THE chamberlain, Matthew, the house steward, and the housekeeper gathered before Sonia and Chris.
“To be honest, both the severity and frequency of the paranormal phenomena here have increased recently,” Matthew began.
Continuing his explanation, he said, “We might normally be able to overlook floating dishes and furniture, but not if they attack us and the staff. And even if we tend to the garden, somehow we find it overgrown with weeds the very next day, while any plants and flowers we try to bring in simply wilt away. We suffered a string of casualties while trying to fix the castle walls, and we finally managed to complete the repairs despite them, only for the whitewash to begin rotting off a day later... The workers fled out of fright, and no one who has heard the rumors of our castle is willing to pick up where they left off.”
The house steward chimed in, “Our castle staff are so scared of the sudden increase in strange occurrences that they are resigning one after the next... We are barely scraping by currently using staff that have been dispatched from the palace on order of the King or recruited from distant lands at the promise of abnormally high wages.”
The housekeeper nodded along as the steward disclosed his frustration.
Sonia had listened to their explanations quietly but found herself asking, “Earlier Matthew mentioned these phenomena have ‘increased’... Does that mean the track record of the things you described goes further back than just recently?”
Realizing his tongue had slipped, the blood drained from Matthew’s face.
“How far back does this history go?” she repeated.
Matthew caved under Sonia’s persistence and confessed the answer with a lowered gaze. “I am terribly sorry. We were acting under strict orders from your father, the late Duke Clare, to keep this a secret from you...”
“You were so young, he didn’t want you to be afraid. His Grace only did it out of love!” the housekeeper admitted, jumping in to defend Matthew.
It was common for strange or otherworldly phenomena to occur in old castles with long histories. Most had already accepted it as simply a part of life—assuming it remained in the realm of inconsequential mischief.
“Did it get this bad just recently? Do you remember roughly when it began to escalate?” Sonia asked.
“I believe it was about two weeks ago...”
Around when my engagement was decided? Sonia couldn’t help but look up at Chris.
Rubbing his maturing beard, Chris suggested, “I’d say this transcends petty ‘mischief.’ Wouldn’t it be in your best interest to call for an exorcist?”
Matthew, the house steward, and the housekeeper all turned to look at Sonia.
“...You’re right. Let’s call one over,” Sonia agreed.
They decided to summon the parish priest right away. Matthew grabbed the door handle to head out to make the necessary preparations.
“Whoa...!” he cried out. The moment he pulled to open the door, the handle popped right out!
Then the door flung straight at Matthew, who was still gaping at the gold filigree handle in his hands, and viciously smacked him square in the face. Sonia and the others rushed over to where he had fallen backwards on his rump in shock. Blood drizzled down the chamberlain’s nose as he writhed in pain.
“Are you all right, Chamberlain Matthew?” Chris asked. When he planted himself in front of the old man to protect him from the door, it began swinging open and shut once more.
“Sir Chris, watch out!”
Having gained more momentum this time, the door swiftly swung toward Chris’ back as if it were a weapon with a mind of its own. But—
The door broke with a snap! Chris head-butted the heavy, thick wooden door, smashing it to pieces.
“Did you think you could kill a war hero with a measly wooden board?!” He laughed boisterously as his words, brimming with confidence, reverberated throughout the room. However, neither a disembodied voice nor an apparition appeared to offer a comeback.
“...Anyway, you can bill me for the door later. I’ll cover it,” Chris said, unshaken.
“No... You don’t need—” Sonia was in the middle of rejecting his offer after she had pulled herself back together when a thought suddenly occurred to her. She pressed her hand against her lips.
Sir Chris is my fiancé, which means he will become the lord of this castle... That’s right—Sir Chris is going to be my husband.
The impending reality suddenly exacerbated her fears. Can I really marry Sir Chris? How can I when I’m physically turned off by his beard and all that icky hair everywhere? Not to mention, there’s still Prince Severin...
All of the years she had spent pining after Prince Severin, her tender first love, made it hard for Sonia to immediately shift her heart from one man to the other.
“Are you all right, Princess?” Chris asked. He had dropped down to her eye level, clearly concerned for her wellbeing since she had suddenly fallen silent while squatting on the floor. Something about that rubbed her the wrong way.
“Don’t get that nasty fuzzball face of yours near me,” she hissed, the insults flowing naturally from Sonia’s mouth yet again.
“Ngh!” Sonia swallowed her breath as she frantically snapped her mouth shut. The look of surprise that Chris, Matthew, the house steward, and the housekeeper all directed at her was painfully embarrassing.
“I-I’m sorry! I must be tired...! I’m going back to my room now! Please call an exorcist for me!”
Her mouth had started rambling things all on its own again. It was terrifying! Sonia’s hand touched the rosary tucked in her bosom as she left the room.
I’m scared! Is this more mischief by whatever is haunting my castle?
She needed the priest to come right away! The continuous string of trouble was beginning to sour Sonia’s mood.