Though he said to read the letters downstairs, she was seated in a dining chair instead of the sofa where she could see the ghost in the front row. The meal they ended up sharing together eventually extended into teatime.

Johan, despite his characteristically indifferent face, attended to May quite attentively. However, May didn’t find it as welcome as before.

The man whose attitude and gaze had become notably gentler ironically made his somewhat rough original personality stand out more because of this very change. And that discrepancy led to aversion.

For May, who had lived her entire life being mindful of others’ reactions, his previous indifferent kindness had resonated more. Now it felt somewhat like, how should she put it, an act.

‘Though there’s probably no reason for that….’

Shaking off her thoughts, May tried to focus on her conversation with Johan. She knew that was the fastest way to end this situation.

“……Is there a specific way to get rid of things like ghosts?”

“A way to get rid of ghosts? Hmm, using physical force? If you keep hitting them with holy objects, they all eventually repent and go to the afterlife. Sometimes they even completely disappear.”

Somehow it sounded like he had always made them disappear.

“T-then grandfather……”

“Well, ‘it’ is a ghost too.”

At Johan’s casual affirmation, May made a face as if she’d heard something horrible.

“The old man…. hitting……”

Seeing her pale face as she muttered, unable to continue speaking, Johan shrugged his shoulders. He added that it wasn’t her family but rather residual dregs lingering in this world.

She had heard this before. But….

‘That’s nonsense….’

Gloom gathered in May’s dark eyes. To say he wasn’t her family just because he was dead and became a ghost. Even if she had no memories of him… no, rather because of that, it was something she wanted to deny even more.

What May wanted wasn’t to eliminate the ghostly grandfather but to liberate him who seemed to be suffering even as a ghost. She wished for him to go not to this world but to the afterlife, the path he was originally meant to take.

But Johan said May’s sympathy was an unnecessary emotion. He said compassion or mercy was a luxury for beings that couldn’t take their original path….

“Even if it’s residual dr… a ghost, shouldn’t we respect the e-elderly? So maybe using a slightly more moderate method……”

“Respect for the elderly? I didn’t know that applied to souls too.”

Though his voice was questioning, the answer was already set. While he didn’t add more words as he looked at May’s pale face,

“Shall we read the letters you haven’t seen yet together?”

His playful face showing no emotion as he changed the subject told May what the unspoken answer was.

* * *

In the end, May couldn’t go up to her room even after teatime ended. She had to sit on the first-floor sofa where she could see grandfather and read letters with Johan.

Most of the numerous letters were from ‘Herman Vicenti.’ And their contents weren’t much different from what May had first read. If there was any difference, it was in the level of direct criticism.

May put down the letter with a tired face after reading all sorts of crude language.

‘……Should I be glad grandfather didn’t read these.’

Seeing that more than half the letters still had their seals intact, she could somewhat understand Herman’s anger, but still. Even so, she was shocked by the curses she had never seen before.

Watching May’s tired face, Johan waved the letter he was holding. It was a signal that this one contained proper content, not criticism.

“‘Chloe’ was your grandmother’s name, right?”

And at that question, the ghost who had been slowly but continuously wandering the first floor suddenly stopped. It was the first change since arriving at the mansion. The old man who stood still somewhere other than in front of the door soon slumped more heavily than usual.

“Huh…?”

May’s eyes widened at his upper body bending eerily toward the ground, and Johan’s lips curved up as if he had been waiting for this. His expression looked somewhat evil. Because of this, as soon as she flinched, he added in a light tone.

“The grudge is weighing down his soul.”

“Ah……”

“To explain simply, it means there’s a reason he can’t leave this world.”

The deeper the grudge, the heavier the soul becomes. With unresolved resentment weighing him down, the path to the afterlife would be distant. Johan explained this while looking down at the letter he was holding. May swallowed hard before finally speaking.

“I don’t know grandmother’s name…. Is there a story about grandmother written there?”

“Yes, probably. And it seems he did something terribly wrong to your grandmother… that is, to Chloe.”

As if confirming Johan’s words, the soul sank even further. Now it looked as if his body was literally melting away.

May noticed the change in the compass in her pocket at the same time. Brrr. The vibration was stronger than usual. Johan narrowed his eyes as he noticed where May’s startled gaze was directed.

“Earlier, you asked about ways to eliminate souls, right?”

“……Huh? Yes.”

“Actually, the first thing to do is find elements that can stimulate that soul.”

“Ah……”

“Nothing is weaker than an agitated soul.”

And it seems ‘Chloe’ is the stimulus for that soul.

After saying this, before May could say anything, Johan immediately began reading the letter aloud.

“As I said before, I was the one who told Miss Chloe about your engagement.”

His golden eyes occasionally glanced at the soul grotesquely stretched almost to the floor. It looked as if he was checking something.

“And she had anticipated that you would become engaged to another woman. But do you think a woman would really leave you for that reason?”

‘Leave?’

May, who had been looking back and forth between Johan and grandfather, blinked at this sudden story. It was new information that hadn’t been written in the letters she had read.

Didn’t he say that ‘Chloe’ seemed to be grandmother’s name? To speak of engagement while having her, and grandmother leaving…. It was overwhelming to organize all the incoming information. Meanwhile, Johan’s voice continued.

“There must have been another reason. That’s probably why she hid having Emily too. Anyway, at that time, she rather asked me. Not to blame your actions. What a foolish woman……”

Johan took his eyes off the letter he was reading and stared at the soul while adding.

“Chloe was truly a foolish person.”

He seemed to be deliberately provoking grandfather. Judging by how black liquid began dripping at the feet of the old man who had bent over as soon as those words ended.

May looked at the old man with surprised eyes. Though his face wasn’t clearly visible, she could immediately tell that the black liquid was tears. The more the black puddle grew, the more the old man’s body bent. Even for a soul without a physical body, it looked quite painful.

Meanwhile, the vibrating compass had already stopped moving. Johan seemed to notice that too as he rose from the sofa. While stopping May who tried to stand up with him.

“I don’t know what the cause and effect is, but this is a good opportunity. Since the compass’s power has weakened, we can get rid of that ghost for now.”

In his hand, a spherical mass of magic power had already formed. It was something she had seen a few times at House Hale. Since the second son Derrick Hale was a promising mage, the Duke would show off his son like an exhibition piece whenever he had the chance.

But what she saw then and what she was seeing now were definitely different. Derrick had only shown magic power of a size suitable for guests to see. Unlike that violently fluctuating sphere of magic power right in front of her eyes now. May realized this was what Johan meant by ‘using physical force.’ And as soon as she grasped this, she jumped up.

She urgently hugged Johan’s waist. Even if grandfather was truly a bad being as he said, she couldn’t just watch as the powerlessly crouched old man dripping black tears was about to be hit by the magic sphere. Whether it was shallow family affection or sympathy, she didn’t know.

“Don’t do it…!”

Her voice, like a shrill scream, was quite desperate. And before May’s words ended, the compass in her pocket moved swiftly. As it floated, extending its chain, it spread golden energy to shield the old man’s soul. The scattered energy wrapped around the soul in several layers, as if creating a barrier.

Johan raised his eyebrow at the incident that happened in an instant.