Joseph gradually widened the distance between himself and Walter as he walked. Others might look and ask what was different, but Joseph, who had shared his joys and sorrows, could acutely sense that Walter's mood was low. No, it wasn't merely low—he was in a thoroughly foul state.
By such a Walter's side was Grace. Compared to the stalwart Walter, she was a small young lady who only came up to about his chest, but Joseph had discerned that the balance of power between these two currently tilted toward Grace.
And so…….
"A wolf being entangled by a fox's tail……"
When he muttered this unwittingly, Walter, who was scowling, immediately glanced back at him. Joseph deliberately widened his eyes and shook his head.
"I didn't say anything?"
Meanwhile, just as Joseph had observed, Walter's mood was far from comfortable. Nevertheless, he was moving his feet, driven along by Grace's gentle, coaxing words from someone barely half his size, so the impression of a wolf being entangled by a fox's tail wasn't entirely wrong.
But it wasn't only because he couldn't refute Grace's words that his steps were uneasy.
Walter, too, was one who had prepared and waited for over ten years. He had knights who had become the Empire's strongest, and Richmond's rusted blade would be unable to stop them. Once he reclaimed Richmond in this manner, Walter had intended to place this castle back into Elizabeth's embrace.
Of course, in his plans, Elizabeth had ultimately not risen from her seat and had not faced Walter. She would have settled her succession with great difficulty before finally passing into eternal slumber.
In Walter's plan, the final courtesy to Elizabeth was to bury his grandson beside her. But in Grace's plan, Elizabeth was different.
In her plan, Elizabeth was the very image of the queen who had once commanded Richmond.
Surely Walter, too, had imagined that figure?
During the three years she spent with Walter, Elizabeth had maintained her queenly bearing even while staying in the annex. Though he had seen her cry in suppressed sobs, she had never shown disarray. It was Elizabeth who had secretly educated him, and Elizabeth who had told him he must go to the Wall of Death and turn the knights to his side.
'You survived at the cost of my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson's lives, so Your Highness must never die. By whatever means necessary, survive, grow strong, and ascend to the Emperor's throne as if to make a show of it.'
Having spoken thus in a voice like biting frost.
During the ten-odd years he wandered the Wall of Death, Elizabeth had not answered any of Walter's summons. She said she would not leave the annex, and said she would not know even if his limbs were cut off. And so she collapsed alone. Because he had survived and grown strong by whatever means necessary.
Could Elizabeth Richmond return to her former self? If she did, could he cast off this tedious, heavy shackle of guilt that weighed upon his shoulders as if bearing the weight of the world?
While lost in repeated thought, the annex was suddenly within a single step. Lady Isaac appeared as the door opened as if she had been waiting, and bowed respectfully.
Without waiting for her guidance, Walter strode briskly into the interior of the annex.
"Joseph, check that there are none listening nearby."
"Yes, Your Grace!"
His entire body grew cold in the interior air, chillier than outside. Unlike yesterday when thick twilight had covered his eyes, the hallway he faced today was desolately barren.
Far from decorations, not a single proper picture frame hung on the walls.
Walter did not hold back the laughter that burst forth.
If Elizabeth's laughter was like black blood congealed in dried entrails, Walter's laughter was like crimson blood flowing from a beating heart.
'I shall surely return alive and restore your name, so do not die and wait for me.'
On the day he left for the Wall of Death, he had spoken thus to Elizabeth.
Grace's insight that Walter possessed a clear goal to rouse Elizabeth had been accurate. Bearing a countenance so wretched that she could die tomorrow without surprise, the reason she had not died until this very day was precisely because of Walter.
His heart seethed and boiled. That beloved grandson was already dead and gone, yet he had spent over ten years rotting away waiting for remains that held only a hollow name and ashes—nothing could be more foolish.
'Never, never, never give up.'
Having spoken as if she would follow him to the ends of hell and kill him if he gave up, and yet what sort of state was she herself in?
'Hyung! Ah, no. Your Highness, the Crown Prince!'
Who had killed that child?
Bang!!
"Your Grace!"
As the door opened roughly without a knock, Lady Isaac screamed and ran toward him. But Walter was unstoppable.
The only room in this wretched annex that held any warmth. Beside Elizabeth, who lay collapsed like a corpse in a tomb, sat a bowl of soup with no trace of steam.
Walter looked down at Elizabeth, who stared up at him as if appalled, and sat on the edge of her bed.
"Your Gra—!"
The moment Lady Isaac tried to call out to him like a scream, Grace grabbed her arm. Lady Isaac, who turned back in surprise, froze with an expression of speechless shock. Because Grace's expression as she watched the confrontation between Walter and the Grand Duchess was as cold and severe as a commander leading an army.
Then, a voice that made one's spine chill was heard.
"What sort of rudeness is this?"
Walter met the Grand Duchess's pitch-black eyes and tilted his head.
"Still, you are awake today."
"What?"
"Did I not tell you? That I would surely return alive and restore it to you, so wait without dying."
"So can't you see I'm alive?"
"Ah, are you alive?"
"……"
"In this wretched place, with a countenance exactly like a corpse."
Each and every word seemed to contain ice picks.
Wretched, corpse.
Who would dare utter such words before Elizabeth's face? Lady Isaac was at a loss, unable to comprehend how to resolve this situation.
They were grandmother and grandson, yet the two had never been well-matched from the start. Both possessed spear-like personalities, so it was natural they did not favor each other. Even so, because Walter had been young then and had tried to hide his true nature, a scene like this had never been produced.
But the one who returned was different.
"Being unaware if all your limbs have been cut off, merely breathing—is that truly being alive? Yes, Grandmother?"
Elizabeth stared fixedly at Walter while lying down. Then she burst into laughter. At that same dark, viscous laughter, Lady Isaac—and even Grace—held their breath, but Walter, looking down at her, met it with a cynical smile of his own.
Elizabeth, having laughed for a long while, slowly raised her body. Between her cascading silver-white hair, pupils the same color as Walter's gleamed fiercely.
"And you—I told you to survive and grow strong, yet the best you can do is bring an unmarried woman here and turn the castle upside down in an uproar?"
Elizabeth and Walter were unmistakably linked by blood. Not only their appearances but even their manner of speaking were similar.
"There is no way to check exactly how far the rot extends from top to bottom, so I have no choice but to overturn everything and see."
"Even that must be done with dignity, in accordance with proper principles! It is not a filthy act that should remain as a precedent!"
"Dignity. Ah, so that is why you have been sitting here like this? Afraid that if you lifted the lid to see what state Richmond is in, how it is rotting, filth would splash out?"
Lady Isaac and Grace marveled at the vicious eloquence of the Dekan imperial family.
"That temperament of yours, utterly devoid of patience."
Elizabeth spoke, grinding her molars hard, but Walter paid her no heed.
"Our family's temperament is nothing new, is it?"
Then he personally held out the bowl of soup to her and spoke in an artificially affectionate voice.
"How fortunate. I was worried that if you could not even hold a spoon, I would have to personally feed you myself. To see you so vigorous brings me immeasurable joy, Grandmother."
"What?"
Everyone's gaze turned toward Elizabeth.
From the old lady who had seemed to possess no vitality at all, a strength born of fury could be felt. A strange gleam passed through her black eyes, which had been as parched as withered grass at a graveside. Veins bulged at her wrinkled, gaunt nape, and then a voice as cynical as Walter's flowed out.
"Leave."
"……"
"What are you standing there for, Arwen!! The Duke is leaving! See him out!! I shall not go far, Duke!!"
At the Grand Duchess's ringing voice, Lady Isaac was so moved that her eyes grew red, and Walter seemed to have more to say as he opened his mouth.
In that moment, Grace—who had suddenly realized her role—leaped between the two wolves baring their fangs and claws at each other. Lady Isaac thought of a frail life leaping fearlessly between savage beasts.
"Grand Duchess, I am pleased to see you risen. You cannot know how much His Grace has worried."
Two savage beasts stared at Grace simultaneously.
What nonsense?!
But Grace paid them no heed and first whirled around to look at Walter, cutting off his words.
"Isn't that right?"
This time she turned toward the old lady, her eyes curving in a smile.
"I apologize for coming again without permission. But please understand the heart that wished to see you even like this."
It was not a tone that stabbed like a spear, but one so warm and affectionate it brought to mind a bountiful wheat field. She was like a sunbeam stealthily bowing its head amid a fierce storm.
As Elizabeth fell silent, Grace straightened her waist and lightly grasped the hem of her skirt with both hands. Then she bent her knees deeply, lowering her posture until the crown of her head fell below Elizabeth's line of sight.
In that moment, the slow-flowing time of Elizabeth came to a halt.
"Though belated, I now pay my proper respects. I am Grace of House Taylor, meeting the Grand Duchess of Richmond, the bedrock of Dekan, the mistress of the Tevex Mountains and the Orutu River, and the guardian of the northwest."