I was speechless because it was so absurd. When I smiled in amazement, one corner of Erne’s mouth slightly rose. It was surprisingly annoying.
You did it on purpose, you did it on purpose to tease me. How can someone be annoying from the time they die to the time they come back to life?
Whether I was grumbling on my own or not, Erne continued his conversation with Tan.
“But you’re not planning on staying for free, are you?”
“Oh, I’ll pay for the accommodation somehow.”
“No, I have the money.”
Erne nodded to Tan's hand.
“Let me borrow your hand.”
Taking advantage of the rainy night, the godmother and her group entered the Rhineland mansion secretly through a deserted road.
There were about twenty people, including six children, including a newborn baby, and three elderly people.
Half of them were mobilized to clean the mansion. It was late, but they couldn't help it because they couldn't stand not cleaning.
The remaining half was used to make incense.
“This way, the three of us, including Henry, can make a lot more than if we made it all night.”
That's right. Erne wanted to take a break from the overtime work of making candles, and at the same time, he wanted to make time for me to rest.
I thought I would be able to rest a bit more after opening the store, but as business went well, I became greedy and started making candles while taking a nap.
“So you too, take it easy now.”
“Erne, do you know that saying? Let’s sleep until we’re dead.”
"What?"
“I can’t miss this opportunity to stock up.”
“...If you do that, you’ll sleep forever.”
“People don’t die that easily. There are people who died and came back to life, though.”
Unlike Erne's purpose, I was determined to extract as much as possible. In the end, I worked until late at night again and fell into a deep sleep.
“Ugh.”
And that night, I had a very strange dream.
A barren plain of unknown origin.
There were only a few dead trees to hide in. In the middle of them, firewood was piled up as if they were going to start a bonfire, and someone with long hair was circling around it.
Even from a great distance away, the hair was so long that it seemed to touch the ground. A person, either man or woman, danced around the pile of firewood.
Kekekeke, the sound of that sinister laughter was so creepy, like fingernails scratching a blackboard. I hid behind a twisted tree and woke up in agony from the laughter.
“...Ha, I was going crazy.”
It was a very strange dream. It had been raining all night, and a crazy person appeared in my dream. I woke up, rubbing my sore shoulders.
I had a lot to do today too. I had to move the candles I had made with the other people who had become my guests yesterday to the store, buy the missing ingredients, and...
“Are you awake, Miss Harrington?”
“Huh? Huh?”
I opened the door and went out without thinking, and Tan, wearing his pajamas, passed by and said hello in the morning.
“Sister Mia prepared breakfast. Come quickly.”
As I was smelling a delicious aroma, I saw someone who had woken up earlier than me and was preparing breakfast.
“You’re awake, Miss Harrington. I’m sorry for using the kitchen without permission.”
Something was bubbling in a large pot that Erne and I had never even looked at when we lived there. Mia sprinkled melted cheese on the hard, crusty bread and placed them on a plate one by one.
“I also used the ingredients in the kitchen as I pleased. Many people didn’t eat proper food for several days. I’m really sorry about that. The ingredients I used will be bought by Brother Beichi later.”
“No, it’s okay. Anyway...”
I didn't say out loud that I had not bought them, but that they were mostly things I had gotten from the Marquis of Ferny and Baron Briggs.
“But the quantity must have been small.”
“So I tried making it into a stew. When the quantity is small, it’s a soup dish.”
Mia smiled brightly and pushed my back into the dining room. Since the disappearance of the golden bug, Erne and I have not used the dining room at all.
There were only two people eating there, so it was impossible to clean the huge dining room every day. However, seeing the diner room that had been touched by people made me realize once again that this was the Count's residence.
“Is this what it looked like?”
What is surprising is that it seems that the same was true for Erne, who spent his childhood at the Count's residence.
“Erne is here too.”
“Oh, he woke me up to tell me to eat breakfast.”
The ones who went to wake up Erne were the Shartin children. As I and Erne sat down, Tan entered the dining room holding his godmother's arm.
“Miss Harrington, Sir Erne, thank you. I slept well thanks to you. I won’t bother you for too long.”
After the godmother finished her thanksgiving speech, Mia and a boy who looked to be sixteen years old came in with food. It was not bad for a stew with only potatoes, carrots, soft onions, and a small piece of meat the size of a palm.
The bread topped with melted cheese was hard, but not so hard that it was inedible.
“This is food.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had food that feels like real food.”
We were the ones who were making excuses for being busy and munching on hard bread in hot water. Although the godmother and her companions were the ones who were starving, the ones who ate the most were Erne and me.
“Is this our mansion?”
“I thought I came to a different house.”
That evening, when I returned from work and opened the door to the mansion, I was startled by the dazzlingly bright mansion.
“Haha, you’re here. I cleaned up a bit while you were gone.”
“Dinner will be ready in no time.”
A mansion with cleaning and food prepared for you. You don't even have to do the dishes.
“Sir Erne, a button fell off your shirt. I put it back on and ironed it while I was at it.”
“Miss Harrington, you said you needed a headscarf? I have some leftover fabric, so I made one. What do you think?”
A life where others do your laundry, make you towels and even clean your bathroom.
"Relaxing."
“It’s so comfortable.”
I and Erne had a long-awaited agreement. It seemed like only yesterday that we had been putting off cleaning and laundry every day, dragging our tired bodies along.
No, it was just the day before yesterday. Our daily lives changed overnight with a few new guests.
“Mr. Siya, you are very handy.”
“I liked making things since I was little.”
If the Shartins had not had such a distinctive appearance, they could have made a living with their dexterity, but they were born with amber-colored eyes.
However, because he lacked spiritual power, he could not become a medium and had to earn a living by doing difficult jobs such as cleaning barns and stables.
“Compared to that, making candles is really easy and fun.”
To be honest, Siya's dexterity surpassed mine. If Henry was a hundred men in the business, Siya was a hundred men in the candle-making business.
Truly, he was a talent that could not be coveted. Thanks to him, I was able to go to bed earlier than usual.
“Let’s get some good sleep today.”
I stretched out slightly and threw myself onto the bed. I, who had had trouble sleeping last night, quickly fell into a deep sleep.
A barren field. Around a pile of firewood, a long-haired person was dancing and spinning around. A tall, naked person, neither man nor woman, was spinning around.
He raised and lowered his arms, then danced his shoulders, and for how long did he do that? A faint smoke rose from the unlit campfire.
Then, the old man got even more excited and started jumping around, then suddenly turned his head around. Gasp. I, who had been watching from inside a bush that was shorter than me, held my breath.
It turned its head again and danced around as if it had not seen me.
The next day.
“...Haa, why does it feel like I ran?”
I waking up from my dream, let out a long sigh. My body felt stiff as if I had been moving all night, even though I had not been dancing or jumping around.
“Now that I think about it, it’s the same dream I had yesterday.”
Only, I was closer to it than yesterday. How could I have the same dream two days in a row? I stood up, rubbing my sore neck.
“Am I under a lot of stress these days?”
I didn't think much of it. It wasn't a scary dream, nor an unpleasant dream, it was just a somewhat disturbing dream.
But when I had the same dream four times in a row, I also felt that something was wrong.
'No, how is this dream still here today?'
I barely hiding behind a rock that came just above my knees, was forced to watch the tall man dancing again today.
The distance was getting closer and closer, and now I was in a position where I would be caught if I made even one wrong breath.
Although nothing could be done as planned in a dream, I tried my best to keep quiet.
A white vapor rose above the unlit pile of firewood. I thought it was smoke, but upon closer inspection, it was more like steam.
The more steam rose, the more excited he became and he danced.
'Your arms are really long.'
The old man raised his arms, reaching down to his knees, and then raised them again, causing a commotion. It was so dizzying to just watch him. I shouldn’t move, I shouldn’t, at that moment, I fell to the side.
The old man stopped dancing. He turned his head around. The whites of his eyes flashed between his jet-black hair.
It's disgusting!
A chill ran down my spine. I wanted to run away at any moment, but I couldn't move as if my whole body was glued to the floor.
The old man stared at me quietly. He was naked, his bones exposed, his hair reaching down to his feet, and his long arms reaching down to his knees, swaying like seaweed.
Through his damp, disheveled hair, his black mouth kept mumbling something. What was he saying?
It's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you-.
You did it on purpose, you did it on purpose to tease me. How can someone be annoying from the time they die to the time they come back to life?
Whether I was grumbling on my own or not, Erne continued his conversation with Tan.
“But you’re not planning on staying for free, are you?”
“Oh, I’ll pay for the accommodation somehow.”
“No, I have the money.”
Erne nodded to Tan's hand.
“Let me borrow your hand.”
***
Taking advantage of the rainy night, the godmother and her group entered the Rhineland mansion secretly through a deserted road.
There were about twenty people, including six children, including a newborn baby, and three elderly people.
Half of them were mobilized to clean the mansion. It was late, but they couldn't help it because they couldn't stand not cleaning.
The remaining half was used to make incense.
“This way, the three of us, including Henry, can make a lot more than if we made it all night.”
That's right. Erne wanted to take a break from the overtime work of making candles, and at the same time, he wanted to make time for me to rest.
I thought I would be able to rest a bit more after opening the store, but as business went well, I became greedy and started making candles while taking a nap.
“So you too, take it easy now.”
“Erne, do you know that saying? Let’s sleep until we’re dead.”
"What?"
“I can’t miss this opportunity to stock up.”
“...If you do that, you’ll sleep forever.”
“People don’t die that easily. There are people who died and came back to life, though.”
Unlike Erne's purpose, I was determined to extract as much as possible. In the end, I worked until late at night again and fell into a deep sleep.
“Ugh.”
And that night, I had a very strange dream.
A barren plain of unknown origin.
There were only a few dead trees to hide in. In the middle of them, firewood was piled up as if they were going to start a bonfire, and someone with long hair was circling around it.
Even from a great distance away, the hair was so long that it seemed to touch the ground. A person, either man or woman, danced around the pile of firewood.
Kekekeke, the sound of that sinister laughter was so creepy, like fingernails scratching a blackboard. I hid behind a twisted tree and woke up in agony from the laughter.
“...Ha, I was going crazy.”
It was a very strange dream. It had been raining all night, and a crazy person appeared in my dream. I woke up, rubbing my sore shoulders.
I had a lot to do today too. I had to move the candles I had made with the other people who had become my guests yesterday to the store, buy the missing ingredients, and...
“Are you awake, Miss Harrington?”
“Huh? Huh?”
I opened the door and went out without thinking, and Tan, wearing his pajamas, passed by and said hello in the morning.
“Sister Mia prepared breakfast. Come quickly.”
As I was smelling a delicious aroma, I saw someone who had woken up earlier than me and was preparing breakfast.
“You’re awake, Miss Harrington. I’m sorry for using the kitchen without permission.”
Something was bubbling in a large pot that Erne and I had never even looked at when we lived there. Mia sprinkled melted cheese on the hard, crusty bread and placed them on a plate one by one.
“I also used the ingredients in the kitchen as I pleased. Many people didn’t eat proper food for several days. I’m really sorry about that. The ingredients I used will be bought by Brother Beichi later.”
“No, it’s okay. Anyway...”
I didn't say out loud that I had not bought them, but that they were mostly things I had gotten from the Marquis of Ferny and Baron Briggs.
“But the quantity must have been small.”
“So I tried making it into a stew. When the quantity is small, it’s a soup dish.”
Mia smiled brightly and pushed my back into the dining room. Since the disappearance of the golden bug, Erne and I have not used the dining room at all.
There were only two people eating there, so it was impossible to clean the huge dining room every day. However, seeing the diner room that had been touched by people made me realize once again that this was the Count's residence.
“Is this what it looked like?”
What is surprising is that it seems that the same was true for Erne, who spent his childhood at the Count's residence.
“Erne is here too.”
“Oh, he woke me up to tell me to eat breakfast.”
The ones who went to wake up Erne were the Shartin children. As I and Erne sat down, Tan entered the dining room holding his godmother's arm.
“Miss Harrington, Sir Erne, thank you. I slept well thanks to you. I won’t bother you for too long.”
After the godmother finished her thanksgiving speech, Mia and a boy who looked to be sixteen years old came in with food. It was not bad for a stew with only potatoes, carrots, soft onions, and a small piece of meat the size of a palm.
The bread topped with melted cheese was hard, but not so hard that it was inedible.
“This is food.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had food that feels like real food.”
We were the ones who were making excuses for being busy and munching on hard bread in hot water. Although the godmother and her companions were the ones who were starving, the ones who ate the most were Erne and me.
***
“Is this our mansion?”
“I thought I came to a different house.”
That evening, when I returned from work and opened the door to the mansion, I was startled by the dazzlingly bright mansion.
“Haha, you’re here. I cleaned up a bit while you were gone.”
“Dinner will be ready in no time.”
A mansion with cleaning and food prepared for you. You don't even have to do the dishes.
“Sir Erne, a button fell off your shirt. I put it back on and ironed it while I was at it.”
“Miss Harrington, you said you needed a headscarf? I have some leftover fabric, so I made one. What do you think?”
A life where others do your laundry, make you towels and even clean your bathroom.
"Relaxing."
“It’s so comfortable.”
I and Erne had a long-awaited agreement. It seemed like only yesterday that we had been putting off cleaning and laundry every day, dragging our tired bodies along.
No, it was just the day before yesterday. Our daily lives changed overnight with a few new guests.
“Mr. Siya, you are very handy.”
“I liked making things since I was little.”
If the Shartins had not had such a distinctive appearance, they could have made a living with their dexterity, but they were born with amber-colored eyes.
However, because he lacked spiritual power, he could not become a medium and had to earn a living by doing difficult jobs such as cleaning barns and stables.
“Compared to that, making candles is really easy and fun.”
To be honest, Siya's dexterity surpassed mine. If Henry was a hundred men in the business, Siya was a hundred men in the candle-making business.
Truly, he was a talent that could not be coveted. Thanks to him, I was able to go to bed earlier than usual.
“Let’s get some good sleep today.”
I stretched out slightly and threw myself onto the bed. I, who had had trouble sleeping last night, quickly fell into a deep sleep.
A barren field. Around a pile of firewood, a long-haired person was dancing and spinning around. A tall, naked person, neither man nor woman, was spinning around.
He raised and lowered his arms, then danced his shoulders, and for how long did he do that? A faint smoke rose from the unlit campfire.
Then, the old man got even more excited and started jumping around, then suddenly turned his head around. Gasp. I, who had been watching from inside a bush that was shorter than me, held my breath.
It turned its head again and danced around as if it had not seen me.
The next day.
“...Haa, why does it feel like I ran?”
I waking up from my dream, let out a long sigh. My body felt stiff as if I had been moving all night, even though I had not been dancing or jumping around.
“Now that I think about it, it’s the same dream I had yesterday.”
Only, I was closer to it than yesterday. How could I have the same dream two days in a row? I stood up, rubbing my sore neck.
“Am I under a lot of stress these days?”
I didn't think much of it. It wasn't a scary dream, nor an unpleasant dream, it was just a somewhat disturbing dream.
But when I had the same dream four times in a row, I also felt that something was wrong.
'No, how is this dream still here today?'
I barely hiding behind a rock that came just above my knees, was forced to watch the tall man dancing again today.
The distance was getting closer and closer, and now I was in a position where I would be caught if I made even one wrong breath.
Although nothing could be done as planned in a dream, I tried my best to keep quiet.
A white vapor rose above the unlit pile of firewood. I thought it was smoke, but upon closer inspection, it was more like steam.
The more steam rose, the more excited he became and he danced.
'Your arms are really long.'
The old man raised his arms, reaching down to his knees, and then raised them again, causing a commotion. It was so dizzying to just watch him. I shouldn’t move, I shouldn’t, at that moment, I fell to the side.
The old man stopped dancing. He turned his head around. The whites of his eyes flashed between his jet-black hair.
It's disgusting!
A chill ran down my spine. I wanted to run away at any moment, but I couldn't move as if my whole body was glued to the floor.
The old man stared at me quietly. He was naked, his bones exposed, his hair reaching down to his feet, and his long arms reaching down to his knees, swaying like seaweed.
Through his damp, disheveled hair, his black mouth kept mumbling something. What was he saying?
It's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you, it's not you-.
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