Chapter 46. The Weight of Revealing a Name
Count Karl stood up properly, tidying his disheveled clothes, and carefully cradled the unconscious Bella in his arms.
The servants were puzzled but relieved, believing their master had won and exhaled deeply.
However, the moment they saw the eyes of Count Karl holding Bella, the servants couldn’t help but feel a terror that death was right before them.
“Oh my. It seems you didn’t know that you shouldn’t carelessly tell your name to a spirit.”
The slow, relaxed tone was not that of their master.
An evil spirit had entered Count Karl’s body.
Some of the servants who had thought quickly fled again. Now, only six remained.
“Duke Arle. The culprit. Duke Prelord. Cheire Prelord. Temple. Contract. Assassination. Hmm, it seems these words are safe to say.”
“……”
“The royal treasures number three. One is in the form of a bracelet, another a pendant, and the last a ring. Each holds a mysterious power, and that power… seems not to be involved here either.”
Cheire muttered to himself, ignoring the servants, and started walking toward the reception room’s door. He judged it best to first lay Bella down on the bed and then calmly think things through.
“…Eek!”
The servants gathered nearby quickly inhaled sharply, their eyes darting around to observe Cheire without moving.
Only then did Cheire realize there were still people present and asked in a calm, almost gentle tone.
“Oh. You haven’t fled yet? Looks like you want to stay with me, huh?”
“N-no, we don’t!”
This time, the servants hesitated, then all left the reception room.
Following the servants, Cheire stepped out, quietly lowering Bella, who was limp in his arms, onto the bed.
It was the first time he had touched Bella like this.
If only the situation hadn’t been so urgent.
Leaving behind a slight regret, Cheire reached the bedroom and laid Bella gently on the bed.
Then he headed straight to the first floor of the mansion. As Cheire expected, the fleeing servants were scrambling to start the carriages.
The servants spotted Cheire wearing Count Karl’s appearance, startled but cautiously spoke.
“L-lord Count?”
Seeing their hesitation, Cheire let out a faint, mocking smile.
“Your master you served is no longer here.”
“We truly have nothing to do with this! Please, please…!”
The servants frantically signaled the construction workers for help, but the workers, as if used to this kind of situation, didn’t even glance their way.
Eventually, the quick-witted ones abandoned their carriages and ran away wildly, while the unlucky few, frozen by Cheire’s overwhelming presence, couldn’t flee and were forced to endure Cheire’s deadly gaze.
“Do any of you know about Count Karl’s plans or conspiracies?”
“H-here are all of the count’s belongings!”
One of the servants mustered courage and handed a bundle to Cheire.
Cheire checked inside and tossed it down. There wasn’t much of use.
Wondering what to do with the servants, Cheire crossed his arms in thought, then quickly decided.
Uncrossing his arms, he lightly placed his hand on the shoulder of the nearest servant. Then, with a smile as lovely as a blooming flower, he beamed.
“A curse.”
With that, the servant collapsed.
That was all.
As soon as he said the word “curse,” Cheire felt a bursting sensation in his chest and spat out hot blood.
Count Karl coughed up blood and died, causing the servants to scream, abandon their belongings, and flee.
“It’s an evil spirit! It’s the curse of an evil spirit! A ghost… killed a person!”
Beside the dead Count Karl, a spirit stood unseen by anyone.
“…An evil spirit and a curse.”
That was Cheire, snapped out of shock at Karl’s death.
Until now, the fear of ghosts had been a fabricated lie, but from now on, it was fact and truth.
Deciding that from ghost to evil spirit was a resolution for Cheire.
To protect.
Though the target was undefined — even Cheire wasn’t sure what or whom he was protecting.
Sunlight peeked through the curtains, causing Bella to squint slightly before heavily lifting her trembling eyelids.
“…Am I alive?”
Having awakened after three days, her voice was cracked and dry.
Suddenly feeling the fear of being alone, Bella bolted upright.
Upon waking, she saw Cheire reading a newspaper, sitting in his usual place, unchanged and steady as ever.
“Yes. Everything’s been handled well, so don’t worry and rest a bit more.”
But Bella forced her weak body to get up and staggered toward Cheire.
“What happened? That, that Count Treshy…?”
“He’s dead.”
The answer was so plain that Bella took a moment to fully understand.
Barely steadying her throat, Bella collapsed beside Cheire. She had no strength left.
Cheire had allowed her to occupy her body, but after that, her memories were cut off.
“Did Count Karl step down willingly? How did you manage that? Teach me your secret too.”
“Hm.”
“Why? Did you make some deal with Count Karl?”
“No. Don’t you see anything yourself?”
Cheire folded the newspaper and asked Bella.
Puzzled by his vague question, Bella tilted her head.
“What should I be seeing?”
“So many people died in this mansion, yet you can’t see a single soul.”
After Counts Treshy and Karl’s visit, Cheire had frantically searched for information for three days.
Having experienced a mysterious power different from divinity — a curse — he knew he had to dig deeper.
Somehow, Cheire had a hunch that the curse was the key to his death and the forces behind it.
Why couldn’t Cheire, a spirit himself, see any other souls?
Even when Count Karl died, he couldn’t see his soul. Was there some difference between their deaths and his own?
“I’m asking just in case — you didn’t kill Count Karl and then get rid of the servants too, did you?”
Recalling that day, Bella’s voice whispered in Cheire’s ear.
He had expected her to be depressed or mentally drained after such a crisis, but instead, Bella’s eyes were clear, as if she had rested well.
It was a relief. He had worried she might be afraid of him.
Cheire breathed a soft sigh of relief and answered gently.
“I didn’t kill them.”
“Phew, that’s a relief. If you killed a noble, someone like me would get executed on the spot.”
“He’s dead.”
“…Huh?”
Bella’s eyes widened at his contradictory words.
If he hadn’t killed them, what did he mean by ‘he’s dead’?
Noticing Bella’s confusion, Cheire clarified.
“He’s dead. Killed by a curse, so no one can blame anyone for their deaths.”
“A curse? So it wasn’t some nonsense story?”
Bella suddenly sat up, shaking off her lethargy.
“Yes. Count Karl died because of a curse. Seeing that, the servants thought an evil spirit possessed your body and killed Count Karl, so they fled in terror.”
“This is crazy — a curse. The world’s gone mad.”
Bella exhaled bitterly and slumped back into her chair.
Even as a servant in a noble family, she had never experienced anything like this.
Since this country had temples and a pope, the existence of curses was a huge problem.
In a way, Bella was now embroiled in a national-level issue, no longer just a personal matter.
“But thanks to my infamous reputation, no one will bother us for a while.”
Especially those who use curses would hold back for fear of investigation. It was a brief truce or peace.
“That’s good news. I should finish the construction quickly and get things running properly.”
Bella immediately revived her energy, cheerfully stretching.
“Don’t you think you should rest a bit more?”
“Why rest? I was about to be dragged off and killed by Count Karl, and now I can breathe and live. I want to move and breathe more!”
Smiling widely, Bella neatly tied her long gray hair.
Cheire watched her with a worried gaze and spoke first.
“Did you choose soap, candles, and perfume for the factory because of the size and appearance?”
“That’s part of it, but I also expect the whole kingdom to go crazy for luxury goods, especially the commoners called citizens.”
While gathering product samples and the craftsmen’s lists brought by the workers, Bella explained.
Though she appeared calm on the outside, her heart was racing with excitement.
A dream close to a fantasy she had imagined in her mind every night was now about to become reality.
The only problem was her body, which didn’t cooperate well after contact with the ghost.
“What will you do if you make a lot of money?”
“I want to renovate the mansion nicely, expand the business, and even start a flower business.”
“And if you make even more money after that?”
Blinking and lost in thought, Bella unknowingly uttered what was deep inside her.
“…Family?”
For a moment, the room was engulfed in silence.
