“You rascal! You embezzled the inheritance left for Iphia and squandered it on gambling?! In that case, I should also… the gold bars you hid…!”

“Stop! Stop!”

The Viscount shouted urgently, not even aware of what he was saying.

Just before he could clamp my mouth shut, I completely changed my expression, as if I hadn’t just been yelling like a madwoman, and stuck my tongue out with a cute smile.

“…That’s all I heard him say!”

Then I glared at the Viscount, who was staring at me with a dumbfounded look.

You. The gold bars. I know exactly where they are. Be careful.

“…!”

The Viscount seemed to understand the meaning in my gaze, swallowing hard with a pale face.

Of course, even if I knew where the gold bars were, it would be difficult to sneak them out from the vault deep within the mansion without the Viscount noticing.

However, thanks to my words, the servants who learned about the existence of the gold bars, or thieves who would hear this rumor, would find them a very tempting target.

The Viscount probably wouldn’t sleep well for a while, worrying about his gold bars.

And crucially, it might cause Carlotta to explode with rage upon finding out that her husband secretly stashed away money for gambling without her knowing.

‘I hadn’t bothered with them because I didn’t want to associate with them, but now the situation is different, isn’t it?’

Let’s see how long that legendary love lasts.

Feeling a weight lift off my shoulders, I turned around with a fresh smile.

“Let’s go!”

For some reason, the old man from the Duke of Everdeen was staring at me with a blank expression.

As I tilted my head while stepping into the carriage and looked at him, the old man finally came to his senses and followed me inside.

Soon, the carriage began to move. I stuck my head out the window and shouted loudly.

“Dad! Send my regards to Mom! Promise you will-!”

I watched with satisfaction as the Viscount’s face twisted in frustration and slammed the window shut.

In doing so, I missed seeing the old man sitting across from me looking as if he had seen a ghost.

* * *

On this continent where the Empire of Kremwieden was located, the closer you got to the west, the warmer it became, and the closer you got to the east, the colder it got.

Among these places, the Duke of Everdeen’s territory was in the eastern part of the Empire, shaped like a round diamond, or more precisely, like a vertically positioned sweet potato.

For these reasons, the Duke of Everdeen’s territory was known to have a lower average temperature than other regions of the Empire. Sebastian, the Duke’s butler, handed me a generously tailored coat that seemed hastily repaired.

“I wanted to have a new one made for you, but due to the poor circumstances of our duchy, this was the only coat that could fit you right now. I’m sorry.”

Sebastian handed me a piece of paper with neatly written, elegant handwriting. He looked genuinely apologetic.

‘It’s alright.’

I rolled my eyes inwardly.

After all, during my time at the Viscount’s house, I never wore anything that could be called good quality clothing.

I would secretly take Lawrence’s old clothes, which the maids discarded, and cleverly patch them onto my existing clothes.

‘If it weren’t for the ghosts helping me, they’d have been nothing more than rags.’

In contrast, the coat Sebastian offered looked a bit large and clumsy, but it was meticulously crafted and appeared very clean and warm.

Most importantly, despite the poor financial state, the fact that they quickly repaired a coat out of concern for my health warmed my heart.

However…

“It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. If I don’t want to catch a cold, I have to wear something like this, I suppose.”

I deliberately spoke words I didn’t mean, accepting the coat with feigned indifference.

When the Viscount decided to send me to the Everdeen mansion for adoption, I made a resolution to myself.

To get disowned faster than anyone else, in a way unlike others.

To achieve that, I needed to make myself as disliked as possible by the people of the Duke’s house.

By whining and throwing tantrums over every little thing, and by pretending to be a child who loved nothing more than playing and lazing around instead of studying, they would soon realize that I wasn’t fit to be an heir and start worrying.

Should we really make this kid the heir to the Duke’s house? At this rate, wouldn’t our already bleak future disappear without a trace? And so on.

By the time they started thinking like that, if I caused a big incident like I did in front of the Viscount Oblene earlier?

That would be the end, the end. Nothing more to see.

When I returned, the Viscount Oblene would probably throw a fit with all his might, but what could he do? The Duke’s house itself would be rejecting me.

Besides, by then, Carlotta’s anger would have subsided a bit. Hmm, perfect.

I finished imagining myself being kicked out of Everdeen and returning to my room at the Oblene mansion, and smirked inwardly.

‘Sorry, Sebastian.’

After sending a silent apology to him, I slipped my arms into the coat with the most prickly and haughty expression I could muster.

“?”

It got tangled.

“Huh.”

As I flailed about with my arm halfway in the coat, unable to find the sleeve hole, I saw Sebastian stifling a laugh.

You think this is funny, huh?

When I glared at him with a disgruntled look, Sebastian, who had picked up a pen with dignity, wrote something on a piece of paper and showed it to me.

“Miss, may I assist you?”

“No, I can do it myse…”

Oh, shoot.

“…Please help.”

Trying not to be conscious of my awkward, doll-like posture, I bowed my head as humbly as I could.

Sebastian chuckled, shook his shoulders, and quickly helped me into the coat properly, even fastening the buttons with a swift, precise touch.

I looked down at his quick and accurate hands in disbelief, and when I looked up, he was openly smiling.

Right, you think I can’t see your face? But I can see everything, you know?

“It suits you very well.”

“…”

I didn’t respond and closed my eyes. It wasn’t because I was embarrassed, but because I was sleepy. Definitely not because I was embarrassed.

* * *

After traveling for several more days, we finally arrived at the Duke of Everdeen’s territory, at the mansion located in its center.

“It seems we’ve arrived. I’ll help you down, so please be careful.”

“I can get down by myself.”

Turning my head sharply away from Sebastian, who was reaching out to help me, I got off the carriage on my own.

I heard a small laugh from behind, and then he followed me onto the ground.

While he was thanking the coachman for his service, I was overwhelmed by the grandeur of the mansion before me and couldn’t help but widen my eyes.

The Everdeen mansion was truly large, beautiful, and also…

‘Wow, there are so many ghosts…’

It was a ghost den.

I wasn’t sure if it was because of a curse, but the whole mansion was filled with a gloomy aura.

I couldn’t tell if that aura was due to the ghosts flying around the mansion or the people of the Everdeen mansion who had turned into ghosts.

But in the end, they were all ghosts, of course. Although calling the people of the Everdeen mansion full-fledged ghosts was a bit of a stretch…

‘I understand now why people were so scared.’

The atmosphere was more eerie than an abandoned house.

Ordinary people usually can’t sense the presence of ghosts, but when a certain number gather like this, living people feel a strange discomfort and fear.

I could see the ghosts, so I knew the cause, but that didn’t mean it felt good.

‘I better be careful.’

I tried not to make eye contact with the ghosts laughing and flitting around in the air, keeping my eyes wide open.

I’m just a spoiled and arrogant kid. I don’t know anything about ghosts or whatever.

Repeating this to myself, I followed Sebastian into the mansion.

Even as we climbed to the Duke’s office, I encountered more ghosts than I could count on my fingers.

I secretly folded my fingers one by one, eventually giving up on counting them.

‘It seems like the people of the Duke’s house can’t see the ghosts.’

Sebastian, standing in front of me, seemed oblivious to the few ghosts curiously circling around us.

So many ghosts.

The half-ghost people of the Everdeen mansion.

And among them, the only living person was I, Teresia Oblene.

‘What an extraordinary mansion.’