Chapter 75
Even so, somehow, the day passed. Even if she was dragged away by a man whose face she could not even remember and slapped, even if someone gave her a warning thick with threats to watch how she behaved, time still flowed on helplessly, becoming the next day, and then the day after that. Resentfully, it had always been that way. It never pooled in place and told her to rest for a while.
Of course, if one could make it do that, one would be a god, not a person.
When the next day came, Officer Will revisited Dilton Manor.
“About Mr. Butler. He was taking quite a lot of medication. Was there anything strange about his condition that day?”
According to Officer Will’s explanation, that was how it was. Because Butler was of a fairly noble status, they could not handle him roughly in the open, and when they tried to control him in their own way, they found he could not sleep without sleeping pills, could hardly calm down without something called tranquilizers, and was, in many respects, not in his right mind.
But after seeing Sasha’s sickened expression, the officer did not add much more. That day, he asked a few more questions, looked into the hidden room where Mr. Butler had dragged Sasha and the maid, and then left.
That hidden room was a sort of meeting room. In other words, it was said to be the room where Sasha’s great-grandfather, the 27th Duke of Grayson—the man who had been so closely entangled with the military that, as he had claimed in life, he had “unintentionally” aroused the royal family’s suspicions and nearly brought the house to ruin—secretly drank and conversed with his guests.
And who told her that?
“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Grayson. I had only heard rumors of you, but now I get to meet you in person. Of course, I regret that it has to be under such unpleasant circumstances.”
“Officer. No matter how much this is cooperation with an investigation, you cannot come in with someone whose identity has not been verified.”
The next day, a certain man who came with the revisiting officer told her.
Despite it being summer, the man wore a long black coat that fell down his frame, and a black fedora on his head. He was not at all bothered by Sasha’s cold reception, and with a smooth smile, he told her he had merely accompanied the officer because the officer seemed to want his help.
The man, who stubbornly refused to properly reveal his identity, eventually got back into his carriage and returned the way he had come in the face of Sasha’s firm attitude. Isaac did not arrive until around evening. After listening to Sasha’s explanation, he quietly informed her, “He was probably someone from the Intelligence Department.”
“The Intelligence Department?”
“It means the royal family is still keeping a close eye on the matter involving your great-grandfather from several decades ago.”
Isaac, who had gone out early that morning, was preparing to leave again as soon as he returned. The confinement the major had placed him under had been lifted, and he had to resume handling the minor duties at Lance Field. A large number of officers were scheduled to arrive, so he had to organize the handover files.
Considering the distances between the capital’s courthouse, Dilton Manor on the outskirts of the capital, and Lance Field, it was an extremely inefficient route to travel. Nevertheless, Isaac had been faithfully stopping by Dilton Manor for the past two days.
Sasha knew he was doing it for her.
“Wonderful. Because of that bastard Jeffrey, even the police and now people from the Intelligence Department are coming in and out of Dilton Manor. Grandmother would have been delighted if she knew.”
Sasha looked at him a little gloomily as he prepared to leave again, and contrary to what she felt inside, spoke with sharp sarcasm as though she was not bothered by it at all.
Isaac changed into his military jacket, then sat on the sofa and began tying the laces of his military boots.
“It would be best to strengthen security. And since someone from the Intelligence Department has come… I think it would be better if I did not come here for the time being.”
“Why? Because you’re a soldier too?”
Isaac nodded.
“Because those people will make a connection somehow and put together a watch list.”
It was an entirely reasonable reason. And at the same time, it was not entirely welcome. Not simply because she had caught the eye of people from the Intelligence Department or whatever.
Just that he had to leave her side like this was a little…
…A little.
Sasha soon lightly shook her head, as if to quickly get a hold of herself, and said to Isaac,
“…I’m sorry, Captain Pinscher. Because of me, you’ve been dragged into troublesome matters for no reason.”
“No. I should be the one apologizing, Miss Grayson. If I had properly warned you earlier, this would not have happened. And you do not need to feel sorry because I am a soldier.”
Now, the words, “Are you really all right with someone like me?” clawed at her throat, trying to come out.
But the conversation she had with Theo on the day of the incident played a part in holding down the conscience that was trying to slip out.
‘Do you have time to feel guilty? You truly have no time left now. Do whatever it takes to catch this man.’
At the same time, a subtle voice urged her on inside her head.
“I will meet the officer separately soon.”
“All right.”
Isaac, having finished getting ready, rose from his seat.
“I will send a letter.”
“Send one as soon as you arrive.”
Isaac, who had been nodding with his stubborn face at her familiar commanding tone, soon looked at Sasha with a dazed expression.
“…Miss Grayson.”
“Yes.”
“Are you all right?”
In a way different from Sasha, Isaac was slow on the uptake, and after hesitating for a moment, he asked her this.
Instead of blandly saying, if there is nothing, then that is all right, Isaac stood there and patiently waited for her answer.
Sasha was silent for a moment. Then, after a long while, she looked straight up at him and said,
“Thank you. For being by my side then.”
She meant it. If Isaac had not helped Sasha come to her senses immediately after the incident, well. She did not particularly want to imagine what would have happened afterward.
Even though she had grown up being educated to suppress her nature like that, Sasha knew she was rather impulsive and had a quick temper. Jeffrey alone had proven that. This incident had as well. When the regret of “Why now, of all times? Why me, of all people?” surged up and she was choking herself with anger, Isaac had approached her with ghostlike timing and said it. Breathe.
Breathe.
Sasha decided that whenever she felt as though she might lose her mind from now on, she would recall those words he had spoken and use them.
“And these past two days, too. You went out early in the morning and came back late, so you must have been tired, but you kept trying to stay by my side.”
“No. I was the one who was comfortable because I did not have to get a separate hotel.”
She knew perfectly well that those were dressed-up words meant to ease her guilt.
Whether she looked at him with her mouth twisted or not, Isaac scratched the back of his head. As he always felt, being thanked by someone was tremendously awkward. It was so awkward and embarrassing that he did not know where to put his eyes.
“If anything happens, write to me immediately.”
An awkward silence flowed, and Isaac now truly prepared to leave. He took one step, then stopped and looked back at her as he said this.
“I understand.”
Sasha nodded. Isaac tried to take even one more step, then stopped and turned back toward her again.
“And keep what I said in mind, Miss Grayson.”
“…I understand.”
Now there really was nothing more to say. Only then did Isaac lightly bow his head to her and offer a proper farewell.
The send-off was brief. Even though it was a summer night, there was a chill in the air, and Isaac repeatedly refused to let her come outside, saying she did not need to. Left with no other choice, Sasha stood at the entrance and waved to him.
Isaac gave her one last farewell with a face that looked awkward, then climbed into the carriage she had prepared for him and left.
＊＊＊
The advice Isaac had given her had been that sort of thing from the start.
More than anyone, he had been unnecessarily watched and misunderstood by people, and he himself had caused a certain number of incidents and often been the subject of gossip, so it was advice he gave her as someone with experience.
The day after Isaac left, reporters began contacting her one by one. Then, the day after that, they started arbitrarily interviewing people around her, including the officer, and began publishing articles.
After the Jeffrey incident, everyone had more or less realized there was discord between her and the duchess and had been keeping their distance from her, but she was still the object of everyone’s curiosity. Moreover, it was not just anything, but the fact that she had nearly suffered harm at the hands of a man outside the family, so it was the kind of scoop one would be stupid to miss.
As Isaac had advised, Sasha ignored them completely. She had intended to do so from the beginning anyway. What they were interested in was only announcing how powerless and frightened she had become after going through that incident.
Their main concern was not sympathy for Sasha Grayson, but focusing on her wretched state.
A few more days passed after that, and the weeklies now changed their target to George Butler. They gathered testimonies from people around him saying he had grown up abused by his parents since childhood, and they wrote at length about his abnormal unrequited love, about how much he had admired Sasha in his daily life, capturing everyone’s attention as much as they wanted. The Jeffrey incident had been almost entirely hushed up, so even among reporters, it was not something they could carelessly handle. Thus, they all behaved like fish in water.
Within the exaggerated truth, the secrets that must not be made known to people were cleverly concealed.
The secret space where George Butler had dragged Sasha and the maid was only described as “somewhere in the mansion,” and there was not even a mention of Jeffrey Grayson, who had obviously told George Butler about such a place.
And before long, a letter arrived for Sasha from the duchess.
Since the reporters’ mouths had been properly stopped, that was probably not the reason she was being summoned. Sasha recalled the Intelligence Department agent who had appeared with the officer and, as if it were only natural, brazenly tried to enter the mansion.
It was even less likely that the duchess was belatedly trying to apologize to her regarding Jeffrey.
Most likely, she had called Sasha because she had something to say in relation to that side. Having come to that conclusion, Sasha wrote back to the duchess saying that she would visit within two days.