Chapter 1306: Chapter 1306: Fallen Soul
Next, Shard and Osenfort did not act together with Prince William. The prince’s purpose for attending this lively banquet had been achieved, so he made an excuse that he had an important meeting tomorrow and left early.
Shard watched as Osenfort and the groom, Mr. Enriques, sent this royal descendant onto a carriage at the entrance of the manor. Then the two parted ways with Mr. Enriques, and the burly man signaled Shard to follow him.
Following the stone slab path along the axis of the courtyard into the building, they entered the banquet hall on the second floor, just in time to see the bride, Miss Mason, or rather, Mrs. Enriques, walking from the side door of the banquet hall to the secluded mansion corridor.
“Follow her.”
Ston Osenfort said, as if he had long known the lady was there.
At this time, most of the guests were engaged in outdoor activities. The banquet hall had few people to begin with, and the corridor was even more deserted. Shard and Osenfort slowed their pace, then heard a conversation around the corner. Miss Mason, the bride, seemed to be speaking with someone, and she was somewhat agitated:
“I’m already married! Yes, today is the wedding!”
From just this sentence, Shard had already thought of many stories, but he didn’t think Osenfort had deliberately brought him to witness this kind of scene.
The two of them quietly peeked around the corner, and only then did Shard raise his eyebrows. The person talking to Miss Mason was not human at all, but a transparent spiritual body. It looked like a young man in his twenties, about the same height as Shard, but somewhat thin.
The color of the spiritual body was normal, and from the solidity, it didn’t seem very strong. It stayed only due to obsession and strong emotions without leaving after death.
[There is some malevolent power in the soul, but it’s too far away to determine.]
“She” softly reminded.
Ordinary people cannot see typical souls. Since the bride could see, it indicated that this soul had significant ties to her.
“Is this soul what you wanted me to see?”
Shard softly asked Ston Osenfort, while the agitated Miss Mason remained oblivious to the presence of others around the wall corner.
Ston Osenfort could indeed see the soul as well. This wasn’t a very special ability; even ordinary people like Princess Angelina Cavendish can now see some souls, otherwise all the ghostly legends over the centuries would become entirely fictitious.
“Since arriving at this manor, I’ve noticed this soul is haunting Maggie Mason; there’ll be a good show to watch.”
Osenfort said while the other conversation continued.
“Impossible, that is absolutely impossible!”
Miss Mason’s tone was already somewhat hysterical, but unfortunately, the soul communicated not by vibrating air to form sound, so Shard did not know what the man’s soul was expressing.
“I cannot let you do this. I’m married. Yes, today is my wedding. And you are dead. Please leave, I’m sorry, but it truly is impossible.”
Miss Mason continued arguing fiercely. The lady was already quite good-looking, and today her bridal appearance made her one of the more beautiful women present, but the agitated expression at this moment made the makeup look particularly strange.
The soul ignored her and moved toward the wall, then passed directly through it into the manor courtyard.
“Oh, God!”
The bride, Miss Mason, immediately lifted her skirt and chased after it. She obviously couldn’t pass through walls nor climb through windows in her wedding dress, so she ran to the other end of the corridor, intending to enter the garden directly from the back door of the house.
Shard and Osenfort followed. Miss Mason’s luck was not bad. Although her somewhat panicked dash into the courtyard puzzled the guests, she quickly found the man’s soul.
At this moment, the soul was approaching the groom, Mr. Enriques, who was chatting with guests. The latter had no response to the appearance of the undead.
The not so powerful but definitely not weak soul quietly watched him, while Miss Mason was temporarily held back by a group of ladies who suddenly appeared, unable to approach.
Suddenly, an elderly lady holding a white poodle passed by, so the soul approached the dog and suddenly made a menacing gesture.
“Woof woof woof!”
The barking wasn’t very loud, but the dog’s eyes turned somewhat red. It broke free from the leash and jumped onto a nearby table, opening its mouth to bite the groom’s neck.
But fortunately, the dog was small. Although everyone was startled, Mr. Enriques bent down to dodge the attack. Then the servants hurriedly subdued the maddened little dog, temporarily quelling the small commotion.
At this point, the bride, Miss Mason, was already anxious. She squeezed through the ladies around her and walked quickly towards her husband. Meanwhile, the soul drifted over to a nearby ladder, where a servant was adjusting the tangled ribbons hanging from a tree.
The spiritual body made a pushing motion, and two seconds later, the ladder suddenly tilted towards the groom without warning. Amid the panicked screams of the onlookers, five or six of the groom’s friends not only didn’t flee but rushed to help stabilize the ladder together.
With so many people sharing the burden, indeed no one was injured. It was just that the servant on the ladder was scared and kept apologizing to the manor owner, but the groom magnanimously didn’t mind his mistake and was instead concerned about whether he was hurt.
Miss Mason finally came over, and as she stood with her husband, the undead did not attack again, for fear of accidentally harming Miss Mason.
However, even so, the undead itself still underwent some changes. Its inherent malice caused the soul to exhibit different states. Having attempted multiple times to harm others, a peculiar shade of ghostly green appeared on what was once a relatively normal spiritual body. This is a typical precursor of an Evil Spirit Transformation, and once the process begins, it is mostly irreversible.
Nevertheless, this precursor to Evil Spirit Transformation also revealed more to Shard; this soul had long been tainted, its downfall inevitable.
Among those present, only Shard and Ston Osenfort, besides the bride Miss Mason, could see the soul’s strange change. She did not possess Shard’s knowledge but could at least sense that something was amiss. Her exquisite makeup showed a panicked expression as she nervously clung to her husband’s arm, then used feeling unwell as an excuse to return to the mansion with the groom.
And of course, the soul followed them.
“This is what you brought me to see?”
Shard and Ston Osenfort stood in the crowd, watching the couple and ghost leave along the garden path, Osenfort asked Shard:
“Want to bet on what the ending of this story will be?”
Shard shook his head:
“You always say you can win. I’ve already beaten you three times, but I don’t want to risk adding to my defeats by betting again. Besides, I despise gambling the most.”
Recalling Shard’s excellent Roder Card skills and superior shuffling techniques, Osenfort’s lips curled into a mocking smile, though at least he did not laugh out loud:
“I imagine you know the Illusion Technique for invisibility, so cast it for us.”
Mr. Enriques, supporting his supposedly dizzy wife back inside the mansion, came across many guests who greeted and congratulated them along the way, but he did not linger, instead taking his wife directly to the master bedroom on the third floor.
In celebration of the wedding, the room had been decorated. Though the estate was quite old, the room had been renovated, and a photo of the couple was placed on the bedside table.
Miss Mason was helped onto the bed to rest while Mr. Enriques had the servants bring hot tea. The event required a host, so he considered going downstairs to entertain guests. Yet Miss Mason, aware of the malevolent spirit targeting Mr. Enriques, dared not let her husband go alone, so clutching her forehead, she said nervously:
“Can you stay with me a little longer? I’m still feeling a bit dizzy.”
“Of course, is it tonight’s biting cold wind? Oh, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have insisted on using the outdoor venue.”
Mr. Enriques spoke with concern, sitting by the bed as the servants filed out. Seemingly alone in the room, were actually four people and a ghost; Shard and Mr. Osenfort had already entered, standing at the door watching them.
Unaware of the hidden presence, the couple held each other’s hands, Mr. Enriques with a gentle smile:
“We’ve finally married, after so much, we’ve come to this day. Ahead lies a long journey we’ll take together.”
He kissed his wife’s forehead, which only made Miss Mason more anxious, as the lingering undead grew even more agitated by Mr. Enriques’ action.
Miss Mason clearly wanted to caution her husband against such intimate gestures now, yet didn’t know how to articulate it. Mistaking her intent, Mr. Enriques lightly embraced her and attempted to kiss her more deeply, only to be pushed away by a more panicked Miss Mason:
“Oh, sorry, you’re not feeling well.”
She spoke with her head lowered as Mr. Enriques, unconcerned, instead offered his apologies. He let Miss Mason settle on the bed, holding her hand, and began to dream aloud about their marital future:
“We’ll live in this manor for many years; perhaps after the wedding, the house needs a complete renovation.”
“Whatever you think is best.”
Miss Mason watched the restless undead nervously out of the corner of her eye.
“Especially the other rooms on the third floor for when we have children. We’ll need a nursery, a mother-child room, oh, and a smoking room. Once kids are around, smoking freely in the house is no longer an option.”
Mr. Enriques seemed already to envision a delightful future:
“So, how many nurseries first? Maggie, I’m planning on two kids, hopefully a boy and a girl. Of course, it’s not up to us; God will bless us according to fate. And you? How many children do you want?”
The undead grew increasingly unstable at these words, making Miss Mason swallow nervously, her fingers clenched white around the sheets. It seemed she was observing the inexplicably shaking four-poster bed curtains, in truth, watching the spirit’s further transformation:
“I have a headache; I don’t want to discuss this now.”
“Sorry, sorry, my mistake. During the wedding this afternoon, I promised to take care of you for a lifetime.”
Mr. Enriques spoke kindly, looking fondly at his wife.