|| Chapter 7 ||
Sniff… sniff…
It seemed Lucian had finally stopped crying a little. His eyes were bright red as he kept sniffling.
You really cried your heart out.
Now you’ve made even a ghost feel uneasy, so I can’t just leave.
Seeing that he had calmed down enough, I stood up.
“W-Where are you going?”
At that moment, Lucian reached out his hand. But his fingers passed right through my body. He stared blankly at his empty hand.
[You know I’m a ghost, so why are you trying to grab me?]
“…I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”
[Finished crying now?]
“Yes.”
Sniff.
Yeah, sure. With that runny nose hanging down.
I sighed and wiped his face with a clean napkin.
Lucian blinked his golden eyes, unable to take them off me.
[If you keep staring like that, you’ll bore a hole through my face.]
“Um… Benefactor.”
[Don’t call me Benefactor.]
“T-Then… what should I call you?”
[Let’s see. Ghost? Bride? Or Ghost Bride?]
The moment I mentioned “Bride,” his face immediately turned pale.
He was so easy to tease.
“T-The Bride sounds a little strange… Please tell me your name.”
I froze.
A name…
[Sorry, but I don’t have one.]
“What?”
[I said I don’t have a name. So call me whatever you like. Just not Benefactor.]
I had no name.
More accurately, I had no memory of the life I lived before I died.
I didn’t know my name, my age, or even my original face.
It wasn’t inconvenient.
After all, there was no one left to call my name.
Well…
There was one guy.
But he always just called me, “Hey, Ghost~” and that was the end of it.
“…Then I’ll call you Bride.”
[Fine.]
“So, Bride.”
[What is it, little groom?]
“I-I’m not little…”
It seemed he hated being called little. His face puffed up in annoyance.
Still, he quickly asked the question he had been curious about.
“How can you hold things if you’re a ghost?”
His sparkling golden eyes followed the napkin in my hand.
Then he carefully reached out toward me again.
His hand still passed straight through my body.
“I can’t touch anything… so how can you?”
[Normally, I can’t either.]
“What? But…”
Without another word, I released the mana surrounding my hand.
The floating napkin immediately dropped onto the floor.
“How…?”
[Do you know what mana is? Magic?]
“Yes.”
[I can use magic. So if I wrap mana around my hand like this…]
I lifted the napkin again.
Lucian’s eyes lit up with amazement.
“Amazing! They said only truly great people can use magic!”
[Ahem! Well… I am pretty amazing. After living for around 300 years, you end up learning a thing or two.]
“H-Huh!? Three hundred years? How many years is that…? I’m eight years old, so…”
Lucian wiggled his fingers as he tried to calculate, but his eyes started spinning before he got anywhere.
[Wait… You’re eight?]
“Yes.”
[…I thought you were seven.]
Wasn’t he a little small for eight?
He must have figured out what I was thinking because he puffed out his cheeks.
“I’m not that little! I’m eight!”
[It’s only a one-year difference. Why are you getting so worked up?]
“Seven and eight are completely different!”
[How?]
“U-Um…”
Unable to come up with an answer, Lucian rolled his eyes around.
Apparently upset that he’d lost the argument, he glared at me with narrowed eyes.
[Alright, alright. You’re a very grown-up eight-year-old.]
Arguing with such a tiny kid…
What was I even doing?
I stood up.
[Looks like we got some really good ingredients this time. I’ll make lots of delicious food for you from now on.]
“You’ll keep cooking for me?”
[…]
Come to think of it…
Why was I cooking for him?
Now that we could actually talk, I could just teach him how to cook for himself.
After thinking for a moment, I decided not to make excuses.
Instead, I spoke honestly.
[Because… I just want to.]
His stare was incredibly embarrassing, but I continued.
[I’ve lived here for over 300 years… and you’re the first person who’s ever been able to see me.]
“Really?”
[Yeah. Talking to a real person for the first time… isn’t so bad.]
Over the centuries, quite a few people had stayed in this mansion.
I had always been there with them.
But never truly with them.
No matter how much I spoke, there was no one who could hear me.
No one who could answer.
[By the way… can you cook?]
Lucian shrank his shoulders.
[From what I saw last time, you nearly burned the whole kitchen down.]
“Y-You saw that?”
[Of course. This is my mansion. I’ve been watching you ever since you first came here.]
“You’ve been watching… from the beginning?”
[Let’s be honest. You were abandoned, weren’t you?]
Lucian stared blankly before my next words made his face stiffen.
[No matter how much you search for people, it’s useless. There really isn’t anyone here except you.]
“…Since when?”
[Since the day you arrived.]
Lucian’s lips trembled as he lowered his head.
[I tried not to interfere… but I just couldn’t ignore you.]
He suddenly looked back up.
His golden eyes were filled with hope.
Somehow, that expression made my heart ache.
I lowered myself until we were at eye level.
[I thought that if I left you alone, I’d end up with another ghost trapped in this mansion just like me. That’s why I secretly started cooking for you. Remember how salty that oatmeal was on the first day? I couldn’t taste it myself, so I accidentally added way too much salt.]
Lucian’s golden eyes shimmered.
It looked like he was about to cry again.
But he pressed the corners of his eyes firmly and smiled brightly.
“No! It was really delicious! It was the best food I’ve ever eaten!”
[Heh. You don’t have to flatter me. I’ll cook for you every day anyway.]
“I’m not flattering you… I really mean it.”
[Hey, kid.]
“Yes?”
[You’re still young. If you want to depend on someone, it’s okay. This is the age when you should be cared for. Even if there’s no one else… if you don’t mind relying on a ghost, then do whatever feels comfortable.]
“…Really?”
[Yeah. I’ll be here until you grow up anyway. We should get along, shouldn’t we?]
“B-But… wouldn’t that trouble you? I can’t do anything…”
Did he completely miss what I was trying to say?
[You’re still just a kid. You can’t even do laundry properly. What exactly are you trying to help with?]
“But still…”
[If you really want to help, then stay beside me whenever I cook. Since I can’t taste the food, you can be my taste tester.]
“Oh! I can definitely do that! I’ll work really hard!”
[Good. Good.]
“Is there anything else I can do?”
[Something else…? Hmm…]
From what I’d seen, he had absolutely no talent for housework.
Then again…
He’d never been taught.
But more importantly…
This kid lacked education in almost every area.
[Can you read?]
Lucian flinched.
After hesitating for a moment, he slowly shook his head.
“I-I can read… a little!”
[Hmm?]
“I’ve watched adults writing before.”
He traced letters on the table with his finger.
Things like duck… and dog…
Then he looked at me nervously.
“Is this right?”
So he’d learned by secretly watching other people instead of receiving proper lessons.
Come to think of it…
For someone who couldn’t really read, his vocabulary was surprisingly good.
That meant he was naturally intelligent.
[Would you like to learn?]
“…Me?”
[Yeah. I’ll teach you.]
Lucian’s face instantly brightened.
No…
It was more like he was so happy that he didn’t know what to do.
He bounced excitedly before asking,
“Y-You’ll really teach me?”
[It’s ‘teach,’ not ‘point.’]
“Aren’t they the same?”
[They sound similar, but they mean different things. Hm… Looks like I’ve got a lot to teach you.]
The moment I looked thoughtful, Lucian immediately became anxious.
[Since we’re doing this anyway, let’s study more than just reading.]
Lucian tilted his head.
I smiled and led him toward the library.
[Do you know what I’ve spent the most time doing during these last 300 years?]
“No.”
[Reading books.]
There had been times when other people lived in the mansion.
But most of those 300 years, I had been alone.
Unable to leave this place, reading was the only thing that kept the boredom away.
[This library has over ten thousand books. Everything from fairy tales to ancient texts. There’s practically nothing it doesn’t have.]
In other words…
There were more than enough teaching materials for Lucian.
Besides, that lizard occasionally brought new books.
And I’d even prepared a chalkboard to communicate with him.
It was the perfect place to teach.
[From now on, I’ll teach you everything I know!]
Without realizing it, I became so excited that the wind around me began to stir.
[I’ve got 300 years’ worth of knowledge. Do you know how rare an opportunity this is?]
Honestly…
This wasn’t only for Lucian’s education.
It was for me.
Three hundred years.
The same boring days repeated over and over again.
The one who had changed my everyday life…
The one who had saved me…
Was this little kid.
I could finally talk without using a stone tablet.
We could look each other in the eye.
We could share knowledge freely.
How long had I wished for something like this?
I had always told myself that I wasn’t lonely.
That I didn’t need anyone to talk to.
But after speaking with Lucian…
I realized I’d only been fooling myself all this time.
The loneliness had always been there.
I couldn’t imagine being without Lucian anymore.
Lucian quietly stared at the hand I held out.
As if making up his mind, he bit his lip and reached toward me.
I quickly wrapped mana around my hand and shook his.
Instead of warm flesh, Lucian felt as though he were holding empty air.
Once again, he was reminded that the person before him was truly the Ghost Bride.
“Please take care of me from now on, Bride.”
[Let’s get along from now on, little groom.]
And so…
Our strange newlywed life—
mixed with raising a child—
officially began.
Later That Morning
The sun slowly began to rise.
I turned away from the sky, now painted orange by dawn.
Soft…
Steady breathing reached my ears.
Lucian was still fast asleep.
I’d read him three fairy tale books last night, so he’d gone to bed much later than usual.
[Wake up already, little one.]
Even though I couldn’t actually wake him, I pretended to brush his messy white hair back.
To be honest…
I was scared.
What if yesterday was only a coincidence?
What if, when he opened his eyes this morning…
…he couldn’t see me anymore?
Now that I had experienced the joy of talking to another person…
If I lost it overnight…
I didn’t think I could bear that emptiness.
So I waited—
hoping with all my heart—
for Lucian to wake up.
