Chapter Twenty-Two Kasu
“L–L–Lady C–Camellia!”
Ruo’s fur stood on end, their body arched and ears flattened. Kasu could tell they were trying their very best not to tremble.
“Well? What are you doing here, curse?” Lady Camellia’s gaze was fixed on Ruo; she had not noticed Kasu or Arun hiding behind the shelves yet.
Ruo hissed. Surrounded by four walls, the cat could not teleport away, could not run. They seemed to realize this at the same time as Kasu.
“I— There were intruders. Yes, intruders! They were up to no good, they were, but you don’t have to worry. I scared them away for you, my lady!” Ruo managed to look both cowed and unrepentant.
“And how did you get in here?” Lady Camellia wondered.
“Followed my nose.”
“Your nose,” she repeated. “Yes, you curses do have good noses, don’t you? And who were these intruders?”
Ruo hesitated. Kasu wondered if they even remembered that the men had mentioned Lord Cobalt.
“You’re lying to me, aren’t you, little curse?” Lady Camellia leaned over Ruo, her shadow engulfing the cat completely.
“I’m not! Kasu said—”
“Kasu?” Lady Camellia reared back. “What does she have to do with anything?”
Ruo’s eyes widened.
Kasu couldn’t remember exactly when Ruo had started showing up at Camellia House, only that one day the curse was there with a razor-sharp smile and glowing golden eyes.
She did not know why, of all the people who worked there, Ruo had decided to stick around her the most, but she knew Ruo owed her nothing.
They were just a curse, after all. One could not rely on the generosity of a curse’s whims.
“Whatever happens, don’t come out,” she whispered.
Arun gave her a sharp look and reached for her wrist, but she slipped out of his grasp.
Without a backwards glance, Kasu stood up and stepped out from behind the shelves, her hands raised.
“I’m here, Lady Camellia.”
Ruo jumped in surprise.
“Kasu. I’m disappointed.” Lady Camellia sighed, though her expression did not say “disappointed”. Her expression did not say much at all. The half of her face that still had skin and flesh was tightly pinched into a look Kasu could not parse.
“What Ruo said is true. There were ghosts poking around your floor. They were the ones who did this.” Kasu gestured to the broken glass strewn everywhere.
“And what were you doing here, Kasu?”
It would be easy to lie. To tell Lady Camellia that, as Ruo had said, they had seen suspicious ghosts sneaking around at night and followed them into Lady Camellia’s chambers to investigate.
She could say that she had been working late, tidying up the gambling tiles or wiping down the cabinets, when she noticed them.
A lie would get her out of this situation.
The truth is a gift you must always give, no matter how hard. Even if others scorn you, even if they would prefer a convenient lie, you must never abandon the truth.
Kasu could not, would not, defy the Heavenly Principles.
“I met the Pale Lady a few nights ago. She knows that you’ve been making some kind of elixir that can make ghosts and demons go mad.”
Lady Camellia’s expression transformed to one of quiet fury. The flowers inside her eye socket were different from the ones she had worn when she had left Camellia House earlier. Two red chrysanthemums filled the empty hole, like a giant, burning crimson eye staring down at Kasu.
“So you agreed to steal it from me, hmm?”
“I didn’t think you would miss a few drops.” Even as she spoke, Kasu could hear how pathetic she sounded.
“And what did the Pale Lady promise you in return?”
“There was a lady from the heavens who stole a reincarnation wheel and fled to the under-realm. The Pale Lady said she would tell me more about that woman.”
It was not a lie.
“Ah, I see. I understand now. You always were keen to return to the mortal realm.” Lady Camellia’s gaze pinned her in place.
“I’m sorry, my lady.” Kasu bowed. With a sidelong glance, she caught sight of Arun preparing to stand up. Kasu discreetly shook her head.
“Of all the ghosts, I would never have expected you to sink so low,” said Lady Camellia gravely. “There’s nothing I want more than to devour you, right here and now.”
Kasu could only bow her head in shame. This was the end for her. She had tried. Gods, she hoped the heavens knew how hard she had tried.
“You’re lucky that you’re such a good appraiser. I want to keep you despite your treachery.”
Kasu jerked her head up so quickly the bones in her neck creaked in protest. Lady Camellia wanted to keep her? She wasn’t going to die?
The demon smiled just as she had done the day Kasu, newly dead, had first entered Camellia House and stepped into the demon lord’s office.
Kasu remembered Lady Camellia placing several objects in front of her and asking her to pick one.
Though every item in the demon lord’s collection was wondrous and terrifying, it had been a small statue of a stone carp on the edge of Lady Camellia’s desk that had caught her gaze.
Unassuming though it was, something about the statue kept her glancing back again and again.
“That old thing? Why does it fascinate you so?” Lady Camellia asked.
Kasu, brand new to the under-realm, stammered, “It’s b–beautiful.”
“It’s the petrified corpse of a golden carp from the Celestial Empress’s own koi pond.”
“Oh.”
“It’s the most expensive thing in this room.” Lady Camellia smiled then, the gum-less teeth in her skull like a row of gravestones. “You have a good eye. A very good eye.”
Now, trembling like a leaf in the wind, Kasu stared once again at that graveyard smile. Lady Camellia stooped down and brought their faces together.
“You’ve been useful to me, Kasu. I think I’ll keep you for another three centuries. Here. Come with me.”
With a wave of her hand, the walls spun like a roulette wheel and a large red door appeared behind her.
Dragging her feet, Kasu followed Lady Camellia into her office. Ruo trotted by her side, tails down, ears still flat against the back of their head.
The room was dark, lit only by a single lamp sitting atop a large mahogany desk. A mirror loomed behind the desk, reflecting nothing back. The walls were decorated with trinkets of various sizes, some of which were from trades Kasu had made years ago.
Lady Camellia clicked her fingers and summoned a long, yellowing piece of parchment in one hand and an ink brush in another. Kasu recognized it immediately. With that one piece of paper, she had signed away her soul for a single, measly jade necklace.
One day, her mother returned from the village with an old lady Kasu had never seen before. Except the woman was not a woman but a demon wearing a mask that could hide her true self.
“And when you die, you will work for me,” Lady Camellia crooned in a voice like the rustle of dead leaves.
Her mother’s fingers dug into Kasu’s shoulders so deep they hurt.
“Please. Do this for me. Do this for your sister. It’s the only way.”
Kasu staggered back as the memory overwhelmed her.
“An extension of your contract. This is your punishment. Sign.” Lady Camellia held the parchment to Kasu’s nose.
It was all Kasu could do to grip the black ink brush.
The very thought of another three centuries working in Camellia House, of standing behind the same counter all day every day, of watching ghosts come and go and gamble away their hopes, filled her with despair.
What about her dreams of reincarnation? What about her plans to be reborn somewhere peaceful and plentiful?
A small house on the edge of an apple orchard. Trees in full bloom and the smell of blossom in the air.
How much longer would she have to wait for her dreams to come true?
How much more could the heavens test her?
Wasn’t this enough? Hadn’t she done everything she could to show her faith and obedience?
Kasu’s hand shook as the ink brush hovered over the contract meant to sign away more of her un-life.
She felt Lady Camellia’s gaze beating down against the back of her neck and knew that there was nothing else she could do.
She was lucky that she was getting away with this much.
Kasu had seen ghosts eaten for lesser crimes.
She signed.
Once she was done, the ink brush vanished from her hand.
“I’m so—” she began, but Lady Camellia did not let her apologize. With a snap of her skeletal fingers, the room spun and Kasu found herself dumped in the middle of the shadow forest.
Her chest heaved as she lay there.
What was supposed to be a simple matter of sneaking into Lady Camellia’s chambers had gone …
just about as badly as it could have. Lady Camellia was disappointed with her.
Angry with her. Kasu could never look her mistress in the eye again.
Everything had gone wrong. Why did Lady Camellia have to come back so early?
Who were those ghosts and why had Lord Cobalt sent them?
Worst of all, she had not even had time to search the chambers for this elixir the Pale Lady wanted. Kasu had barely had the time to look around Lady Camellia’s office before she had been unceremoniously thrown out into the forest.
Yet, despite the catastrophe that was her evening, Arun and Ruo were still inside Camellia House. They still had a chance to fulfil their mission.
Kasu didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried.