I can’t go any farther.

“What?”

This is my limit!

The female ghost, who had been moving along while held in Zeno’s grip, let out a shrill scream.

Just as expected, it seemed to be an earthbound spirit tied to the vanity table, unable to stray more than a certain distance from the room.

“Tsk.”

She’d been planning to go outside where it wouldn’t matter how loud they got.

Camilla changed plans and headed for her own room. Then, the moment she shut the door, she went straight to the point.

“What are you doing? What were you trying to do to that kid?”

A ghost harming a human was extremely rare.

It felt like a spirit with a grudge—did it have a vendetta against Elisha?

That brat had no manners, sure, but she wasn’t airheaded enough to make someone hate her that much, was she?

U... uuuuh.......

The ghost glared at Camilla with eyes wide. Was it trying to scare her? Dream on.

From the eyes visible through its loose, tangled hair, bloody tears dripped down. It also spewed out a bizarre sound from its mouth, staging a scene straight out of a horror movie.

Seeing that, Camilla let out a short sigh.

Do they all turn brain-dead once they become ghosts? What is that endless positive mindset that says everything they do is going to work?

“Zeno.”

Smack!

Aaah!

With Zeno’s full-contact, full-force punishment flying in immediately, the female ghost had no choice but to pitch forward again.

“Talk straight before I burn that vanity table to ash.”

......!

The moment she mentioned the vanity table, the face that already had no color turned even paler, and its posture changed instantly.

The anger that had been all over its face drained away at once, replaced by tension as it watched Camilla’s reaction.

“You’re making my head spin, so fix that messy hair. And relax your eyes.”

“O-Okay!”

About early thirties? When it straightened up and swept the loose hair neatly back, its face finally showed properly. It was fairly pretty.

I’m an actor.

“An actor?”

“Yeah! I... I want to act, I want to act......!”

The ghost continued like it was wailing.

I want to go into that kid’s body and act again!

What the hell is it saying?

“You think possession just works on anyone?”

If it did, ghosts would be causing an uproar trying to cram themselves into people.

Why do you think Zeno sticks right by my side? Because a body you can possess isn’t that common.

With that kid, it’s possible!

“What?”

Because what that kid desperately wants is to stand on a stage.

“Elisha?”

At the unexpected claim, Camilla’s eyes widened slightly. That kid wanted to act on stage?

She knew Elisha liked plays, but she hadn’t thought she had stage ambition too.

If just a little more of my energy settles into her, I can enter her body!

“So?”

Then I can act again!

“So?”

“S-So.......”

The ghost, which had been shouting in excitement, flinched as it felt Camilla’s voice growing colder and colder.

“This is exactly why I don’t deal with ghosts casually. They interpret everything however they want and make fools of themselves.”

Going into someone else’s body because it’s like a dream. Is that supposed to be an excuse?

Is your dream to stack up sin as a profession, or what. I don’t get why you’d want to commit crimes even after you’re dead.

“And are you stupid?”

Stupid?!

“Do you not know where this is?”

I do know, but.......

“You know and you’re still doing this? Do you really know?”

What are you even talking about?

“Three great Guardians of the Fable Empire. If you still don’t get it after I’ve handed you hints this obvious—”

“G-Guardians......? Kyaaaah!”

“It’s impressive you haven’t been caught yet.”

Sure, it hadn’t been caught and had endured so far, but could it do that after entering Elisha’s body? It would have to face Guardians every single day.

“Was Guardian Jeti’s power fire?”

It would be lucky if it didn’t get burned alive.

“Guhk!”

...What? That reaction?

“You didn’t even think about it?”

“I-I just.......”

It really hadn’t considered Guardians at all. It started tearing up.

Watching it made a sigh slip out on its own.

I just wanted to act again! If I can do that, I’ll do anything!

“That’s true.”

“R-Right?”

“True that you deserve to get beat.”

.......

The moment her sentence ended, the woman clutched her head and hurriedly watched Zeno’s mood, and Camilla shook her head again.

*****

“Mm.......”

A little early in the morning. Elisha woke up feeling good for the first time in a while.

Lately, no matter how long she slept, she stayed tired and never felt refreshed, but today she felt amazingly clear. Like she’d truly slept deeply.

“Huh......?”

Stretching as she stepped down from the bed, Elisha froze on the spot.

“Guh!”

So startled that she flopped back down onto the bed.

Because someone was in the corner of the room, staring at her blankly.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Waiting for you to wake up.”

It was Camilla. Arms crossed, she was staring Elisha down.

“So why are you doing that in my room right now!”

“I have something to ask.”

“What?”

Elisha was speechless. What kind of urgent business was this, that she had come in the morning and was acting like that?

“That vanity table.”

“Vanity table?”

“Where did you get it?”

Camilla pointed to the vanity table that could be called the ghost’s dwelling.

Just looking at it, it didn’t match this room at all. It was old enough to look like something picked up from a junk shop, practically oozing that atmosphere.

“Why are you asking that?”

“I was wondering if you picked it up from a trash heap.”

“What are you talking about? A trash heap?!”

Elisha snapped at once and jumped up. Planting a hand on her hip, she declared proudly.

“I won it at an auction!”

“An auction?”

“It’s the vanity table that the great actor Julia used.”

It was the first time in her life she’d personally won something at an auction, and she couldn’t even describe how proud she’d been. It felt like she’d become an adult, or something.

“Julia? Her name is Julia?”

“D-Don’t tell me you don’t know Julia?”

“Do I have to?”

“How can you not know Julia? The Heart of Evil!”

“The Heart of Evil?”

“She’s the lead of that play!”

Ah, so that’s why her face had seemed familiar. She was the lead from that play. Without makeup, her features looked completely different, though.

“She was a famous actor!”

You really do like theater.

Watching Elisha pour out words more excitedly than usual, Camilla clicked her tongue lightly.

“Even so, you want the belongings of a woman who was murdered?”

“How do you know she died? You said you didn’t even know who Julia was.”

“How do I know.”

She’d heard it. From Julia herself.

Julia had been murdered three years ago by a fan who chased her around... no, not a fan. A stalker who insisted he was a fan. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The stalker had been caught immediately and executed, but she still couldn’t leave the world because she had lingering regret about acting.

This kid, honestly. Is she lucky or unlucky?

The dead Julia had ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) become bound to the vanity table soaked with her blood, and Elisha had bought that exact vanity table because she liked it.

If she found out the actor she adored was dead and in the same space as her, would she be happy? Or would she freak out?

“Is your dream to be an actor?”

“Hhk!”

At Camilla’s straight shot, Elisha clamped both hands over her mouth. She’d never told anyone—how did she know?

“W-What are you talking about?”

“Is your dream to stand on a stage?”

“No!”

“No?”

“How would a noble young lady do something like that. It’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

She’d denied it, but the very fact she’d rejected the theater she loved made her eyes shake nonstop.

“I thought.......”

“Thought what?”

“If you wanted to stand on stage, I was going to help.”

“...What?”

Leaving Elisha with eyes wide, Camilla’s gaze went back to the vanity table. The ghost attached to it—what was its name again? Julia?

The Heart of Evil... I want to perform it on stage one more time.

If all it wanted was acting.

Who cared about a ghost’s wish, anyway.

But even so, from Camilla’s position—someone who had once lived as an actor—it was hard to completely ignore that desperate desire to act.

Because she knew better than anyone how terrifying that craving for acting could be. Once you got a taste of it, it was hard to crawl back out.

“Standing on a stage isn’t that hard.”

“What do you mean it isn’t hard?”

At Elisha’s immediate interest, Camilla let out a quiet laugh. It was obvious Elisha was starving for acting too.

“I’m thinking of renting out a theater for the whole day.”

“The whole thing?”

“As you know, I have quite a lot of money.”

Renting was the issue? She could buy the entire theater if she wanted. Renting the stage for a day was nothing.

“Of course, there won’t be an audience.”

Mixing a rookie like that with a ghost and putting them on stage, then dragging in an audience and other actors too, was too much. It wouldn’t be respectful to the audience or the other actors.

But letting those two act to their hearts’ content at center stage wasn’t difficult.

“On a stage......”

“Why? Interested?”

“On a stage......”

She repeated the same words blankly. Only after a long while, unable to hide her wildly trembling eyes, she asked carefully.

“Am I... am I allowed to stand on stage?”

“Of course. There won’t be any other actors. The only person who’ll face you is exactly one.”

“One person?”

“Me.”

Watching Elisha’s eyes go as wide as lanterns, Camilla smiled brightly.

Of course, there was no reason she had to do this with Elisha. She could just take the ghost to the theater and release its grudge, and that would be that.

But......

Camilla looked at the book and the script lying on one side table.

The moment she’d entered the room earlier, it had been the first thing that caught her eye, and she’d already checked it.

A script and book so worn they were falling apart, from being read and reread. And packed with Elisha’s own interpretation of the character.

Seeing that moved her. If she was going to rent the stage anyway, it didn’t seem so bad to grant Elisha’s desperate wish a little.

“What play are we doing?”

At last, Elisha—who had hesitated for so long—asked in a very careful voice.

Seeing that, the corner of Camilla’s mouth lifted again.

“The Heart of Evil.”