‘−Why did that suddenly come out?’

If it was an ancient book, I had a memory of secretly reading a little bit of it next to Lutis when I was in the territory.

…… I didn’t know exactly what was written because I didn’t have much talent in ancient languages.

Aeli looked back at Lutis, thinking that there might have been something she missed in the contents of the book that she had not read properly.

It was also then that Noel, who had been staring intently at the ancient book in her hand, opened his mouth.

“What is this?”

Noel asked, raising one eyebrow while running his thumb over the cover of the old book.

To that, Lutis answered while glancing at Aeli.

“As I’ve been saying, I’m not out of my mind, bewitched by a swindler, or crazy like the Count thinks.”

“……”

“And yet, do you think I would have believed it without a doubt just because Aeli appeared in front of my eyes?”

“…… So.”

At Noel’s response with a furrowed brow, Lutis pointed his chin towards the ancient book and continued.

“I could see her since she was a ghost as my wife. I didn’t realize it from the beginning, but I had a suspicion that some being existed, and when I went down to the territory, I could clearly see her.”

“……”

“As you can see, I found the method in the ancient book the Count is holding.”

As Lutis nodded his head as if to tell him to check, Noel carefully opened the ancient book.

It didn’t take long to find the page in question, as it was marked as if someone had already analyzed it several times.

Needless to say, it was obvious to predict the identity of that ‘someone’.

‘It was definitely old but clean when I saw it in the territory.’

The book in front of my eyes now was not like that at all.

Aeli slightly opened her mouth at the traces of contemplation that filled the pages.

Since it couldn’t have been in someone else’s hands in the meantime, the subject was naturally identified, wasn’t it?

‘The times he stayed late in the office after coming up to the capital…… Could it have been because of this?’

Although the backlog of paperwork must have been a big factor, I thought this also played a part, judging from that book.

It was when Aeli was rolling her eyes.

“This……”

Unlike me, Noel seemed to be good at ancient languages, as he was interested in studying.

By the time I thought about it, Noel, who seemed to have read all the necessary parts, closed the book, bit his lip, and covered his face with one hand.

He pressed his eyes tightly and only after a long time did he slowly open his mouth.

“What is this?”

“Since you’ve read it, you can probably guess.”

“That−!”

Startled by Noel’s shout, Aeli unknowingly took a step back.

She almost fell over by misstepping, but thanks to Lutis, who quickly noticed and caught her, she was able to avoid that situation.

‘……? Ah, ah! Arm, blood, blood!’

What should I do?!

The problem was that the arm that caught her waist was the one that was still not fully stopped bleeding.

The blood that had barely stopped began to flow again with the recent movement.

Aeli, terrified by the sensation of her waist getting wet, lifted her skirt and quickly put it back down.

‘It won’t tear……!’

In a hurry, she thought of tearing the hem of her clothes to stop the bleeding, but perhaps due to her weakened strength, the cloth only became taut and there was not even a scratch.

“……”

Noel, who had been pressing his eyes tightly, stopped and glanced at Aeli and Lutis before continuing.

“…… I didn’t ask because I didn’t know. This is something I’ve never heard of within the family.”

“I guess so. I expected that.”

“If this is true, why is such content in the Rattliffe library? How can this be when the Masons themselves don’t know anything about it?”

“……”

As soon as Noel’s words ended, Aeli felt the hands wrapping around her waist and shoulders applying a little force.

“……?”

As she reflexively placed her hand gently on the arm that had come up to her waist and looked up, Lutis, whose eyes met Aeli’s, said with his mouth while slightly raising the corners of his lips.

It’s okay.

“……”

No. Isn’t it usually not okay to be injured that much…?

Noel was still talking, whether Aeli’s eyes were trembling finely or not.

“They say they can see the soul of their dead spouse.”

“……”

“−If not just one or two, but several people over generations claimed it, there should have been at least one record left even if it’s not much. Especially if it’s not something that happened a long time ago, it’s even more so if they all couldn’t remember their own claims.”

“……”

“Moreover, if they carried a cherished memento of their beloved spouse− not only did they lose it, but they can’t even remember what it was? Does the Duke think this makes sense?”

At Noel’s continuing remarks, Aeli flinched and stiffened her body.

Wait, so−.

‘…… What?’

I definitely heard it, but I couldn’t understand.

Even though it was the familiar imperial language, it felt like I was listening to a foreign language for the first time in my life, and it was only after some time that I could barely put the recent conversation into my head.

Aeli blinked her eyes quickly.

‘Then does that mean becoming a ghost at a young age due to sudden death could be a special characteristic of the Mason bloodline?’

That…… That book had such content.

The part that I had missed because I didn’t read it properly, there was something.

And I had very neatly skipped over a more important part than I had imagined.

‘Then if I search the Mason territory mansion dozens of times, can I find a ghost comrade or two?’

If I can just find them, there might be something I can ask.

Aeli’s eyes sparkled as she finished her thought. At the same time, she also had this thought.

‘It’s been a few days since we came from the territory to the capital. During that time, Lutis read the book alone until it became tattered, but he kept this to himself?’

Why on earth?

After all, I was also a Mason, so if I had asked, we could have at least put our heads together and thought about it.

The question suddenly came up, but I couldn’t carry that curiosity for long.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

Because Lutis opened his mouth.

“But if the intention was to deceive with a similar appearance from the beginning, there would have been no need to change hair color or hide the face with a recognition-lowering brooch. If the appearance is already the same, is there any reason to make other differences?”

“……”

It was a valid point.

Noel also seemed to have judged the same, as he kept his mouth shut.

It meant there was no better time to explain their position.

“At first, I thought I had lost my mind as you said, but that wasn’t it.”

“……”

“I needed confirmation on whether I was in my right mind or not. Going to the territory was for inspection, but finding that book was a bigger reason.”

“…… If you remembered the contents enough to go looking for it, doesn’t that mean you already had the contents in your head? I don’t think there was a need to go all the way down to the territory to find it.”

“……”

“In the first place, how did you know there was such content in the ancient book?”

“……”

“Huh, look at that. The answer−”

“…… Because I vaguely remembered seeing it before.”

I just wasn’t sure because I didn’t read it properly at the time as it wasn’t necessary content. I needed to find it again.

At Lutis’ words, Noel narrowed his eyes.

“I know you can count on one hand the number of times you’ve been to the territory, so when in the past did you even have to search through ancient books−”

“……”

“……”

Noel’s sharp retort trailed off.

Judging by his expression, he seemed to have remembered it too.

Even when going down to the territory, he was the type to hole up in the office to handle paperwork or go outside the mansion for inspections, let alone the library.

If such a person had to rummage through ancient books while thoroughly searching the library, it was obvious when that would be.

‘…… There’s no other time except when I became weak and couldn’t even go for walks.’

Other than that time, whenever Lutis went to the territory, I usually accompanied him.

In terms of timing, there was no other time but then.

When no sharp answer came back, Lutis opened his mouth as if to say everything he had to say now.

“I didn’t think of that book from the beginning. The ghost of a spouse, how could I have thought of such a thing right away.”

“……”

“But as several situations overlapped, I wondered if it could be. I remembered the book then.”

Lutis, who had come forward at some point and was half-covering Aeli, turned his head and asked.

Until now, he hadn’t asked, but had she ever come to him on the day the child was sick?

“Huh, what?”

“……”

“How…… How……?”

“I heard it.”

“How, no− how……?”

Aeli’s eyes went wide in great bewilderment.

I thought I had just been caught, but thinking it was for the best, I had hurriedly returned to the annex.

Aeli felt it becoming difficult to come to her senses at the following words.

Like how she had deliberately left strands of black hair in the alley when the child was kidnapped, or how she was holding the sleeping child in her arms by the lakeside at night.

Honestly, I thought those things were bound to be discovered because I was careless.

I had a vague idea that there was such a reason for being caught by Lutis when I went down to the territory.

‘…… But you’re saying you already knew even before that?’

The night she went to see the child who was sick, and when she was muttering to herself after discovering her corpse in the basement.

He said he heard the voice.

Other than that, he couldn’t hear the voice when I spent time with the child alone in the garden, room, or library, but…….

That alone would have been enough to raise suspicion.

I thought I had been exposed by the events that unfolded after coming down to the territory, but in fact, coming down to the territory in the first place was to get confirmation when he already had some idea.

“……”

Aeli gaped, at a loss for words.

Perhaps she was silently stunned like that.

[This, you need it to be able to see……] […… According to what I found out, you can only see them if you possess something they cherished during their lifetime.]

He had glossed over the details, saying it was too complicated to explain everything now− I thought it was because he was reluctant to explain the contents of the ancient book.

At the same time, one thought suddenly came to Aeli’s mind.

‘…… Wait a minute. Then the situation where Lutis saw me as a ghost isn’t something to laugh about?’

According to the contents of the ancient book, it was written that those who carried the cherished item of their dead spouse claimed to be able to see their soul.

And soon after, every single one of them−

“So, according to your claim, Aeli’s case is similar to the records left in this book. If that’s true, then like in the book……”

…… forget completely.

At the sound of Noel’s voice, Aeli finally realized.

Those who saw the soul of their spouse soon forgot that fact.

It was news that was too bitter to taste after a short but sweet happiness.