I Don’t Believe in Ghosts, But I Make a Living by Exorcising Them! - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Don’t Believe in Ghosts, But I Make a Living Through Exorcism! Episode 004

After entering the manor, Harman really did nothing more than look around, not doing anything suspicious at all.

However, he examined the manor thoroughly while asking me questions.

“You’ve turned off all the electric lights.”

“They’re so old that they seem to be broken. I was planning to install new ones before evening.”

The reason for turning off the electric lights.

“If you don’t mind me asking, do you live with your husband?”

“Pardon? No. It’s just me and two maids living here.”

“Those footprints on the carpet are from a man though.”

“Ah, the previous resident must have been a man. You know how some things won’t come off no matter how hard you try to clean them?”

Things like the mysterious footprints left on the carpet.

Harman slowly stroked his chin with his index finger and tilted his head.

Meanwhile, I fidgeted with my hands in embarrassment.

‘Even if I order a carpet, it’ll take some time to arrive.’

Showing off the dirty manor as it was, I could only manage an awkward smile.

Moreover, as time passed, the reality of entertaining the Duke became more real, making me increasingly nervous.

I didn’t make any mistakes, did I?

I discreetly wiped the sweat on the hem of my skirt. From wiping it so many times, the hem had long since become damp.

Harman, who had been continuing to look around the manor, suddenly stopped in the corridor.

It was the corridor where, on my first day moving in, I had punched around trying to beat up the ghost from Bella’s hallucination.

It was also the corridor where I had dropped and broken my precious funds, no, the vase…

Harman’s hand touched the empty display stand where nothing remained.

Seeing his careful, sweeping touch, the fragments of the vase I had smashed came vividly to mind, making me feel gloomy.

“It seems the decorative item that was here got broken.”

“Ah, yes. I accidentally… broke it.”

Sigh, my precious funds.

A sigh escaped me naturally from the regret.

But then Harman suddenly turned around to look at me.

“Did the ghost disappear in front of here?”

His eyes flashed as he asked this completely out-of-the-blue question.

I instantly closed my mouth.

…I must have heard wrong, right?

Right, I must have misheard.

Why would someone who had been normally touring the manor suddenly start talking about ghosts?

I was about to laugh it off when I suddenly remembered what Harman had said.

“I just want to check if there are any traces of ghosts left in this place.”

So, he had definitely said he wanted to check for traces of ghosts in my manor.

I stiffly raised my head and looked at Harman.

“Lady Siena, I asked if the ghost has disappeared from here.”

I hadn’t misheard.

Harman had really come to check whether there were ghosts or not!

No wonder he had been asking about everything Bella had made a fuss over, claiming it was the ghost’s doing.

He slowly approached me as if he was determined to hear an answer.

His voice was still gentle, but I could tell he had briefly gritted his teeth.

But here.

If I completely denied that there were any ghosts.

…What would happen?

“Lady Siena?”

He called my name like a final verdict.

What should I answer-

“Yes, that’s right, Your Grace! Miss beat up the ghost and got rid of it!”

Huh?

I paused momentarily at the cheerful voice. It definitely hadn’t come from my mouth.

Bella, who had been quietly following behind me all this time, stepped forward and spoke.

Bella, that was your hallucination, wasn’t it?

I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even speak.

Of course, Bella had been treating that hallucination as fact all along, but why tell the Duke about it!

“So you could see ghosts after all.”

What’s more, as soon as he heard this, Harman immediately reached a conclusion as if he had expected it.

I looked at Harman with a stunned feeling.

Honestly, I thought who would believe a story about a person hitting a ghost, but Harman seemed to believe in the existence of ghosts, if nothing else.

Seeing how his face had hardened, it was certain.

Your Grace, that’s not what happened…

I gently shook Bella’s shoulder, meaning for her to explain herself.

“Miss, this is a chance to become friends with the Duke!”

…There’s no hope. Instead, Bella came closer to me and whispered while winking.

It seemed like she was telling me to build a friendship by sharing ghost stories, but how on earth is this supposed to be a chance to become friends?

Maybe it’s a chance to get my head cut off for blasphemy!

“Lady Siena.”

Suddenly, a hand wearing black gloves was extended before my eyes.

Harman’s expression, which had crumbled just once earlier, had already changed to a gentle smile.

“Then, could you perhaps check if there are any ghosts in my estate as well?”

“Pardon?”

“My estate needs your help, Lady Siena.”

The corners of his mouth were still turned up, but the ends were stiff.

Rather than being scared, he looked somehow tired.

So, he was currently asking me in a roundabout way to get rid of ghosts.

I carefully shook my head.

“I’m truly sorry, but there won’t be much I can help you with.”

Ghosts don’t exist in the first place, so how can I get rid of something that isn’t there?

At best, I could only tell him to tear out all the old parts and do renovation work.

Well, thinking about it that way, I suppose it could be resolved.

“Even if I were to help, it wouldn’t involve solving anything related to ghosts.”

However, Harman didn’t even pretend to listen to my words.

“I’ll provide proper compensation. How about paying you 5 million francs for each visit, my lady?”

Instead, he proposed an amount that made my mouth shut automatically.

“This is the amount I’ll pay even if the ghost doesn’t disappear.”

“…”

So 5 million francs for each visit?

I unconsciously swallowed my saliva. Harman just quietly looked at me as if waiting for my choice.

My eyes rolled around frantically.

So, if I visited 20 times, it would equal the amount of the old, precious manor I had purchased.

No matter how cheap it was, a grand mansion is still a grand mansion.

Since I had spent all my fortune to purchase it, it was natural that I lacked money for immediate living expenses.

I did feel a bit overwhelmed by the fact that Bella and I would have to continue cleaning the vast estate by ourselves.

‘Should I just accept?’

Couldn’t I just go there and tell him to renovate with sturdy new timber since there seems to be a ghost?

Harman would be happy because the ghost disappeared—because he’d believe it disappeared—and I’d be happy getting paid. Wouldn’t that be good for both of us?

However, what still bothered me was

the fact that Harman would go mad later.

It would be terrible if I visited his estate and somehow got caught up in the aftermath.

Realistic concerns and anxiety about the future clashed, making it difficult to speak easily.

Then Harman, who had been quietly watching me, held out a rectangular business card.

I could feel the smooth, expensive texture at my fingertips as I received it.

“Please think it over carefully and send a letter to this address.”

“…Thank you for your consideration, Your Grace.”

I gripped the business card he had given me tightly.

Harman smiled gently and left the estate just like that.

I stared blankly until the roof of the carriage completely disappeared from view.

When the cool breeze began to flutter my hair, Bella approached.

“My goodness, our Miss has been invited to the Duke’s estate!”

Bella, didn’t you hear that he asked me to check if there are ghosts?

Bella’s cheeks were flushed as she looked at me, and I could tell what she was thinking.

Right, what fault could you have?

You’re only doing this for my sake.

“Bella.”

“Yes, Miss!”

“There are no ghosts in this world.”

But my strength drained away as I recited this cold truth.

There aren’t any. There’s no such thing as ghosts.

Bella rolled her eyes and seemed to ponder something thoughtfully. Then she smiled mischievously.

“Mm, yes. I understand, Miss!”

She doesn’t seem to believe me.

“By the way, Miss, about the garden in front of the manor. I did a little cleaning and…”

I half-listened to Bella’s chatter beside me as I picked up the business card.

[Harman Monteville]

Elegant cursive script embossed in gold on a neat, dark navy business card.

It was a refined business card that naturally brought to mind Harman’s face with his blonde hair and blue eyes.

“My estate needs your help, Lady Siena.”

Perhaps it wasn’t a lie when he said he was curious if similar things were happening at my manor as at the Duke’s estate.

Those weren’t details he could have guessed accurately unless he’d actually experienced them himself.

He didn’t send a representative, and the Duke who extremely limited his outside activities came personally.

Just how much does he cherish that estate?

‘Wait a minute.’

Something flashed through my mind.

If he loves the estate this much.

Harman would definitely never sell it, even if strange things happened at the estate.

In fact, people who stubbornly refused to sell their haunted houses appeared in the original story too.

So that means…

Even when strange things happened, Harman stayed alone guarding the estate and…

His nerves became frayed and he went mad, didn’t he?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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