Episode 91

Jasper stared piercingly at the middle-aged man with red hair mixed with gray at the temples. 

He wasn’t particularly good at remembering people, but that face, he could recognize it well. It faintly overlapped with Rose’s features.

‘She resembles his father.’

George’s face was in a significantly battered condition. If he hadn’t aged so poorly, he might have been a handsome middle-aged man.

Jasper got up slowly from his seat, tapping Caleb’s shoulder. 

“Looks like he’s here.”

“Already?”

Jasper nodded and gestured toward George.

George looked like a poor factory worker, nervously scanning his surroundings with his wide, bloodshot eyes.

Jasper let out a bitter laugh. 

“He found his way here himself…”

“He must have heard the rumors.” 

“That’s why he came?” 

Jasper sneered and clicked his tongue. The fact that this man resembled Rose was unsettling. 

After ruining his life, he couldn’t resist his impulses and curiosity, bringing him straight to the gambling house. He might be Rose’s biological father, but his character is a completely different story.

Jasper was determined to get rid of this man from Rose’s life. He strengthened his resolve and approached George.

When two big men came closer, George turned to Jasper and Caleb in surprise. Jasper smiled maliciously.

“We’re acquaintances, aren’t we? You seem like an Imperial, aren’t you?”

George’s bloodshot eyes darted around, and then he recognized Jasper.

“You… You…”

“We met here by chance, and how about a little game?” 

“Are you really Wonder Laquoi?” 

“You’ll know for sure once you give it a try.” 

George chewed his lip thoughtfully. All the while, Jasper looked him over from head to toe.

‘Is he working at the factory?’ 

It seemed like he had been avoiding Redmark’s gaze while working in a place that provided food and shelter. He had tried to keep a clear head in his way, but in the end, succumbing to the moment’s temptation and heading to the casino had been laughable.

George glanced at Jasper, seemingly checking his reaction, and spoke. 

“…The stakes?”

“Don’t have the money to bet?” 

George clenched his lips as if wounded in his pride. Jasper believed that the situation was going well. He had easily caught George, and he had also thought of a way to use him.

“You don’t have to bet the stakes. Instead, if I win, you’ll have to help me with something.”

George viewed Jasper’s proposal with suspicion. 

“What are you planning to make me do?”

“If I tell you in advance, it won’t be fun. Don’t worry; it’s nothing major. I’m going to bet three times more money than usual. If you manage to beat me, you’ll end up with a hefty sum.”

“….”

“Do you agree?”

George hesitated in answering, but Jasper was confident that he would accept his proposal. From the moment George had arrived here, his self-control had been compromised.

George, exhaling rough and irregular breaths, finally spoke up. 

“…Get the table ready.”

Jasper, unsurprised by the expected outcome, let one corner of his mouth curl into a quiet smile.

* * *

Across the sea, in the capital of the Lepti Empire, Briley’s excited cries echoed through the air.

“I’m so happy that the three of us are together!”

Briley rolled around on the spacious bed. Rose watched her with a soft smile, and Rebecca joined Briley, lying down beside her.

Today, they had been invited to Briley’s house to enjoy a sumptuous dinner and spend the night. Briley, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, asked.

“Did you enjoy the meal, my friends?”

“Yeah, we’re stuffed.” 

Rose replied. The meal had been so lavish that Rose still felt quite full.

Now, all three of them had changed into their pajamas and gathered in Briley’s bedroom. The bed was so large that there was plenty of room for all of them to sprawl out. They planned to chat here until the early hours of the morning before moving to the guest room.

Rose looked around with slightly excited eyes. 

‘This is the first time I’ve been to a friend’s house.’

In reality, after receiving the invitation from Briley, she had been somewhat anxious. 

The Lawrence family controlled the empire’s financial sector. While they weren’t nobility, no one in the empire could ignore the name Lawrence, not even the nobles. Rose wondered if she would be seen unfavorably by Briley’s family when she visited their home, especially since she was not from a noble background.

However, the situation turned out to be different from Rose’s concerns. 

Except for Briley, the rest of the family was absent due to business trips and various obligations.

“It’s hard to see my family. The first and second brothers are overseas right now. I thought at least one of our parents would be here because my friends were coming, but it’s a shame!” 

Briley spoke with a bright smile, but there was a hint of disappointment in her tone. She mentioned that it had been a particularly busy period lately, and she hadn’t seen her family for a long time.

For someone who loved people and was prone to loneliness like Briley, being alone at home must have been difficult to endure. So when the opportunity came to have a meal with friends, Briley was quickly filled with excitement. She continued to roll around on the bed without stopping.

“Hey, before we go to sleep, what do you say we tell a spooky story? The weather is gloomy, and it’s raining outside.”

Rose, who had been lying comfortably, was startled by Briley’s words and sat up. 

“A, a spooky story?”

At that moment, thunder and lightning struck outside the window. Rose hastily pulled the thin blanket closer to herself. Fortunately, the bedroom remained lit thanks to the electric lights.

While Rose appeared frightened, Rebecca’s eyes sparkled. 

“Sure! I’ve heard some really interesting ghost stories. And by the way, they’re based on real events.”

“What is it? What is it?”

“Um, well…”

Rose couldn’t actively stop the enthusiastic two, so she chose to turn her blanket inside out. Briley discovered Rose huddled under the blanket and burst into laughter.

“Rose, are you scared?”

“It’s ghost stories… They scare me.”

Rebecca, curious, spoke.

“You’re scared too? Then should we not talk about it?”

Rose pondered for a moment, rolling her large eyes. 

“No, no, why not? What’s the worst that can happen? It’s fine.”

Tonight, Rose hoped that her friends would have the most enjoyable time. 

In a few days, Rebecca would leave for her summer villa, and Briley would travel to the Baskirk Republic. They wouldn’t see each other for quite a while until the fall semester began.

Briley chuckled and clapped her hands. 

“Let’s not turn off the lights for Rose Bell.”

“…If you turn off the lights, I’ll faint.”

Rose said, her face paling.

The three of them gathered in the center of the bed, with Rebecca starting to speak in a low, throaty voice. Briley wrapped her arms around Rose, who had the blanket turned over her, providing comfort.

Rebecca’s storytelling skills were far better than expected, and Rose, despite her initial desire to block her ears, found herself captivated by Rebecca’s tale, enduring her fear.

It was the story of a curious child with a keen interest in the occult. The child had heard rumors that by drawing a specific magic circle at the place of a recent fatal accident, they could summon a ghost.

“It was very late at night. It was so dark that nothing could be seen around. However, curiosity overcame fear, and the child and a friend began drawing the magic circle by the side of the railway track…”

Rose clenched her knees tightly, swallowing a dry gulp. She couldn’t understand why someone would undertake such a risky endeavor, especially when the existence of ghosts was far from certain.

“Following the instructions from the spell book, the child completed the entire ritual and then waited with their friend. It had been quite some time. But they only heard the faint hooting of an owl in the distance. Nothing else happened. The child was completely disappointed and, while holding their friend’s hand, they said, ‘I guess this is all just a bunch of lies, after all!’ Their friend agreed and felt dejected.”

As Rose was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Rebecca continued in her hushed voice.

“Returning home late at night and lying in bed, the child saw something faint outside the door. Had a ghost followed them? Was the spell not done correctly? The child got excited, opened the door, and rushed outside, but there was nothing there.”

Briley interjected with a puzzled expression.

“Wait, they failed to summon the ghost?”

“The child was confused. They thought they would talk to their friend about it the next day, just in case their friend had seen something strange too. They made a promise to discuss it. And then they went to bed again, but strangely, they couldn’t remember their friend’s name.”

Rose hunched her shoulders uneasily. 

“Their friend’s house and face couldn’t come to mind. Then it hit them. When they left the house today and headed towards the railway track, they were all alone. There wasn’t a friend they had agreed to go with. That friend didn’t even exist.”

Rose shivered, feeling a slight chill run through her. 

“Oh, no, so that friend was a ghost? They came back holding hands. C-can you touch a ghost physically? Is that even possible…?”

Just then, thunder and lightning roared outside. Rose jumped with a yelp and, in a panic, buried her face beside Briley’s knees. 

Briley laughed and spoke.

“This won’t do. Let’s not go to the guest room later, just sleep here together! Look at Rose; she’s about to faint!”

“I-I’m not about to faint…”

Rose meekly protested, her face turning red, as she sat up straight again.