Walter, who had been lounging sprawled out and lost in thought, rose without warning.
“Guide me to where Grace is.”
“But the young lady said it is a matter of the inner castle, and that Your Grace must not act rashly. Please wait a moment—”
“Whether I wait or not, that is up to me.”
“…….”
“If it is not your wish to see your master come to harm, then stop talking nonsense and lead the way.”
Though expressionless, a fierce and volatile aura surged like a tidal wave. His words were not a request, and even if Jessie refused, he looked ready to find Grace by force.
Sure enough, the moment Jessie hesitated, Walter turned away without a second thought and commanded Joseph.
“Find Grace, Joseph.”
“Yes!”
As the two men strode out of the room, Jessie finally ran after them in haste. It was not as though she wished to leave Grace to her fate, either.
“I will guide you.”
She moved as if taking flight and led Walter. Then, just as the door to where Grace had been taken came into view, a sharp, clear voice reached Walter’s keen ears.
“Take him to the underground as well, and find the woman who came with him and bring her to me!”
“On your feet!!”
The underground.
He felt something in his chest grow hot. Overtaking Jessie in an instant, Walter flung the door wide open before the soldiers and maids could even react.
Wind rushed through the doorway and whipped his hair. But Walter did not feel the wind. In the chaotic scene within the room, only one thing seized his senses.
Feeling the impulse to knock away the maidservants who were roughly grabbing her arms, Walter spat out as if chewing his words.
“Let go.”
* * *
At Walter’s sudden appearance, the room grew even more chaotic, as though a fire had broken out. The maids flinched as if they had touched a hot pot and snatched their hands away from Grace. Flora seemed frozen in shock before being pulled to her feet by her mother, Countess Lewen. The noblewomen rushed to greet Walter, preoccupied with paying their respects.
Amidst such commotion, Walter stood stock-still like an island, his gaze fixed on Grace. Then, as if she had finally come to her senses, the Marchioness coughed hollowly to draw attention.
When Grace and Walter looked at her simultaneously, the Marchioness puffed out her chest and raised an eyebrow. Her expression was like that of an adult looking down at a naughty child.
“Your Grace.”
Her tone was no different. Then, casting a stern glance at Jessie, she continued.
“As for the audacity of bringing that woman here without requesting Your Grace’s permission, I was about to explain myself immediately. It was to mediate a disturbance within the inner castle according to Richmond’s customs, so I beg your understanding.”
Walter found all of the Marchioness’s words grating, but he picked out the single most offensive word and pronounced it.
“Customs?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
Customs. Precedent practiced since long ago, hardened into convention.
Then what is precedent, and who decides the time required for it to become convention? Seen in that light, are customs not merely a method by which those who wish to stir the board at will coerce everyone’s actions, using time as an excuse?
And yet, the sight of her speaking as though it were the supreme law was not even amusing. Walter scanned the arrangement of the chairs and smiled sardonically.
“I wondered why the room’s layout looked so familiar. It is the arrangement that the late Empress Isabella—Her Majesty—used when interrogating noblewomen. Since when did Her Majesty Empress Isabella’s method become Richmond’s custom?”
“…….”
“Did Dame Eliza teach you this? Saying that since it is the Queen Mother’s method, you should try applying it to Richmond?”
At the young Duke’s relentless, fierce momentum, the noblewomen stiffened rigidly. They dared not move, only rolling their eyes to look at the Marchioness. It was an unspoken rule to mention Dame Eliza’s name in front of her.
But that was merely a principle among noblewomen.
The moment Walter uttered that name, the Marchioness felt a thorn pierce her heart. She desperately steadied her breath, which threatened to grow rough.
“I was mediating a disturbance among the women of the castle. Most troublingly, a conflict broke out between the woman Your Grace brought and the maidservants.”
“Disturbance?”
“I am ashamed to report this, but the maidservants who attended the woman Your Grace brought claim they were subjected to confinement, assault, and death threats by her. Such things must never happen in the Ducal Castle of Richmond, must they?”
Walter stared intently at the two maids and crossed his arms.
“Confinement, assault, death threats… When did these things occur?”
“Your Grace, this falls under the jurisdiction of the inner castle—”
“Whether it falls under the jurisdiction of the inner castle or not, I shall judge after hearing it.”
Walter cut the Marchioness off mid-sentence and fixed his eyes on the maids, asking again.
“Answer. When did these things occur?”
The Marchioness clenched her fist tightly and signaled the maids with her eyes. The maids felt their mouths go dry and cautiously opened their lips.
“Yesterday, it was on our way back after serving dinner.”
“Do you remember where you were dragged?”
“Inside the main keep… near the first floor… I do not remember the exact location….”
“It was a pitch-black room without any light!”
“Confinement in a pitch-black room without light, inside the Ducal Castle of Richmond. Are you certain?”
The maids suddenly raised their heads and responded vigorously.
“Yes, Your Grace! It is the truth without an ounce of falsehood!”
Flora, who had been practically nestled in her mother’s arms, also ran to the maids’ side with tears in her eyes.
“Your Grace! They are children I hold dear. They would never lie, please believe me. *Sob.*”
Shedding pearl-like tears, Flora cried and then raised her head. The Duke had once harbored feelings for her, so she believed he would surely be shaken if she looked up at him like this.
However, Walter was not looking at her. He had an adjutant place a chair—brought at some point—before the maids, and sat down leisurely.
The moment he sat alone in that chair, the master of the room changed.
A heavy current circled Walter like the slow, frigid flow of the deep sea. Then, surging in silently, it swallowed the people like a tide that devours the shore in the blink of an eye.
The maids began to tremble visibly, and Countess Lewen, instinctively sensing it was time to withdraw, pulled Flora away from the maids’ side and hid herself among the noblewomen.
Having seized control of everyone in an instant, Walter leaned back leisurely in the chair and commanded.
“Joseph. Bring the head of castle security.”
The Marchioness started, her shoulders trembling at the thunderous order.
“Summoning the head of security so suddenly?!”
To her protest, Walter answered with a sneer.
“I believe those maids’ words. But Grace was with me all night last night. All the more so after dinner.”
“But the maidservants’ testimony—”
“They cannot even properly remember where they were dragged. Meaning they were that disoriented. How can they assert that the person they encountered in a pitch-black room without light was Grace?”
“That is why I took a neutral stance toward both sides—”
“The word ‘both’ itself is what I am telling you is wrong.”
Walter cut her off coldly. Then he warned the one who had forgotten her master in a low voice.
“I am not one who proves. I am one who judges, Emily Rinco.”
“…….”
“And if Grace’s maid is suspicious, Sir Rexton, who was guarding the hallway the entire time, will confirm it.”
No sooner had Walter finished speaking than Joseph testified powerfully, his honest face booming.
“I was guarding the hallway the entire time. I witnessed the two maidservants leaving with dinner, but neither the young lady nor her maid came out into the hallway after dinner!”
Walter glanced at the Marchioness as if to ask if she had heard, then signaled to Joseph.
“Bring the head of security. I must hold him accountable for this matter.”
“Understood, Your Grace!!”
Then Countess Lewen, who had stepped back, also came forward with an urgent face. Because the head of security of the Ducal Castle of Richmond was her husband, Count Lewen.
“Your Grace, summoning the head of security so suddenly… it is not a matter to be made into such a big deal.”
But those words ignited a spark instead. The young Duke turned to her as if dumbfounded and pronounced each word as if chewing and spitting them out.
“Inside the castle where I reside, and in the main keep at that, such a thing has occurred, and you say this is not a big deal?”
“That is….”
Walter turned his head as if he had nothing more to hear and spoke to the dazed maids.
“I will call you soon to ascertain the truth of the incident, so rest for the time being and compose yourselves.”
With those final words, he rose from his seat and extended his hand to Grace. Grace quietly gazed at Walter, who had ruthlessly brandished the knife she had given him, then laid her hand atop his palm. A large, firm hand immediately entwined with hers.
Grace held his hand and was walking out when her eyes met the Marchioness’s.
Her deeply submerged pupils were like a very deep swamp.