Count Saxony, who had been frozen stiff for a moment, shook his head fiercely as if trying to come to his senses and spoke.
“The Mistress of the Maids must have misunderstood. How could Richmond do such a thing?! He is a duke, no less. No matter that she was a legitimate daughter of House Taylor, she is still a woman who was already on the verge of marriage!”
“That is correct, Your Majesty the Empress. Surely the Duke of Richmond would not take a woman disowned by her family as his wife? They say the two are merely lovers. Marriage would be out of the question.”
“Either way, Saxony shall become quite the laughingstock. Not to mention my own reputation. Grace—that woman has become terribly difficult to kill.”
At Hetviga’s ferocious words, the faces of Count and Countess Saxony darkened considerably.
“How far have the wedding preparations between Rosette Taylor and Jack progressed?”
“A falcon has arrived from Taylor. They should be well on their way to the capital by now.”
“I had ordered you to kill Grace quickly as a precaution for the worst-case scenario, but a disowned person also loses her right of inheritance—proceed with the marriage as planned.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”
Hetviga soon dismissed the two. Rising from her seat with a deep sigh, she paced before the fireplace. As she tossed the letter the Saxony couple had seen into the flames, she withdrew another letter from within her garments. The letter she had not shown the count and his wife contained somewhat more unpleasant tidings.
[Richmond has completely fallen into the hands of the Duke and the Duchess. The rumors that Eliza Richmond had gone mad are false, and they are certain that I entered the castle with invisible ones.]
And the following sentence contained words that sent a chill down her spine.
[Before Edward Rinco died, he left me with these words.]
Hetviga’s jaw trembled finely.
[Once they have pacified Richmond, they will head for the capital. And they will move thoroughly and precisely. As if to demonstrate exactly how revenge is done.]
＊ ＊ ＊
The principles of kingship teach that a great event must be covered by an even greater event.
The rebellion of Marquis Rinco’s faction and the subsequent punishments were certainly events that would have shaken Richmond. Yet even though the faction that had ruled for over a decade had collapsed in an instant, Richmond remained peaceful. The commoners were the same. While this was partly thanks to the swift handling by the Duchess and the Duke after the incident, it was also thanks to the occurrence of an even greater event.
The day after Eliza Richmond permitted the Duke and Grace’s marriage, she announced their wedding to the public. Because it was the Duke’s marriage, wedding invitations were sent to all of Richmond’s vassals. However, due to the special circumstances surrounding Grace, invitations were not sent to the other houses.
Atop the countless spires of the ducal castle of Richmond, yellow eagle flags symbolizing joy flew in place of the former blue eagle flags, and the castle bustled more than ever before.
And at the center of that bustle was Grace.
“Congratulations.”
It began with a shy greeting from a maid. Feeling slightly flustered, Grace responded a beat late.
“…Thank you.”
But that was only the beginning. Before a day had passed, everyone who met her began to offer congratulations.
“Congratulations.”
“Truly, congratulations, my lady!”
And some—mostly elderly vassals—offered their congratulations with expressions that looked as though they might burst into tears at any moment.
“My felicitations. I truly… never doubted that such a day would come.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
Grace responded to every greeting offered, whether by servants or by vassals. To the people of Richmond Castle, her responses were a refreshing sight.
For over a decade, the faction of Marquis Rinco that had ruled the castle had been people who loved authority. They had detested even being addressed by those who lacked permission to speak. Yet here was the future Duchess kindly accepting congratulations!
“Eek! I-I greeted her, I did it!”
“Really? Did she really accept your greeting?”
“Yes, yes! I said congratulations, and she smiled and thanked me!”
“I’m going to greet her too! Where is she now?”
“The Chandelier Room.”
“…….”
“…….”
She’s been summoned again.
The maids, who had been blinking their eyes with awkward expressions, scattered to their respective duties as if by some unspoken agreement.
According to Ares’s phrasing, recently Eliza had been calling for Grace “wherever her eyes turned.” Naturally, this praise-laden description never reached Eliza’s ears.
As soon as Grace appeared, a maid waiting in front of the Chandelier Room immediately went inside to announce her visit. No sooner had Grace stepped inside than Eliza called out to her.
“Grace—!”
“My Lady.”
Grace politely bent her knee and then rose, walking toward Eliza. The table was filled with countless catalogues and samples. Having experienced wedding preparations before, Grace could see at a glance what Eliza was agonizing over just by skimming through the catalogues and samples.
“You are choosing the material for the hangings to adorn the chapel walls?”
“Oh, yes. That’s right. See which would be better.”
One fortunate thing was that her own tastes and Eliza’s were not dissimilar. Grace pointed to the tapestry sample Eliza was fiddling with.
“I think this one would be better.”
At that, Eliza’s face brightened considerably.
“Oh, you think so too? This is better than that one, isn’t it?”
“It does look somewhat bright now because of the light, but the chapel does not get such brilliant sunshine. If viewed in a slightly dim place, this color might look rather dull.”
“That is exactly what I was saying.”
Eliza turned to the merchant with a look of great relief.
“We shall have this one made.”
The merchants, who had finally received permission from the fastidious Duchess, retreated with great relief, almost fleeing.
As Eliza rose from her seat and walked to the sofa, Grace matched her pace and walked alongside her.
“I called you because I have something to give you.”
“I have already received so much; what more could there be to give?”
Eliza perched on the long couch and chuckled.
“You must write a book on the art of worldly dealings someday. You will save many people. No, not there—come sit here.”
The queen pointed to the seat right beside her. Grace, who had been sitting on the opposite sofa, moved to Eliza’s side. In the meantime, Lady Rexton and two handmaidens brought a large, heavy chest from the Blue Room.
When they were carrying the chest, it was difficult to guess what was inside, but the moment they set it down on the table, Grace unknowingly raised her eyes. The coat of arms of Richmond engraved in intaglio upon the lid proved that what lay inside was no ordinary object.
“My Lady.”
Grace urgently called out to Eliza, but the queen opened the lid without hesitation. The items nestled upon the deep red velvet were things called the treasures of Richmond—objects whose value was difficult to estimate.
As if she already had something in mind, Eliza looked through the treasures here and there, preemptively cutting off Grace’s protest.
“Whether it is fitting or not—do not speak such words.”
Then, as if she had found exactly what she wanted, she personally selected one item from among the many treasures. It was an elongated, diamond-shaped earring roughly the length of a child’s span; dozens of large diamonds were intricately set back and forth, glittering brilliantly from every direction.
“I believe this will suit you well. Do you like it?”
The impatient Eliza, even before Grace’s answer fell, pressed the earring against her ear herself and pulled her head well back.
“Ohh, it suits you beautifully. Arwen, bring a mirror!”
In the blink of an eye, Lady Isaac brought a mirror, and Grace was given no chance to refuse as she faced her own reflection. The long, dangling diamond earrings made her look elegant yet splendid, refined yet dignified.
However, the pattern formed by the large and small diamonds seemed familiar. Grace turned to Eliza and asked.
“The vine pattern on the wedding dress you gave me and the pattern on these earrings feel similar; might these be the earrings you wore at your own wedding?”
“Yes, that is right. They were passed down to me by my mother-in-law, who also passed down the dress. So they are a set with your wedding dress.”
Before the gentle smile of the elderly lady with black eyes, Grace felt a painful tightness at the pit of her stomach.
*You needn’t go this far, this is not necessary*—she should have said so, but her lips would not open. In the meantime, Eliza placed the queen’s earrings into the empty chest Lady Rexton had prepared and began pulling out item after item from the treasure box incessantly. Her hands showed no hesitation.
Starting with a tiara studded with diamonds the size of a newborn’s fist—
“This will suit you well. This tiara is perfect for your golden hair.”
“My Lady…!”
To a necklace strung with water-transparent sapphires—
“When summer comes, you ought to have something like this.”
“My Lady!”
A very, very large pair of emerald earrings looked almost feeble by comparison.
“It matches your eye color perfectly.”
“…….”
Eliza had been acting as though she could not hear Grace’s protests to the very end, but when Grace fell silent, she finally turned her gaze slyly toward her.
Grace felt that Eliza’s black eyes were like a very, very old tree. A tree scarred all over from weathering storms with its entire being, yet one that had survived in the end. Feeling choked up, Grace simply looked at her, whereupon Eliza shook her head with her characteristically imperious expression.
“My future granddaughter-in-law is trying to make her old mother-in-law out to be a wicked woman.”