Chapter 152 – Side Story ２

Side Story 2

The next day, Sonia met Laura in the dining hall. Laura was nodding off over her meal, head drooping as if she could barely stay awake.

“Laura, has the butler been giving you too much work lately? Is that why you’re tired?”

Ann asked, propping Laura’s forehead up with her palm.

‘I doubt that’s the reason.’

Sonia scooped up some mashed potatoes and answered Ann’s question only inside her head.

“Mm-hmm. A bit busy. The butler really… it’s not like I can suddenly handle that many things at once…”

But Laura was just making excuses. It was true the butler was delegating a lot of work to her. Still, today, that girl had a different reason for being tired. Sonia felt an inexplicable itch in her throat—a secret was demanding to slip out. But a secret was a secret, so she had no choice but to press her lips tightly shut.

“Hm? Sonia, why are you grinning like an idiot?”

Ann’s gaze swung to Sonia this time. Sonia had let a sly smile slip without realizing it. At the accusation, she quickly schooled her face into a neutral mask.

“Huh? Me? When? No I wasn’t.”

“You were, though?”

“No. I wasn’t, so just keep eating.”

After that, the servants finished their meal in a clamor of chatter. Laura rubbed her heavy eyelids and headed for her room. Sonia also turned to go about her work. Then, suddenly, she cast a glance back at Laura’s retreating figure.

Laura was now the Duke’s fiancée, but they’d agreed she’d continue living among the servants until the wedding. The fact that the girl had originally been a low-ranking noble had been common knowledge around here for a while. She’d ended up at Cuvershaiden Manor because her family went bankrupt, if Sonia remembered right? Well, whatever that girl’s circumstances, it was only a matter of time before they’d have to serve her as Madam. She’d miss the years they’d spent as friends, sure, but still—having a kind person as the mistress of the house felt pretty satisfying.

“Sonia. What’s up? Let’s go—we’ll be late.”

Just then, her colleagues called out to her. Sonia snapped out of it and followed them. And in that moment, one thing she’d completely forgotten came back to her.

“Oh, hey, guys. Speaking of—hasn’t that ghost that used to run down the corridor vanished lately? It’s been quiet without a sound. Think it’s finally disappeared?”

* * *

Not long after, Laura and Illiaje held their wedding ceremony. Even after the marriage, Laura still had to struggle to learn the ropes under the butler. To be honest, she’d spent so much time taking care of her younger siblings that she’d never attended the Academy, and her education was lacking. And because of that, playing the role of lady of the house was even more grueling.

“Do not worry, My Lady. You will grow accustomed to it with practice.”

The butler, Handel, was strict in his instruction yet wore a perpetually cheerful grin. He was honestly just delighted at being able to offload all the work he’d been handling himself while the mistress’s seat had sat empty.

“Do you think so? I feel like I’ve been floundering for months already.”

“It’s fine. You may take it at your own pace. After all, it’s a job you’ll have for the rest of your life!”

“…Yes…”

For Laura, life as the lady of the house was both busy and difficult. Still, she considered it something she had to do, so she never neglected her studies. Of course, not everything set before the Duchess was always arduous. For instance, marriage itself felt remarkably enjoyable. Her husband would buy her surprise gifts out of nowhere and often whispered words of love. It held, as if naturally, a daily, small-scale happiness. That was why she could regard the duties of being a Duchess as nothing at all.

“It’s gotten quite late. Let’s call it a day here.”

As night had deepened without notice, the butler spoke, closing the book. Laura tidied the desk as best she could and returned to the bridal chamber, her body weary. There, she found a doll perched on the windowsill. She immediately lifted the doll with both hands. The two eyes, attached clumsily with yellow buttons, glinted transparently under the lamplight.

‘What is this? A doll out of nowhere?’

And then the door swung open, and the duke stepped in. Laura spun around to face him, waving the doll in her hand.

“Illiaje. What’s this?”

“Ah, on my way out of the Imperial Palace, I saw a kid selling dolls on the street. Said he made them himself. Looked like he was trying to earn some pocket money. So I bought one.”

“Hmm. Is that so? He’s a bit ugly, but kind of cute. Come to think of it, his hair and eyes are the same color as mine.”

“You’re pretty. And forget the doll—just come here.”

The duke grabbed Laura’s arm and pulled her toward the bed. She set the doll down again and followed without resistance. Truth be told, she had no intention of refusing. Still, a pointless embarrassment crept in, and she tacked on a few excuses.

“Take it easy. I’m a bit tired today… and tomorrow’s going to be incredibly busy.”

“Well, I’ll try.”

A large, hot hand caressed Laura’s face, then slowly slid down her neck. She flicked the duke’s chest away with her fingertips.

“Enough. I’m going to wash up.”

“Want me to join you?”

Her husband’s reflection grinned back at her with an easy smile. Her heart thumped so hard she couldn’t manage a proper reply.

“D-Do whatever you want.”

In the end, that was the best she could manage.

That night, they barely fell asleep until the dead hours before dawn. Illiaje rose as usual and headed off to the Imperial Castle for work, but Laura—exhausted from a packed schedule—only blinked her eyes open late into the morning.

“What—what time is it?! Ah. Duke! You could’ve woken me! Just vanished on your own! I had study plans with the butler!”

The moment Laura woke, she shot up in bed, urgency driving her as she called for her lady-in-waiting and scrambled into her clothes. In her frantic hurry to tidy her hair, she accidentally slammed her body against the window frame. The impact rattled through her—and the doll perched on the sill toppled, dropping with a soft thud into the garden below.

‘What? Oh no—what do I do now?’

It was a gift from her husband; she couldn’t just leave it there. But keeping her appointment came first. So Laura told herself she’d retrieve the doll later, and whisked out of the room in a flurry.

But as she bustled through the manor, overseeing the household chores, the doll slipped completely from her mind. Only when she finally returned to the bedchamber for a brief moment did she spot it again—sitting on the window sill—and the memory came rushing back.

‘Ah. Right. The doll. Wait—did I send someone to pick it up? No, I didn’t. I didn’t even have the presence of mind for that, did I?’

Bewildered, Laura slowly picked up the doll. Its red hair and yellow eyes stared back at her, utterly expressionless. There was something unsettling about that gaze—a faint, eerie chill.

‘Someone must have brought it back. That’s the only explanation, right?’

She couldn’t guess how many people even knew about this doll. That was the best theory she had. After all, it wasn’t as if the thing had toddled back to the room on its own feet. That was absurd.

“Madam, the merchants have arrived.”

A maid’s voice came from beyond the door. Laura had summoned traders to buy supplies for the manor’s redecoration; they must have just reached the estate.

“I’m coming.”

A shiver ran down Laura’s spine as she hurried out of the bedchamber. Walking down the long corridor toward the drawing room, she realized she’d unconsciously brought the red-haired doll with her. She certainly couldn’t greet guests while holding it. So she set the doll on one of the decorative ornaments lining the hallway.

After meeting with the merchants in the drawing room, she returned to the corridor to retrieve it. But strangely, the doll had vanished. It hadn’t fallen anywhere, and the maid claimed she hadn’t moved it. A sudden, unwelcome thought crept into her mind.

‘No… it can’t be. No, it’s not…’

She raced back to the bedchamber. Hoping against hope—but of course. There it was, sitting neatly on the window sill.

Good heavens. That thing… came back?

Her hands trembling, she snatched up the doll. Then, concentrating all her focus, she tried to channel her divine power. If this was some ghost’s mischief, the divine power should push out any soul trapped inside the doll. But no matter how hard she tried, no soul was forced out.

“Ah… right, of course. Of course I knew it couldn’t be that! Someone must have put it back.”

But the uneasy feeling still clung to her. What if the doll held not a soul, but a thought-entity—some fragment of a person’s mind animating it? She’d need to confirm, one more time, that this was just an ordinary doll.

Alright. Let’s test if it really moves.

Laura shoved the doll into a dresser drawer, then slipped out to the garden to give it time to act. After a short walk, she returned to the bridal chamber at a measured pace. And there it sat, predictably, on the windowsill. In an instant, a chill raced up her spine.

“Wha—what is this?!”

Terrifying. So terrifying! There really is something in it, isn’t there?!

She didn’t know what came over her. Tears streaming down her face, she grabbed the doll and hurled it straight out the open window. She made sure to lock the window tight afterward—absolute double-check.

Even after disposing of the doll, she felt too afraid to stay alone in that room. So she fled to her study and buried herself in work for hours, trying to forget the creeping dread entirely. Only late that night did she finally gather the nerve to return to her room. But the moment she opened the door, there it was. Again.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Please…”

This was nothing less than a cliché straight out of a horror novel. In countless stories, didn’t the moving doll wander through every corner of the house, dragging ruin in its wake?

“After all I went through, expelling every last ghost from this mansion… how could this happen!”

And then, behind her, the door clicked open. A presence accompanied the sound. She spun around, startled, to find the duke standing there with a puzzled expression.

“Hm?”

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Relieved, Laura gripped his arm tightly and began pouring out everything that had happened.

“Look at that doll!”

“That… what about it?”

“It keeps moving! I dropped it from the window—it came back. I left it in the corridor—it came back. It even crawled out of the drawer! What on earth did you buy?!”