Chapter 18:
* * *
For Sally Melbourne, born the eldest of twelve children in a working-class family, life had always been a string of suffering.
It might sound absurd for someone barely past twenty to say such a thing, but to her, reality was nothing short of a synonym for “endless hard labor.”
But.
Ever since she encountered the ghost in Room 333 just a month ago, Sally’s life had undergone a dramatic shift.
“Miss Melbourne, have you ever considered working under me?”
Emily Carter, the famous horror writer Sally religiously followed in Weird Fiction magazine.
Just meeting her in person was more than enough to thrill Sally—so being offered a job? Unbelievable!
“Th-then… as a maid?”
“That would be part of it, sure, but I already have a maid. What I need is an assistant.”
Assistant!
A word that conjured images of a detective’s sidekick. Sally Melbourne, thoroughly enchanted, accepted the offer without hesitation.
“And now here I am…”
First-class train carriage—something she never thought she’d ride in her entire life.
Watching elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen chatting with refinement, Sally’s eyes sparkled.
Then she turned her head, and under the sun streaming through the window, two dazzling women came into view.
Emily, with her platinum blonde hair and porcelain skin. Helena, with her slightly tanned complexion and flowing black hair.
“I’m going to Scotland with these two women…”
As Sally absentmindedly admired the two contrasting beauties, she asked:
“Madam, how do you two know each other?”
One was London’s most famous widow and a horror novelist. The other, a divorced Russian noblewoman and renowned academic.
From Sally’s point of view, their connection was puzzling.
“Oh, we both went to North London Ladies’ School.”
Helena answered with a bright smile, and Sally’s eyes widened.
“That’s the elite boarding school only highborn girls attend!”
She recalled reading A Little Princess as a child.
Could these two be like Sara and Ermengarde? Just as Sally was imagining such a scenario, Emily chimed in.
“Helena and I were roommates.”
“Roommates!”
“We fought every other day, really. I guess you could say we grew close through fighting.”
“We didn’t fight that much,” Helena protested, frowning slightly.
Emily smirked playfully.
“You’d think she was born elegant, right? But back then she was something else. Total thorny rose, thanks to all that teenage angst—”
“…Enough.”
Helena’s calm but firm tone made Emily quickly shut up.
“Just saying.”
Normally dignified and unapproachable, watching the two bicker like children made Sally chuckle.
They continued their lively train ride until an announcement came over the speaker.
“Next stop, Edinburgh. Edinburgh…”
Peeking outside, Sally called out excitedly.
“Time to get off!”
The train slowed to a stop.
At that moment, Sally had no idea—no idea that in this city she had never been to before, her Madam was about to come face-to-face with something truly horrific.
* * *
After gathering their modest luggage and stepping off the train, they found a luxurious carriage sent by Sir Henry waiting for them.
“Allow me to take you to the estate.”
As they traveled to the countryside manor, Emily admired the view outside.
Edinburgh’s landscape was a tapestry of preserved medieval ruins—very different from London’s scenery, and it made her heart stir.
“It’s a refreshing change, that’s for sure.”
About ten minutes into the ride, they left the city center and entered the tranquil ambiance of the old town. The carriage finally stopped in front of a palace-like estate.
“Here we are, Madam.”
They were escorted into the grand country house.
It was a lavish Georgian mansion with impeccable symmetry and proportion.
Passing through the enormous entrance hall, dozens of maids bowed their heads. Then a tall, handsome man appeared—Sir Henry Langham.
“Welcome, Emily. …And your companions.”
Though he forced a smile, Emily could feel his sorrow.
He must’ve recently learned that the ghost haunting Room 333 was none other than his own father, Edward Hyde.
Emily approached the fragile-looking young man and gave him a tight hug.
“Henry, how have you been?”
She caught a faint scent from his body—pleasant and familiar. As she pulled back and looked up…
“Uh… E-Emily…”
His face was flushed red.
…Only then did she notice the staff around them blushing and looking flustered.
She released him at last. Beside her, Sally barely managed to hold back an excited squeal, while Helena sighed and shook her head.
“You must be tired from your long journey. Let’s get you inside.”
Henry led them to the guest rooms.
* * *
“Well then, Emily, I’ll rest for a bit.”
Helena disappeared into the room next to Emily’s. Sally turned awkwardly toward her employer.
“Um, I…”
“You should rest too, Sally.”
“But, Madam… I should attend to you…”
She looked uncertain—probably never had any experience serving a noblewoman directly.
Emily, on the other hand, wasn’t used to being attended by a maid either.
“You haven’t forgotten, have you? I didn’t bring you here to be a maid.”
“Of course not!”
“Then rest while you can. …Who knows when something like last time might happen again.”
Lowering her voice ominously, Emily’s tone made Sally jump.
“Understood!”
Watching her rush into the room to Emily’s right made Emily chuckle.
Emily entered her own room and found it neatly and tastefully decorated.
She threw herself onto the spacious four-poster bed.
“Ah, this is nice.”
Helena would definitely scold her if she saw this.
“What kind of lady throws herself on the bed without changing first?”
Back in their school days, the two had been like cats and dogs.
Emily had been a wild spirit, while Helena was the type who couldn’t sleep unless every rule was followed.
“Emily, you should learn from Helena,” the dorm matron used to say, forcing the two into the same room.
They fought constantly—well, to be exact:
“Emily, aren’t you going to make your bed?”
“Emily, you shouldn’t speak so casually to the maids.”
“Emily, Emily, Emily.”
Helena nagged daily, and Emily shouted back in frustration.
“Are you my mother? Even my mom doesn’t nag that much!”
Eventually, an incident helped them understand each other, and they became inseparable friends.
“Even ten years later, that bond still holds strong.”
Some say women’s friendships are shallow, especially after marriage, fading into mere memories.
But Emily disagreed completely.
Then and now, her life—marked by hardship and pain—would’ve been unbearable without Helena.
Among men, only her late husband, Randolph Carter, had truly understood her.
But now that he was gone, no man could ever know her like Helena did.
Even when…
When Randolph died in a mysterious, inexplicable way—
“Emily, I’m here for you.”
If Helena hadn’t stood by her, Emily would’ve thrown herself into the Thames a dozen times over.
The memory of Randolph’s tragic death brought a wave of gloom.
“No. Enough. Stop thinking about it.”
She got up from the bed and sat at the mahogany desk to clear her mind.
“No new orders have come yet.”
After fulfilling the last order—to deal with Hyde—she hadn’t received any new instructions from the “Yellow King.”
But such commands didn’t come on a schedule.
They appeared when she ventured into the realm of the “unknown and mysterious.”
She wandered under the excuse of “gathering material as a horror writer” for this very reason.
She also clung to the King’s orders because of the “extra survival time” granted as a reward.
If she did nothing now and let time pass…
“Apostle Emily, 72 days remain until the end of the world.”
That was what she’d been told recently.
When the time was up, the world would end—just like when Cthulhu had risen off the coast of Cádiz.
“There’s no guarantee it’ll be the same next time.”
She shuddered as she recalled the alien being she saw on the shores of Cádiz.
Even if she could be revived, she didn’t want to experience that horror again.
“If coming back to life is like loading a save in a game…”
Then living through an apocalypse was like restarting after the ultimate bad ending.
“I’m never the same person after each ‘end.’”
Though she could die and return, the end of the world felt like true death.
Perhaps she wasn’t reliving life, but merely postponing a destined demise—a terminal existence.
Just then, her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp buzzing in her head—and glowing letters appeared on her desk.
[A trace of the unknown and mysterious is nearby.]
The words faded like sand washed away by waves.
Then new ones appeared.
[The person you seek will deliver my next command.]
The person she seeks… Could it be Jimmy Miranda Barry?
