Chapter 40
Chapter 38
===
Click.
A small vibration traveled through the hand holding the doorknob.
Rattle!
The door shook violently, and a shout erupted from beyond the door.
“The door is locked!!”
“This door is locked too!!”
“Tear it down!!”
No sooner had the sound of people rushing over been heard than the door shook violently.
Bang, bang!
Jessie bit her lip hard.
Bang, bang!
The door's joints shattered, and red light broke through sharply. One more hit and the door would open. Jessie hid between the curtains and the wall, drawing her sword.
She would rather die than be a burden to Grace.
It was the moment the veins on Jessie's hand, holding the sword, bulged.
“You villains.”
A voice as cold as bluish eternal snow seized everything in the detached palace.
An eerie wind blew. Everyone's movements stopped in the unusually dry and cold wind. The knights, who had been restless with an inexplicable anxiety, forgot to breathe. They wanted to ignore it, but the presence they could not possibly ignore forced them to turn their heads.
“!”
Someone was standing on the landing as if by a lie.
The being, silhouetted against the moonlight entering through the large arched window, was looking down at the knights. She spoke again.
“You villains.”
It was a voice in which countless emotions had piled up and frozen solid, like eternal snow that had accumulated since the beginning of time.
“Grand Duchess!”
Mrs. Isaac, who had been staring blankly, pushed through the knights and ran out.
Eliza's eyes narrowed as she stared at the only maid moving in the frozen scene. It was not the familiar appearance. Her hair, which had always been neatly styled, was disheveled, and her face, which had been as lovely as a flower, had lost its vitality and was parched.
Eliza finally faced the appearance of the maid who had stayed by her side until the end.
Her heart pounded as if it were sinking. As the stagnant, rotting blood slowly began to circulate, the hazy veil that had been obscuring her vision disappeared.
The broken doors were gaping open, and a cold wind was constantly seeping in from the wide-open front door. The rough torches spewed out black soot, staining the ceiling, and the hands of those filling the hallway held blue swords and bludgeons.
A hollow laugh burst out.
Eliza's laughter sent shivers down the spines of those who had trespassed into her detached palace. After laughing eerily for a long time, Eliza asked languidly.
“Did the Duke order this?”
Count Lewen, who had been swallowing hard, quickly regained his senses and said.
“Grand Duchess! This is not the time for this,”
“I asked if the Duke ordered it.”
Eliza cut off Count Lewen's excuse with a single stroke. Then, she focused her widely scattered gaze and stared directly at him.
“Grand Duchess, right now, in the Duke's castle,”
“Can you not answer the question?!”
The languid voice turned into a sharp sword, cutting off Count Lewen's words. Eliza went down the stairs one step at a time, driving the Count away as if spitting out the blood that had been pooling within her.
“Without my permission, ignoring my maid's dissuasion, who ordered you to tear apart and search this Eliza Richmond's space?!”
At Eliza's rebuke, the knights filling the hallway lowered their heads and stepped back. Even the knights who had been holding huge iron bars to break down the door hurriedly put them down.
Eliza crossed the path where the knights had retreated and approached Count Lewen. The Count's palms were already damp with sweat.
Eliza was said to be out of her mind, on the verge of death. Even when her cherished maids were driven out of the castle, she said nothing, and even when her splendid room was taken away, she did not react. Her treasures became the property of Marquise Lincot, and the historic Richmond Ducal Castle no longer seemed to be hers.
However, the presence of the old woman, who was thought to be dead, strangled the neck of the robust knight commander.
Eliza stopped one step in front of Count Lewen and opened her mouth.
“Was it your own decision, Count Lewen?”
“…….”
Eliza glared at Count Lewen, who had chosen silence, and commanded.
“Leave.”
Count Lewen's head turned white. He could not retreat. Having entered this place, he had already crossed the line. The Count clenched his fists tightly.
“I cannot leave until I have checked that room, Grand Duchess.”
“What?”
“It seems that the 'Unseen Ones' who assassinated the late Duke have entered the castle. We must open that door and check, Grand Duchess!!”
As the Count shouted with his eyes wide open, a fire blazed in Eliza's eyes.
“Is that so?”
“……”
“Those things that killed my children, those I wouldn't feel sorry for tearing apart and killing, have entered my castle?”
Eliza turned her body abruptly and approached the door that was about to be opened. Then, she ordered the knights holding the iron bars.
“Open it. I will check it myself.”
When the knights looked at each other, Eliza flared up in anger.
“Can't you open it right now!”
Eventually, one of the knights was pushed to open the door, and Eliza reached out to the person holding the torch.
“Grand Duchess, I will,”
“Quiet!”
Eliza snatched the torch from the knight who was trying to stop her. Mrs. Isaac hurriedly tried to take the torch, but Eliza refused even that and searched every corner of the room herself. Not only the knights but even Count Lewen could only stare blankly at the sight.
The old woman even felt like she was going mad.
After searching every corner like crazy, Eliza stopped abruptly as she threw open the thickly drawn curtains. A chaotic scene unfolded beyond the window. Eliza, who was standing still as if in thought, handed the torch she was holding to Mrs. Isaac and slowly turned her body.
Eliza, silhouetted against the crimson light, looked like a grim reaper crawling out of hell. Some of the knights unknowingly stepped back, and Eliza asked calmly.
“Shall I search further?”
Count Lewen could not bring himself to say that she should search further. Eliza glared at him.
“Arwen, are those wicked ones in my space?”
Mrs. Isaac shook her head slightly and said.
“No, they are not.”
“Well, then only my bedroom remains. Who will search my bedroom?”
“…….”
None of the knights dared to step forward.
The order to search her bedroom was something that even the Emperor of Dekan could not easily do.
In the midst of the tense silence, Eliza slowly moved her steps. The knights stepped back and bowed their heads in unison. She stopped briefly in front of Count Lewen and said.
“If you find the ones who killed my children, bring them to me. I will burn even a single strand of their hair.”
“…….”
“Leave, Lewen.”
In the depths of her eyes, directed at the Count, a hot fire was surging.
＊ ＊ ＊
After Grace and Walter left, Eliza could not easily fall asleep. She could not fall asleep, which was annoying. She was just about to doze off.
She heard the maid's scream.
'Stop!! This is where the Grand Duchess is!'
She went down the stairs in a daze. Knights wearing the Richmond Ducal family crest were filling the hallway. She felt as if she had been pulled out of cold water and regained her senses. Then, the moment she saw the aged maid, ten years of time flashed by like a revolving lantern.
Eliza stood blankly by the bedroom window, watching the scene of the knights moving away. As the torches held by the knights moved away, her face was reflected in the blackened window.
There was an old woman who had grown haggard.
The appearance of the old woman with her silver-white hair let down was very unfamiliar. As she stared blankly at her own appearance, she recalled the past, which felt like it had happened just yesterday.
Her glossy black hair, which the maids had styled, was her pride. When her father was alive, she monopolized his love and dominated the imperial palace, and even after becoming the Duchess of Richmond, she dominated not only the northwestern social circles but also the capital's social circles. The head seat was always hers, and she commanded the world, leading a cloud of maids.
Eliza stared blankly at her own hand. The neat hand with a large gemstone ring was familiar, but the hand, withered like the branch of a dead tree, was just there.
How did the Queen of Richmond, who had maintained a dignified and orderly appearance even in front of her husband and children, end up like this?
'Living in this wretched place, looking like a tomb. Not even knowing if your arms and legs have been cut off, just barely clinging to life, is that even living? Yes, Grandma?'
Eliza, recalling Walter's sharp rebuke, burst into a hollow laugh.
“The lack of manners is the same as it was when he was young.”
