24. Things that leave and come back
The King's funeral was a state funeral that lasted a hundred days. He never changed his mind about naming his only son, Johannes, as his successor until the moment of his death. So it was a given that the Prince would ascend to the throne after the funeral, but the public's approval ratings had hit rock bottom due to the revelations of the Red Veil about human hunting.
“If things continue like this, there is a high possibility of a riot breaking out.”
When one of those gathered in the monastery spoke up, the majority agreed.
“It is better to make everything clear before the kingdom falls into chaos.”
Damien, who had been silent, finally opened his mouth.
“Once the funeral is over, let us convene the council and hold a public trial on the legitimacy of Johannes’s throne.”
“Your Excellency, the Duke.”
Weiss made a face of incomprehension. It was Damien who had been waiting for this moment more than anyone else. As far as he knew, Damien was the type of person who would not waste time when there was an easier and quicker way to achieve his goal.
“Is it really necessary to make things difficult?”
Others also strongly chimed in on Weiss's words.
“That’s right. Before the ignorant ones take Johannes’ side...”
“If I cut off Johannes’ head, everything will be easier.”
As Damien spoke in a dry tone, all the nobles gathered there nodded.
“Don’t we all know that Johannes’ sins are not at a level that can be forgiven by God anyway?”
“He won’t survive the trial anyway. We’ll discuss it again after the funeral.”
As Damien finished speaking, an air of confusion filled the room. No one had expected Damien to hesitate at such a crucial moment.
“Your Excellency, if you are concerned about getting blood on your hands, you may use any of us.”
“Count Cromwell, I appreciate your loyalty, but know that I have a greater desire to stab a madman than anyone else.”
A spark of life flashed in Damien's eyes. Those who had been worried that he might change his mind felt both fear and relief.
“The fact that I am the master of this kingdom will not change.”
Everyone rose from their seats and bowed to him as he left for the palace.
“You just have to think about that.”
***
After Damien left, the others began to disappear one by one. Cromwell, who was the last to remain, looked at Weiss and opened his mouth quietly.
“Do you know why His Excellency is hesitating?”
Weiss sighed deeply and leaned back against the wall.
“This is just my guess, but...”
“Tell me anything. I’m frustrated because my questions won’t be answered in this state.”
“The Duchess is pregnant.”
Cromwell then seemed to understand the whole situation and muttered, “Ah,” before adding:
“This is supposed to be celebratory news. The situation is not so good.”
Weiss also agreed in silence. It was certainly a cause for celebration that the Duchess had an heir to the House of Tisse, but the timing was now the problem. After the King’s death, there was one more thing he had to worry about at the most critical point before Damien could achieve his goals.
“His Excellency will want to make sure of everything now. If he makes a hasty move and makes a mistake, it’s not just him who will be put in danger.”
“If Your Excellency is concerned about the Duchess’s safety, shouldn’t we protect her more thoroughly?”
As Cromwell spoke seriously, Weiss raised her head, frowning.
“Do you think I wouldn’t have said the same thing?”
“Then what did you say?”
“He politely warned me that I, a young man who has never even been married, should keep my mouth shut.”
Cromwell chuckled, his voice lowering, his brow furrowing.
“Weiss, but that marriage was just one of many plans prepared to achieve the goal of usurping the throne.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“You have no idea how shocked I was when I was ordered to embroil the Duchess’s younger sister, Lady Alice, in a scandal. It was fortunate that she escaped just in time.”
Weiss rubbed her temples as she listened to Cromwell sigh.
“At first, I thought His Excellency the Duke had simply chosen the humble Verdier family to avoid royal pressure.”
“Isn’t that true? The fact that he used the Marchioness’s scandal to establish his image as a promiscuous man, and that he took the infirm Duchess as his companion, was all to avoid the royal family’s attention.”
Cromwell looked back at him with a questioning look.
“Besides, the fact that there was a gold mine hidden in the Verdier Mountains was something the Duke had already discovered during the war.”
Weiss, who had been looking at the crescent moon, suddenly brought his index finger to his lips and lowered his voice.
“Shh. Didn’t you hear something just now?”
Weiss hurriedly checked behind the wall, but there was no one there. A small cat ran into the grass and meowed. Weiss let his guard down and returned to his seat to finish up his conversation with Cromwell.
“Anyway, things are different now, so I have no choice but to follow orders.”
“I know there’s nothing wrong with being cautious. I was just worried.”
After they disappeared to where they had tied their horses, the cat that had disappeared into the grass reappeared. As a shadow slowly appeared behind the wall, the cat raised its tail and rubbed its head against his feet. A piece of dried fish fell to the floor with a thud, and the small animal began to chew its food excitedly. Gray's eyes, dressed in his monk's robes, swayed in the moonlight.
What did I just hear?
***
“Oh my, so cute.”
Margaret, who had brought out the tea, approached Chloe, who was knitting tiny socks, and gave a small exclamation of admiration. Chloe looked up and smiled quietly.
“It’s my first time making something this small, so it’s a bit difficult.”
“Are you doing too well for that?”
“Do it look okay?”
Margaret wrinkled her nose in delight as Chloe held up one of the finished, cute socks.
“That’s right. The color is a pretty lavender.”
“I don’t know the baby’s gender yet, so I chose the safe option.”
Margaret quickly noticed Chloe's concern and reassured her.
“The master will be happy regardless of the gender of the baby. It is the couple’s first child.”
Chloe turned her gaze to the unfinished socks with a faint smile. It was an annoying coincidence that the news of the King's death came at the same time as the news of her pregnancy. Perhaps because of that, Damien's reaction was not as enthusiastic as she had expected.
Of course, it was a good thing that he had ordered the attending doctor to thoroughly examine the Duchess's condition, called all the servants together to deliver the news, and ordered them to take meticulous care of her food and daily life. However, all Damien cared about was her. He did not feel any joy or excitement about the child to be born.
“Damien, what should we name our child?”
Even when Chloe asked him a question carefully in bed, he was lost in thought and only blurted out, “As you wish.”
“I think your mother is looking forward to having a boy. I would be very happy even if it were a girl... but still, God did not grant humans only one child...”
“This will be your first and last pregnancy, Chloe.”
Chloe swallowed a small sigh as she recalled Damien's stern expression that had left her speechless. Only a son could inherit the title in the kingdom. It was only natural that Damien's words that he only wanted one child would weigh heavily on her.
Besides, it would be so lonely if the child were born without any siblings. No matter how much Alice was a troublemaker, Chloe could not even imagine a childhood without her.
Was he not happy with having children with her? Chloe, who wanted to have as many children as possible, could not bring herself to say her wish out loud.
“When will the master return?”
“Well, it’s such a busy time.”
The Duke had not returned to the castle for two weeks. She knew in her head that there were many things to take care of at the palace after His Majesty passed away, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. Chloe, who was wearing a black dress according to the law of the kingdom, tried to think bright thoughts.
“His Excellency will have a lot to do besides His Highness the Prince, who must be the most tired.”
Margaret kept her mouth shut, refusing to share the sinister rumours she was hearing from the pubs and restaurants of the city. There was even talk of a demonstration being organized in the capital, Swanton, against the Prince’s ascension to the throne, but she could not dare open her mouth in front of the Duchess.
Because Mr. Paul, the butler, had given strict orders to all the servants not to give the madam any bad news. The mere mention that the master had 'specially' asked them to do so was enough to convey the gravity of the situation.
“Madam, I dare say that the Duke will probably want to come running tonight. There is no husband in the world who is not worried about his pregnant wife.”
As Chloe smiled faintly, the butler Paul's footsteps were heard.
"Duchess."
“What’s going on?”
“We have a guest. This is Lord Chelsea, the solicitor for the Tisse family.”
Chloe was a little taken aback by the unexpected visit from her lawyer, but she quickly ordered the tea to be brought out. The documents that Lord Chelsea politely presented before her surprised Chloe.
“...Are you sure that everything written here is what His Excellency said?”
“This is a verbatim translation, without missing a single word, from the first sentence to the last.”
Chloe swallowed her tea with difficulty, her throat tight. She felt like an idiot for misunderstanding him even for a moment.
“But this is something that cannot be done under the current laws of the kingdom.”
The document the lawyer presented was Damien's will. It was not unusual for a nobleman to revise his will quarterly, but what was written in it was different from that of an ordinary nobleman, and it made her tremble.
“Of course, according to the current law, the eldest son should inherit the title and surname. However, His Excellency the Duke has been a person who has objected to the kingdom’s laws of inheritance itself.”
The will clearly state that the firstborn of the child, regardless of the sex of the child, would inherit both the Birch Castle and the title of Tisse. The signature, clearly signed on paper with the distinctive birch seal, was clearly Damien's.
“I think the Duchess knows that His Excellency is not one to welcome old customs.”
The lawyer's tone was cautious. Chloe nodded with a smile on her face, calming her throbbing heart.
“I know. Then...”
Damien was the kind of person who would break old conventions to achieve what he wanted.
“He will definitely make sure that his child, who was named Tisse, does not give up anything.”
Chloe's eyes sparkled with deep affection. As she stood up to see off Sir Chelsea, the long shawl she was wearing around her shoulders tugged, and the socks she had left on the table fell off. Margaret quickly reached out so she wouldn't see, and quickly picked up the socks and put them back in their place.
There is a superstition that it is not good to give a baby something that has fallen on the floor, but it seemed sacrilegious to tell the Duchess about it. It was even more so because she could guess the mind of the lady who had first made socks for the newborn baby who was still lying down, not baby clothes or head wraps.
Margaret hoped that the baby would be born strong and strong as the Madam had wished, and that the family name of Tisse would be inherited intact.
***
Tisse's short summer was also coming to an end. Chloe, holding the letter from Damien in her hand, placed her hand on her stomach as a habit. If you didn't look closely, you wouldn't know, but when she wore thin pajamas, her stomach was quite round, and it was amazing to see.
To my dear Duchess Chloe von Tisse
I'd like you to start preparing to come to Swanton.
I wanted to wait until next spring when the baby is born, but the magnitude of my longing for you is beyond my patience.
From Damien
She didn't know how many times she had read the short letter from him. It wasn't that Chloe didn't miss him. The will wasn't something that could be discussed in a long letter, so she just wrote a letter expressing her deep gratitude for his consideration, putting her heart into every word.
She wondered if Damien could guess how happy she was, but at the same time, she thought he would know her heart well enough. She had a vague idea from previous experience of how accurately the Duke could read the context.
Moreover, the occasional secret messages he sent were just enough to stimulate Chloe's realistic romanticism, like the rose petals he put in envelopes with his letters.
The moment she saw the petals that were still wet and not completely dry, Chloe's mind flashed back to the time when she had met him again at the Swanton's Rose Castle. That night, when the sweet scent of roses made her dizzy. When she had knelt at the Duke's feet and begged for forgiveness for Alice's infidelity, she had never imagined that she would become his wife. Perhaps he had, too.
“What’s the matter, ma’am? You look happy. Is something good happening?”
Chloe shook her head as she watched Margaret pass by the reception room.
“No. Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Ah. Mr. Bernard found a button missing from His Excellency the Duke’s jacket and asked me to mend it. I’m going to the dressing room to see if there are any spare buttons.”
Chloe nodded and turned to leave, but then called out to Margaret.
“Give me the clothes. I’ll do it.”
“Madam?”
Margaret opened her eyes slightly. If the old lady knew, she would be furious, but the mistress's eyes were sparkling with affection for her husband.
“You have a lot to do besides this.”
“I would really appreciate it if you could do that.”
Chloe took the jacket from Margaret, who smiled sweetly, and headed to the Duke's dressing room. As she buttoned it up, she thought it would be nice to add some decoration to the inside of the jacket. Or maybe she could embroider a birch seal. She thought it would be good, since he was the proudest man in the Tisse family.
Click.
The dressing room was well-kept and dust-free. Chloe approached the dresser by the window and opened the drawer. The attendant's neatness was also satisfactory, reflecting the neat personality of the owner. She easily found the button on her jacket. She was about to close the drawer and leave, but paused for a moment before opening the heavy drawer again.
“...”
A gold button with a small rose design was lying face down among the other buttons. Chloe slowly picked up the small button. It was not strange that a button with a rose design, which meant royalty, was here. Damien had entered the Royal Military Academy at the age of twelve, and all the uniforms issued by the royal family used this button.
Chloe carefully put the button back in place and closed the door to the dressing room. The north-facing dressing room, cool even in summer because it was not exposed to sunlight, was connected to Damien's private study. Chloe looked at the portrait of Damien hanging on the wall of the study.
In a portrait of him after his great victory in the Cassian Mountains, Damien is depicted standing with his feet on the neck of an enemy general, staring straight ahead. It is a picture that makes you feel as if he is really there.
Who is the artist?
Chloe approached the painting, holding her jacket and buttons in her hands. She took note of the artist's name written in the lower right corner and was about to turn around when a mischievous idea occurred to her. She wondered what Damien's expression would be if the painting were upside down when she came into the study.
Fortunately, the painting wasn't that big, and the spot wasn't that high, so she could easily pull it off with just an outstretched hand. Chloe's heart pounded. Even when she was little, it was always Alice who was playing pranks, not her.
She put the jacket down on the desk, grabbed the painting with both hands, pulled it off, and was about to hang it up again.
Chloe found a spot on the wallpaper the size of a fingernail. It wasn't that big or dark, so she wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been standing so close to the wall. It wasn't a big deal, really. It was a minor thing that the servants had missed a spot behind the portrait.
She, too, would have just passed it by if she hadn't seen the spotless dressing room and if she hadn't known about Damien's perfectionist ways. The tiny speck strangely bothered her, like a speck of dust in her eye.
“...”
She carefully placed the painting on the wide desk and took a step closer to the wall. The luxurious wallpaper had tiny square cracks that could not be seen unless you looked closely. Chloe blinked for a moment and clenched and unclenched her fists.
She wasn't so ill-mannered as to not know that one should not act carelessly in an unattended study. She also knew that even in a castle of this size, any noble of high rank would have a secret safe hidden somewhere in the castle.
It was then that the butler's voice could be heard talking to the attendant outside. Chloe quickly put the painting back in its place and picked up her jacket.
“The Duke is busy, so I will take special care of it... Duchess, what is it?”
Butler Paul bowed his head to her politely. Chloe tried to smile calmly.
“I was checking to see if there were any interesting books.”
“Oh, I see. Did you find the book you were looking for...?”
“I think it would be better to ask the Duke for his opinion later.”
Chloe nodded and brushed past them. He didn't seem to suspect anything, but her heart continued to pound as she returned to her room.
After buttoning up the jacket, she tried to focus her mind by holding the frame, but as she moved her hands, the only thought in her head was the safe she had seen earlier. She was even more curious because she didn’t think someone like Damien would keep anything tightly wrapped and hidden away. The Duke she thought of was someone who could throw even the most expensive family jewels on the floor.
"Lady."
Chloe suddenly raised her head from her thoughts. Her maid, Margaret, had come in to help her get ready for bed. Margaret had combed Chloe’s hair neatly and tied it up so that it wouldn’t disturb her while she was sleeping, and had adjusted the strings of her nightgown so that they wouldn’t press on her stomach.
“Madam, if you go to Swanton’s Rose Castle, will I go with you?”
"Of course."
Margaret's eyes sparkled as she said she had never left the Tisse Estate in her entire life.
“Then I can see a performance at the theater. I really want to go, even if it means saving up my salary.”
“Is that all? If you want, you can apply for an acting role.”
“Me, me?”
Margaret, who dreams of becoming an actress, covered her mouth with both hands. Chloe laughed along with Margaret, who was so happy that she didn’t know what to do. She also wanted to see Margaret on stage someday. Margaret, who was humming a song in excitement, said, “Ah,” as if she remembered something, and then closed her mouth.
“What’s wrong, Margaret?”
She looked at Margaret in the mirror and asked, wondering whether to speak or not.
“What do you have to say?”
“Actually, Lily from the kitchen went to visit her relatives in Swanton this holiday.”
“Yeah. But?”
Margaret swallowed hard. She was determined to tell Chloe something special, especially since she had asked her to tell her.
“He said he saw Gray in the store. He was wearing a monk’s habit, but he was absolutely certain it was him.”
“Gray?”
“Yes, ma’am. I thought Gray had returned to Verdier and searched diligently for him, but I had no idea he was in Swanton.”
Chloe now turned completely around and sat facing her. Chloe's brown eyes opened slightly wide and trembled. Just thinking about Gray's appearance when he left the castle made her heart ache. It was true that Gray, who had done nothing wrong, had been treated badly by the Duke. Regardless of Chloe's love for the Duke, it was her own fault for not being able to protect Gray.
“Tell me more, Margaret.”
“Yes. Lily was surprised and happy, so she immediately spoke to him. At first, he kept beating around the bush, but later he confessed that he worked at a monastery run by Count Weiss’s mother. He asked her not to tell anyone at Birch Castle... It seems he didn’t realize that Lily was not a very tight-lipped person.”
It was a new thing for Chloe. Could it be that Damien had let him work there? It bothered her that their ending had not been pretty at all, but she couldn't explain why Gray had ended up working at the monastery connected to Count Weiss.
“How did Gray get connected to Count Weiss?”
“Of course, it must have been the master who had the hand behind it. The lady must have been concerned that the servant she had brought from her parents’ house was treated poorly at Birch Castle. Of course... it is true that Gray was wrong.”
Chloe barely held back from telling Margaret, who was still misunderstanding, that Gray had actually done nothing wrong. She thought it would be worse to shake the position that Gray had protected by committing perjury.
“Lily said he looked much nicer than when he was here. So, ma’am, don’t worry anymore.”
“I don’t think Count Weiss would have helped Gray personally without the Duke’s knowledge, right, Margaret?”
Chloe's expression remained cautious. Margaret shook her head at her.
“No way. My master would not let such arbitrary actions go unnoticed. Besides, Count Weiss has been my master’s old classmate since his days at the military academy, and is now like my master’s right-hand man.”
Only after Margaret firmly denied it did Chloe slowly nod her head.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Considering how Damien had been taking care of her father behind her back, it seemed possible that Gray would do the same. After all, Gray was the one who had helped her, and the Damien Chloe knew was a man who made sure to give and receive fairly. If this was Damien's hidden kindness, she was willing to ignore it.
“If I ever move to Swanton, I hope I can meet Gray at least once.”
Chloe looked at Margaret, who couldn't hide her regretful expression, and thought that she felt the same way. If she ever met him at Swanton, she definitely wanted to tell him that she was sorry and that she was grateful.
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