Chapter 6. Hundred Nights
It was late at night.
But it was still too early for Ahntrus to sleep.
However, for three-year-old Julia, it was bedtime.
Usually, Elia was the one who put Julia to bed.
Ahntrus was always too busy working, even at this hour.
He didn’t go to bed until close to midnight.
But ever since Elia’s incident, all her responsibilities became his.
Putting Julia to bed was now one of them—at least, when he wasn’t too late.
“…Your Grace.”
Ahntrus, buried in paperwork, looked up at the voice.
“Oh, Buckley. What time is it?”
“It’s 9:30 PM, Your Grace.”
“Oh no.”
Ahntrus began organizing the documents.
He had missed the usual bedtime he had silently promised Julia.
“She must’ve waited a lot. I’m too late.”
He wiped his tired face with his hands.
These days, his workload increased because he had to handle Elia’s duties too.
He could maybe assign them to someone else.
But Elia cherished her land—he couldn’t give it to just anyone.
Still, he couldn’t help but think:
‘I wasn’t the only one who was busy.’
Even though the Brown Marquess’s territory was smaller than Cloveus’s, ruling it wasn’t easy.
Even so, Elia managed her land and still took care of Julia.
She also handled the affairs of the Cloveus family.
She must’ve been just as busy.
Ahntrus smiled bitterly and stood up.
Just then, the office door opened.
Tiny footsteps shuffled outside.
The door creaked open a little, and Julia appeared.
She wore pink pajamas with a ribbon and hugged a brown bunny doll.
“Julia.”
Julia, hearing her name, walked inside slowly.
Ahntrus rushed over and knelt in front of her.
“Daddy…”
Julia blinked her big eyes and gently hugged him.
“You didn’t come…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Mmm… I tried to wait…”
When he picked her up awkwardly, she hugged his neck tightly.
Ahntrus gestured, and Buckley quietly left the office.
Once alone, Julia whispered like it was a secret.
“When will Mommy wake up?”
“…Mommy?”
“Yeah… Grandma said she’ll wake after a hundred nights…”
She tried counting with her small fingers.
But since she couldn’t count past ten, a hundred was too big.
Ahntrus smiled sadly and frowned slightly.
He understood why his mother told Julia “a hundred nights.”
It was a number too big for her to understand.
Even the best doctors didn’t know if Elia would ever wake up.
Some even said she might never wake again.
They couldn’t say that to a child.
So his mother told her the biggest number she could.
Ahntrus kissed Julia’s cheek.
“It hasn’t been a hundred nights yet, Julia.”
“When is a hundred nights?”
“It’s still very, very far away. Now it’s time for bed. What story should I read tonight?”
Julia pouted and shook her head.
She seemed ready to cry but was also sleepy.
Her eyes were already heavy with sleep.
Ahntrus gently stroked her cheek.
Though awkward, Julia looked comforted and leaned into his hand.
“Daddy… Do you miss Mommy too?”
At her soft question, Ahntrus smiled with tears in his eyes.
He nodded.
“Yes. I miss her too.”
* * *
It was almost 10 PM when I was finally alone.
All day, I wanted to speak, but the maids wouldn’t leave my side.
I had just woken up after years and was still too weak to move properly.
Because of that, even when Ailish talked endlessly, I couldn’t say anything back.
And I couldn’t shake the feeling that my caretakers were also spying on me.
A ghost floated nearby with crossed legs in midair.
[Elia.]
“Haa… It’s so hard not being able to speak even when I can see you…”
[Hehehe.]
Ailish giggled softly.
I cleared my throat and sat up straight.
The bed felt soft and inviting, but I had too many things to check.
“I wasn’t sure at first, but the emperor really approved so easily?”
[Didn’t I say he would? You were the one who didn’t believe me.]
“I didn’t think they’d let the precious youngest princess marry as someone’s second wife.”
[You must’ve grown up in a bright and kind place.]
“What?”
Ailish waved it off.
[Yes, I was a precious princess. But lying in bed for five years made me ‘damaged goods.’]
I frowned and sighed quietly.
I understood what she meant.
So in short…
“They thought your value dropped?”
I said bluntly.
Ailish looked shocked and almost slipped off her hand.
Her eyes widened.
[Wow, I love how you said that!]
“Don’t laugh! You’re talking about yourself like you’re some object on sale!”
I yelled in frustration.
She should be angry at such treatment, but she stayed calm.
That made me more annoyed.
They couldn’t marry her to Daniel of Siegfried anymore, so they picked Ahntrus as the second-best option—he already had a child.
[Should I cry instead?]
She shrugged.
[It’s not a big deal, Elia. Whether noble girls or princesses, we rarely marry who we want. But at least someone wants this marriage.]
“Who wants it?”
[You, Elia. Don’t you want this marriage?]
“I don’t want marriage. Ahntrus is the reason my first marriage was miserable!”
[But you have to marry—for Julia’s sake. So, you do want it.]
I pouted at first but then nodded.
If you say it like that…
Wait a minute.
“That’s not what I wanted to talk about! I wanted to ask why you let them treat you that way! This is worse than most arranged marriages. They treated you like a spoiled beet!”
[Wow. Didn’t expect you to catch on.]
“Princess!”
[A shiny apple isn’t always good, right? You never know if the inside is rotten.]
“I didn’t think I’d be the one to eat that rotten apple…”
She meant the Imperial Family was like that apple—shiny outside, rotten inside.
I frowned again.
I didn’t expect to get dragged into their mess.
[Still, there’s not much we can do now, Elia.]
She waved her fingers.
[Let’s focus on what we should talk about.]
I gave in.
Even though she looked cheerful, I now realized she hid her true thoughts.
The rotten smell of that apple—this Imperial Family—was everywhere.
And I couldn’t even cut out the rot in Cloveus.
The rot there was Luisha.
I failed to remove her, and in the end… I lost.
“Aaah!!”
Wait, I forgot something important!
I screamed without realizing.
[What? What’s wrong?]
“Julia! She’s with Luisha right now! Luisha would never miss this chance!!”
[So?]
“She’s not going to leave Julia alone!! Oh no…”
I imagined all kinds of horrible scenes.
A governess who hits her… or Luisha kicking Julia out…
Luisha hated me.
She used to watch herself when I was around. But now?
I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t protect anything.
Knowing someone like Luisha was near Julia—I couldn’t take it.
Maybe Ahntrus would protect her?
He loved Julia… so maybe?
…Would he really?
That clueless, insensitive man?
Oh my god.
I mumbled blankly,
“Princess… I have to marry him. Even if people think you’ve become a discounted beet…”
Ailish gently comforted me as I sat stunned.
[See? Now let’s focus on the marriage. Let’s talk about something useful.]
I took a deep breath and nodded. She was right.
‘I have enough problems already.’
“What should we talk about?”
[About me. I became a ghost five years ago. But no one noticed.]
“And?”
[I never left this room.]
“Why not?”
[I think I’m tied to my body. I can’t go too far.]
“Then…”
[We should test something. Maybe if I’m with you, I can move freely.]
That made sense. I nodded seriously.
“I can’t leave right now though. I still need rehab… and they won’t let me go.”
[Of course not. My mother isn’t easy.]
“So recovering my body comes first.”
Our eyes met.
[By the way, you know why I have short hair now?]
“I don’t…”
I shook my head.
Come to think of it, ghost Ailish had long hair—like most noble girls.
But this body had short hair.
[A maid cut it. Said long hair was too hard to wash when I was unconscious. My mother didn’t care at all.]
I got chills.
A maid cut a royal’s hair without permission?
Even a maid could treat her that way?
What if they added poison to her food or hurt her body?
No one would even notice.
I stared at Ailish, horrified.
“…I need to be careful even with the maid who bathes me.”
[Exactly.]
Ailish smiled brightly.
It was becoming clear—
I had walked straight into a place where I could die.
