to explain why she wasn’t injured.

“So she really is the maid from back then. Why would you make someone so lowly your counselor? She’s not even worthy of wearing that outfit.”

The head attendant’s eyes were sharp.

“She was selected simply because she was suited to the role. Her grandmother trained her well.”

Aiden said nothing more, as if that settled the matter. It was much shorter than the explanation Lily had been told in advance. She also couldn’t tell why he brought up Julia at this point.

Of course, her grandmother was someone she admired deeply, but Lily wasn’t sure this was the right place to bring her up.

It seemed the head attendant thought the same.

“What is your grandmother’s name?”

In other words, Let’s hear how impressive your grandmother really is.

Lily was skeptical—Would he even recognize the name?—but she answered honestly.

“Julia Dienta.”

The steward’s eyes widened.

“Julia Dienta? You mean Julia Dienta, daughter of Professor Johann Midroff?”

“I haven’t heard anything about my great-grandfather.”

It was true that Julia’s maiden name was Midroff, and considering the massive book collection she owned, it seemed likely there was a story behind it. But even if Lily had wanted to make something up, she genuinely didn’t know anything.

Aiden stepped in to confirm her identity.

“She is Julia Midroff, daughter of Johann Midroff. Do you know her?”

“Yes. I do.”

The steward looked at Lily with a new sense of realization. Now that she thought about it, he did seem to be from the same generation as Julia. Maybe they really did know each other.

As the steward fell silent, lost in thought, Aiden spoke.

“Now that my counselor is here, I’ll continue the rest of the discussion with her. Julius, you should return to the banquet. Sorry for worrying you.”

The friendly tone he used with his friend softened the command. The emperor looked at Aiden with an unreadable expression before smiling faintly.

“Alright.”

Lily bowed deeply. The emperor and his group left the room, and Julius followed them—leaving just the three of them behind.

As soon as the door closed, Lily stepped in front of Aiden.

“Are you really alright?”

In a low whisper, Aiden asked Wolfram,

“Wolfram, didn’t you give her a heads-up?”

Wolfram answered just as quietly,

“I did. But I figured this way would feel more real.”

Lily blinked as she tried to make sense of their exchange. It only took a few seconds for her to realize—this had all been an elaborate act.

It was a plan to slip out of the banquet and meet her without drawing attention. That’s why they arrived at the palace at separate times.

Not only was Aiden’s complexion fine, but he hadn’t been unwell to begin with.

In that moment of relief, Lily’s knees wobbled.

“Lily!”

Before she could grab the back of a chair, Aiden caught her by both arms.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to trick you on purpose. I did tell Wolfram—”

“I’m just glad.”

Her vision was starting to blur, so Lily closed her eyes for a moment. Aiden gently helped her into a seat.

“I was seriously worried… You’re sure you’re completely healthy?”

Aiden looked down at her silently. His fingers moved toward her face.

She tensed, expecting his touch—but it never came. He withdrew his hand without brushing her skin.

“Yes. Perfectly healthy.”

“Good.”

Lily kept her eyes from following his hand. She lowered her voice and asked what the plan was from here.

“Then how can I help now? Is the Knight Commander coming here?”

“We’ll meet him in the garden. On the way out, tell the guards that I need some fresh air and a walk. Then, near the entrance to the garden, say we need privacy to calm some anxiety. That’s all you need to do.”

“Got it. But it’d look odd if I left right after arriving—so let’s rest a bit before we go.”

Lily casually rolled her shoulders as if trying to relax.