— Liebesleid —
A long silence filled the room after Elena finished speaking.
I didn't break it immediately.
Her words hadn't been delivered with sobs or accusations, yet they felt heavier than any lament. Her life should have continued forward from some safe, sunlit moment, but was instead wrenched onto a path from which there was no return.
I was growing emotionally involved with a ghost.
It felt improper, yet unavoidable.
That was when she cried.
Not wailing.
Just tears falling silently, tracing paths down a face that wasn't hers.
I instinctively took a step forward, then froze.
— That body was Adrian's.
Reason pulled me back just in time.
Any approach could trigger unpredictable consequences.
Elena seemed to sense my hesitation.
She looked up, her voice soft.
"I know what you're thinking."
"Don't worry... I won't harm anyone."
She paused, as if remembering.
"All these years, I have never willingly hurt a living soul."
"Even when I made Adrian's bodyguards lose consciousness... it was because the killing intent radiating from them was too strong. That kind of aura... it agitates a spirit, makes it lose control."
I nodded.
"I understand."
"You are not a malevolent spirit."
To her, those words clearly meant more than mere comfort.
She carefully wiped her tears with the back of her hand, her movements restrained.
"Thank you."
After a brief silence, I steered the conversation back.
"Your bones."
"If the fusion is to be completed, we must find them first."
She lowered her head, thinking.
"I don't remember the exact location."
"Only that the place was once called Ashcroft. That was its name long ago... whether it still exists, I'm not sure."
A single, archaic place name was almost worse than no clue at all.
"Do you have any distinctive physical markers?"
"There will be many remains there. Without something specific, identification would be nearly impossible."
She hesitated.
"When I was a child, I broke two of my ribs."
"They healed... but they'd ache sometimes."
I dismissed that possibility quickly.
"Too much time has passed."
"Broken bones are not a reliable identifier."
The moment I said it, another question arose—
in a place like that, how many skeletons would even be whole?
I paused, then asked:
"A birthmark."
"Do you have a birthmark, something you were born with?"
Elena looked startled for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes."
"On the crown of my head."
"Red from birth. Hair never grew there. About this size."
She gestured with her fingers.
I understood at once.
"That would be your anchor point."
The realization visibly eased something in her expression, but a new shadow quickly fell over it.
"But... the place is dangerous."
"Warded by an array."
I looked at her.
"Who set it?"
"One-Eyed Alrik," she said quietly. "Once, I heard him talking to himself. He said exorcists had tracked him there but were barred by the ward."
"He said something—"
She paused, confirming the memory.
"'Only a true initiate of The Meta Order may enter this array.'"
So that was it.
That explained her earlier fixation.
After a moment of thought, I spoke.
"I am not an initiate of The Meta Order."
"But I will try to find a way."
She watched me, her gaze tense and focused.
"How much longer can you hold on?" I asked.
"Five to seven days," she answered truthfully.
The number made the room feel suddenly smaller.
I left myself no room for retreat.
"Rest easy."
"I will bring your bones back."
She stared at me, then slowly began to bow her head as if to offer a formal gesture of thanks.
I stopped her gently.
"That isn't necessary."
She looked up, moisture still glistening in her eyes.
"I have nothing to offer in return."
"So let me... express my gratitude through music."
She picked up the violin again.
Her posture was formal, her movements steady.
She didn't seem like a spirit on the verge of dissolution, but a true performer.
The bow met the strings.
— Fritz Kreisler's Liebesleid.
The melody wasn't turbulent.
It was even gentle.
Yet it unfolded in the air like a memory revisited again and again.
What I heard wasn't love.
It was a lingering attachment to life, a look back at a life unfulfilled.
It was a sorrow that had lasted four hundred years.
The music continued until the first hints of dawn touched the sky.
When the final note faded, she set the bow down gently.
"Sir."
"My time is up."
She walked to the bed, lay down, and closed her eyes.
I remained where I was, not moving closer.
I knew—
the next time those eyes opened, it would only be Adrian.
And that melody,
that was the most sincere expression she would ever leave in this world.
---
— A Marriage With the Dead —
When I opened the door, a small crowd had gathered outside.
Edward, Margaret, Aya, and Selene—her face pale, clearly from crying. Beside her stood a young woman I didn't recognize.
Seeing me, Selene nearly stumbled as she rushed toward me.
"Why were you inside for so long...?" Her voice trembled.
"The music kept breaking off and returning. Every time it stopped, I thought—"
She couldn't finish the sentence. Instead, she clutched my sleeve tightly, her knuckles pale.
"I'm fine," I said quietly. "Why are you here?"
Selene usually stayed on campus. I hadn't expected her to come.
"I heard you were going to stay with Adrian," she said, taking a breath to steady herself.
"So Clara and I came over. Are you really all right?"
"We only talked."
The moment I said it, the area fell silent.
Edward frowned.
"Talked? Sir, that music... it never really stopped, did it?"
"She calmed down, and then played for a while," I said, my tone casual, as if discussing the weather.
The air grew heavy.
"Do you mean," Edward ventured cautiously, "that you've already... dealt with it?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"This ghost is beyond my ability to subdue."
The words landed like a cold spike in the hearts of everyone present.
Edward gasped. "Then how did you—"
"How did I get out alive?" I looked directly at him. "Was I supposed to die in there if I couldn't subdue her?"
The tension spiked. Margaret immediately stepped forward, positioning herself between Edward and me.
"Sir, please forgive him," she said, forcing calm into her voice. "I just need to know... is there any hope for my son?"
"Yes."
I let the word hang for a moment before continuing.
"But if he is saved, he likely will never be able to marry a living woman."
That sentence held more dread than any visible apparition.
Margaret's face went white. Edward almost laughed in disbelief. "You... what are you saying?"
"The entity clinging to Adrian is a fiercely possessive female spirit," I said, I chose my words carefully, leaving only a version they could endure., leaving only a version they could bear. "She tolerates no one else near him, but in her own way, she also protects him."
"To keep him alive, he must form a pact with an even stronger spirit—through marriage. She would act as a ward against other malicious influences. Otherwise—"
I glanced at the clock.
"—he will be dead within five days."
Silence.
Long, crushing silence.
Margaret's hands shook, but she still managed to ask, "...And if we refuse?"
"I leave now."
"The consequences, you already know."
In the end, it was Margaret who yielded first.
"Let's wait until Adrian wakes," she said, the words almost a plea. "At least... let him know."
---
At seven in the morning, Adrian awoke.
His reaction to my explanation was as volatile as expected.
"Marry a ghost?"
"No! Absolutely not—"
He tried to sit up, but lacked the strength.
Margaret held him down, her voice hoarse but firm. "You need to survive first. We can discuss the rest later."
"But... in the future, could we—"
"No separation," I interrupted. "Unless she releases you first."
Adrian looked at me, his eyes full of fear and resentment.
"But she's not human."
"Did you think that when you were nine?"
The question stunned him.
I continued.
"You were in a park. You destroyed a nest of snakes.
You got lost afterward, nearly died.
Someone led you out of the woods."
His breathing grew ragged.
"She asked you if she was beautiful.
Then she asked if you would marry her someday."
The memory clicked into place for Adrian.
"It was her..."
"That person... she was truly beautiful."
No one else in the room made a sound.
Finally, he closed his eyes and murmured,
"If it's her... then I agree."
Not out of courage,
but because it was the only lifeline left to him.