Chapter 67

Chapter 67

“What’s wrong? Is the ghost threatening Illiaje or something?”

The young marquis spun around to face us and asked. His voice carried a note of bewilderment and unease, as if our noisy fuss was starting to rattle him.

“It’s… not that, but it keeps talking to the Duke.”

I whispered, careful not to let my tone or words provoke the ghost. My eyes kept darting to take its measure.

“So, is this a bad situation? What should I do?”

“No, it’s fine. Ben. Let’s just get out of the Imperial Castle like this.”

The duke cut into the conversation abruptly, his tone measured and calm on the surface. But I could see the fear coiling inside him.

“What’s wrong? Are you going?!”

The ghost loomed right into his face. Her sudden movement froze the duke solid. I stiffened too, my body going rigid.

“Young-Young Marquis. Please, don’t ever want to see a ghost again. It’s scarier than you think.”

“Are you very scared? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, but… that ghost keeps hovering around the duke. Ugh. It’s even worse when it’s right in front of you! Let’s get out of here, quickly. Both of us.”

I urged the young marquis to leave, hoping to escape this place fast. Most ghosts are like earthbound spirits — they can’t leave a single spot. Once we got out of here, it wouldn’t be able to follow us.

I urged the young marquis on, desperate to leave this place. Common ghosts cling to a spot like tethered spirits. Once we got out of here, they wouldn’t be able to follow.

“Illiaje. If you can’t see it, won’t it be fine?”

“……”

“……”

“……?”

Huh. The young marquis was more eccentric than I’d thought. I couldn’t tell if he was showing the duke a gentle kindness or playing a punishing game. Either way, it was baffling—so baffling that words failed me. The duke seemed equally at a loss.

And, perhaps thanks to that, the ghost stopped clinging to the duke. Instead, it just stared at us with a dazed expression, silent.

“……”

“……”

And so we had to endure a moment of silence.

“Oh, who’s this? Getting along well, I see.”

Around that time, the emperor emerged from a corner of the corridor, without his mask. Even seeing the duke and young marquis tangled together, he didn’t flinch. He just approached them cheerfully, wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders, and gave them a hug. Then, with a hearty laugh, he went on his way.

“Y-Your Majesty the Emperor.”

I snapped out of it quickly and bowed to His Majesty.

“Mm.”

The emperor answered without even glancing my way. Then, starting with him, foreign envoys began pouring out from the corner.

One by one, the envoys patted the duke and young marquis, then vanished—copying the emperor’s gesture exactly. But Sir Dylan, the last of them, didn’t follow suit. Instead, he passed the duke and young marquis and came straight up to me.

“What’s going on here?”

He asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Uh… your guess is as good as mine…?”

I trailed off awkwardly, unable to find the right words.

“Is this some kind of greeting custom in Luision?”

It seemed the envoys had taken the actions of the duke, the young marquis, and the emperor for a piece of our culture. They’d accepted it without a hint of resistance—truly people of remarkable understanding and open-mindedness from a cultural relativist perspective.

But then again, how was I supposed to explain this…?

I couldn’t say a ghost had caused a commotion, and that’s why those two ended up in an embrace. That would sound insane to someone who couldn’t see it.

“…It’s sort of a greeting. They’re sharing friendship.”

In the end, that’s what I came up with. The shape of that friendship might have been a little odd, but I had no other option.

“…I see.”

Sir Dylan didn’t seem convinced, but he nodded as if he understood. Then, after offering a politely courteous farewell, he hurried off after the other envoys.

The corridor, after that brief commotion, settled back into stillness with his retreating figure as its final image.

“…….”

“…….”

“……Let’s go back.”

The duke said, awkwardly extricating himself from the young marquis’s jacket.

“You’re leaving?”

The ghost murmured in disappointment, her voice small. We ignored her and quickened our pace, intent on brushing past her entirely.

“Don’t go!”

She suddenly blocked my path, shouting. Her voice rang out, utterly forlorn. In her eyes as she looked at me, a deep melancholy seeped through. I froze on the spot, startled as if I’d suffered a minor shock.

Was it because of the commotion that had just passed? Somehow, she felt less frightening now. Instead, a flicker of pity for the dead stirred in a corner of my heart. Not that she wasn’t still scary, but curiosity had begun to override the fear.

“Excuse me, you were alive during the founding of Luision, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is this country’s foundation myth a lie?”

“Right.”

“If it’s not the dragon that continued the Imperial House, then what is it? Tell me the full story. You must have seen and heard things, haven’t you?”

Recalling what the duke had relayed, I spoke to her boldly, without fear.

‘There’s no dragon’s blood in the Luision Imperial House.’

Clearly, he’d said this ghost had spoken those words… So then, what was the real truth she knew?

“Ah… Dragon……”

At my words, she muttered to herself as if in a daze. Then she began to shed a stream of tears. Startled by the sudden reaction, I flinched and took a step back. Soon, large droplets rolled down her cheeks, plopping one after another. I hesitated for a moment, then reached out a fingertip toward her.

“Sorry. I’m sorry……. I’m sorry.”

At that moment, she cried out in a voice close to a scream.

“Sorry……”

Then, without any proper explanation, she simply vanished with a whoosh.

What the—? This…….

That apology, whose target was even unclear, made no sense to me at all. So I could only stare blankly at the spot where she had disappeared.

“What happened?”

The young marquis, who couldn’t possibly know the situation, turned to look at me and asked.

“Let’s talk about it later. For now, let’s hurry back.”

But before I could give any answer, the duke urged us on first. And so we began moving again along the corridor. The footsteps of the three of us echoed through the empty hall.

“Aaaah!”

Then a scream like splintering glass tore through the air behind me. I flinched, spinning around — and there she was, that same ghost I’d thought gone, charging toward us from the far end of the corridor. Her wild hair streamed behind her, and in an instant she was right before my eyes. A flash of those faded, dead irises filled my vision. Then — a blinding burst of light, and everything went black.

When color seeped back into my sight, something enormous and golden loomed before me. I blinked, took it in: a body like a crocodile’s, a pair of wings, a long tail sweeping behind. Above its head, fangs of horn jutted up, and its feet ended in claws like an eagle’s. I didn’t need to think long. This was the shape of a dragon — something I’d only ever seen in books.

The dragon kept its body coiled low, lifting only its head to look at me. Those sharp eyes seemed to fly straight into me, pinning me in place. But strangely, no fear came. Instead, wonder and awe at a creature I’d never laid eyes on before flooded through me, overwhelming everything else. So I just stood there for what felt like a long time, staring, unable to do anything else.

Then, somewhere in that stillness, I blinked — and I was back in the Imperial Castle’s corridor. In front of me, the Duke was speaking, his face marked by a look of near-shock.

Memory snapped back — the moment I’d collided with that ghost. I turned and looked over my shoulder. Her figure was already retreating, growing smaller down the hall. It seemed that when she passed through me, I’d been briefly possessed.

“Laura — are you alright?”

The Duke’s voice was raw with unease.

“I’m… fine.”

I was, really — but the shock had sapped all the strength from my legs. Just as I was about to crumple to the floor, the Duke caught me, pulling me into a half-embrace, one hand steadying my shoulder.

“Did that soul do something to you?”

“No. I think I just saw a flicker of its memory. It startled me, that’s all.”

I shook my head quickly and tried to stand. But my legs, limp and useless, refused to obey. They just trembled like a newborn animal’s.

“Laura, I’ll summon the imperial physician. You should be seen.”

The young marquis’s urgent voice cut in. Having two people suddenly fussing over me made my cheeks warm with embarrassment.

“No, really — I’m fine. I’d rather we head back quickly, before more time passes and the corridor starts swarming with ghosts.”

Their gratitude warmed her, but calling the imperial physician over a simple scare was a monumental waste of manpower. She’d be fine in a moment—there was no need to summon someone just to hear, “You’ll be fine shortly.”

Besides, the sun would be fully set soon. That meant more imperial ghosts would emerge. She didn’t want to dally and end up face-to-face with them.

“…All right. Fine. Let’s head back to Cuvershaiden then. But you’re getting checked up when we get there.”

The duke replied lowly. Then he pulled the arm gripping her shoulder and hoisted her up, carrying her like a bundle. She ended up slung over him like a piece of luggage.

“Huh? Wait—Young Duke?”

“Excuse me. You can’t walk right now, can you?”

“But if I rest a bit, I’ll be fine…”

Flustered, she flailed both hands over his shoulder. Then, suddenly, she caught a faint scent wafting from his collar. She couldn’t tell if it was soap or cologne, but it mixed with his skin, smelling almost sweet.

As if on cue, her heart began to pound loudly. The sound was so noisy she feared the duke might hear it. Uneasy, she could only dart her eyes around. Then, for a moment, she met the gaze of the young marquis following behind them. His expression was unusually calm and composed as he studied her face.

Her face must have been beet red. Being caught like that was embarrassing. So she wound both arms around the back of his neck and hid her face against his shoulder. The sweet scent hit her nostrils again. At the same time, her mind went blank, unable to form a single thought.