Chapter 45. The True Nature of Fear
“What is this?”
Count Karl sneered as he strode forward and grabbed Bella by the hair.
“No proper status or background, and yet you dare? Looks like you’re finally learning your place. Did getting that grand mansion for a dirt-cheap price make you think you were someone important?”
Mockery and scorn poured from him. But Bella’s lips remained sealed. She simply stared at Count Karl with a blank expression.
Count Karl sensed something odd and tilted his head.
Then, in that exact moment, Bella reached out, twisted his wrist, and struck him in the neck.
Count Karl staggered back from the blow, then quickly got up and pointed a trembling finger at her, his face flushed red.
“Y-You wretch! You’re dead anyway! Resisting is pointless!”
Bella stood still, her gaze overbearing enough to make even Count Karl falter.
She stepped forward, slowly running her fingers through her disheveled hair. The languid, confident motion revealed clearly—Bella was the predator in this situation.
Count Karl clenched his teeth in frustration, feeling like the prey.
“That man earlier mentioned something about a curse.”
Her refined tone, the chilling atmosphere, and her smooth, perfect etiquette all came with a peculiar sense of pressure.
Sensing this entirely different aura from before, Count Karl felt a cold shiver run through his body.
“W-What are you…? H-How dare you mock me!”
Trying to mask his fear, Count Karl raised his voice. But his body betrayed him—he was shrinking back, visibly afraid.
To be exact, he was terrified of the strange thing inside Bella.
“If someone speaks certain words or phrases, their heart bursts. That’s the kind of curse it seems to be. And you’re under it too.”
Ché, the one now inside Bella, reached out and lightly pressed a finger to Count Karl’s chest.
In that moment, Count Karl thrashed about as if stabbed, flailing his limbs in panic and scrambling backward.
Just then, the door opened and several servants entered the drawing room carrying ropes and sacks.
It was clear—they had already planned to dispose of Count Tresch’s body and drag Bella away.
“You, what the hell are you doing?!”
“Count?”
Upon seeing the servants, Count Karl quickly fled behind them, shouting wildly. He must have believed their numbers gave him an advantage.
“What are you waiting for?! That woman killed Count Tresch! Seize her!”
“Do I look like Bella Oshick to you?”
“…What?”
Unfortunately for him—
Numbers and weapons are useless against a fear with no physical form.
The air in the drawing room turned cold, like ice water had been poured over it. Even the servants, still trying to grasp the situation, instinctively froze in place, their eyes darting around nervously.
Watching them, Ché chuckled softly and leisurely walked toward them. Every step echoed ominously.
“How amusing. It seemed like you were all so eager to meet me, so I made the effort to come in person.”
“…!”
They could feel it instinctively. The chill down their spines, the hairs standing on end—every instinct screamed:
This isn’t Bella Oshick.
This isn’t acting. This isn’t madness.
Something that should never exist is now standing before them.
Some servants bolted immediately. But no one was more terrified than Count Karl himself. He knew—there was only one ghost said to haunt this mansion. And he was all too familiar with the fear that ghost inspired.
“I wanted to hear more about that curse. But what a shame. I can’t very well force you to speak by threatening your life, now can I?”
“S-Spare me…”
Count Karl trembled as he backed away.
The most terrifying moment for any human is when they realize they’re utterly powerless, unable to affect their opponent in any way. That was the kind of suffocating fear and helplessness Count Karl now felt toward Ché.
“If you killed me, then I should have every right to kill you in return, wouldn’t you say?”
Ché’s voice was gentle. Just like Count Karl had belittled Bella earlier, Ché now spoke down to him like a child.
Realizing this was deliberate, Count Karl hurriedly threw himself to the ground in submission.
This wasn’t part of the plan. The idea had been simple—provoke Count Tresch’s death, frame Bella, and rid themselves of an arrogant commoner.
“I-I didn’t kill you! I swear, I-I was just…”
“Funny. A hundred years ago, several lowly families suddenly rose to nobility after my death.”
“…!”
A look of shock flashed across Count Karl’s face.
The ghost knows everything. The ghost is going to kill us all. The vengeful spirit is going to destroy us all…
“One of them was the Tresch family. Another was the Karl family. What do you think of that?”
“I-I know nothing. A-Are you really… the ghost of this mansion…?”
Now dazed and pale, Count Karl slammed his forehead into the floor repeatedly as he begged.
All he wished for in that moment was for the ghost not to take his life.
“Ché Le Prellord. Does that name mean anything to you? During a break in the carriage procession, I drank from a cup.”
The death of Duke Ché Le Prellord had always been a mystery. Only a select few knew the truth. Meaning, there was no way a woman like Bella Oshick could possibly know.
So for her to know that the Duke had died after drinking a mysterious liquid during a break in the journey, it pointed to only one conclusion—
The soul inside Bella right now was Ché Le Prellord.
The ghost of the Duke their ancestors had killed.
“A-Aaaah! S-Spare me!”
Now, Count Karl tried to use the remaining servants as human shields, scrambling madly to escape the drawing room.
But Ché calmly picked up a side table and hurled it at him. It struck Count Karl squarely, sending him crumpling to the floor, unable to even scream.
The servants, confused and horrified, backed away from Count Karl, glancing between him and Ché.
Unopposed, Ché stood before Count Karl and knelt on one knee.
“Why would I kill you? It would be too cruel to punish a descendant for their ancestor’s sins.”
Ché spoke kindly, curling his lips into a seductive smile.
Hope glimmered in Count Karl’s face.
“T-Then…”
“But. If one carries on their ancestor’s sins without remorse, aren’t they simply committing new sins? Hmm?”
Ché suddenly seized the back of Count Karl’s neck, cutting off any chance of escape.
“Ugh… ngh…”
Tears streaming down his face, Count Karl began to sob pitifully.
“How unfortunate. You lot kept killing every newcomer in this mansion. I thought perhaps you were trying to make companions for me.”
“Guh…”
He knows everything. The ghost saw all they had done.
Count Karl could barely breathe, though no one was strangling him.
Ché dragged him effortlessly across the room and dumped him on the far side. Then, smiling serenely, he pulled a scalpel from his sleeve.
“Looks like I’m gaining thirteen new companions today. How thrilling.”
Now it was the servants’ turn to panic—there were exactly thirteen people in the room, including Count Karl.
“P-Please! I beg you! I’ll do anything… I’ll lie right now and report that nothing happened, that I took care of that woman Bella!”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Hnng… Please…”
Only Count Karl’s sobs filled the drawing room.
After a brief pause, Ché smiled broadly, brushing Count Karl’s hair aside and gazing into his eyes.
Looking into Ché’s gleaming eyes, Count Karl felt possessed. His mind went hazy, his body cold, his consciousness drifting as if drugged.
“Speak your name.”
His voice was like a spell. Count Karl answered instantly.
“Curtis Karl! Curtis Karl!”
“I’ve heard your name.”
At that moment, Ché’s hand slipped inside Count Karl’s body.
Overwhelmed by the strange sensation, Count Karl thrashed and screamed in agony.
“Aaaaaargh!”
His long scream suddenly stopped.
But the one who collapsed to the floor—
was Bella.
