Arc 2: The Twilight Clock

Chapter 1: The Twilight Mansion

A gust of wind whipped through the undergrowth. It was the height of summer. After a long stretch of clear weather, today was unusually overcast. In lieu of the sun’s rays beating down on us, lukewarm air caressed our skin. The light breeze rustled the overgrown grass and shrubs, and just past them was a garden whose many plants had gone untended for some time.

The gate behind us creaked. Two women flanked me on either side, clinging to my arms as they held their breath. Towering over us was a mansion that had long since been abandoned. Time had left the place in disrepair, and an air of melancholy hung over it, made worse by the dark clouds overhead.

One of the girls clinging to me gulped, summoning her courage to say, “It really does look haunted. But this is fine. We have Miss Eli on our side. An eye for an eye, a ghost for a ghost.”

I, Elianna Bernstein, heaved a sigh as I recalled our previous conversation.

“A seance for the nobility?”

It was afternoon. I was riding in a carriage with Jean and two of my cousins, Julia and Lilia.

One of my best friends, Lady Therese Ardolino, had discovered she was pregnant a few days ago. We visited her today to deliver a congratulatory gift. After engaging in some small talk, we bid her farewell and were on our way home. Our conversation had remained lighthearted while we chatted with Lady Therese, but once we were in our carriage again, the girls switched to the hot topic making the rounds at court.

“Remember that book you were reading before, A Hundred Tales of Mystery in the Capital? The Twilight Mansion is mentioned in it. Lately, some of the nobility have been secretly gathering there to conduct seances. Pretty interesting, don’t you think, Miss Eli?” Lilia’s face lit up with curiosity. She was still only fifteen years old.

I tilted my head, confused about what part she found so interesting. A Hundred Tales of Mystery was a collection of stories about abnormal phenomena in the capital as well as bizarre accounts from people’s daily lives. I did enjoy the book, but seances had never appealed to me.

Frustrated with how thick I was being, Lilia frowned and said, “The mansion is haunted. That’s why they conduct the seances there. Instead of just reading about these ghosts you so love, maybe you should go and see one for yourself.”

You’re mistaken, Lilia. Just because I enjoy the book doesn’t mean I particularly like ghosts.

“These seances are supposedly at night, so of course we won’t be able to participate, but we could still go to the location. Come on, Miss Eli, can’t we make just a little detour?”

In other words, this was her way of needling me to stop by so she could have a look.

Well, I don’t have anything else planned after this...

As I sat there waffling back and forth, Julia scolded her younger sister. “Eli is engaged to the crown prince. She cannot simply go places on a whim.”

Her words made my pulse jump, and a warmth enveloped me. Ever since the prince and I confirmed our feelings for one another, every day had been bright and full of cheer. Although, I was often left flustered by the abundance of skinship he lavished on me. Those who were around when it happened always had uncomfortable looks on their faces.

Lilia’s spirits were slightly dampened by her sister’s admonishment, but she still peered up at me pleadingly. “Isn’t there any way at all I could convince you to go?”

Lilia had only made her debut into high society last year. She was insistent on keeping up with all of the latest trends and gossip among the other nobles, though her actions were rooted more in curiosity than anything else.

I gave her a strained smile and nodded. “I suppose if it’s only for a little bit.”

“Woohoo!” Lilia clapped her hands together.

Julia drew her brows, at a loss for words.

Jean, on the other hand, wrinkled his nose. “If we go off schedule, the demon lord’ll descend from his throne of evil.” He was mumbling to himself, but I honestly had no idea what any of it meant.

We stepped out of our carriage and took a narrow pathway up to the residence in question. The Twilight Mansion, as it was referred to in A Hundred Tales of Mystery in the Capital, was once the estate of a noblewoman who met with great misfortune before her untimely death. Unable to rest in peace, her spirit lingered, haunting the halls of the mansion. It was abandoned after she passed.

Standing in front of the place, it was easy to see why it was included in a book on hauntings. There was a loneliness to the mansion since it had no inhabitants. Cracks ran across the exterior, and ivy crawled up the walls. It was so dilapidated and eerie that it wouldn’t surprise me at all if there were ghosts here.

Naturally, Julia and Lilia were too intimidated to step closer. Jean just eyed the building and mumbled, “I’ll take a look around the perimeter.”

Since my two cousins were still frozen in place, I said, “Um, well, since we have already seen it, shall we go home?”

Lilia jumped in surprise and opened her mouth to protest just as rain began pelting us.

“Goodness.” I looked up as the clouds unleashed their fury, sending large droplets cascading toward us.

“Oh no!” Lilia squeaked as she pushed me from behind. The three of us hurried up to the entrance of the mansion, taking shelter under the eaves.

A few seconds later, heavy rain began beating down on the roof. It was a sudden downpour that left large puddles all over the ground where we had walked only moments prior. A chilling wind roared around us as the clouds above rolled in, trapping the area in a dreary darkness. We crowded together for warmth.

The torrential rain didn’t seem like it would let up any time soon. We started fretting over what to do when we suddenly heard the chiming of a pendulum clock. The door behind us abruptly cracked open as a voice called, “Young ladies?”

“Eep!” Julia squealed as we all whipped around. I only belatedly remembered then that Julia didn’t deal well with anything horror-related.

So why wasn’t she more strongly opposed to coming here in the first place?

Our eyes landed on an old man. He had a warm expression and a graceful atmosphere about him, which made him seem terribly out of place given the haunted mansion behind him. After glancing between us, he seemed to guess what we were here for.

“You’re here awfully early. The seance won’t be conducted until much later. Still, you should come inside to take shelter from the rain.”

The three of us exchanged looks.

In order to put us at ease, he explained that he was hired as a caretaker by the nobles to keep the place in order while they conducted their seances.

“And while it may still be summer, you will catch cold if you stay out in that weather,” the man said before beckoning us in once more. “Please, come inside.”

We nodded, agreeing to stay only until the rain stopped, and ventured inside. The interior was surprisingly nothing like the decaying exterior. It had been thoroughly cleaned, which wasn’t entirely surprising since the nobles were conducting their seances here. However, the place did lack sufficient lighting. What little did exist cast shadows everywhere.

Lilia and Julia took cover behind me, using me as a shield as we proceeded down the corridor. The way they clung to my back reminded me of the Old Crying Man ghost which I read about in A Hundred Tales of Mystery in the Capital. Basically, the Old Crying Man would clutch onto his victim, pressing himself against their back as his weight gradually increased until he crushed them to death.

“Knowing Miss Eli, I have a feeling if she did run into a ghost, they’d mistake her for one of their own,” said Lilia.

“You have a good point there,” Julia agreed. “We can’t let our guard down. If the ghost is going to possess anyone, they won’t pick Eli. We’re the ones in danger.”

All I am getting out of this is that the two of you have some very wild delusions about what kind of person I am.

The old man navigated the halls with a confident stride that said he’d traversed them many times before. He brought us to a room crammed full of paintings.

“Goodness, this place is...” My voice trailed off as I glanced around the room, fascinated.

As if he could read my mind, the old man chuckled and nodded. “Well then, what portrait are you ladies here searching for?”

“Pardon?” I blurted, tilting my head.

He smiled. “At a seance, you call upon the spirits of the dead. Thus, the nobles always bring a portrait of the person they want to connect with. Like you ladies, many other young women come here to sneak a peek at who their husband or lover is trying to contact.”

“Oh my.” I was a bit surprised by that revelation. I wasn’t well-versed on what a seance entailed, but it was the first time I had ever heard that a portrait was required for conducting one.

The man turned his gaze to the paintings, eyes wistful. “We keep the portraits stored here before later taking them to the temple. If you wish to search through them, now is your only chance.” For a moment, it sounded as if he was trying to goad us into it, but then he said, “However, while there are many kinds of seances all over the world, those we conduct at the Twilight Mansion are always deeply sincere and respectful. Once a portrait is used at a seance, the owner is not allowed to take it home with them. We dispose of them after the owner has made contact with the spirit. That’s the rule. Seances are only for those so desperate to meet a spirit again and communicate with them that they’re willing to lose that portrait forever. To learn the secrets of communicating with the dead requires an equivalent sacrifice.” His voice was firm as he explained.

Silence fell for a few moments before Lilia summoned her courage to entreat the old man. My eyes widened as she spoke.

“Which one of these was brought by Viscount Earnshaw’s son?”

“Lilia!” shrieked Julia.

Lilia rebutted, “If we don’t search now, what was the point in coming? You want to know too, don’t you?”

“Yes, but...”

“You’re the one who was so worried because of how strange your fiancé has been acting recently. That’s why I told you about the rumors I heard—about how he’s taking part in these seances.”

After hearing their exchange, I finally understood what was happening. Julia was the same age as me—eighteen—and just a year ago, she became engaged to the son of a viscount house. I had met the man several times. His name was Lord Rupert Earnshaw. He was twenty-three years old. From what I had seen of him, he was quieter and more reserved than the other nobles of his age, but he did hold strong opinions and wasn’t afraid to voice them. If he and Julia did marry, their union promised to be a solid one where both wife and husband would support one another. Or so I thought. Were the two of them not seeing eye to eye now?

“Hm...” The old man began glancing between the portraits. “Viscount Earnshaw’s son, you say...”

Julia and Lilia watched with bated breath, waiting for him to stop on the portrait that belonged to Lord Rupert.

“Wait a moment,” I blurted without thinking, interrupting them.

If things continued and she exposed one of her fiancé’s secrets, how would their relationship fare then? Would Julia not later come to regret her actions?

“Julia, I honestly think you should have a heart-to-heart with Lord Rupert and ask him yourself,” I said.

Her lips pulled taut. Even she knew what she was doing was wrong. Yet she was too afraid to ask him outright. Knowing he was keeping secrets made her anxious.

“The two of you are engaged,” I continued. “If there is some reason he can’t disclose the truth to you, I am sure he will tell you—”

“What would you know?!” she bellowed, which was rare for Julia; she was normally so quiet. “Prince Christopher loves you deeply. You both wanted to get married and that’s why you got engaged. I only found my partner thanks to my parents’ connections and because I’m related to the crown prince’s betrothed. My situation is completely different from yours. Lord Rupert couldn’t refuse me if he wanted to. Maybe he already had someone else he loved.” Her voice trembled as she practically sobbed out the words. “There’s no way I could ask him, not if that’s his secret!” She promptly spun around and dashed out of the room.

“Julia!” Lilia called after her sister, panicked. She scrambled toward the door and paused to glance back at me. “Sorry, Miss Eli.” Her face was lined with guilt as she disappeared into the hallway.

I stood there, abandoned, with only our guide for company.