It took a fair amount of time and money just for Catherine to leave Orlean. She even wasted a bit of her funds by changing her destination in the middle of the trip. Though her driver felt sorry for her and did what he could, the fee was still out of her hands. And so, this was how she arrived at the Christopher Duchy, a prosperous land in the eastern part of the empire where the residents thrived under the protection of the Great Sorcerer Grand Duke Chezare Christopher.

Catherine got a room at an inn, and after two weeks of searching for a new residence, she finally had some good news.

“It’s pretty big,” she remarked, gazing at the manor.

“Heh heh, indeed it is,” the realtor replied. “It’s the largest residence in the north of Christopher. As you can see, the estate boasts two annexes in addition to the main building.”

“The price isn’t bad either.”

“Right, you are! You can’t find another parcel of land like this for the price in all of Christopher! And the beautiful building you’d get to live in is just the icing on the cake,” he rambled on.

“I like the view too.”

“Indeed. It’s only a twenty-minute walk from here to the main street, and the harbor is a short carriage ride away. As you know, Christopher is famous among the northern territories for its ports. We’ve got wonderful ocean views!”

“But why is it so cheap?”

Catherine asked without a single change to her expression. At these words, the realtor broke out in a cold sweat. The reason Catherine had chosen to set up shop in Christopher was simple: the location was well-developed and thriving in every aspect from finance and education to art and culture.

In a stroke of luck, she had managed to find a decent real estate listing on the edge of town—the old manor she was currently visiting. The realtor cleared his throat. “Why, you must have remarkable luck! You could search the four corners of the continent and not find another house such as this. This is clearly a blessing from heaven!”

No matter how hard Catherine thought about it, it didn’t make sense for a house like this to be sold at such a bargain. She crossed the lush, weed-strewn patch of land that was once a garden and entered the main building. The curtains were torn, and the stairs creaked, but she saw no major problems. It was definitely odd.

The price is just too low.

“What do you say?” the realtor asked. “It’s a bit dirty after being empty so long, but structurally, it’s perfectly—”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Catherine may have been a noble lady, but she wasn’t ignorant. She had long kept a ledger to make her meager allowance stretch further, so she’d developed strong financial senses. She realized quickly that something didn’t add up.

“I wouldn’t say there’s anything wrong with it at all!” the realtor exclaimed. “You simply have excellent luck—”

“Then forget it.”

Cutting the realtor short, Catherine turned her back to him as if she couldn’t care less about the house. She opened her parasol, long faded from the sun, and left the building, saying, “I was intrigued because the house is splendid, the garden is generous, and the location is good, but there must be some problem that overshadows all that. You can forget about a contract. I’m afraid I can’t trust you, so this is where our relationship ends.”

Catherine simply couldn’t look past the suspect price. I knew I was hoping for too much. Maybe I can find another good house in the area. That will make it easier to find a job too...

Just then, the realtor hopped in front of Catherine, blocking her path.

“W-wait, miss! Please wait just a moment!”

Catherine turned, distracted for a moment from her concerns. The realtor scratched his head, licked his lips, and whispered, “Actually, there are terrifying rumors going around about this manor. Perhaps they’re partly true, as four different families have fled this place in the past two years.”

“Rumors?” she asked.

The realtor nodded grimly. “You see... Haa... They say the basement is haunted by ghosts. Every month on the full moon, you can hear screams and the sound of sobbing women... I’m sorry, miss. I’ll find you a really nice house if you wait just a bit longer.”

Ghosts, screams, and sobbing women? Catherine didn’t need to hear more. She abruptly cut the man off.

“Perfect. I’ll take it.”

“I beg your pardon?”

As the dumbfounded realtor stared at her, Catherine dug around in her bag for a fountain pen. She carefully removed the cap and thrust her hand forward.

“I’d like to sign the contract. I don’t have any friends, but now I don’t have to worry about being lonely here. I won’t get bored either, so this is perfect for me.”

Catherine snatched the contract away from the bewildered realtor and signed using her mother’s maiden name, Catherine Panya.

The real estate agent’s face practically glowed as they returned to the main street to have Catherine’s luggage moved. Now that she’d purchased the house, Catherine checked her remaining possessions, and a sigh escaped her lips. Her bag, once filled with cash, now felt horribly empty. She only had enough funds left over to hire an inexperienced maid for a few months at best. She had already sold all her jewelry except for her mother’s keepsakes, so this truly was all she had left.

Well, I think I managed to get the most for my money.

The realtor returned less than two hours later. He grinned from ear to ear, like a man who’d just had a huge weight taken off his shoulders.

“All your luggage has been moved to the main building,” he said. “Here’s a copy of your contract and... Oh! Here’s a little moving-in present from the office. It’ll be a big help in cleaning this place, haha. I guarantee it.”

After setting down Catherine’s large bag and an unfamiliar broom, the realtor disappeared. His carriage rattled down the hill, and soon, the only sound that could be heard was the wind whistling through the weeds.

Catherine began to inspect her new home. What next? She’d only just purchased a home, and she already felt forlorn. First, she found a room that resembled something of a bedroom on the second floor and temporarily threw her bag inside. After debating with herself about what to do next, she grabbed the broom she’d been gifted and gave the floor a good sweeping. Dark dust had accumulated on the floor from the windows being open for too long, so Catherine swept and swept until the sun began to set in the autumn sky.

“This place is too big,” she cried out. At this rate, she’d pass out from trying to clean the whole thing. “It’s fine. No need to worry,” she told herself. “Compared to Orlean, this place is heaven.”

Catherine abandoned the broom and left the bedroom. Since four families had lived here over the past two years, she hoped to find some leftover supplies. Sure enough, near the bathroom, she spied a mop with no head. She took that and a rag she also found, then ran to the river behind the house. Even after breaking into a sweat in her attempt to wash the rag, she found it still refused to abandon the dirt and grime that had been worked into it.

As the red glow of the sky ebbed with the setting sun, stars twinkled into existence over the horizon. Catherine sat back and sighed. Damn it. How long is it going to be like this? Will it ever end? After clutching her head in frustration, Catherine jammed the cloth onto the base of the mop and trudged back inside. As she scrubbed the bedroom floor, she could see their galaxy, a brushstroke of twinkling stars in the sky, through the dusty window. It sure is dark out here. Maybe because I’m so far from the city.

The building didn’t have electricity yet, but fortunately, Catherine had found a candle while it was still light outside. She went to the shelf and lit it, casting the room in a faint yellow glow. However, she only then realized that the candle was too short to stay lit for long. The day just kept getting worse. She carefully set the candle down and breathed in deeply.

Think happy thoughts… Once calm, Catherine took the light and crept down to the first floor. The previous owners had abandoned several shelves and chests of drawers, so she thought she could find another candle if she just looked hard enough.

Hmm... In Orlean, where did we keep sundries like candles? Catherine peered warily at the basement stairs. She gathered there would be storage at the bottom of those stairs, but the cold air seeping up from underground made her skin crawl. Its dark, foreboding presence made it feel like a labyrinth.

“Actually, there are terrifying rumors going around about this manor.”

The real estate agent’s earlier words rang in Catherine’s mind. “Nothing’s going to happen,” she told herself, although she knew that every time she said that, something did indeed happen.

However, she had no other choice. She’d exhausted all other places where a candle might be hiding, so Catherine descended into the basement, using the wall to guide her down the spiraling stairs. The wooden door she found at the bottom was unlocked, and it opened with a creak, revealing a cavernous empty space. Cold air brushed her cheek as wind whistled by her ear. However, Catherine wasn’t thinking about how cold the air around her was.

“Dear lord,” she whispered.

Had she somehow fallen into a dream as she descended those steps? She could hardly believe the sight in front of her. Though no candle or window was in sight, the floor of the basement gleamed brightly in the shape of an intricately drawn circle.

As another gust of cold air rushed past her, an eerie voice called out, “The one who possesses me will rule the world.”

The haunting voice only heightened the effect of the glowing red circle. Catherine shook herself out of her stupor and faltered backward. She dashed back upstairs and into her bedroom, grabbing the mop where she had tossed it aside. Equipped with her makeshift cleaning device in one hand and the candle in the other, Catherine returned to the basement, panting heavily.

Indeed, she was stunned.

“Who scribbled all over my floor?! I can’t believe someone would make such a big mess in here! Would it have killed them to draw something nice?”

Rolling up her sleeves in fury, Catherine began scrubbing at the circle with her mop. However, it must have been drawn with very strong ink, as even though she scrubbed with all her might, it only slowly began to fade.

“Let’s see whether I fall asleep or get rid of you first!”

She kept up her work, rinsing the mop in the water from a wooden bucket that gave off an offensive odor, cursing the previous owner all the while.

Just then, from the other side of the wooden door, she heard waterlogged footsteps. Her shoulders heaving as she took deep breaths, Catherine turned to look at the entrance to the basement. The candlelight swirled in the cold air, and her back felt oddly stiff. She had no idea how long she stood there like that before an unfamiliar voice pierced through the darkness.

“Who are you?”

Before Catherine’s eyes had time to grow wide, an unknown man strode up to her. The first thing she noticed was his violet eyes that crinkled in annoyance. His skin was pale and smooth as porcelain, and his mouth was frozen in a harsh line. Most of all, she noticed the overpowering stench of blood wafting off of him. In that dark basement, the man felt ethereal, but his face was already handsome enough to throw her mind into confusion without the surreal atmosphere. Catherine thought the man might be a dream until he pressed the point of a transparent sword into her throat.

“Are you an agent of the pope? I congratulate you for making it all the way here.”

As he spoke these nonsensical words, the man gave her a smile so beautiful it practically shone. Catherine forgot to breathe as she stared at him. Although the weather outside was dry, the intruder was soaked from head to toe, and his dark leather boots were muddy.

How is he covered in mud?

The man spoke again in a wary voice, his face close to Catherine’s, “Your disguise is commendable. You play the part of an ordinary city girl so well that even I was almost fooled. Every day, you’re getting farther—”

“Clean it up.”

She had worked so hard to get this floor clean, and now this man comes tracking mud on it? Catherine shoved the blade aside and pointed at the man’s path of mud. He may be an intruder, but that was no reason for him to insult her so. Catherine pushed the mop toward the man, feeling her heart sink as she inspected the mud smeared across the stone floor.

“What are you staring at? I told you to clean that mess up,” she said. “And what are you thinking, waving your sword at someone you don’t even know? Do you want to be charged with attempted murder along with trespassing?”