Hello after helping High Priest Nedmar during Lord Readric's quest he gave me this key and I still have this quest item even after I finished the quest and in another game I don't have the key in my stash so wondering which one of these situations was supposed to happen?

Should the key supposed to stay or should be gone after the quest?

Keys are consumed when used, but it is possible to open doors without ever using the keys. It is normal. I open most doors before I get the key, because opening them with Lockpicking gives you experience. Using the key doesn't.

I currently have 8 keys in my Stash that no longer serve a function.

Thank you! I am a bit umm easy to make a big fuss on those small bugs so knowing that is normal and won't have a buggy save file for the next games (hopefully) made me feel better!