Chapter 29
Chapter 28
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"Grand Duchess, that is......"
Mrs. Isaac opened her mouth, seemingly at a loss, but Grace spoke.
“Forgive my rudeness.”
“You say forgive, yet you stand there as if you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I apologize. But I had a feeling that eventually, I would have to commit this rudeness anyway.”
“…What?”
“If I had waited in the drawing-room, would you have met me?”
Eliza’s brow twitched. Grace didn’t lower her gaze, even as she saw the anger beginning to fill Eliza’s eyes.
As Eliza moved to rise, Mrs. Isaac, who had been standing anxiously behind her, quickly rushed to help her. The Grand Duchess slowly sat up.
Between the spilled silver-white hair, her gaunt cheekbones stood out. But more than that, the jet-black eyes gleaming between the silver-white hair caught the eye. Tightly closed lips, a straight back and shoulders despite her failing strength.
Although she had spent the last decade or so waiting for death in her tomb, she exuded a dignity that could not be compared to those who had acted as masters.
As Mrs. Isaac tried to tidy her disheveled hair, Eliza coldly stopped her hand. Then, glaring at Grace, she said,
“Yes, you know well. I would not have met you.”
“Aren’t you curious as to why I came to see you?”
“I am not curious. It is only surprising that a noblewoman who is not married would follow the Duke. Do you not care about your family’s honor?!”
Eliza rebuked in a voice so sharp that it was hard to believe it came from an old woman so weakened that her bones were visible. But Grace returned the glare without so much as raising an eyebrow.
“Do you truly think so?”
“……”
“According to the plan, I should be the daughter-in-law of the Saxon Count Family by now.”
At the name Saxon, Eliza’s brow furrowed. Grace lowered her voice and continued,
“If I become the daughter-in-law of the Saxon who killed my parents and live obediently, will Taylor’s honor be preserved, Grand Duchess?”
“……”
“Let me ask you one thing. What are you holding your breath for, Grand Duchess?”
“Mind your words! How dare you to the Grand Duchess……!”
Mrs. Isaac burst out in anger, but Grace did not stop.
“What is the reason you gave up Richmond entirely and are living like someone waiting for the end of their days back here?”
“That’s enough. Get out!!”
It was then.
Eliza, who had been glaring at Grace, suddenly began to laugh. It was a laugh like black blood that had pooled in her dried-up intestines beneath her withered skin. Eliza, who had been laughing for a long time with a dark feeling that made Jessie, who was watching the situation from behind, rub her arms, raised her right hand.
“Grand Duchess……”
“Don’t say things like it’s bad for my health, just bring it to me.”
Mrs. Isaac sighed softly and took out a cigarette from the table. As she held the lit cigarette to Eliza’s right fingers, Eliza burned the cigarette for a long time.
The white smoke stood out particularly clearly in the sunlight. Eliza slowly opened her mouth, staring straight at the green eyes sparkling through the smoke.
“What am I holding my breath for, you ask?”
“……”
“Girl. I don’t even want to know what you want from me, but I’ll answer that question.”
“……”
“It’s because.”
In that instant, all the emotions that had been lingering in Eliza’s black eyes receded like the tide. Just as the white smoke that had been rising in a formed shape disappeared without a trace at some point, even the anger that had been lingering vanished emptily.
“That ‘what’ has disappeared.”
At her old voice, Mrs. Isaac teared up, and Grace remained silent. In the meantime, the Grand Duchess, who had finished smoking a cigarette, went back into the blanket.
Mrs. Isaac, who was silently wiping away tears, tidied Eliza’s blanket and then drove Grace and Jessie out of the room. Mrs. Isaac stared at Grace as if she had a lot to say, but in the end, she didn’t say anything and closed the door.
“What shall we do, Miss?”
Jessie asked cautiously, and Grace, who had been staring blankly at the closed door, turned around.
“Let’s go back for today and come again tomorrow.”
Walking down the chilly hallway, unlike Eliza’s room, Grace organized her thoughts.
First, as Walter said, Eliza definitely reacted to anger. But entering the bedroom without permission is not enough to rouse her.
Second, the biggest reason Eliza doesn’t get up is because she has lost her purpose.
Therefore, to rouse Eliza, it is necessary to point out a more definite anger and a clear purpose. It was when Grace was about to leave the annex with these two conditions in mind.
“Miss.”
Jessie stopped Grace. Following Jessie’s gaze out the window, unexpected people were waiting for her. There, maids in dark navy dresses with raised collars stood with overbearing expressions.
She felt her heart sink with a thud. A sense of crisis for survival ran through her whole body.
“It seems they’re trying to pin the crime of imprisoning and assaulting the maids on me.”
“What shall we do?”
The green eyes shone cynically. What good is bait if it isn’t meant to be bitten? You have to be prepared to be bitten to be bait.
“You hide. Tell His Grace to watch the situation for now. Since it’s a problem of the Inner Palace, His Grace might be put on the defensive if he intervenes rashly.”
Jessie bit her lip and nodded.
“I understand.”
Then, she lowered her body like a cat under the window and retreated, and Grace confirmed that she had disappeared into the corner of the hallway before pushing open the front door.
Then, the Marquis’s maids, who had been standing like judges, raised their eyes as if they had been waiting and said in an imposing voice.
“Marquise Lincot is calling for you. Come with me right now.”
