“I was just taking a walk… Oh, right.”

His question sparked a forgotten curiosity.

I tried to appear as innocent as possible and spoke up.

“But Duke, didn’t you bring me here because you needed an heir? I heard from Mina that I don’t have to attend classes…”

Yes, that was puzzling.

Surely, the Duke of Everdeen needed an heir to interact with people and manage the estate publicly, which was why I was brought here, wasn’t it?

It would make sense for me to attend classes all day to prepare for practical work as soon as possible, yet I was told I didn’t need to.

“…That’s…”

The Duke seemed taken aback by my question, momentarily at a loss for words.

“That’s…”

He looked quite conflicted. His furrowed brows contrasted with his downward-sloping eyes, making it hard to guess what he was thinking.

…Why did I feel guilty just looking at that face? I hadn’t even caused any trouble yet.

After a brief silence, the Duke asked me cautiously.

“Do you want to attend classes?”

Strictly speaking, that wasn’t the case, but to cause some trouble, I needed to have something to do. I nodded vigorously with a bright smile.

“Yes! Yes! I really want to! I can do well!”

“…Then I’ll tell Sebastian to call back those responsible for your education. I should have asked for your opinion first. I’m sorry for deciding on my own.”

“Oh… no, it’s okay…”

His sincere apology made me struggle once again to hide my awkward feelings.

I should have felt satisfied since I achieved my goal, but for some reason, a part of me felt uneasy.

* * *

“…”

After Teresia left the office, Valerian quietly stared at the stack of papers on his desk.

‘Master, it seems… Miss Teresia has had a much harder time than we thought.’

Last night.

Sebastian, who would normally never disturb his master at such a late hour, knocked on the office door with a somber expression.

Valerian had his suspicions too.

It wasn’t common for an eight-year-old child to smile and say she didn’t have to worry about food or clothes instead of being scared of ghosts.

But after hearing what Sebastian and Mina had to say, it was even more shocking.

‘I’ve ordered a reinvestigation, but it will take time to receive an accurate report with our current resources. For now, I’ve brought the previous investigation materials.’

Sebastian placed the report, which contained a brief investigation of the Oblene Viscount’s estate before Teresia came here, on the desk and bowed deeply.

After Sebastian left, Valerian sat in the dark office, lost in thought for a long time.

A child who hadn’t been able to be an ‘ordinary child’ for even a moment in the past few years after losing her mother.

Could he really throw her into the role of ‘heir,’ which was the least childlike position, just as an excuse to protect Everdeen?

‘…No.’

The answer was ‘no.’

Seeing people tremble in fear at the mere sight of him, Valerian had left the external management of the estate to his retainers.

But as they say, time wears down even the hardest stone.

The retainers, who were once loyal, had subtly begun to embezzle the wealth meant for the Duke’s house.

Of course, they acted innocent when reporting to him, but Valerian wasn’t so dull as to miss those subtle differences.

However, if he got rid of them, the channel of communication with the outside world would disappear completely, so he had turned a blind eye for the time being…

‘Originally, I planned to sort things out as soon as I brought in an heir.’

Valerian ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

‘But if I do that, they won’t leave the child alone…’

For the time being.

Valerian thought that Teresia needed at least a month to rest her weary body and mind.

‘Sebastian, contact Baron Ganess. Inform him that he doesn’t need to come for classes for the time being.’

* * *

I had successfully regained the opportunity to stir up some trouble during my meeting with the Duke and returned to my room with Rick.

Then I pressed him for the answer about the ghost that I hadn’t heard earlier.

<…Alright, but let go of me first.>

“No way. Tell me like this.”

<Do you realize that I am a teddy bear? Even if you choke me, I won’t run out of breath.>

Clever little thing. I glared at Rick, holding the ends of the red ribbon tied around his neck in each hand, then clicked my tongue and let go.

Rick adjusted his ribbon with his round hands and began to speak.

<She looked like a fairly young woman. Her height was… about this tall. She seemed to be in her early twenties?>

Rick gestured in the air with his stubby hand.

I confirmed that the height he indicated was just shy of Mina’s and asked, “Since she entered the mansion, has she done anything unusual?”

<She was enthusiastically harassing the servants. Trying to trip them as they went down the stairs or dropping things from high places. The people here aren’t actually dead; they’re just living people whose appearances have been erased.>

“…That’s dangerous.”

<What’s dangerous?>

I ignored Rick’s question, lost in thought.

When a person dies and becomes a ‘ghost,’ nine times out of ten, their personality from life gets an added trait of ‘mischief.’

It’s their way of expressing regret that they can’t affect the living world anymore.

But when that mischief is no longer just ‘mischief,’ the story changes.

‘That ghost seems to be trying to kill someone.’

I frowned, feeling troubled.

A strong ghost, persistently tormenting the servants. Such relentless harassment of humans suggested a purpose. That purpose was likely to become an evil spirit as quickly as possible by repeatedly harming humans.

Once they become an evil spirit, it could directly interfere with living people and, if they were fortunate, even take their lives.

‘It could hurt the servants…’

The people of the Everdeen mansion, whose appearances were erased but were still alive.

In a flash, the faces of the Duke, Sebastian, Mina, the knights, and others I had encountered in the mansion came to mind.

“…Oh, damn.”

<What’s wrong?>

Rick asked, seemingly surprised by my sudden curse after being silent for so long.

Without responding, I set him down on the bed and lay down flat.

<Terry?>

Rick called me again. I clasped my hands over my belly and looked determinedly.

“I have to catch that ghost.”

Yes. This was just a small favor for giving me a chance to cause some trouble.

And since I was a completely living person who had entered the mansion, that ghost would target me too.

This was, in a way, just preemptively blocking a threat that might come my way. Yes, that’s all it was.

<…What did you say?>

Meanwhile, Rick reacted a beat late to my words. If he had any facial expressions, I was sure he’d be frowning, so I spoke with my eyes closed.

“I need to sleep now if I want to stay awake later.”

<Hey, are you in your right mind? How do you plan to…>

“So wake me up at night, okay? I’m counting on you.”

<No, wait…>

I stopped speaking there and quickly shut my mouth.

After that, Rick muttered a few more words that were close to nagging and dissuasion, but when I didn’t respond, he soon fell silent.

* * *

Alright, time to start the operation!

I opened my eyes brightly at almost midnight, prompted by Rick’s reluctant call.

Holding Rick in both arms—despite some resistance—I tiptoed out of the room.

As I stepped into the dark hallway, ghosts occasionally brushed past me. With my heels raised, I whispered softly to Rick while looking around.

“Where was the last place you saw that woman? Didn’t you hear anything else from the other ghosts?”

<Do you think I’m going to answer?>

“Oh, come on. You sure talk a lot for someone under orders from your sister.”