I tried to climb the stairs, waving my hands as if I were annoyed.
If it wasnât for the spirit who suddenly caught me off guard.
When I turned around and looked at the place where the maid had fallen, the spirits who had been scattered and watching were huddled together.
âCrazy⊠how many spirits are there?â
It looked like a bunch of black fur had gathered. The way the foggy things sit around and watchedâŠâŠ.
âWhat do you want me to help you with?â
[The Marquis killed usâŠ]
The Marquis of Heli who sold this place to the Grand Duke?
[Marquis of Heli. He killed usâŠâŠ.]
When one of the spirits brought up the name of the Marquis of Heli, everyone began to buzz and get excited.
All my plans to shut my eyes and ignore them went up in smoke.
Thanks to these leech-biting spirits, I was stranded.
When I sighed deeply, Hardin worriedly asked me if I was okay.
âGo up there and look out for the Grand Duke if he comes out of the office.â
His eyes were like, âWhat are you doing alone in the hall where only the dim moonlight shines?â
It was a brief moment, but Hardinâs eyes said so.
âDonât make me say it twice, go up.â
Still, Hardinâs hostility toward me has completely disappeared since he visited the empress.
I was worried about what if he didnât believe me and did something else.
Hardin left his position, and I faced the spirits looking at him with narrowed eyes.
âNow tell me. What did the Marquis of Heli do?â
[Things that donât even look like humansâŠ.]
[We canât end it like this.]
When the spirit, who had entered the maidâs body, began to rhyme, each person uttered a word and hummed.
âYou speak as a representative.â
Marquis, no, the reason why they canât leave this place, is now the Grand Dukeâs responsibility.
âLowly things are pretty.â
âTonight Iâll take care of you.â
âYou useless asshole. You canât do it right?â
âCome here. Iâm gonna have to get you drunk today.â
The story I heard from the spirits was disgusting to the point of vomiting.
The story of the disgusting Marquis of Heli who violated, molested, and even sexually assaulted the maids.
And the marquess, who knew such a husband but pretended not to know, and instead attacked the maids.
[People get beaten together every dayâŠ.]
Whether itâs because their shoes didnât get polished properly, their words are angry, and the food is bad.
Marquis and Marquess who used violence for various reasons every time.
âSo you all died together?â
[No⊠We couldnât stand the marquisâ atrocities and decided to quit together.]
Their real story started now.
[The Marquis of Heli noticed. That nightâŠâŠ. They called us all back to the annex.]
And the burning ceremony that started.
âYou lowly things. Iâve taken you in, yet you donât even know your place!â
âHelp me! Please help me!â
âWhoâs going to save you? Youâre an orphan with no parents to feed you and put you to sleep.â
A cowardly and mean person
A shallow person who thinks only of people as tools
It was horrifying that only children in such a situation were brought to work for them on purpose.
[Help me. We donât want to leave like this.]
Through the black smoke of the spirits, the faces they had when they were alive were dimly reflected.
Young faces that would have just made their debut in society if they were an aristocrat.
Moistening my dry lips throughout the story, I gave them a choice.
âChoose between the two.â
âShould we hold a formal trial to get a reasonable punishment?â
The spirits mouthed and made strange noises as if they were criticizing.
These will spirits should listen to a person until the end when they speak.
âDo you want to kill them without them realizing it?â
The sound stopped for a moment, and the round eyes of the spirits were getting bigger.
At first, I didnât want any profanity to happen in the mansion where I had to stay.
But after hearing their story,
âHardin, I know youâre listening. Come down.â
An intolerable rage enveloped my body.
ââŠâŠyou know everything.â
Hardin, who was hiding like a shadow and eavesdropping on their conversation, jumped off the railing on the third floor.
âYou heard, didnât you?â
âShould I kill the Marquis of Heli?â
Hardin had a very good understanding. Even without hearing the voices of the spirits.
âJust kill the marquis. Spare his wife.â
âCan I ask you one thing?â
Even the one who saved his brother and his own life would wonder.
Mumbling to yourself in a hall where thereâs no one and then deciding to kill a marquis out of nowhere.
âWhat has the Marquis done?â
The atrocities of the Marquis of Heli that are dirty to say.
But more than that, I couldnât talk about the pitiful spirits that only I saw.
âSomething bad enough to die for.â
âI made up my mind when I came back alive from the hands of the empress today.â
Hardinâs eyes were shining in the deep blue darkness.
âI will obey whatever the masterâs orders are.â
âThatâs a good idea. So thereâs nothing to lose.â
âThere are many questions I want to ask even in the order you just issued, but I will follow them.â
As he said so, Hardin disappeared far beyond the wide window.
The Grand Duke knew that Marquis and his wife sold the capitalâs mansion and went down to their territory.
The Marquis lost a lot of money gambling.
When I heard that, I thought he was a pathetic person.
âDirty little thing.â
Seeing Hardin disappearing far away, the spirits hummed among themselves and expressed joy.
[The Marquisâ wife is⊠Why do you keep her aliveâŠâŠ?]
âSheâs going to die.â
I donât want to waste the air I breathe, so Iâll have to kill her right away.
The woman who lost her husband will die of fear. Isnât it too merciful to kill her nicely?
âShe bears the same sin since sheâs been watching such a thing, so Iâll let her die alone while watching her husbandâs death.â
âAre you feeling better now?â
Will the death of those humans make their grudge disappear?
But this is all I can do for the spirits.
âIâm sorry. This is all I can do.â
Their original faces, which were white and pretty, are slowly revealed.
[Youâre the only one who listened to usâŠ.]
Souls younger than me finally have a smile on their faces.
[Please. May your future be filled with good luckâŠâŠ.]
Those who have finished their thin lives quietly close their eyes to ascend to heaven.
Good bye, you did a great job.
With the last goodbye I couldnât convey, I watched the spirits flying in shining powder.
[What if you want to kill someone?]
I wondered why the old lady didnât nag me.