“…Your Excellency?”
The young lady’s expression, which had been as elegant and unwavering as a porcelain doll no matter the situation, contorted for the first time.
Is he in his right mind?
She was undoubtedly thinking just that. Walter, seeing that expression, couldn’t possibly hold back the laughter that threatened to burst forth.
“Heh, heh.”
Grace’s eyes grew wider and wider. Even Jesse, who had been following them a step behind, opened their eyes wide and tilted their head.
The man’s golden silhouette, bathed in the early morning sunlight, trembled ever so slightly, and the low laughter that drummed against her eardrums scraped somewhere in Grace’s heart. But only for a moment. Walter ran a hand down his face, swallowing his laughter. Then he met the eyes of Grace, who was looking up at him, and spoke.
“She’ll be angry for a bit, but she’ll get up all the same.”
“…Are you alright?”
At Grace’s question, Jesse nodded fervently.
Could it be that he’s eaten something terribly wrong?
At the doubt lingering in her eyes like green grapes, Walter let out another low laugh. It was a laugh like the cross-section of a piercingly blue glacier, yet for some reason, it didn’t feel cold. While Grace momentarily forgot what she was about to say, Walter wiped the smile from his face. Then he looked up at the sky, which had brightened brilliantly, and answered languidly.
“I’ve always been like this.”
That’s right. I’ve always been like this.
“Hurry and go in. Go and do as I told you. The Decan imperial family is as stubborn as they are quick to anger.”
Then he turned away before Grace could even answer.
Grace stared blankly at Walter’s back. But after taking a few steps, Walter suddenly turned to look at her and asked.
“One thing.”
“…Yes?”
“Do you know my name?”
It was a question asked almost voicelessly, close to a mutter.
Grace thought the question truly foolish and gave an almost imperceptible nod. At that, Walter let out a short laugh and moved away as if nothing had happened.
The man’s back, turned against the sunlight, felt rough yet strangely delicate, as if sketched briskly with an extremely sharp pen.
The reason he felt both unfamiliar and familiar was that Grace had recalled and imagined him every single day. In every moment she wanted to sink down, in every moment she wanted to crumble, Grace had repeated his name like an incantation.
He who bore the name of a war god from myth would surely look like this. Having survived the wall of death against all odds, he would surely be someone worthy of his name. So when she finally encountered him, Grace recognized him at a single glance. Thus, how foolish it was to ask if she knew that name.
Grace let out a long, slow breath and turned around. Just then, Mrs. Isaac appeared, opening the door to the annex.
*Go in and do as I told you. The Decan imperial family is as stubborn as they are quick to anger.*
As Grace entered the annex with Mrs. Isaac, she asked cautiously, feeling uncertain.
“If I wait in the drawing room, will the Duchess see me?”
Mrs. Isaac’s brow twitched faintly. She fell silent as if briefly troubled, then cautiously opened her mouth.
“…It is difficult to say, but for the moment……”
The Duchess had forgotten both cold and hunger. Although Countess Rinko had gradually reduced the number of maids, turning the place where she stayed into something like a corner of a fallen kingdom, the Duchess didn’t even seem to realize it. No, she didn’t seem to care about such things at all.
In the meantime, they had arrived in front of the drawing room. Mrs. Isaac opened the door, but for some reason, Grace didn’t enter, lost in thought. The moment Mrs. Isaac was about to call to her, Grace issued an unexpected order.
“Take me to where the Duchess is.”
“She is in her bedroom.”
“I know.”
Grace pressed the faltering Mrs. Isaac.
“Didn’t you say you would do anything?”
The green eyes were unwavering, conveying that this would ultimately be something to help the Duchess. In the end, Mrs. Isaac turned around as if having made up her mind.
“Follow me.”
＊ ＊ ＊
Along with Grace, the one who noticed Walter’s change was none other than Joseph.
His superior had gone out following Miss Grace since early morning. Truthfully, that alone had been a little strange. But he had quickly forgotten about it.
“Well, I mean. His Excellency is a person and a man too; would he act the same with us as he does with a young lady?”
Muttering this, Joseph scratched inside his ear as he looked at Walter’s empty room.
But the moment he faced Walter upon his return, Joseph was certain that something in him had completely changed.
First, a couple of buttons on his shirt, which had always been fastened all the way to his neck, were undone, and the shirt cuffs, which he never rolled up even in midsummer, were roughly rolled up. To begin with, Walter Richmond had never been one to walk around in just a shirt. Be it armor or formal wear, he was a man who adhered to a textbook-perfect appearance.
Walter appeared in an outfit that felt almost rakish, sat down without a word, took out a piece of paper, scribbled something quickly, and held it out to Joseph. But when Joseph remained frozen with eyes wide, Walter’s thick black eyebrows twitched.
“How long are you going to stand there blankly, Joseph?”
Was this what it felt like to be slapped across the face with words? Joseph quickly came to his senses and rushed over, and Walter commanded.
“Find five empty rooms in a row along a single corridor, rarely frequented by people and receiving no sunlight.”
Joseph shuddered at the chilling conditions, but Walter tapped the paper on the desk with his index finger.
“And summon the ones written here.”
“The ones written… all of them?”
“Don’t make me say it twice. Can’t you understand it the first time?”
Joseph’s eyes rolled. When he met the black eyes brimming with contempt, he moved as if leaping.
“Understood!”
Joseph quickly tucked the paper away and burst out of the room. Walking quickly down the corridor, he suddenly stopped dead, turned around, and muttered.
“So now… instead of just cursing with your eyes, you’re going to outright curse aloud……?”
He had never thought Walter’s personality was good. But there had been, how should he put it, a certain line that he seemed never to cross. For some reason, it felt like that line had vanished.
Is this completely bad, or moderately bad……?
Joseph tilted his head, then checked the names on the paper. The first ones to be summoned were the nobles in charge of Richmond’s finances. After a moment of thought, Joseph poked his head back through the doorway and asked.
“Should I put one in each room?”
“…….”
“Yes, sir!!”
Joseph shut the door quickly before Walter could open his mouth. Joseph Lexston, whose bad temper was second to none, felt the corners of his mouth twitch upward.
“Hmm……. I suppose I’ll be able to tell whether it’s completely bad or moderately bad once I see how you lot get wrecked.”
Joseph’s muttering, which felt almost villainous, melted into the autumn sunlight and faded away.
＊ ＊ ＊
Eliza’s bedroom was the sunniest place in the annex. The moment she entered, Grace could feel that Mrs. Isaac had done her utmost to manage the place where her mistress stayed. Unlike other areas that had been poorly maintained, Eliza’s bedroom was cozy and clean.
But the air in the bedroom was heavy and cold, making the brightly pouring sunlight seem meaningless. In the massive bed in the center of the room, a small mound that looked as though it might collapse at any moment rose and fell faintly.
“Your Gr…….”
As Mrs. Isaac tried to approach Eliza, calling out to her, Grace reached out to stop her. Then she silently looked around the bed. Perhaps it was time to serve breakfast; on the round table beside the bed sat a domed dish.
*She’ll be a bit angry, but she’ll get up in the process.*
So did that mean, in the end, she had to make her angry to make her get up?
She didn’t know if that was a good method, but one thing was certain: as Walter had said, if she waited outside, she wouldn’t be able to meet Eliza even after years had passed.
Eliza didn’t even notice Grace approaching the bedside. Whether she was truly asleep or keeping her eyes closed because even opening them felt meaningless, Eliza lay like the dead, breathing faintly.
It was then that Grace sat in Mrs. Isaac’s chair.
“…Send the breakfast away.”
The moment Mrs. Isaac, who had been waiting, reflexively moved to do so, Grace spoke.
“You must eat.”
The soft yet firm voice shattered the heavy, sunken air of the bedroom. Mrs. Isaac held her breath and clasped her hands tightly.
“You must eat, Your Grace.”
When Grace pressed again, Eliza’s tightly shut eyelids slowly opened. Black pupils hidden within wrinkled lids were revealed under the sunlight. Grace met the black eyes directed at her without flinching. Eliza stared at Grace with an intensity bordering on obsession and spoke in a cold voice.
“Arwen. How dare you do such a thing without my permission.”