While Dahlia was distracted by an unexpected flutter of excitement, Sienna, who was at the center of this predicament, maintained an expressionless face. Rather than sharing Dahlia’s excitement about the future ahead, Sienna felt more burdened by the things she would eventually have to leave behind.
According to the plan, she would get the will and head to Parma. But what then?
She tried to conclude that she would live happily on her mother’s reclaimed land. But even as she reached this conclusion, she knew it couldn’t be true. She had buried too much in her heart to now grasp at the elusive cloud of happiness.
Some beings had died and been buried within her, while others, though alive, had to remain buried.
Just because she had traveled back in time didn’t mean she could recover everything she had lost. So Sienna tried to find meaning in the fact that, at the very least, she wouldn’t meet a miserable death.
After coming full circle, she realized this had been the right path all along. The burden in her heart was a weight she had to carry regardless.
When the mansion came into view through the window, Dahlia’s heart began to race. How long had it been since she had made her resolute promise to Sienna? Yet at the sight of the Duke’s residence, her thoughts became tangled like a ball of yarn again.
‘I hope nothing goes wrong.’
When the carriage stopped in front of the mansion, she could see through the window that people from the residence were already waiting. Theo opened the carriage door from outside, but no one seemed inclined to be the first to step out.
Theo glanced back and forth between the two women with a puzzled look.
Etiquette dictated that the person of higher rank should exit first. That meant Sienna, as the princess, should disembark first, but she simply remained seated. Dahlia opened her mouth with a bewildered expression.
“Your Highness…”
“You should get off, my lady.”
Dahlia’s face suddenly became rigid. Theo, standing beneath the carriage, looked equally stunned.
Only Sienna, with her expressionless face, urged Dahlia on.
“Hurry.”
Dahlia flinched. She felt goosebumps rising on the back of her neck. Only then did Dahlia, with her mind frozen in shock, understand the situation. The act had already begun.
As she moved her body, stiff as a wooden block, Sienna muttered behind her to be careful of her injured ankle.
After Dahlia took Theo’s hand and safely set foot on the ground, Sienna followed, descending from the carriage.
As the two women alighted, the head butler of the Duke’s residence, who had come out to greet them, bowed respectfully.
“Welcome, my lady. The Duke has already been informed.”
The butler’s gaze slid past Dahlia and landed on Sienna standing behind her. The woman, dressed in all black like a priest returned from the threshold of the afterlife, created a dramatic harmony with her exceptionally pale face.
Though her face lacked any makeup, her features were drawn with remarkably distinct lines. Her emotionless eyes, tightly closed lips, and eyebrows that seemed thinly drawn with black charcoal all came together in beautiful harmony. She was a beauty.
She possessed extraordinary beauty, almost too exquisite for a priest who was supposed to spend her entire life devoted only to God.
“And who might this be…?”
Dahlia cleared her throat once and composed her face.
“She’s a healer sent personally by the Grand Duke. He was concerned my ankle might worsen and kindly sent his residence’s healer.”
“Ah…”
When the butler’s gaze showed no sign of moving away from her, Sienna lowered her eyes and slightly bowed her head. Only when Dahlia gave him a pointed look did the butler hastily withdraw his gaze.
Even amid this, Dahlia easily discerned the butler’s thoughts. It was understandable, as the princess was truly a rare beauty.
‘Perhaps this is fortunate.’
She felt somewhat relieved.
It was beneficial for him to be distracted rather than focused on their rummaging through the annex. Separately, Dahlia looked at the head butler with a slightly contemptuous expression and began to walk.
“Let’s go in, Jane.”
Sienna obediently followed behind Dahlia. After entering the mansion’s entrance, Dahlia soon stopped walking.
“Ah, Head Butler.”
Dahlia asked without fully turning around, only half-turning her head.
“You know that my uncle has returned to the capital to find something, right?”
“Yes, yes. We received word.”
“I thought it might be in the Duke’s residence, so I wanted to look for it myself. Could I, um, get the keys?”
As expected, the head butler’s eyes, which had been sneaking glances at Sienna, suddenly sharpened.
“To you, my lady? We’ve already searched thoroughly ourselves.”
“I’m sure you did. But you still couldn’t find it, right?”
Faced with this bold challenge, the butler was at a loss for words and rolled his eyes. Dahlia turned to face him directly and asked in a measured tone.
“It seemed to be quite a cherished item, as my uncle appeared very displeased… Wouldn’t it be better to search more thoroughly rather than just sitting idle?”
The mention of the Duke’s displeasure seemed to have its effect, as a look of agitation crossed the butler’s face. It was understandable—even he, who had managed the residence for a long time, found the Duke’s temperament difficult to handle.
If the Duke was returning to the capital personally, it must be quite an important item, and if he came back from the imperial palace empty-handed, it would naturally be the residence staff who would bear the brunt of his anger.
The butler’s stomach churned as he could already hear the Duke’s thunderous voice in his ears.
“But…”
On the other hand, he still appeared reluctant to give the keys to Dahlia. The hesitating butler’s gaze swept over Dahlia.
Though she was the late emperor’s daughter, she was a Lady who had grown up under the Duke’s control her entire life. The butler knew well that in front of the Duke, the princess was hardly different from themselves.
Having been tamed by the Duke, she had the habit of bowing low at the slightest pressure.
The princess’s eyes always watched for the Duke’s reactions, and the purpose of all her actions was to avoid displeasing him. Such a weak character, devoid of self-assertion, had ultimately made her vulnerable even to the servants.
Moreover, though half her blood was imperial, wasn’t the other half from a maid’s lineage?
For these reasons, all the servants of the Duke’s residence, without exception, looked down on Dahlia. They didn’t hesitate to use her as a shield to avoid the Duke’s anger. This had been the case for a long time.
So what could possibly happen? The princess could never defy the Duke.
She had neither the guts nor the ability to do so.
The butler hesitated as he thrust his hand into his pocket. His decision to grasp the bundle of keys after some deliberation was a mix of complacency in looking down on Dahlia and the vileness of wanting to use her to shield himself from the Duke’s wrath.
“I can’t lend them to you for long. You must return them by tomorrow.”
As he reluctantly handed over the keys, Dahlia’s and Sienna’s gazes met in the air. The emotions in their eyes were not very different.
The two women began their operation in earnest late at night when the sun had completely set. At a time when most people in the Duke’s residence would have fallen asleep, Sienna and Dahlia, with their robes pulled low over their heads, slipped out of the main building of the Duke’s residence.
“There will be people in the kitchen preparing tomorrow’s meals, so it’s better to go the opposite way, even if it’s a bit farther.”
Dahlia, familiar with the Duke’s residence, skillfully guided Sienna through the darkness. Thanks to having received the keys, the process of entering the annex was quite smooth. The problem was what came next.
The western annex, which was already devoid of human presence, felt even more eerie given the late hour.
The two women climbed the stairs, relying on the moonlight coming through the windows. Although they moved with the utmost discretion, the friction sound each time they stepped on the stairs felt exceptionally loud.
The time it took to reach the Duke’s secret place felt like an eternity. Finally, when they reached the green door in the most secluded corner, Dahlia stopped. Despite the fact that there was no one else in the annex besides the two of them, Dahlia whispered, keeping her voice down.
“What do we do now? Only uncle has the key to the study…”
“Is there no other way to open it?”
“Other than opening it from the inside… I’m not sure.”
Sienna seemed lost in thought for a moment, then suddenly flung open the door to another room next to the study. The adjacent room was an ordinary study with no notable features. Sienna carefully examined the inside of the study.
Typically, such noble residences have hidden passages. Those who possess much inevitably have much to lose, so it was common to prepare contingencies for unforeseen misfortunes that might strike suddenly like natural disasters.
The Grand Duke of Monferrato’s residence was no exception, and even the imperial palace had several unknown passages.
Moreover, a mansion where one’s misdeeds were hidden would have been prepared with even greater precaution.
After a brief deduction, Sienna headed toward the wall adjoining the Duke’s study. When she couldn’t discern properly in the darkness, she reached out and began to feel along the wall.
After feeling the wall for quite some time without finding anything unusual, Sienna turned to the opposite wall. When she couldn’t find anything there either, she immediately headed to another adjacent room. Dahlia simply followed behind, tracking Sienna’s busy movements with her eyes.
The third room they entered was covered on all sides with bookshelves. Unlike Dahlia, who thought there was no need to look further, Sienna began rummaging through the bookshelves.
To Dahlia’s eyes, the sight of Sienna holding the standing bookshelves and looking through them from various angles appeared to be mere eccentricity.
