Chapter 7
7
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A few minutes after the carriage carrying Grace left, Walter and Joseph also exited the castle's main gate. Joseph, who was riding beside Walter, tilted his head and asked.
"But Your Grace, did the Princess give you any hint about where to meet her… or anything like that?"
"No."
At Walter's curt reply, Joseph narrowed his eyes and tilted his head again.
"Um… then where are you planning to meet?"
Walter didn't feel the need to respond, so he remained silent. The verdant eyes that had been so clear even from a distance were swirling in his mind.
Grace Taylor had stared intently at him, then turned and disappeared without a word. She hadn't asked where to meet or even where he was staying. That meant she already knew, and that she intended to come to him.
Walter urged his horse on a little faster, heading towards the inn.
"Huh…? It was bustling this morning. Are they not doing business today?"
Sure enough, the inn was completely empty. Walter entrusted his horse to Joseph and quickly ascended the stairs.
The higher he climbed, the closer he felt to a refreshing forest. Skipping two or three steps at a time, Walter reached the top in an instant and paused in front of his door, taking a deep breath. He chuckled at the feeling that he should knock, then held his breath and turned the doorknob.
The moment the door opened, Walter felt the forest pouring in towards him.
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Grace, having arrived at the inn before Walter, stood blankly in the empty room before perching on the edge of the sofa.
She had abandoned anxiety and honor as the first things when preparing for the hunt, but now, a long-absent feeling of unease surged within her.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she recalled the dark eyes she had met. The man who had made even the magnificent chapel seem like a mere backdrop. Thinking of him, her fists grew damp.
Grace opened her eyes and took something from her bosom. An old insignia with a roaring tiger embroidered on it transported her back to the winter of thirteen years ago.
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That day, the beacon announcing the Crown Prince's death was lit. The news followed that the Duke and Duchess Richmond, along with the ailing Emperor, had all died in a carriage accident on their way to visit him.
In the carriage heading to the capital in black clothes with her parents to offer condolences, the hushed conversation between her parents sounded strange even to young Grace's ears.
"Duke Richmond said he would take precautions to avoid the Empress, so His Highness is probably safe."
"Then… the body…"
"Shhh, it was probably the young Duke."
"How pitiful."
Her sensitive mother eventually teared up.
After a full day's journey, as they reached a certain ridge, the party discovered a dying knight. Horrified by the knight's appearance, her parents sent their young daughter back into the carriage, and Grace listened intently to the sounds outside.
Strangely, the knight's voice was very clear.
"He is… Keuk… being protected by the Grand Duchess…"
"Hey!"
"Run… Flee. Soon… they will come. Beware… of the Unseen Ones…"
The knight did not finish his sentence.
After a moment of serious discussion, her parents had Grace get out of the carriage. They placed the dead knight's insignia in her small hand, entrusted her to the care of a guard, and sent their daughter back to Taylor Duke's Castle.
That was the last time. The Taylor Duke's carriage, like the carriages of the Crown Prince and the Duke and Duchess Richmond, was found completely burned out. The flames were so fierce that the Duke and Duchess's bodies could not even be properly recovered. The investigation team sent by the Empress concluded it was an accident, but Grace thought otherwise.
Duke Richmond, who had taken precautions to avoid the Empress, the body of the young Duke, and the protection of the Grand Duchess.
Although she was young, Grace pieced together those fragments and became convinced.
Like the Duke and Duchess Richmond, her parents had also been murdered by the Empress. And the surviving Crown Prince was hiding under the protection of the Grand Duchess.
Grace vowed revenge. And she prepared carefully, for a very long time.
'A man with black hair and black eyes.'
That was all the information she had about Walter Richmond, who was born as the Crown Prince but became the Duke Richmond, hidden from everyone's eyes. Immediately after the incident, the young Duke had secluded himself in the Grand Duchess's residence, citing health reasons, and a few years later, he had been sent to the Wall of Death with the family's knights, wandering the battlefield for ten years.
How many men in the Empire had black hair and black eyes? But the moment Grace saw Walter in the hallway, she knew at a glance that he was the man she had been looking for.
Fortunately, he had responded to her call and watched as the wedding fell apart.
Now, all that remained was to place herself in his hands. It was the most difficult and important task in her plan. Even the moment she caused a stir at the wedding had not made her nervous, but the thought of what was to come made her mouth dry.
She was mentally rehearsing what kind of conversation she should have with him when she heard a bell ringing in her sensitive ears. Grace's eyes snapped open, and she heard someone rushing up the stairs. They seemed to be skipping two or three steps at a time, and the sound was rapidly approaching.
It was him.
The moment Grace sensed Walter's arrival and jumped up from her seat, the door opened without warning, and a man who overwhelmed everything appeared.
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Darkness that swallowed even light and sound.
Facing Walter up close, Grace vaguely thought of darkness. Like a moonless night of the new moon, like darkness that overwhelmed even time and space, the man silently surged in and enveloped her. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath.
Despite wearing a simple but formal suit, she sensed a wildness that stung her skin. He was tall enough that she had to look up for a long time, and his broad shoulders filled the doorway. Yet, he felt more sleek than clumsy. Perhaps it was because of the sharpness in his dark, distinct face.
Grace exhaled the breath she had been holding and pressed her palm with her fingernails. She couldn't let his presence overwhelm her and ruin her plans. She bowed respectfully to Walter.
"Forgive my intrusion."
Even then, Walter stared intently at Grace with a gaze that was stubbornly clear.
The woman, who had greeted him with a graceful bow, calmly raised her eyes. Even in the slightly dark room, where the sunlight entered at an angle, she seemed to radiate light, just as she had in the chapel. Walter swallowed the strange feeling and closed the door.
The air between them felt so thick that it seemed to push them away from each other. In that moment, when even blinking felt cautious, Walter was the first to move. Unlike someone who had rushed up the stairs, he moved with a leisurely and heavy gait, like a predator prowling his territory.
As Walter approached, Grace felt an invisible wave pushing against her entire body. Walter stopped a few steps in front of her and opened his mouth.
"Taylor Duke's Castle is in an uproar."
It was a terribly low and captivating voice that scratched at her eardrums. Grace smiled faintly and nodded.
"It must be."
Walter took out the wedding invitation from his pocket and asked directly.
"Are you 'the sharpest blade'?"
"Yes."
"What do you want from me? What do you know about me, Lady?"
He tilted his chin and looked at Grace with only his eyes. The sharpness unique to those who had survived by getting their hands dirty surged, as if to tear Grace apart.
But there was no turning back for her either. Grace bit down on the soft flesh inside her cheek.
"I hope it will be worth the long journey I took to find this place."
Walter, who had spoken with a sarcastic tone, put his hands in his pockets and stared at the woman standing demurely.
Perhaps it was because of the intense first impression she had made in the chapel, or perhaps it was because of her neatly braided hair. Even though she had taken off her wedding dress, she looked like a bride about to be married.
Then, Grace, who had been lowering her eyes, raised them and opened her mouth.
"Make me your official lover."
"…What?"
Walter, taken aback by the audacious words, repeated the question a beat late. Grace opened her round eyes wide and said again, clearly and distinctly.
"Make me your official lover and take me to Richmond."
Walter was silent for a moment, as if trying to understand Grace's intentions, then laughed sharply.
"Are you telling me to be the 'hidden lover' that you boldly declared to everyone in the chapel? What do I gain by becoming the mistress of a woman who went all the way to the wedding hall with the Empress's nephew?"
"If Your Grace's ultimate goal is to take control of the Richmond Dukedom, you wouldn't need me. But what Your Grace truly wants isn't just that, is it?"
"……."
"Isn't that right?"
Grace took a deep breath.
The reason why Walter Richmond was essential to the beginning of Grace Taylor's long-planned revenge. Now, it was time to throw down her hidden card.
"Crown Prince."
