Chapter 5. The Ghost’s Answer
“Mmm…”
Bella was feeling extremely uncomfortable. Though it was her own house, it didn’t feel like her home.
She had spent the entire day exhausting herself with cleaning and maintaining the mansion. Now the place sparkled and gleamed, but Bella’s spirit was left in tatters.
Even when she tried to rest for just a moment, intrusive thoughts kept surfacing.
‘It came again last night…’
Thinking of the voice, Bella quickly pressed her hand to her flushed cheek to cool it down.
She’d had sleep paralysis again. And once more, she heard that soft, barely-there, unbelievably beautiful voice whispering by her ear:
‘Give me permission.’
Permission? Permission for what exactly?
Bella slammed her fist against the wall.
Weren’t there spirits that seduced people by exploiting their weaknesses, just to suck out their life energy or something?
She let out a deep sigh. She hadn’t even achieved her grand dreams yet—how could she already be losing resolve?
“I should go into town.”
Dusting herself off, Bella stood and packed her bag.
As she got ready to go out, strange things kept happening around the mansion—like curtains fluttering in rooms with no wind, or the flowers she arranged that morning being in a different spot now.
By this point, even Bella couldn’t convince herself it was just her imagination. Someone—or something—really might be in the room with her.
The upside? It felt like she wasn’t alone. The downside? It felt like she wasn’t alone.
“Uh, Mister Ghost?”
“……”
“We agreed to sleep in separate rooms, didn’t we?”
“……”
“So that ‘permission’ thing last night—were you asking to share a room?”
Of course, there was no reply. Just a single flower petal trembling slightly.
Bella walked over to the vase and waved her hand.
“Are you about here?”
“……”
“Well, anyway, I’m heading into town. Take care of the house while I’m gone.”
After finishing her farewell, Bella opened the door and left.
A moment later, the previously drawn curtain quietly pulled back.
As she was halfway across the garden, Bella looked up at the mansion. The curtain in the closed room had been pulled open.
“Is that a send-off?”
She shyly waved her hand.
Maybe living with a ghost wouldn’t be all that bad.
“What’s a young lady doing buying bear traps?”
The former hunter, now shopkeeper selling hunting goods, looked suspicious.
It was understandable. A young woman who had just moved into the supposedly haunted mansion was now buying ropes, traps, fishing lines, and the like in bulk.
Bella responded casually and politely bowed. She didn’t realize that buying multiple traps capable of snapping human limbs clean off—while maintaining perfect manners—only made her more unnerving.
“I’m going bear hunting.”
“You, miss?”
“Thought I’d skin it and use it as a carpet. Wouldn’t be bad, right?”
Smiling sweetly, Bella collected her ordered items.
After she left, the shopkeeper shuddered and rubbed his arms to chase off the goosebumps.
The lady living in the haunted mansion had clearly lost her mind. That rumor would soon spread like wildfire in the village.
Completely unaware of this, Bella hummed a tune and moved on to the next store.
“Hello! I’m here to buy some seedlings.”
“Welcome!”
Her next purchases were crop seedlings and flower seeds.
“These are wildflower seeds—they grow well anywhere.”
“Oh really? Then I’ll take one of these too, please.”
The shopkeeper thought highly of Bella. In a town where outsiders rarely ventured, she was polite, cheerful, and easy to like. It was hard not to adore her.
But knowing such a charming young lady was living in a haunted mansion, the shopkeeper grew concerned and gently grabbed her hand to stop her.
“Miss, have you experienced anything strange in that mansion?”
“Hmm, nothing particularly weird.”
“Sigh… To be honest, ghosts or not—what land hasn’t seen death? But the problem is, everyone who bought that mansion before ended up dead. That’s the only thing that worries me.”
“Everyone?”
She had known there had been several incidents, but everyone had died?
At first, she thought the woman from before was exaggerating. Even the informants from the guild seemed a bit dramatic. But the shopkeeper’s next words made Bella’s expression turn serious.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? I’ve seen people go mad and die in haunted houses, sure, but I’ve never seen corpses so horribly mangled.”
“When was that?”
“The owner right before you. That’s why the mansion was sold at such a ridiculous price.”
So it had happened fairly recently.
Bella sighed and nodded, finally understanding.
“Ah. No wonder it was so cheap. It’s such a large and beautiful house—they said it once belonged to a duke, too.”
Seeing Bella seem to grasp the seriousness of it, the shopkeeper clasped her hands in both of his and pleaded.
“Miss, please reconsider moving. If you truly have nowhere else to stay, I’ll give you a room in my house.”
But this was Bella we’re talking about. She absolutely detested the idea of freeloading off someone else and was obsessed with owning her own home.
With a refreshed expression, Bella rejected the offer without hesitation.
“I appreciate the thought.”
“Miss… please think it over again. The only person who ever owned that mansion and lived to tell the tale is His Majesty the King.”
“…His Majesty?”
That was news to her. Bella tilted her head. The mansion had been owned by a duke until a century ago—why would the royal family have had it afterward?
Well, unclaimed land was usually transferred to the crown. Still, if the royal family truly intended to revive this village, shouldn’t they have torn down the haunted mansion and built something new?
Lost in thought, Bella shook her head slightly.
Well, who could really understand the ways of the high and mighty? Overthinking would only harm her mental health.
“It’s true! The hauntings got so bad that the royal family started managing the village directly, even sending a noble to act on their behalf.”
“Then the house I bought was originally royal property?”
“Yes. The ghosts scared everyone off, so the royal family held onto it. But some businessman obsessed with that kind of thing bought it for a hefty sum—and met a terrible end. Then came the string of deaths.”
“Hmm, thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.”
It was definitely suspicious. Still, judging by how the kingdom had been on a slow decline for years, maybe all this was just the result of noble incompetence.
At this point, the monarchy, nobility, and temple were all fighting for power—engaged in a tug-of-war. Each side tried to win over the people by encouraging economic activity and supporting commoner enterprises.
Because of that, even commoners who succeeded in business could receive honorary noble status.
Given the current state of the monarchy, it was entirely possible they had no capacity to manage an entire duchy themselves.
“Be careful, miss. The higher-ups are always tangled in the worst messes.”
“Thanks for worrying! I’ll be going now!”
Though the shopkeeper tried repeatedly to change her mind, Bella drew the line with a bright smile and left the store.
“Mmm, well, if things get really bad, I can always appeal to the royal family for protection.”
If someone seriously threatened her, maybe she could get temporary shelter.
Bella actually felt reassured. It was like having insurance. Now it was time to deal with whoever dared to threaten her.
Skipping back home, she hummed cheerfully—completely unaware of what might fall into her trap.
Back at the mansion, Bella spent the evening happily holed up in the storage room, humming to herself.
Plink. A tiny pebble rolled and tapped against a bucket beside her.
“Mister Ghost?”
“……”
Of course, there was no reply—but Bella greeted the ghost naturally anyway.
The storage room door was shut, so Bella was confident this was the ghost’s doing. She held up one of her traps.
“See this? This is what’s going to protect us.”
“……”
“Uh, was it too forward to say ‘us’? You probably won’t answer anyway. That’s fine. I don’t mind talking to myself.”
Flick. The fishing line she was holding gave a slight tremble.
“Hmm, I’m not sure what that was in response to. But if you really are here, Mister Ghost, could you shake the line twice?”
To make it easier, Bella pulled the fishing line taut.
Flick. It trembled once, then stopped.
And then—
“…Oh.”
It shook a second time.
Eyes widening, Bella quickly looked around. Of course, even if a ghost was there, she wouldn’t be able to see it.
Collecting herself, she pulled the line taut again.
“If the answer is yes, shake the line once. If no, shake it twice, okay?”
The line gave a single shake.
That meant yes.
Bella felt a chill run down her spine from excitement.
Oh my gosh. Ghosts really existed! Not just legends or rumors—one that could communicate with her!
“Um… are you male, Mister Ghost?”
Flick. One shake.
“Am I making you uncomfortable? I’m sorry, but this mansion belongs to me now. I don’t want to fight with you over it.”
Flick. One shake. So he wasn’t uncomfortable.
Bella sighed in relief. Then, hesitating slightly, she asked a question that might be too personal.
“Were you… killed?”
The line didn’t move for a while. Thinking she had gone too far, Bella was about to pull the line away when—
Flick.
One shake.
He had answered.
