Chapter 33
31
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Walter, who had been lost in thought for a long time, suddenly rose to his feet without warning.
"Take me to Grace."
"But the young lady said it's a matter for the Inner Palace, so you shouldn't rush in, Your Excellency. Please wait a little,"
"Whether I wait or not is my business."
"......"
"Unless you don't care what happens to your master, stop talking and lead the way."
His expression was blank, but a fierce and irritable energy surged like a tidal wave. The words to lead the way were not an invitation, and even if Jessie refused, he seemed determined to find Grace.
As expected, when Jessie hesitated for a moment, Walter turned away without regret and ordered Joseph.
"Find Grace, Joseph."
"Yes!"
As the two men strode out of the room, Jessie finally rushed forward. Jessie, too, didn't want to leave Grace alone.
"I will guide you."
She moved as if flying, leading Walter. Then, just as the door Grace had been dragged through came into view, Walter's sensitive ears picked up a sharp voice.
"Take them to the dungeon as well, and find the woman who came with them and bring her to me!"
"Get up!!"
Dungeon.
He felt something hot welling up inside him. Walter, instantly overtaking Jessie, threw the door open before the soldiers and maids could react.
The wind rushed through the doorway, ruffling his hair. But Walter didn't feel the wind ruffling his hair. In the chaotic scene inside the room, only one thing captured Walter's senses.
Walter felt the urge to simply knock away the maids who were grabbing her arms roughly, and he spat out the words as if chewing them.
"Let go."
＊ ＊ ＊
Walter's sudden appearance made the room even more chaotic, as if a fire had broken out. The maids, startled as if they had touched a hot pot, hurriedly released Grace, and Flora, seemingly shocked, stood frozen before being pulled up by her mother, Countess Lewin. The noble ladies were too busy greeting Walter to think straight.
Amidst the commotion, Walter stood stiffly, like an island, staring at Grace. Then, the Marchioness, as if regaining her senses, cleared her throat to attract attention.
As Grace and Walter looked at her simultaneously, the Marchioness puffed out her chest and tilted her eyebrows. Her expression was like that of an adult looking down on a child who had played a bad prank.
"Your Excellency."
Her tone was the same. Then, she glanced at Jessie with a stern look and continued.
"I was about to explain to you that I brought this woman here without asking for your permission. I hope you will understand that it was to resolve the dispute in the Inner Palace according to Richmond's custom."
Walter found all the Marchioness's words unpleasant, but he chose the most irritating word and pronounced it.
"Custom?"
"Yes. That's right."
Custom. A precedent that has been practiced and solidified into a custom.
Then what is a precedent, and who determines the time it takes for it to become a custom? In that sense, isn't a custom just a way for someone who wants to manipulate the game to urge everyone to act, using time as an excuse?
It was ridiculous that they were talking as if it were the supreme law. Walter scanned the arrangement of the chairs and smiled bitterly.
"I was wondering why the arrangement of the room looked so familiar, but it's the arrangement that the late Her Majesty the Empress Isabella used when she interrogated noble ladies. Since when has Her Majesty the Empress Isabella's method become a custom of Richmond?"
"......"
"Did the Grand Duchess tell you? To apply her mother's method to Richmond as well."
The noble ladies stiffened at the young Duke's unbridled momentum. They couldn't dare to move, and only rolled their eyes to look at the Marchioness. Mentioning the name of Grand Duchess Eliza in front of the Marchioness was an unspoken rule.
But that was only a principle among the noble ladies.
The moment Walter mentioned that name, the Marchioness felt a thorn pricking her heart. She desperately tried to calm her rough breathing.
"I was resolving a dispute among the women in the castle. Unfortunately, a dispute arose between the woman you brought and her maids."
"Dispute?"
"I am sorry to report, but the maids who were serving the woman you brought claim to have been confined, assaulted, and threatened with murder by her. Such a thing should never happen in this Richmond Main Castle, should it?"
Walter crossed his arms, staring intently at the two maids.
"Confinement, assault, and death threats... When did such a thing happen?"
"Your Excellency, this is a matter for the Inner Palace,"
"I will listen and decide whether it is a matter for the Inner Palace or not."
Walter cut off the Marchioness and asked again, looking directly at the maids.
"Answer me. When did such a thing happen?"
The Marchioness clenched her fist tightly and winked at the maids. The maids felt their mouths drying up and carefully opened their mouths.
"Yesterday, on the way back after serving dinner."
"Do you remember where you were taken?"
"Inside the Main Castle... near the first floor... I don't remember the exact location..."
"It was a dark room with no light!"
"Confinement in a dark room with no light inside the Richmond Duke's Main Castle. Are you sure?"
The maids quickly raised their heads and responded vehemently.
"Yes, Your Excellency! It's the truth without a single lie!"
Flora, who was almost being held in her mother's arms, also ran to the maids with tears in her eyes.
"Your Excellency! They are my precious children. They would never lie, please believe them. Sniff."
Flora cried with tears like beads and raised her head. The Duke had once been inclined towards her, so she thought he would surely be moved if she looked up at him like this.
However, Walter was not looking at her. He had his aide place a chair in front of the maids before leisurely sitting down.
The moment he sat alone in the chair, the owner of the room changed.
A heavy current, like the slow and cold flow of the deep sea, swirled around Walter. Then, like a tide that silently swept in and swallowed the coast in the blink of an eye, it swallowed people.
The maids began to tremble visibly, and Countess Lewin, instinctively feeling it was time to leave, separated Flora from the maids and hid among the noble ladies.
Walter, who had taken control of everyone in an instant, leaned back in his chair and ordered.
"Joseph. Bring the head of security for the castle."
The Marchioness, startled by the thunderbolt, trembled.
"Why are you suddenly summoning the head of security?!"
To her protest, Walter replied with a sneer.
"I believe those maids. But Grace was with me all night last night. Even more so after dinner."
"But the maids' testimony,"
"They don't even remember exactly where the room they were dragged into was. That means they were so confused. How can you be sure that the person they faced in the dark room with no light was Grace?"
"So I am taking a neutral stance on both sides,"
"The very word 'both sides' is wrong."
Walter coldly cut her off. Then, he gave a low warning to the one who had forgotten her master.
"I am not a person who proves, but a person who judges, Emily Linco."
"......"
"And if Grace's maid is suspicious, Sir Rexton, who has been guarding the hallway all along, will confirm it."
As soon as Walter finished speaking, Joseph testified loudly with a steadfast face.
"I have been guarding the hallway all along. I witnessed the two maids disappearing with dinner, but the young lady and her maid have not come out into the hallway since dinner!"
Walter glanced at the Marchioness as if asking if she had heard, then winked at Joseph.
"Bring the head of security. He must be held responsible for this."
"Yes, Your Excellency!!"
Then Countess Lewin, who had retreated, also came out with a desperate face. This was because the head of security for the Richmond Duke's castle was her husband, Count Lewen.
"Your Excellency, why are you suddenly summoning the head of security? It's not a big deal."
But that word rather ignited the fire. The young Duke looked back at her as if he was dumbfounded and pronounced each word as if chewing it out.
"This happened inside the castle where I reside, even in the Main Castle, and you say it's not a big deal?"
"That's..."
Walter turned his head as if he had nothing more to hear and said to the maids who were out of their minds.
"I will call you soon to find out the truth of the incident, so rest and recover for the time being."
With those words, he rose from his seat and held out his hand to Grace. Grace stared silently at Walter, who had ruthlessly wielded the knife she had given him, and then placed her hand on top of his palm. His large, firm hand immediately intertwined with hers.
Grace took his hand and walked out, making eye contact with the Marchioness.
Her deeply sunken eyes were like a very deep swamp.
