Chapter 27 Nerve Warfare
A reluctant reply slipped out between the lines.
“… Miss Callie doesn’t have a last name.”
“Ah.”
Delphine glared at Ioannes, who was doing his best aristocratic impersonation, and managed to add another word.
“Somehow.”
Delphine didn’t miss the slightest twitch of Ioannes’s lips as they formed a masked smile.
Push him a little harder.
A little more, Delphine thought, and spoke up.
“If you’ll pardon my asking, Lord Pride, where did you meet Miss Callie?”
“… In the course of business, by chance.”
“You must be familiar enough with her to call you by your first name.”
“… Not quite.”
“And how long, then, have you been acquainted with Miss Callie?”
“… Well, not exactly.”
This man is real.
Delphine’s eyebrows shot skyward.
Red hair, green eyes.
He’d let a woman come to his house with a look so blatant she couldn’t ignore it, and now he had the nerve to flirt with her?
“You said trophy.”
She blurted out, glaring at him from behind her feigned calm.
“I suppose you have a special taste for trophies?”
Ironically, it was Delphine herself who was hurt as soon as she spat out the question.
She could almost hear the crack in her ears as the pride she had grown up with as the sole heir to House Pembroke cracked at the mention of her as a trophy.
But the moment the man slowly opened his mouth, the cracked heart shattered with a cold crack.
“…Yes.”
The man, who stood as rigid as a statue, added with an expressionless face.
“Tastes don’t change easily.”
Delphine bit her lower lip so hard it bled.
She nibbled at her lip for a moment, then glared at the man.
“Yes, because taste is often an indication of a person’s class.”
Before he could say anything, Delphine spoke up.
“Just as the quality of the guest reflects the quality of the host… I suppose this is the first time someone without a surname has ever stayed in the guest rooms of this mansion?”
The man’s masked serenity finally cracked.
Delphine walked slowly past him, admiring his face, a dark look of defeat and entitlement on it.
She had finally confronted him and crushed his pride.
Strangely enough, it left a bitter taste in her mouth as she left him in the empty hall.
***
In the evening, the blizzard grew more ferocious.
The windows rattled ominously, even though they had been tightly sealed.
Delphine buried herself deeply in her chair in the quarters, lost in thought.
Ioannes had locked himself in his office since the morning’s events.
Was he a little hurt by her words?
No, why should she care.
‘Whatever, now’s my chance.’
Let’s meet with Glasscok before dinner and have a chat.
That should be enough to warm him up.
Callie, she’s…
Delphine bit her lip tightly, remembering a woman who looked eerily like her.
She’d deal with Glasscok first, then ask the woman, Callie, what she and Ioannes had been up to.
“I’ll be downstairs before the feast.”
Delphine jumped to her feet, glancing over at Anna, who was still knitting.
“I’m bored…”
“Oh, are you going down then, My Lady?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s…”
Anna nudged her and sat her down in front of the dressing table in the quarters.
Delphine gasped as she noticed the red mark that was now clearly visible on the nape of her neck.
“When did this happen…”
Her words trailed off as a sudden memory flashed through her mind.
This morning.
When Ioannes lunged at her like a dog about to bite its master.
Delphine’s face turned bright red at the realization.
“I’ll have the dress ready for you, My Lady.”
Anna said understandingly, and pulled a silver gown from the dresser.
The collar rose to the top of her neck.
Delphine accepted her attention without comment.
But when she finished changing and stood in front of the mirror, she remembered Callie’s dress, which was badly dented.
“… I wonder if it’s too boring. Maybe I’ll wear a ruby necklace.”
She buttoned it up to her neck, feeling a little frustrated with herself.
Delphine asked Anna to do her hair up and put on a necklace with a ruby at the end of a string of pearls.
“You look beautiful, especially with your hair color.”
Anna beamed with approval.
A little over the top, perhaps, but they have guests in the house.
Delphine excused herself and left the room.
***
One of the guest rooms in the first floor corridor opened quietly.
The mansion was eerily quiet after the blizzard.
Users who had already prepared for the winter huddled in their rooms, exchanging warmth and small talk.
The only sound in the chilly corridor was the rattling of the windows.
Callie appeared in the quiet corridor, dressed in a gorgeous floral pink dress.
She was ushered into the guest room without a word.
Even though she was a commoner, she was still the master’s guest.
It was a decision made due to the unusual circumstances of the snowstorm, as well as the fact that she couldn’t stay in the maids’ quarters, but Callie was firmly in the wrong.
‘I hadn’t been wrong after all.’
The mere fact that she’d almost spent the night with the Marquis was enough to land her in such an aristocratic mansion.
So, if she is really going to spend the night…?
That was the end of the third arrondissement.
‘Besides, I have information on them.’
Her eyes darted around the quiet corridor, then she grabbed the hem of her dress and started walking.
She was just about to head for the stairs to the second floor when she heard it.
“Wha…!”
Someone yanked her hand away with a snap.
At the same time, a large hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her scream.
Dragged into the dark shadows at the bottom of the stairs, Callie quickly recovered from her surprise and opened her eyes wide.
“What the hell did you bring me here for?”
Glasscok removed his hand from over her mouth and spat out a series of venomous words.
There were no new introductions between them, as if they already knew each other.
“Do you realize how dangerous this is? I’ve risked my life for you.”
“You risked your life to come here to shut me up. Don’t you?”
She added in a mocking tone.
“Just in case I should tell the Marquis about your smug ‘revolutionary headquarters’.”
Glasscok didn’t dare reply to that.
It was true that he had orders from headquarters to kill the woman to silence her if her treachery became apparent.
So instead of answering, he asked another question.
“Why now, don’t you realize that in this weather you are trapped in the mansion with that man, unable to escape?”
“Who do you think is stupid?”
Callie snapped, grabbing his wrist.
“That’s why I’m here… because neither you nor the Capital Guard will be able to disturb me for days.”
“Just tell me what you’re doing all the way out here.”
“What?”
Callie spat out quickly, her eyes flashing with madness.
“I’m going to the Marquis, and you’ve seen his damn pretty wife.”
“What…”
“She was a commoner, nay, worse than that, and the Marquis saved her by marriage, so what’s wrong with me taking her in as a consort?”
Glasscock’s grip on her wrist tightened.
He spat out a string of venomous words.
“Did you approach us to get information on Pride in the first place? How long did you know about this man?”
“Long before he returned as the demon of District 3.”
Callie smiled, her face twisting into a grim smile.
“You’re investigating how the man suddenly came to possess such great power. I know the secret, and I know one.”
“What’s that…”
“Of course, I have no intention of telling you now.”
Glasscok gritted his teeth at the sneering woman.
Despicable woman.
‘I find the hypocrisy of the nobility disgusting.’ he said, and he thought she was cooperating…
He can’t believe she’s been hiding this behind her back.
“We thought you were part of a greater cause.”
Then Callie burst out laughing.
“No way! Freedom? Revolution? Don’t be ridiculous. You think the walls that have held for three hundred years are going to come down because of you?”
“This…!”
An enraged Glasscok was about to shout something when both men stopped moving at the same time.
Srrak.
The sound of silken robes rustling could be heard on the stairs.
***
She had left her quarters and was making her way to the guest room on the first floor.
Delphine’s eyes caught sight of Callie walking up the stairs.
She was wearing a different dress than the one she’d seen in the parlor.
For some reason, it was still heavily embellished and lacey.
‘You didn’t realize there was going to be a blizzard, and you packed ahead of time. How blatant.’
It’s an Imperial custom to bow first when meeting a noble.
But when Callie met Delphine halfway up the stairs, she didn’t bow first, no matter how long she waited.
Instead, she scanned Delphine up and down.
Those green eyes were quite insistent, studying the ruby necklace around her neck.
‘That could have been mine-,’ she mused.
‘Blatant, in more ways than one.’
Accessible.
… Maybe, it’s better to go after Callie before Glasscok.
But does she think she’ll cooperate with her?
While Delphine was mulling this over, Callie, who had been staring at the necklace, suddenly spoke up.
