Chapter 42
40
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The Marchioness doesn't intend to kill her right away. That means she won't die from this smoke. That's enough.
Let's think about the next step.
How long has it been since she came here? Has it been about twelve hours? Then it's almost time. Just a little more patience. Just a little, just a little more...
The thread of thought she was desperately clinging to stretched out long. Then, as she felt the thread snap, a voice close to a scream suddenly rang out vividly.
'Princess Grace!! Stop, Princess Grace!! No, don't look!'
'Take Princess Grace away, quickly!'
Her heart pounded as if sinking against her will. Thump, thump, the rough throbbing echoed loudly in her ears, and the ground she stepped on seemed to collapse, losing her balance.
Grace shook her head, sat down, and covered her eyes.
But, even so, she can see everything.
That day, under the dark sky filled with clouds, there is a carriage that has been burned black, leaving no proper shape. Silky gray smoke was constantly rising from the carriage, and the vast main garden of Taylor Duke's Castle was filled with a pungent smell of burning.
'Your Excellency…! Madam….'
'What will become of the Taylor Dukedom now?'
'Princess Grace is here.'
'Can that young princess handle Taylor? She's still a poor child who lost her mother and father.'
The servants' pitying whispers and someone's heart-wrenching cries tore through her heart like daggers. A beast-like groan was about to leak out of her mouth. Grace tightly covered her mouth. Tears slipped over the back of her hand covering her mouth.
Don't make a sound, don't let them hear you crying.
The completely burned bodies of her parents were before her eyes.
＊ ＊ ＊
Autumn was draped over the table set up in a corner of the main garden of Richmond Duke's Castle.
The table, decorated with a centerpiece made of deciduous tree branches, was beautiful as if meticulously cared for. Moreover, the teacups placed in front of the noble ladies were one of the collections of the successive Duchesses. The Marchioness only took out these teacups on particularly joyful days, so the noble ladies who followed the Marchioness were convinced that her victory was imminent.
"Has His Excellency not eaten anything for two days already?"
"It seems he hasn't eaten or slept."
The Marchioness's maid said quietly, as if troubled, and Flora's face darkened.
"Well, to think that the person he thought was his lover was in league with those who murdered his parents, how heartbroken he must be. Even now, I'll go to His Excellency and..."
"Wait, Flora."
The Marchioness gently cut off Flora's words as she put down her teacup. Then, the maid next to the Marchioness chimed in.
"The maids are running out of His Excellency's room as if fleeing. I heard them muttering to each other that they were scared. It's not good to go there now."
"Yes, Flora. Follow the Marchioness's words."
Even Countess Lewin joined in, and Flora tilted her eyes and murmured in a sad voice.
"I'm just so worried. I'm afraid he'll ruin his health."
"His Excellency is very lucky. It's not enough that the Marquis and Marchioness protected Richmond, but they even knew and prevented that vulgar woman's plan in advance."
"Is that all? The beautiful and kind Miss Flora is waiting for him."
The Marchioness smiled, narrowing her eyes at the noble ladies' flattering remarks.
"Marchioness, but... hasn't that woman opened her mouth yet?"
At Flora's cautious question, the Marchioness leaned deeply against the back of her chair.
Two days since she was locked in a solitary cell. It has been a day and a half since she was made to smell the Stick incense that constantly revives the most terrible memories. She must be wandering through hell by now.
She couldn't be normal. She will probably open her eyes around noon tomorrow, but she won't be able to come to her senses and will babble nonsense, so a very interesting sight will unfold at the Grand Council.
As the Marchioness smiled slightly, a secret smile formed and disappeared on Flora's lips as well.
Cheerful laughter constantly bloomed at the tea table.
The noble ladies' tea party ended when the sun, which had been hanging at the top of their heads, slowly began to tilt westward. As the noble ladies returned to their respective mansions, the transparent darkness that had crept in covered the world.
The maids who went in to light the Duke's room trembled with a chill that made their spines tingle. An indescribable energy flowed from the Duke sitting on the sofa by the window. They couldn't dare to look at even his back, so they didn't even dare to light the candle placed right in front of the Duke. They took the untouched tableware and water glass and ran away.
Walter opened his closed eyes as the maids' presence faded away.
The castle was still noisy. It must be because they haven't found Jessie. There was still no contact from Joseph, but he would return in time.
In addition, the Marquis faction, who had stepped deeply into the trap without knowing it, had finished their preparations and notified him that they would hold the Grand Council at noon tomorrow. They intend to prove Grace's guilt in front of all the vassals of Richmond, and to bring the Duke's authority to the ground.
There was still no news from Eliza, but everything was going according to plan. But as time went by, he felt like he was going crazy.
Grace is locked in the underground solitary cell. It was said that if you were locked in that room, you would forget your children and parents and cry out to be saved, and eventually lose your mind.
'If, by any chance, I can't hold on, then you can abandon me as you said.'
Walter roughly rubbed his face. The black eyes caught between his long fingers sank deeply. On the contrary, his chest heaved violently as if it contained a stormy sea.
There was no reason to be so agitated.
Grace Taylor, that woman, was more than capable of enduring. But even if she couldn't endure and lost her mind, that could also be a card for Walter. Either way, he had nothing to lose.
But as the darkness deepened, the sea in his heart churned even more violently.
Round eyes resembling verdure, the warmth felt from their overlapping bodies, the soft touch and smile that wrapped around his hand came to mind one after another. It was absurd that actions that did not contain even a grain of meaning remained like scars and did not heal.
Then he suddenly remembered that scene.
'Do you know my name?'
Even thinking about the ridiculous question again, she nodded. Her golden hair swayed as she nodded.
The flow of time slowed down and stopped.
Walter stared at the afterimage without even breathing. Then, the moment his eyes met her transparent eyes, he jumped up from his seat. And then he moved so quickly that it was embarrassing that he had been guarding his place like the ruins of a collapsed castle wall.
The Marquis had stationed soldiers in front of the door to keep him locked up, but it was meaningless.
Marquis and Marchioness Linko were desperate to find out the secret passage of the Duke's Castle that was only passed down to the Duke and Duchess, but they ultimately failed. This is because the only key to the secret passage and the signet ring that could open all the doors of the Duke's Castle was with Walter.
Walter went to the bathroom attached to the Duke's room. On the bathroom wall was a mosaic eagle pattern.
Twisting open the lid of the signet ring on his middle finger, he turned the ring to match the eagle's eye. With a click, he pushed the wall with all his might. A gap in the wall, which had seemed so solid, opened, revealing a black path. The sound of the wind blowing from the other side of the road sounded like the cry of a beast.
When he closed the door, the lamp in his hand became the only light illuminating the world.
The path, which was only black in front and behind, felt as if it had no starting point or destination. A path where there was no one to tell him where he was or how far he had to go, and no one to ask.
The cold and loneliness that he could never get used to swept over him.
One step, two steps, his stride gradually increased. Then, before he knew it, he was running.
After passing through endlessly twisting corridors and descending what felt like thousands of stairs, the bottom of the Duke's Castle, which felt like an abyss, appeared.
Walter turned off the lamp in preparation for any possible situation. Then, perfect darkness and silence approached like a shaped object.
It was said that the solitary cell of the Duke's Castle was a place that did not require a guard, and indeed it was true. The sound of his own breathing pierced his ears, and the sound of water droplets falling seemed to be the whole world.
After confirming that there were no guards, Walter lit the lamp again. Then he approached the black door. But the closer he got, the more a fragrance that made people drowsy wafted out. People who have never smelled it can only classify it as 'flower scent', but those who have seen the substance once can never forget the scent of that flower.
The scent of the Nightmare flower, which only grows beyond the Wall of Death and is actually the source of all this, vibrated.
Walter quickly searched for the source of the scent. There must be something that emits this scent, whether it's a Stick or a scented candle. Then it was when he found a hazy ash in the crevices of the stone near the door.
"...Ares……."
A soft breeze brushed past his ears. Walter's movements stopped. He waited for the sound that had brushed past his ears, forgetting even to breathe.
Did he mishear, is it an illusion created by the flower scent? Or is it a dream that has faded away in vain?
"...Ares……."
No. The moment he heard the voice again, which was neither an illusion, nor a soft breeze, nor a dream, he hurriedly opened the door. And he approached Grace, who was lying curled up, and lifted her up. Grace was unconscious, and her whole body was surprisingly cold, soaked in the humid cold. At this rate, she seemed like she would die of hypothermia. He leaned his back against the wall and pulled Grace into his arms.
Her slender body trembled slightly. The Nightmare scent constantly evokes the most terrible memories, so Grace must be wandering through hell right now. Her beautiful forehead was distorted, and she kept biting her lips. Then, as if the wind was leaking, a soft voice flowed out.
"...Ares……."
The word containing her soul flowed past his ear and pooled in his heart.
He pursed his lips and barely answered.
"...I'm here."
