OYVT 17

Chapter 17

“How did you know I was stuck to this wall, woman?”

The white ghost, Lucifer, asked while only half his face poked out from the wall.

“Because I know everything.”

“What a ridiculous woman. You’re a good liar.”

“I’m serious. No matter where you hide, I can see you.”

Yurita stomped over toward the wall and slapped her hand against it.

Lucifer had to look up at her from beneath her shadow.

“So if you pull another dangerous prank on me like last time, I won’t let you off.”

“W-What did I even do?”

“You tried to drag me out the window and make me fall, you damn mold bastard!”

“I couldn’t help it! It’s a ghost’s instinct to curse people!”

“Don’t make excuses, you psychopath!”

“Psychopath? I don’t know what that means, but it sounds super harsh! That’s mean!”

Lucifer got angry and pulled his entire body out of the wall, huffing furiously.

Up close, he was really tiny for a ghost. His black eyes, nose, and mouth stuck on his white body looked pitifully insignificant.

He looks cute on the outside, but… how young was he when he died?

Even while talking to him, that thought bothered Yurita.

Sure, he had pulled a malicious prank that was practically attempted murder, but in the end, he was still the soul of a child. And judging by how he wandered the mortal world, he clearly still had many lingering attachments to life.

“Woman, I have something to complain about too. Why do you keep bringing strangers into this mansion?”

“You mean the banquet from a few days ago?”

“Yeah! Though I can’t say I liked those pumpkin statues set up at the party.”

“Hm.”

“And that little brat you brought here—who is he, and why is he wandering around?”

“Theo is my younger brother.”

“That kid keeps roaming around my territory, the garden, and it bothers me! Tell him to stay inside the house!”

“Oh please. This mansion belongs to the Duke and Duchess of Killerster. Who are you to order people around?”

“Graaah, you’re so annoying!”

At that moment, voices of servants greeting someone came from beyond the basement window. Then came the sounds of departure.

It meant Zachary was going out again that evening.

As Yurita focused all her attention on listening, Lucifer stopped grumbling.

“Woman, are you worried about the 19th Duke?”

“You mean Zachary? Yeah.”

“Hmph. He’s probably going to wander the streets again until dawn because he can’t sleep.”

At those words, Yurita turned toward Lucifer.

“Zachary can’t sleep well?”

Lucifer flinched.

“I-I don’t know. Did I say that?”

Yurita narrowed her eyes darkly.

“Hey, moldy. You nearly killed me and you’re not even sorry? Are you going to talk, or should I invite hundreds more people into this mansion?”

“N-No! Too many!”

“Then start talking.”

“The 19th Duke hasn’t slept properly ever since he inherited the title a year ago. Constant nightmares, headaches… that’s why he goes out to get fresh air until dawn.”

In the end, Lucifer confessed everything.

Suddenly, Yurita remembered the night long ago when she had run away because of debt and happened to encounter Zachary in the middle of the night.

Could it be… back then too, he was wandering around because of his headaches?

“You’re not the one keeping him awake, are you?”

“It’s not me! Why are you accusing me? This is unfair!”

“I’m asking because of the stuff you’ve done, attempted murderer!”

“It’s really not me. No one can cure his insomnia.”

“We’ll see about that.”

At Yurita’s short reply, Lucifer looked back at her.

She seemed deep in thought.

…I really can’t tell what this woman is thinking either.

While cautiously watching Yurita, Lucifer slowly slipped back out through the basement window.

Sigh. Now that this woman is here, there’s nowhere in this mansion where I can rest peacefully anymore.

For a ghost whose whole purpose was supposed to be tormenting people, Lucifer’s dignity was in shambles.

At that moment, his eyes caught sight of little Theo in the garden below.

Theo was smiling while watching a butterfly sitting on the bridge of his nose.

…Ever since that tiny brat came here, nothing has been going right for me! I’ll have to mess with him someday soon!

And with that resolve, Lucifer drifted away.

Some time later, dawn arrived.

Zachary, who had once again spent the night wandering outside, dragged his boots as he climbed the stairs.

I’m exhausted.

A yawn escaped him naturally. Suffering from chronic insomnia for an entire year was something few people could endure.

When he reached the fourth floor, Zachary glanced toward Yurita’s room down the hallway.

Is she still awake even now?

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but eventually turned and headed to his own room.

The moment he flung the door open and removed his coat—

“You’re back?”

At the unexpected female voice, Zachary nearly lost his mind and stumbled backward. A chair toppled over behind him.

When he finally came to his senses, he saw Yurita calmly sitting in a chair with only a single candle lit beside her.

“Damn, you scared me. What are you doing here?!”

While Zachary was still panicking, Yurita slowly rose and walked toward the window.

She yanked the black curtains shut, instantly covering the large window and blocking even the faint moonlight filtering in.

The room became completely dark except for the candlelight.

Yurita’s golden eyes gleamed in the light as she looked at Zachary.

“Take it off.”

“W-What?!”

Zachary shouted in alarm. Without realizing it, he grabbed the front of his shirt protectively.

Watching him silently, Yurita spoke calmly.

“No, take off your outdoor clothes and wash up. You need to get ready for bed.”

“…You’re sleeping here?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

Yurita placed a large bag on Zachary’s bed and curled her lips into a smile.

“Because I’m going to put you to sleep.”

Back in the modern world, Yurita’s goal had been to achieve financial freedom and quit her job.

To do that, she had tried dozens of side hustles. Among them, the one that suited her best was reading tarot cards for people.

But that wasn’t the end of her side-job list…

Her second side job: a YouTube “Witch ASMR Channel.”

Yurita ran a channel where she created various soothing sounds to help people sleep peacefully.

The reason the channel was called “witch” was because Yurita dressed like a witch and used all kinds of occult-looking objects to create sleep-inducing sounds.

Her channel was filled with mysterious atmospheres, potions, cursed dolls imported from overseas, and bundles of weeds picked from outside her house that merely looked like magical herbs.

I stayed very committed to the witch concept, so it became pretty popular.

It was a side job she genuinely enjoyed because it let her pour all her love for the occult into her videos.

Anyway.

The important thing was that thanks to that experience, Yurita had helped tens of thousands of people fall asleep. She knew exactly what helped people sleep well.

“So how exactly are you planning to put me to sleep?”

Zachary asked as he returned after washing up. He was drying his wet hair with a towel, droplets falling from his red hair.

Yurita, who had been reclining on the sofa reading a book, lifted her head and met eyes with Zachary, who was wearing a thin silk shirt.

Because of the thin material, the outline of his upper body was clearly visible. His muscles looked well-trained.

Ahem.

Pretending not to notice, Yurita snapped her book shut and gestured toward the bed.

“Sit on the bed.”

Scratching his head, Zachary sat down.

Soon, Yurita poured hot water into a teacup and brought it to him.

“What’s this?”

“Honey water. Drinking something warm before bed helps with sleep.”

“Where did you hear that I can’t sleep? Was it that brat Toby?”

“Wherever I heard it from doesn’t really matter.”

“This kind of thing won’t help.”

“Then should I just leave?”

At those words, Zachary quickly turned to look at her.

“I didn’t say you should go.”

“So I should stay? Whether you keep suffering from headaches and insomnia doesn’t really matter to me.”

Instead of answering, Zachary gulped down the honey water Yurita handed him.

“Ah, hot!”

“Are you kidding me? Drink slowly!”

After the little commotion over the honey water passed, Zachary lay down on the bed, still looking unconvinced.

“Close your eyes.”

Sitting beside his head, Yurita whispered quietly.

Zachary’s eyelids slowly slid shut.

A sweet aroma brushed against his nose.

Soon, he felt Yurita’s soft fingers touch his forehead.

A pleasant pressure spread through him.

“What are you doing?”

“Massaging around your eyes. It’ll help relieve your fatigue.”

Zachary felt Yurita gently pressing the area between his brows.

“You’re always frowning here.”

“That’s because there are idiots everywhere constantly making me angry.”

“I get it, but at least while sleeping, it’s good to relax the tension between your brows.”

Yurita’s hands moved past his eyebrows and firmly pressed against the rims of his ears.

His expression seemed noticeably more relaxed.

Then Yurita pulled out her secret weapon from her bag.