4. A Not-So-Bad Relationship
Bella woke just as the first light of dawn began to break.
“Ugh… ngh…”
Well, calling it “waking up” might be a bit generous. Her mind was clear, but her body felt like a boulder was sitting on top of it.
Experiencing sleep paralysis again—something she hadn’t dealt with since her growing pains as a kid—Bella swore inwardly. Swearing usually broke the paralysis.
But this time, she couldn’t move a single finger.
Then, something cold and eerie brushed her ear.
“…n…”
What? Bella focused on the sound near her ear. Sleep paralysis was just a symptom—an overlap of nightmares and physical exhaustion, right?
But the next thing she heard made her eyes snap open in shock.
“Danger.”
That voice… why say something so threatening in such a sweet tone?
Freed from the paralysis, Bella shot up and grabbed both sides of her head in alarm.
Was that a dream? If she had to hear that voice all day, even as a sleep paralysis hallucination, she’d probably fall asleep to it like a lullaby.
“Wh-Whose voice was that…?”
It was a man’s voice. A man!
Bella, who had sacrificed human relationships in favor of her obsession with homeownership and saving money, had never even had a real personal conversation with someone of the opposite sex.
Still, that didn’t mean she was immune to the sound of an attractive male voice whispering in her ear at dawn. In fact, beautiful people were Bella’s greatest weakness.
“Time to wash up. I must be losing it.”
She shook her head, stood up, and pulled back the curtains—only to gasp and freeze at what she saw. Then she grabbed her sword and bolted downstairs.
Bella’s frantic steps stopped at the mansion’s massive front gate.
More precisely, they stopped in front of the gruesomely murdered man lying beneath the black iron fence.
“……”
The sign was broken, and the man she had spoken with the day before was dead. This wasn’t the work of some ghost or spirit.
Bella stepped closer to examine the body. It hadn’t been sliced cleanly—it had been ripped apart. Even a couple of stabs would’ve been fatal, but whoever did this stabbed him dozens of times despite him being tied up and unable to move.
“The intent is obvious. Blatantly obvious.”
She muttered under her breath, continuing to search for clues.
Just like the dead cat, the killer had gone out of their way to create a horrifying scene, likely to instill fear and disgust.
Unfortunately, that tactic didn’t work on Bella.
Sure, nobles may have never encountered such a thing, but commoners often started their day cleaning up corpses from the streets and scrubbing away bloodstains with boiling water.
Bella had only begun living comfortably after moving into noble households. Before that, while working as a tutor and moving from town to town, she’d seen more than a few corpses.
“Ah, there it is.”
She found something in the dead man’s mouth. Carefully pulling it out, she saw it was a high-quality paper, resistant to moisture.
“Get out of my mansion.”
“Ha! My mansion? My manshhhun?”
Bella let out an incredulous laugh.
She had paid a fair price for the property. It was hers. This mansion was the first home she bought with her hard-earned money after working as a maid.
Anyone would understand the meaning of a first home. It was like a second hometown. To Bella, this mansion was her hometown now.
And now someone dared to claim it as their own and did this?
If they wanted the place so badly, they should’ve paid for it themselves. It was cheap enough that even a maid could buy it.
To pull this kind of stunt after it was already sold? Her teeth clenched in fury.
“Fine. Great. Let’s see who wins.”
Bella’s lips curved into a sinister smile.
Whoever it was, they clearly wanted to drive her out of the mansion. In the dirtiest, most cowardly, disgusting, petty, and infuriating way possible.
“If you want a fight, at least fight fair. Starting with the damn cat…”
She sighed and gently closed the man’s one remaining eye. The other had rolled off somewhere, already missing.
Back inside the mansion, she brought out a clean white cloth and covered his body, tying it tightly with string.
This was starting to feel like a mansion full of corpses.
After finally dealing with the body, Bella sank into her armchair with a heavy sigh.
She hadn’t known owning a home would be this brutal and exhausting.
Now that she was experiencing it firsthand, Baron Ossik—who had become a knight and built a family from nothing—seemed truly remarkable.
Had he gone mad from gambling because he clung to his home with such obsession? Bella stared at the ceiling with a sorrowful gaze.
“Father… since you went crazy over gambling, I’ll go crazy over this house.”
People always wanted to do what others told them not to.
Bella’s melancholy eyes gleamed with madness.
“Father. I swear I’ll protect this house. No matter what it takes.”
Clunk!
The window suddenly flung open with a rush of cold morning wind. Bella didn’t even have the energy to move. She just stared at the wide-open window and muttered:
“Please stop opening the window… oil prices are up, you extravagant ghost.”
“……”
“If you’ve got the strength to open it, at least try closing it too.”
As if that would happen. Bella let out a hollow laugh and sluggishly stood up.
Living alone did have its lonely moments. It would’ve been nice if someone else could close the window. That’s when—
Creeeak.
“…?”
The window closed on its own.
Bella froze, staring hard at the now-shut window.
The wind was blowing inward, so maybe it just shut due to a gust. She approached it and locked it, double-checking it several times.
The whole “Mr. Ghost” nickname she used had always just been a way to make her muttering seem less crazy—pretending someone was there made it feel more natural.
But this time, it was like her words were answered. The window had closed.
Swallowing dryly, Bella looked around.
Did the previous residents go insane because of things like this? Some psychological condition from loneliness? Like that village lady who created imaginary people and was eventually taken to a hospital?
The questions in her head weren’t going away—if anything, they were multiplying.
Maybe it would be better if there was a ghost. That way, she could prove she hadn’t gone mad from loneliness.
Then again, was it better if the ghost didn’t exist? Or better if it did?
If she had to live alone in this huge mansion, maybe having a ghost around wouldn’t be so bad. But whether or not the ghost was friendly was another matter.
Ghosts in fairy tales were usually terrible beings who played cruel tricks on people and tried to possess them. Maybe because they were once human, they were especially evil.
What if the ghost in her room right now had malicious intentions?
As she mulled it over, Bella voiced one of her thoughts.
“…Are you, by any chance, a man?”
A rather random question—but a crucial one for Bella.
So what if the ghost was malicious? Living humans were already trying to harm her, leaving dead cats at her doorstep.
And so what if there was no ghost? People who live alone tend to talk to themselves more.
But… if the ghost was a man? That was a whole different issue.
“……”
Of course, no response came. Bella looked around nervously and clutched her hands over her chest.
“Mr. Ghost?”
“……”
“I’m sorry, but… if you’re a man, could you please leave?”
“…?”
Silence filled the room. Bella gathered her courage and raised her voice slightly. It still came out like a trembling goat’s bleat.
“I-I’ve never even held hands with a man before!”
Over the past decade, Bella had become obsessed with buying her own home. She’d earned a nickname as a “money demon,” hoarding every penny.
Dating?
Dating was one of the most expensive, extravagant things imaginable. Naturally, Bella was known for completely shutting down any potential romance.
In truth, she was extremely guarded—for one simple reason.
Bella was weak to beautiful people. Regardless of gender.
Seeing a pretty face made her heart race, her cheeks flush, her head spin—and she’d answer “yes” to anything. If that pretty person turned out to be a con artist? Game over. So she shut it all down from the start. Not that anyone knew her weakness.
“I won’t kick you out of the mansion, but… l-let’s sleep in separate rooms!”
“……”
If there really was a ghost, that was probably the most absurd thing it had ever heard.
Bella shrank back and cautiously peeked around.
Gone?
Just then, the door creaked open. Apparently, ghosts these days used doors politely. Weren’t they supposed to pass through walls in the stories?
Maybe the ghost who whispered “danger” in her ear earlier was this very one. The thought made Bella’s face turn red.
“D-Did I talk in my sleep? Grind my teeth? Snore?”
She pressed her warm cheeks with both hands.
“…That voice… was really handsome.”
Once again—Bella’s weakness was beautiful people.
KKKJKKKKKKKKKKK o fantasma:”meu Deus do céu”