Chapter 88

Chapter 88

The painting ghost glared at us for a long while after that, then dissipated like smoke. With his terrifying figure gone from before my eyes, I finally felt relief. But I also realized—I hadn’t managed to say a single word to the ghost.

Damn. This won’t do. I have to help him ascend.

“Your Grace. Let’s try this one more time.”

I urged him on, making a vow to myself that this time I would surely speak. The Duke hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and reached for the frame once more.

And so, before the straight frame, the hollow-faced ghost appeared again. He turned to look at us with an even more fearsome expression. At the same time, I found myself swallowing every word I had meant to say. If I had to make an excuse—it was force majeure. Honestly, I was just too scared. And while I wavered, the ghost cocked the frame crooked again, shot us a vicious glare, and vanished in a wisp.

Unbelievable. I had failed to speak again. This can’t go on. I need to get some words through before I can even think about helping him ascend.

“Let’s try again. This time, I’ll do it.”

I steadied my breath with a single gulp, then slowly stretched out my hand and set the frame the ghost had tilted right again. Immediately, the ghost appeared before me once more. On his third appearance, his face no longer looked terrifying—just thoroughly annoyed.

His expression caught me off guard. I started wondering if I’d made a mistake by disturbing a soul that had been resting peacefully in its painting. I had to hesitate for a moment, debating whether or not to apologize.

Then, without a sound—

But before I could make any decision, the ghost vanished. The picture frame rattled and tilted right back to its original crooked angle.

“Huh? Missed it again? Should I try calling it back?”

It felt like a routine now. I reached out naturally and straightened the painting. And sure enough, as if on cue, the ghost reappeared. His expression was pure rage, the kind of look that promised murder.

“Uh… is this dangerous…?”

A chill ran down my spine. I pressed myself against the Duke’s side, grabbing hold of him as I quickly backed away.

“This won’t work. This really won’t work. That one’s too scary.”

“Alright. Let’s stop.”

We spun around and bolted down the corridor in the opposite direction. We didn’t stop until we reached the Duke’s office, slipping inside and shutting the door behind us.

“Why does he have to be so terrifying? None of the ghosts here have been that scary before… The Cat Ghost and Shion are cute compared to him.”

I gasped out the words, my breath scraping my throat raw from the sprint.

“There are some that aren’t so easy to call cute. The headless ghost, for example.”

“Oh, right. He looks pretty scary too. But the painting ghost’s energy feels way more threatening.”

Truth be told, the headless ghost just wandered around aimlessly; by now, I’d gotten used to him. The painting ghost, though—he was ready to kill just because I touched his frame. Of course he was terrifying.

‘But I still need to help him ascend…’

I couldn’t leave ghosts wandering Cuvershaiden forever. Besides, they needed to ascend before they could be reincarnated.

‘…But he’s just too damn scary.’

The memory of those pitch-black, shadowed eye sockets made me never want to go near that picture frame again. I figured it was better to help the other ghosts ascend first. There were still plenty left in Cuvershaiden, anyway.

“Your Grace. What about the remaining ghosts? Are they as scary as that painting ghost?”

“Remaining ghosts?”

“It feels like there’s one more here I haven’t seen yet.”

When I first entered Cuvershaiden, the duke told me there were seven ghosts in this place. Excluding the smoky specter clinging to his back, seven meant that besides Theo, Shion, the maid ghost, the black cat, the shadow ghost, and the headless ghost, there was one slot still open.

“It’s not scary to look at. But it’s a bit of an unusual one.”

The duke answered. Thankfully, that ghost wasn’t frightening. If so, it was best to send the non-scary ones to ascension first.

“Your Grace. Where is that ghost?”

“It’s in the artificial pond, but are you curious?”

“The pond? Does Cuvershaiden have a pond? I know there’s a fountain, but…”

I replied, tilting my chin in puzzlement. I’d roamed every corner of Cuvershaiden’s garden, so I knew it well. Yet no matter how deep I searched my memory, I’d never seen a pond set up separately in the garden.

“Actually, it’s hard to call it a pond exactly. When I was young, my mother called it a ‘pond,’ so I do too. Anyway, follow me.”

He led me straight out of the drawing room. Then he guided me down the corridor until we arrived at a door.

“Right here.”

“There’s a pond inside this room?”

I felt a bit thrown off — I’d assumed we were heading to some hidden spot in the garden. It wasn’t common to have a pond indoors, and I couldn’t fathom why one would be locked away in a room like this.

“Come see.”

He pushed the door handle open as he spoke. I stepped inside with cautious steps. The room was spacious and open, with hardly any furniture. But there, right in the center of the floor, was an unexpected square pool of water hollowed into the ground.

Pink lotus blossoms and green water plants floated across the pond’s surface. They mostly looked artificial, but still they formed a convincing little pond.

“This used to be a bathroom.”

The duke strode over to stand beside me and continued, “My mother decided to keep a water ghost here, so she said…”

“Wait. Was this originally a bathtub?”

I looked down at the square pond and asked him.

“Right. It was a bathtub. Then one day, my mother decided to turn it into a pond. I didn’t understand it back then, since I couldn’t see the ghosts. But after I started seeing them, I realized she had arranged this place to hold a water ghost.”

“…So that ghost is right inside here…”

My heart tightened with tension as I cautiously peered into the pond. Soon, ripples began to spread across the surface. And through them, a young woman with pale skin slowly rose from the water.

Luckily, the ghost wasn’t frightening, just as the Duke had said. Lying there with her eyes closed, she gave off an odd, almost eerie serenity. The white dress, rippling faintly in the current, and her slender strands of hair seemed even mystical. In a way, she looked like a painting come to life.

“…This person. She drowned, didn’t she?”

Since water ghosts were usually like that, I asked with near certainty. If it weren’t the case, there’d be no reason to stay submerged as a spirit. The dead always cling closest to the moment of their death.

“That’s what Mother said. She fell into the pond and passed away.”

The Duke replied in a flat tone. Startled by that, I whipped around to look at him at once.

“This ghost—did she know the Madam?”

“She was a friend of Mother’s, apparently.”

“Ah… I see…”

I could hardly imagine what the Madam must have felt bringing a dead friend here. A faint bitterness settled in me as I turned my gaze back to the ghost in the pond. She was already staring at me, her eyes wide open. Those gray pupils shot toward me like arrows.

“Uh… Um…”

I opened my mouth to say something to her. As if responding to my words, she slowly rose and thrust her face toward mine.

“Wah!”

Then she suddenly let out a loud shriek. I almost toppled backward in surprise. Luckily, I managed to flail my arms and catch my balance, but the embarrassment was all mine.

“Hahaha!”

She seemed to find my reaction hilarious. She laughed heartily, gasping for air between bursts. That only made me feel even more embarrassed.

“Stop laughing…”

“Hahahaha!”

Even my flat request didn’t stop her; she just kept laughing.

“Huh…”

At the absurd situation, I could only react with bewilderment.

“I told you she was strange.”

The Duke interjected in a near-whisper.

“Indeed… she is.”

I nodded with a hesitant reply. Meanwhile, the smoke ghost was slowly emerging behind the Duke. The black smoke swelled up, then began to drift around as if surveying the scene. It coalesced into a long shape and stretched its body right up to the pond ghost’s face.

The pond ghost blew a sharp breath through the hazy smoke that veiled her vision. Whether a dead soul could truly exhale, I couldn’t tell, but the gathered haze scattered into the air as if in reply — a lazy, drifting unraveling. It almost looked like the two of them were playing together.

“Um… I have something to say.”

I parted the thinning smoke with both hands and stepped abruptly toward the pond ghost, trying to speak to her.

“Go ahead.”

She answered. Thankfully, she was a ghost who could be reasoned with.

“Is there a reason you’re staying in the land of the living? If you have a grudge, I can help you resolve it.”

“Hmm…”

The pond ghost narrowed her eyes and let out a hum through her nose. Her expression was one of clear suspicion — she didn’t trust us much.

“Why? Is it hard to talk about?”

“No. I just wonder if you can actually do anything. The truth is, even Helena couldn’t.”

“Helena…?”

“Yeah. My friend.”

Helena Cuvershaiden. That must have been the Madam’s name. And even she hadn’t managed to help her friend ascend. Somehow, I sensed a difficult path ahead. Of course, if ascending were easy, that ghost wouldn’t still be lingering in this world.