In the knights' quarters, those seated in a circle with grave expressions conversed as though holding a council.
"Sirius. See that the youngest of Count Isaac's house is properly disciplined. He's been quite the eyesore lately."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. There were signs since then, when he glared at me and told me to watch my tongue."
At that, Sirius narrowed his eyes and nodded.
"I'd like to as well. But Andrew, that bastard's been living like he has two lives nowadays. He criticizes my posture, my conduct, even my tone. It's all unpleasant, but the worst of it is……"
Sirius drew out the end of his words, rubbing his jaw as he muttered grimly.
"The fact that he's utterly convinced I'll be detached to serve as the Duchess's escort."
The knights' lips twisted in unison, and a frigid silence descended. The sickening sound of cracking knuckles echoed, and someone let out a hollow laugh. Then someone glanced around the company and broke the silence.
"What's the point of that? It must be decided fairly. Life goes by seniority, you know?"
"Senior, we're knights, so wouldn't skill be the fairer measure?"
"…Bash your head in."
"That's too far!"
The quarters burst into an uproar.
"Ah, I'm dying of envy, Andrew Isaac! While I'm suffering here like this, that bastard will probably be serving tea beside the young lady!!"
"Then since they're planning to pull you for the Dowager Duchess's escort too, volunteer for that. You can serve tea there."
"……."
"There's His Grace's escort as well, so volunteer for that too."
"Shut up."
"Well, that's our Joseph's job."
Just then, Joseph Rexston appeared soundlessly with a ghastly expression and pressed his bloodshot eyes close.
"Why are you doing this to me."
"Uwaah!!!"
It was a face dreadful enough to haunt one's dreams—dark circles blackened by accumulated fatigue, sunken eyes, and chapped lips. Joseph rolled his bloodshot eyes about before suddenly flopping onto the sofa and giggling incessantly. Those nearby frowned at the sight.
"He's lost it……."
Regardless, Joseph spoke with utter earnestness.
"I'm also volunteering for this reassignment to the Duchess's guard."
"You can't. If you're gone, who's going to assist His Grace, huh?"
"Shut up. I said I'm improving my work environment too. What's with everyone lately……."
It was at that very moment.
"Who said they would volunteer to be Grace's escort?"
The instant a low, cold voice like a deep ravine pierced their ears, the black-clad knights shot to their feet as if springs were attached to their backsides. Having snapped to attention in the blink of an eye, their unruliness from moments prior seemed almost like a lie.
"Who said they would be detached to serve as Grace's escort, that you are carrying on like this during work hours."
A beast with a cruel expression revealed himself at the back doorway, though no one knew how long he had been there. The knights instinctively perceived that his mood was very, very foul.
And surely enough, he let out a few snickers, tilted his head, and snapped out a curt command.
"Arm yourselves."
"……."
"You should run when you're bored. Thirty laps around the training yard. You have one hour."
Like a rubber band snapping after being pulled taut, the knights armed themselves in the blink of an eye and dashed toward the training yard. Soon, a spectacular sight of dozens of armed knights circling the training yard unfolded, and Ares watched with his arms crossed.
"Hah……."
A sigh escaped him at the sheer absurdity.
What? Improving their work environment? Not a single one of them said they wanted to become her escort knight because they had the skill to protect Grace. Instead, they spouted nonsense about work environment, serving tea to the young lady, and the like. Wasn't that just another way of saying they wanted to be by Grace's side?
If it were just the knights, that would be one thing, but the bureaucrats' reactions were even more absurd. In fact, the knights were preferable in that they at least somewhat watched his temper.
Moreover, Eliza acted like someone who had no intention of letting Grace go. Day and night.
Even if he died and came back to life, he could not give Grace this gift in front of Eliza, so Ares could only swallow his frustration.
So when Grace occasionally came to him regarding marriage matters, it was something of an opportunity, but each time, the vassals would be dead set on exchanging greetings with her, eyes sparkling like children waiting for candy.
He had found that sight unpleasant enough, but today, they had outright asked, "If you marry, who will oversee the paperwork?" From behind Viscount Rexston, the vanguard commander, the bureaucrats poured out desperate gazes.
Please, Duchess.
By all means, Duchess.
Nevertheless, Duchess.
Please.
At this point, Ares had reached the stage of wanting to seize Grace and ask what her secret was.
How on earth had she drawn the goodwill of so many people—not in a year, but before a single season had passed?
Watching the knights circling the training yard like madmen, Ares had fallen into thought, and amusingly, he found the answer within himself.
What was it, exactly?
Like the biting cold being driven away by a single warm spring breeze, it was so natural that it was rather difficult to put into words.
"Congratulations!"
"Thank you."
Even if the person offering congratulations said it again, Grace received the greeting warmly.
She likely didn't know. The fact that people offered words of congratulations simply because they wanted to hear that response.
Ares put his hand in his jacket pocket and tightly gripped the gift he had been unable to give her.
"The sight of everyone trailing after Grace like dogs chasing their master."
Rubbing his jaw for no particular reason, feeling as though he too was among those dogs chasing their master, Ares's eyes sank profoundly.
Grace, who had been staring blankly into space intermittently for the past few days, had not come out of her room at all today.
＊ ＊ ＊
That day, after the first snowfall, winter took hold of Richmond. Yet for all the castle's inhabitants fretting and saying "It's cold, it's cold," Richmond was not cold.
Grace had only recently discovered that when Jessie was truly happy and laughed, the end of her voice rose.
Like a cat with its fur standing on end from frayed nerves, she had always been surrounded by tension, so lately, she felt that even her impression had somehow changed.
"Good morning, my lady. How are you feeling this morning?"
Mrs. Rexston tended to her meals every morning by the Dowager Duchess's command.
"You like stew, don't you? This time it's beef stew. It simply melts in your mouth. Please, eat up. Oh, be careful—it's hot."
Mrs. Rexston had uncannily caught onto Grace's tastes and prepared meals consisting mainly of foods she especially enjoyed. Moreover, since the portions she brought were quite large, Grace had initially wondered if she could finish it all. But the bowls were always emptied clean.
"Ohohohoho! Another success today!"
Mrs. Rexston, who had the impression of a plump squirrel, happily laughed and cleared the bowls each time, and Grace too found herself feeling inexplicably proud.
Many involved parties struggled with the rushed wedding preparations led by Eliza. But Grace herself didn't find it so arduous.
Eliza was a strict yet kind person.
Whenever she entered the room, Eliza would always call out to her in a tone one pitch higher.
"Grace—!"
And the Richmond knights she occasionally encountered on the paths would somehow force smiles onto their rugged faces, while the bureaucrats too expressed their delight.
Not only that, Andrew had been earnestly pleading with her for several days.
"I wish to serve as my lady's escort until the day my life ends! Please, I beg you to make me your escort!"
People expressed their goodwill without reservation, and naturally smiled when they saw her.
She herself could receive their goodwill without measure.
As the warm goodwill she received comfortably filled the great hollow within her bit by bit, the tension of walking on a blade's edge fell away for a time, and the chill that had always seeped from within dissipated.
Yet even so, an emotion that barged in without warning would suddenly encroach upon her. That strange feeling, as if melting in the pit of her stomach, came more and more frequently as the wedding drew near.
"Congratulations!"
Words of congratulations that had meant nothing at first increasingly seemed to make her chest contract each time she heard them as time passed. Especially today, the day before the wedding, she had been seized by that feeling all day long and could not even eat.
Grace stared blankly at the beautiful wedding dress occupying one corner of the room. Then she opened the treasure chest Eliza had passed down to her.
Time-honored treasures, each bearing its own meaning, glowed brilliantly. Moreover, the jewels purchased from merchants amounted to several chests.
'Why do you go around without wearing anything?!'
Eliza had scolded her for not wearing accessories, but strangely, she couldn't bring herself to touch them.
While she stared blankly at the jewels, the sun sank below ankle-level, pushed down by the darkness that descended like a curtain. Mrs. Rexston, who had brought dinner, sensed her subtle mood and quietly retreated after leaving only the food, and Grace left almost all of it, just as she had at breakfast and lunch.
"Is something troubling you?"
Jessie asked cautiously, but Grace shook her head.
Everything was flowing smoothly.
And how much more time had passed? It was when she had reached the point of wondering whether she should simply take a walk due to an inexplicable suffocation.
"Grace."
He had come without warning.
Ares, standing at the door with an extremely relaxed expression, grinned playfully.
Perhaps because that smile was so light, she felt the strange, causeless energy that had tormented her until now gradually fading.
"Your Grace."
"Are you busy?"
"No."
"I'm going to look around the chapel. Would you like to come?"