Chapter 118

Chapter 118

That caught me completely off guard. I could only blink back at the duke, who was averting his gaze as if embarrassed. Behind him, Madam was swaying with even more exaggerated movements.

For a moment, the red-clad woman’s words flashed through my mind. She’d said something like, ‘You’ve come with someone different this time’… It seemed the Duke had been bothered by that more than I’d realized. A wave of awkwardness washed over me, and for a while, all I could do was press my lips together, agonizing over the right thing to say.

“Ah. He’s not my brother…”

I finally spoke, the words coming out slow and late. But just then, the Madam stretched out like a cat’s tail, elongating past the Duke’s face until she was right in front of my eyes. It was as if she was urging me, ‘Go on, answer him.’

“Mother…”

The Duke called to her, his tone one of utter exasperation. Startled, she darted back behind him. Then she flicked the tip of her tail at me, as if signaling something.

Her behavior felt profoundly strange to me. The Madam I knew always stayed behind the Duke. But it seemed she no longer wanted to hide herself. Then again, now that her nature had been exposed, perhaps such caution was meaningless.

Either way, I needed to clear things up for this mother and son. I didn’t want this kind of misunderstanding to take root. So, I opened my mouth, ready to explain the situation—how I’d ended up watching the marketplace with the young marquis.

“He’s not my brother. It’s the young marquis.”

“Benat?”

“Yes. When I came home briefly, the young marquis visited me. I have many younger siblings at home, so we went outside to talk. And while we were at it, it got to the time when ghosts tend to appear. I was scared, so I held onto the young marquis and we walked through the marketplace.”

I laid out the whole series of events. The Madam, who had been fidgeting restlessly, began to ripple gently as she listened. It seemed she understood, more or less.

“If it was during the time you were home… that must have been around that period.”

The Duke seemed to be murmuring to himself. My ears caught the word ‘that period’ in his sentence. That period. It sounded like something had happened around that time. Curiosity pricked at me, sharp and sudden.

“That period? Did something happen?”

“That’s difficult for me to say directly. But you’ll know soon enough. That kid… I suppose he wanted some comfort…”

He replied in a low voice. I didn’t know the details, but it was clear something had happened to the young marquis. And from the sound of it, it was nothing pleasant.

“Is that so…?”

I was curious about the details, but I didn’t press further. Not that I wasn’t worried about the young marquis—but I figured whatever story I’d learn soon enough, there was no need to pry into it now. If this man was putting off an answer, he must have had his reasons.

“Anyway. That woman from earlier—she was someone who’d tried to hawk something at me when I passed through the marketplace. I guess she remembered me because of my red hair.”

“Is that so?”

The Duke gave a single nod at my words, then let his gaze drift toward the window. Madam was still perched lightly on his shoulder. I watched them quietly.

‘Hmm… Since he didn’t say anything else, I guess that misunderstanding about ‘Oh, you came with someone else?’ is fine now? All cleared up?’

Watching mother and son like that, that ridiculous thought was what came to mind first. Just then—the carriage jolted to a halt. At the same moment, the Duke’s eyes snapped back to me.

“We’ve arrived.”

He said. I snapped out of it and nodded.

“Ah! Yes! Let’s hurry inside.”

After that, we rushed out of the carriage and headed straight for the study. There was something we needed to do right now—something that took priority even over confirming whether the misunderstanding was resolved.

As soon as I reached the study, I stepped inside and spread the Book of the Soul across the table. A simple preparation for what needed to happen next.

“Is this enough?”

The Duke looked down at it, then asked me.

“Yes. We’re not actually doing necromancy, after all.”

If I’d been trying to perform real necromancy, I’d have needed candles and incantations—but that wasn’t what I wanted. So none of that mattered. All I needed was for Madam to be here with us.

“Madam!”

I called out to her outright. At that, she rippled briefly toward me, as if asking, *’Why?’* Even though she hadn’t spoken aloud, I answered anyway.

“Look—please use the letters here to tell us what you wanted to say! Let’s talk like that.”

At my words, Madam stretched long and thin at once, then settled onto the Book of the Soul. In that form, she looked over the broad wooden board, then began poking at individual letters.

〈H…e…l…l…o〉

Hello!

She started with a greeting! It took a little time to piece the letters together, but at this rate, simple conversations should be no trouble at all.

Why hadn’t I thought of doing this before? Besides—looking at it closely, the Book of the Soul had a simple structure. I had a feeling other souls could use it just as easily.

A flutter of excitement stirred in my chest. With this, I’d finally be able to hold a conversation with the headless ghost. It’d take longer than reading memories, sure, and it might not be perfectly accurate—but that was fine. Still better than letting myself be possessed, wasn’t it?

“Madam! I’m so glad we can talk like this!”

Eager to keep the conversation going, I pressed on. The madam busily moved her body, tapping out another set of letters.

〈Me too.〉

“Right? Still, I’m just relieved we found a way, even if it took this long. I’ve had so much I wanted to say!”

Like, for instance: ‘Give me your son!’ But I figured laying it on too thick wouldn’t do, so I buried that thought deep in my head. Instead, I let a different sort of words slip out.

“Madam, when I saw you before, I thought the Duke looked an awful lot like you. But your presence is definitely warmer.”

〈I think… so… too.〉

That was an unexpected answer. A laugh burst out of me. It was amusing, ganging up on the Duke with his own mother. Even wrapped in that pitch-black smoke, I could almost feel the madam laughing along.

“Your Grace, you should say something too. I’m sure there’s things you’ve wanted to tell your mother.”

I turned to look at the Duke as I spoke. Surely he, her son, had far more to say to her than I did. They’d exchanged a brief conversation when the madam had briefly returned to her true form, but that could hardly have been enough.

“…….”

The Duke silently gazed down at the Book of Souls at my words. He held that quiet for the space of a few breaths, and only after a long while did he finally, slowly speak.

“……I heard from Laura. When the soul called Theo started the fire, you stopped it from reaching me, didn’t you? And when you visited Laura’s house, you helped drive out the thieves. Thank you—for staying by my side and protecting me and mine.”

〈Don’t mention it. You’re…… my…… son, aren’t you? For me…… it was…… only…… natural.〉

“And……”

He fell silent again. The atmosphere between us settled into a calm hush. I could feel him hesitating over something.

“In the pond room, I was rude to you. I was glad to see you again, but I didn’t express it well.”

But soon, he picked up the thread of his words again.

〈It’s……al……right.〉

The madam took her time, assembling each letter one by one. The Duke stood quietly, watching her all the while. I thought it best to slip away and give them some time alone—just the two of them, reunited after so long. So I quietly turned on my heel and started for the door.

“……The day of the accident—I’m sorry I let go of your hand.”

But then, from behind me, the Duke’s voice came — calm, settled, carrying words I somehow knew I shouldn’t hear. I slipped out of the drawing room in silence and pulled the door shut. Then I broke into a run toward my room.

Let her slip from his hands… What could that mean? What could the Duke possibly have to apologize for?

I came into my room and perched on the edge of the bed. By now he’d be deep in conversation with Madam.

‘It’ll be fine… right?’

Something lodged itself in my chest, a weight pressing down on me, too heavy to ignore. I washed up in a hurry, lay down, and still couldn’t fall asleep. Of course — I was worried about Madam and the Duke.

* * *

The next day, when I opened the study door, the Duke was right there, reviewing documents. I greeted him, took my seat, and stole a glance at his profile. He looked the same as always. But that couldn’t mean everything was fine.

So I just quietly sorted through the files. The Duke worked in silence too. We exchanged short words now and then, but only about business. Not a single mention of yesterday. Before I knew it, it was time to leave.

“Your Grace. I’ll be heading in now.”

I gathered the finished documents and handed them to the Duke as I spoke. He took them and looked up at me.

“Very well. Good work today.”

With that, I turned away. But his voice caught me right at the door.

“Laura.”

“Yes?”

I looked back at him. His blue eyes met mine. He held my gaze for a moment, then spoke again.

“I’ll do as you said.”

“Pardon? Do what?”

“I want to help Mother ascend…”

My God. To hear those words from the Duke himself. I was stunned, but relieved — that was exactly the right decision. Then, all at once, his words from yesterday came flooding back.

[I’m sorry for letting her slip from my hands.]

Yes. Those words.

Madam died in an accident, they said. Could he be connected to it — even indirectly?

But I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I just stood there, looking down at him. His eyes rippled like water on a pond. Poor man. If my guess was right, how long had he carried that guilt?