Chapter 42

Chapter 42

My heart jumped. I slowly turned my head to face forward. On the dim corridor ahead, two blurred shapes were moving toward me. From their silhouettes, they looked like burly men. At least, not any of our kids.

*Rumble—*

Another crash of thunder.

I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them. But the shapes in front of me hadn’t vanished.

‘Could it be ghosts? Did a ghost get in here?’

A ghost had never appeared in our house. When I was young, I did bring home what I called a friend once, but that was it. So even for someone like me, who can see ghosts, this situation felt incredibly sudden.

“Why is there a ghost…?” I murmured.

Thud-thud-thud—

The moment I grasped the situation, my heart began to pound as if it had been waiting for this very moment.

‘No. Pull yourself together.’

Ghosts are naturally intrigued by those who can see them. So if I just pretended not to notice, acted as if I couldn’t see, the ghosts would pass by without acknowledging me.

‘Right. I’ll just keep walking like this.’

I let out a long breath, then quickened my pace and moved toward the two ghosts. Consciously, I crafted a gait that was neither too slow nor too fast, something that wouldn’t feel awkward.

As I drew close enough to be right beside them, they whirled around to look at me. But I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead and walked on — and finally, I managed to pass them by.

“What the hell? Is she sleepwalking?” one of them said.

“I thought she was a ghost,” the other replied.

But a heavy voice followed from behind her—and what it said didn’t sound like ghost talk at all.

What the—

“I thought you said this was a noble house. There’s nothing worth a damn here. And you said there’d only be kids—so who the hell is that crazy woman?”

“Should we take her with us when we leave? Looks out of it anyway.”

“Let’s find the heirlooms first. No matter how bad things got, a noble family wouldn’t sell off their pride and joy.”

Already sold them, you idiots!

Damn. Burglars. Real burglars. Not ghosts—actual people!

“Hey, you sure that woman’s sleepwalking? She’s just standing there.”

The two voices echoed behind her again. Her body went rigid, frozen in place.

“Let me see.”

Two sets of footsteps grew louder, closing in.

Creak—

The floorboards groaned under their weight.

Oh… What do I do?

They came up right behind me and stopped. Then a heavy hand landed on my right shoulder.

“Kyaaaaah!”

I flinched and let out a startled shriek.

“D-Duke!”

I shouted for the duke, who had to be inside the manor. Ren, honestly—calling him would be about as useful as shouting at a wall—so naturally I turned to the duke.

*CRASH—*

But a sudden thunderclap swallowed my voice whole.

“What? This chick’s fine?”

A yank on my shoulder spun me around, and a thuggish face lunged into my vision.

“Aaah!”

I screamed and kicked one of the men square between the legs. He let out a choked grunt and crumpled to the floor. I left him behind and bolted down the corridor.

“Duke!”

“Ugh! Somebody help me!”

But my feet were too slow. They caught me in seconds. A hand clamped onto the back of my neck and hurled me to the floor.

“What’s this?”

The thieves loomed over me, sprawled on the ground, and one of them spoke.

Breaking into someone’s house and asking what this is? What else would it be? Obviously, the owner of the house.

I wanted to scream at them, let the rage boil over—but that would only provoke them further. So I clenched my jaw and stole glances, hunting for an escape.

“Hey, didn’t this woman call out for the Duke earlier?”

One thief turned to his companion and asked.

“Yeah. You think she’s his secret lover or something?”

He looked me up and down, then shrugged. He crouched down in front of me.

“Nah, looking at her, doesn’t seem like a lover. A follower, maybe.”

“……”.

“But here’s the thing, young lady—you picked the wrong person. You think calling out for him would make him come running to save you? Nobles like the Duke don’t look at people like us. They only care about their own comfort. Look around—their places are overflowing with wealth, but this neighborhood? Left to rot.”

He said it with that same twisted view of the Duke again.

“……What do you know? The Duke works hard for Luision……”

“Ha! Talking like you know exactly what he does. Go on then, tell me—what’s he done for this place?”

“Well……”

I’m his secretary. I’ve watched him, seen the kind of man he is. But if you ask me what he actually does……

The truth is, I don’t really know. I’m just a secretary in name only……

“……”.

“See?”

The thief stood up. And I felt the injustice wash over me all over again.

No, your judgment of the Duke is still wrong……

“Noona!”

Then I heard Ren’s voice calling me. I lifted my head and saw him running toward me from a distance. The commotion must have drawn him out of his room, and now he’d walked into this scene.

“What the hell?! Who are these guys?!”

He charged straight at the thieves. But they grabbed him easily, tossing him to the floor like a paper doll.

“Ren!”

I scrambled over to my little brother, who’d fallen with a loud crash, and caught him quickly.

You idiot! Why didn’t you just go get the Duke?! You know yourself! You’re useless in a situation like this!

But thinking that now wouldn’t help. Instead, I quickly scanned him with my eyes, checking if he was hurt.

“Tch…… Not a brain in the bunch.”

One of the thieves scratched the back of his head, then ambled over to us.

“Forget it. Since we’re already here, let’s just take the woman. Nothing else in this place is worth grabbing anyway.”

Another thief spoke. I flinched, a tremor running through my shoulders.

“What?! You bastards! Able-bodied scum like you, resorting to thievery? You’re worse than dogs!”

Ren, still crumpled on the floor, lifted his head and shouted.

“This little shit.”

Pissed off, the thief grabbed Ren by the hair and hoisted him up. His face was twisted with rage, like he was about to throw a punch any second.

“Wait—the heirloom! You’re looking for our house’s heirloom, right?! I’ll give it to you!”

I sprang to my feet, wrapped my arms around Ren’s waist, and yelled.

“You didn’t find it because it’s hidden. Heirlooms are always tucked away tight. I’ll find it for you. Just take it and leave.”

There was no heirloom at all, but I blurted it out anyway. Ren might look tough, but he’s so fragile—one hit and he’d be knocking on the afterlife’s door.

The thief furrowed his brow for a moment, staring down at me. He seemed to mull something over, then set Ren down and spoke again.

“If you’re lying, it won’t end well for you.”

“Yes. Yes! Don’t worry.”

After that, our hands were tied behind our backs, and we were marched down the corridor. The thieves stuck close behind me.

We moved in two lines for a long while, until we finally reached the door to the Duke’s room. With no time to think, I slammed my body into it.

“Your Excellency! Aahh! Your Excellency! Help!”

“What the hell, this woman.”

One of the thieves grabbed me and yanked me back. Even as I was dragged away, I kept kicking the door.

“Your Excellency! Come out! Hey! Illiaje!”

“What? Is this woman crazy?!”

He flung me away from the door, toward the opposite wall. *Thud.* My right arm smacked into the stone, and a dull ache throbbed up through it.

“Noona!”

Ren cried out as he looked at me. Then he spun around and hurled himself at the guest room door.

*Bam—*

“And now what’s this…”

The thief grabbed Ren with a heavy sigh of annoyance. At the same time, the guest room door creaked open.

Your Excellency?

I whipped my head toward the guest room. But, contrary to my hope, he wasn’t inside.

“What the?”

The thieves stared at the door that had swung open on its own, bewildered. With no wind stirring inside the house, the sudden movement felt distinctly off.

The room inside was filled entirely with black smoke—a ghost. It writhed as if trying to express some emotion. If I had to put a word to it, it looked almost angry.

“The lock must’ve gotten loose. Let’s go.”

The thieves seemed to lose interest in the door that had opened on its own. They came over to me, grabbed me by the back of the neck, and yanked. In an instant, my clothes pulled taut, and my breath caught in my throat.

“Kk—”

That’s when the smoke ghost began to quake violently, a wild, rattling shudder.

It poured out of the room as if dissolving into the air, then coiled around the thieves in a tight circle.

“What the hell? Why’s it so cold all of a sudden?”

The thieves started shivering all over. With every breath, their exhalations fogged white. But it was already firmly into spring—the air had a chill, sure, but nowhere near cold enough for that. Naturally, not a single breath of mist came from my mouth.

“This is weird. I mean, it’s night, sure. But weather doesn’t just flip like that, right?”

One of the thieves said that, then turned to look at Ren and me. He was trembling violently, his gaze locking onto us in our thin clothes.

A strange emotion flickered in his eyes.

Get out!

Just then, a voice rang out in my ear.

Get out!

It was a woman’s voice, sharp and full of rage. I flinched, drawing my body in tight. The thieves also jerked, starting to glance around wildly. From the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one who’d heard.

I said get out!

The woman’s voice swelled louder, filling the whole manor. At the same time, the smoke ghost began to roil like a wave, swelling up as if it was about to swallow the thieves whole.