Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Fireworks? He wants to watch them together?

There was no harm in it. I’d wanted to see the fireworks anyway. And somehow, being with the Duke made the ghosts feel less frightening.

But separately, I wondered how someone so afraid of ghosts had managed to come find me this late. I poked my head past the Duke’s side and looked out into the hall. It was late, and the corridor lay quiet and still.

“What’s wrong?”

The Duke looked down at me and asked.

“Did you happen to see a skeleton in a maid’s uniform on your way here?”

“…What did you see?”

“…Um… Never mind.”

I quickly corrected myself as I saw his face stiffen. Well, it was possible I’d imagined it.

‘But even if he can’t see ghosts, he’d still be scared, wouldn’t he? How did His Grace make it here? Don’t tell me he sprinted down the corridor again…’

Yeah. That must be it. If so…

“Let’s go, Your Grace. To see the fireworks.”

I stepped out of the room at once and shut the door. That man, more skittish than me, had sprinted all the way here just to watch fireworks together. I felt a moral obligation not to send him back empty-handed. Besides, I’d been getting bored cooped up in the room — a short outing seemed like a good idea. I was a little worried that ghosts might pop up anytime, anywhere, but it’d probably be fine… .

“Are we heading to the banquet hall?”

“I know a good spot.”

He turned and strode ahead of me. I hurried to catch up, falling into step beside him as we walked down the corridor. Then, from one point in the hallway, I saw a hazy trail of smoke drifting thickly through the air.

At a glance, it looked like fog, but that was a ghost too — its energy too weak to hold the shape of its living self. Those things drifted along like that, sometimes dispersing into nothingness, sometimes ascending all at once.

The ghost clinging to the Duke was, strictly speaking, the same type. Peculiar how it had consciousness unlike the other smoke-ghosts, and how long it had lingered in the land of the living.

Anyway, those weren’t scary. Their energy was too weak, and they usually vanished quickly.

I let my gaze follow the drifting smoke, then quickened my pace to stand close beside the Duke.

“If not the banquet hall, where are we going? Is there a place inside the Imperial Castle where an outsider can go?”

“There’s a terrace on the upper floor of the banquet hall. It’s quiet, and you get a good view of the fireworks.”

Oh. That sounds great.

As long as it wasn’t noisy, there’d be few ghosts there too. And I’d get to see the fireworks as if they were all mine. Feeling hopeful, I walked on down the corridor.

Before long, I spotted a maid cleaning a window in the distance. Still scrubbing at this hour instead of clocking out… It was such an obvious cliché that she had to be a ghost.

I pretended not to see her, brushing past slowly. Then I turned only my eyes to study her. The maid was endlessly polishing one section of the window. Her body stood motionless — only her arm and shoulder moved in an awkward rhythm, scrubbing furiously at an already spotless pane.

There were often ghosts who endlessly repeated the work they’d done in life, or the moment of their death. They usually moved without consciousness. Then, sometimes, they’d suddenly snap awake, or they’d just ascend as they were.

I pressed closer to the Duke. Ghosts with solid forms like that were pretty frightening. Even if they didn’t harm me, the chill they radiated always sent shivers down my spine.

“Let’s hurry, Your Grace.”

I quickened my pace as I spoke, and the Duke gave a single nod before lengthening his stride. Then he reached an arm behind my back, guiding me as if sheltering me from something.

It struck me then that his behavior was odd. The Duke I knew would freeze up or go rigid in a situation like this. But he was acting as if nothing frightened him in the slightest. He even seemed brave.

‘What? Did he lose his fear that quickly?’

Puzzling as it was, I didn’t bother asking and just kept moving. But then, at the end of the corridor, I spotted a knight in a black uniform approaching. Whether it was a ghost or a living person, I couldn’t tell clearly with my bare eyes. So I decided again that it was better to just pretend not to notice.

{─── ────

Just as I was about to let him pass us by, he gave a nod and said something to us. I didn’t know Krentis well, but I could easily tell it was a simple greeting.

Bothering to greet us? So he wasn’t a ghost?

I nodded back to him as if in reply. He gave a faint smile, then walked past us completely.

‘My mistake. He wasn’t a ghost after all…’

Then I followed the Duke around a corner to the right, where a large pillar stood.

Right at that moment, the black-uniformed knight who had just passed us appeared before my eyes. An arrow—definitely not there a moment ago—was lodged in his right eye.

Ah… so this is how he died, I see…

Only then did I feel a chilling aura spreading through my entire body.

Aaaah! He *is* a ghost!

{─── ────

He smiled faintly and said something to me. In my experience, ghosts were always intrigued by people who could see them. And from the look of things, I’d caught his interest.

The ghost bobbed his head and laughed, ha ha ha. The arrow trembled lightly with the motion. I stared blankly up at that arrow-struck face. I was too stunned to even think of running.

That kind of ghost was far more terrifying than the senseless sort. If it wasn’t a docile spirit, it might scare people for fun, and rarely, if its energy was strong enough, it could even launch physical attacks.

And according to what was written in the Madam’s notebook, some among them harbored deep attachments to the land of the living. If they clung to those regrets for too long, they became evil spirits…

“Laura.”

The Duke suddenly grabbed my hand, yanked me around, and swiftly changed direction, quickening his pace.

“Are you alright?”

He moved like that for a while, then turned to look at me when it seemed we’d escaped the ghost.

“Y-yes…”

I looked around first to make sure the ghost hadn’t followed, then answered in a small voice. It was strange—today, every move the Duke made seemed bold. How should I put it? He looked courageous, even handsome. That wasn’t who he really was. This was a man who got scared working alone at night and kept Lady Nana the butler by his side…

‘Why is the real Duke acting like this? He’s so unreadable. I thought he’d faint or something… How odd… Wait, is this even the Duke? Could he be a ghost?’

Thinking that, I dropped my head without meaning to. Then my hand—still caught in his—drifted into my field of vision. I just blinked at it, no real thoughts behind my eyes. Then the Duke’s grip loosened, and he let go. Somehow, his reaction felt off to me. So I scratched one cheek idly and tried to hurry my steps. But just then, familiar door slipped into my periphery. The one with the twisting carvings—it had to be the room Sir Dylan had guided me to days ago, where the imperial family’s portraits hung.

‘Wait, this was the room we reached after following that maze-like path? The way was so complicated I’d never have gotten here without Sir Dylan’s guidance. But… we’re here…?’

It was definitely the room you had to turn down several corridors to find—a room so hard to locate intentionally that Sir Dylan had warned even the experienced might get lost. I stared at the door, blinking again, then lifted my head to look at the Duke.

“……”

He must have felt my gaze, but for a moment, he said nothing.

‘What the hell. Creepy… Is this really not the Duke? Has he been bewitched by a ghost?’

Without taking my eyes off him, I stared with a look that insisted on an answer.

“……”

“……”

“This might sound a little ridiculous… but I think I’ve lost my way.”

“Huh?”

Ah… no wonder…

Even as he made his honest confession, the Duke’s expression didn’t change. But his ears were burning red. He must’ve been embarrassed by the situation. And only then did I finally relax. That man was the Duke I knew!

“What happened?”

Relief let a mischievous streak bubble up, and a teasing tone slipped into my voice.

“The soul startled me a bit. Sorry. I’m sure I can find the way again.”

The Duke answered me honestly at that.

I knew it! You were scared too! You hid it so well! Yeah. You’re always a huge coward, aren’t you?

“It’s fine. Hardly anyone wouldn’t be startled by something like that. Let’s try to retrace our steps and find the way.”

I gave a small laugh and stepped up to stand beside the Duke.

Bang—

At the same moment, a loud explosion rang out. The fireworks must have already started.

“…….”

“…….”

“……I guess we wasted too much time here.”

“N-no, not at all! Let’s find the way out before the fireworks end.”

And so we started walking along the corridor again. This time, I took the lead in front of him. But after a while, we wound up back at the room with the portraits.

“Hmm…… we’re definitely lost…….”

“…….”

*Boom—Boom—*

Even amid my frustration, the firecrackers kept thudding noisily. We’d already delayed far too long. I resigned myself to the thought that watching the fireworks was a lost cause.

“By the way, Duke. You said Krentis is a country with many civil wars, so there are plenty who died violent deaths inside the Imperial Castle. Are the ghosts we saw in the drawing room two days ago and the one shot by an arrow earlier all people who died in those civil wars?”

Then, suddenly, I recalled the heroic tale of Adrein, who had supposedly quelled the rebellion.

“That’s highly likely.”

“Then how did the civil war in Adrein’s time start?”

“The Crown Prince back then was a man addicted to women and wine. They say he threw extravagant parties every single day. The treasury ran dry, and the people had no choice but to starve. In the end, Adrein judged that he couldn’t be made Emperor. So he sided with the second imperial prince—the man’s father, who was wise and intelligent. But inevitably, they had to clash with the faction supporting the Crown Prince. I’ve heard many houses were exterminated in the process.”

“So did Krentis grow into such a great empire because they installed a worthy monarch?”

“According to the known story, yes…… Hmm…… Didn’t we pass this way before?”

The Duke pointed at a right fork in the corridor. I turned my steps in the opposite direction from where he indicated.

“Then let’s try this way.”

*Boom—Boom—*

Again, the sound of fireworks bursting began to ring out. It seemed the display was proceeding smoothly even as we searched for our way.

The Duke and I followed the left corridor. But after making another full loop, we once again faced the portrait room. That was the third time. Good heavens…… I was bad with directions, but the Duke was just as hopeless.

“……How do we get out of here?”