Chapter 18

Chapter 18

“Good morning, Your Excellency, Young Marquis.”

“Good morning, Laura.”

The young marquis replied to my greeting. He promptly stood up and gestured with both hands toward the chair he’d been sitting in. I followed his motion, stepped in, and sat down.

“By the way, the desk and chair are really nice.”

“Too nice, actually.”

It was obvious he meant my overly extravagant seat. I answered him, turning just my body from where I sat to look at him. He was browsing the bookshelf behind the desk.

“These are Illiaje’s kind of books. Not really my taste.”

“Don’t you have a home to go to?”

As he murmured almost to himself, the Duke cut in with a gruff reply.

“What about you, Laura? Do you like this kind of book?”

The young marquis casually ignored the Duke’s words and asked me instead.

“Not particularly.”

“Right? That guy’s taste is too stuffy. So what kind of books do you like?”

“I prefer novels. I don’t really restrict myself by genre.”

I answered, sneaking a glance at the Duke. He seemed accustomed to the young marquis’s behavior and wasn’t paying much attention. He just silently sorted through some documents, then stood up. He turned and looked my way.

“I’ll be at the Imperial Castle all day today. You take it easy. Consider it a day off.”

“……Yes.”

Another day off? I’ve been taking it easy because there was no work this whole time… Actually, getting paid to slack off is every worker’s dream. But slacking off this much stings my conscience a little. Even though I can see ghosts, I feel like a salary thief…

“Miss Laura, since you’re off today, want to step out with me?”

“What? For what?”

It was then that the Young Marquis spoke to me. Lost in my own thoughts, I parroted back in a dumbfounded tone.

“After what happened with Theo, I want to repay you somehow, Lady Laura. For everything.”

“It’s fine. I did it because I wanted to.”

“Don’t refuse me like that. Won’t you let me ease my own conscience?”

His gentle tone sent my mind racing. I wasn’t blind to what the Young Marquis meant by it, but stepping outside the mansion with him right now felt… complicated. Weren’t I risking the lady-in-waitings’ misunderstandings? And the butler’s, too!

“Oh, right, Laura. There’s a dessert shop the young ladies are raving about these days—Écre. Their strawberry desserts are famous. How about we go there together?”

…Now that I thought about it, everyone would be busy working at this hour. Maybe I could slip out without being seen by the lady-in-waitings? No one would know if I just popped over and came back, right?

“Illiaje, it’s alright if I borrow your secretary for a bit, isn’t it?”

Noticing my hesitation, the Young Marquis turned to the Duke and asked.

“….”

“It’s your day off, isn’t it?”

“That’s up to my secretary. Doesn’t need my permission.”

At his answer, the Young Marquis gave a thin smile and winked at me. I just gave a quick, one-time nod.

“Yes.”

Seasonal strawberries! Strawberries! Precious strawberries!

“…Lady. Don’t be too late.”

The Duke glanced at me sidelong and said.

Of course not. I wouldn’t leave you to see ghosts alone at this hour, my Duke. What kind of conscience would let me take your money if I couldn’t even do that?

“Yes!”

I answered cheerfully and followed the Young Marquis out. But the place we arrived at in House Karsen’s carriage wasn’t a dessert shop—it was a grand boutique, the kind only the high and mighty visited.

“Laura, what about this one? Or this one?”

The Young Marquis gestured at a row of dazzling dresses.

“Young Marquis… why are we here?”

“Wow. This one’s pretty.”

“Young Marquis…”

“I noticed yesterday, your dress hem was all burnt, wasn’t it? Happened while you were searching for my little brother, right?”

I’d thought the darkness of night would have hidden it, but his eye for detail was sharper than I’d imagined. I couldn’t answer him right away, so I just looked up at him in silence.

“When we were kids, Illiaje used to tell me stories about things like that. That the dead can sometimes influence the land of the living through how they died… And Theo died because of the fire in the mansion.”

“….”

“How about this one? I think it’ll suit you, Laura. Ah, let’s take this one too. That one’s pretty as well.”

He drifted through the display, picking out flashy gowns left and right. Just how many was he choosing…? I watched his retreating back and hurried after him.

“Alright, since my burnt dress was just one, I’ll take just one from you.”

Then the young marquis turned to face me, his eyes curving into a wide smile.

“Yes, that’s settled, then.”

I chose a modest dress I could wear even while working and headed to the dessert shop with the young marquis just as I was.

The shop was packed with noble ladies dripping in what looked like expensive jewels. The moment they spotted us walking in, they started whispering among themselves.

Damn. They were probably curious about me being with the young marquis. I hadn’t expected this at all…?

Still, I couldn’t just turn back now. Forcing their stares out of my mind, I picked a dessert. Before long, a server set a slice of strawberry cake on our table.

Finally — strawberry cake!

I tuned out everything around me and dug in, scarfing it down with relish.

“Does it taste all right?”

“It’s delicious!”

At his question, I bobbed my head vigorously.

“It’s good to me, too. I have quite a sweet tooth, actually.”

He answered with a smile.

After dessert, we headed back to where the carriage was waiting to return to the manor. But the young marquis helped me in first, then stopped at the door without climbing in himself.

“Take this carriage back. I’ll hire a cab. I’d like to see you home, but I have to go to the Imperial Castle tomorrow. I’d better get back early.”

“I could take a cab, you know…”

“That won’t do.”

He gave me a small smile and handed me a prettily wrapped box.

“Have this when you get home.”

It was another strawberry dessert packed from the shop. I received it politely with both hands. Then he pulled out another box and set it on top of the one I was holding.

“Give this one to Elize. That one’s got a sweet tooth too, secretly.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“I wish I could have treated you to a meal. A shame. Drop by our manor again, won’t you?”

“Yes.”

By the time I reached the ducal manor, it was already quite late, the light gone dusky. The butler opened the front door to greet me. And as if he’d been waiting, the Duke emerged from the central staircase. He stopped in front of me and seemed to study the dress I’d worn. For some reason, the gesture struck me as awkward.

“You’re back?”

“Yes, Your Grace. The box on top is for you. The young marquis asked me to give it to you.”

At my words, the Duke gave a slight nod, and the butler took the top box from me instead.

“I have something for you, too. I’ll have it sent to your room. Go rest now.”

“Yes.”

I went straight to my room and collapsed onto the bed. Not long after, the butler came by. He handed me a large box tied with a fine red ribbon.

“Huh? A present? Did the Duke have any reason to give me something? What is this?” I furrowed my brow, tilting my head at the red-ribboned box.

Curiosity piqued, I opened the lid. Inside, neatly folded, lay a dress — clean and simple in cut, yet unmistakably expensive. I could feel the quality in the fabric’s weight alone.

* * *

For the next few days, the Duke commuted to the Imperial Castle and didn’t return until late afternoon. He’d been discussing the proposal he’d drafted at his desk with the others — something about poor relief, I’d heard vaguely, but I never helped with his work, so the details eluded me.

With nothing else to do, I just killed time lounging in his office. One saving grace: every book on the shelves had been swapped out for novels. Why the sudden turnover? No idea. But I liked novels, so really, I couldn’t complain.

“Unnie. Read me this one this time.”

The little golden-haired ghost pointed at a book that bloomed from the shelf like a flower. I pulled it out.

*The Dragon’s Champion*

A fairy-tale, it seemed. Fit for reading aloud to a child.

I opened the first page on the desk. The golden-haired child scurried over and pressed herself against my side.

“Wait — hold on. Why am I getting this chummy with a ghost, anyway?”

I turned my head slowly to look at her. Mother had strictly warned me since childhood — keep your distance from the dead. And yet, since moving into this manor, I’d been doing the exact opposite.

The girl looked absolutely thrilled, waiting eagerly for me to start reading.

“Don’t you have any wish you want to fulfill in the land of the living? Like Theo?”

I stared at her for a long moment before speaking. I’d have to send this child on to ascension eventually. She was strong enough to show herself even in daylight — if she ever turned into an evil spirit, it could cause real disaster.

“I dunno. I forgot.”

The child answered.

“You forgot?”

“Yeah. It’s been so long since I died, I can’t remember.”

“…”

“Just read it to me. Unnie.”

“What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you ‘you.'”

“I dunno.”

“You forgot that too?”

“No. I never had one.”

She never had a name? That was something I’d never encountered before.

“Then what should I call you?”

“Hm… Shion.”

“Shion?”

“I don’t remember exactly, but I was called Shion when I was alive.”

“So it’s not your name, then?”

“Yeah. Not a name. I was just called that.”

Shion. In the ancient tongue, it meant ‘sun.’ And the only house allowed to use names incorporating ‘Shion’ was the imperial house. Yet she’d been called by that word alone in life — could she have been an imperial princess?

I stared at the child blankly, puzzled, lost in thought.