She wanted to scream, asking why he was doing this. She wanted to tell him to just be angry if he was angry. What was he trying to get from her by craftily disguising his expressions and words? What terrible death was he planning to inflict now?
“That’s why I want to make your position even more certain.”
Was he trying to completely devour her by saying only the words she had desperately wanted to hear before dying? Peon extended his hand to her.
Kaela could neither reject nor take the offered hand, only staring at it. The outstretched hand eventually reached out and grasped hers.
“You are my only wife who rules Lusenford with me.”
These words, sweet to the ears yet terrifying, instantly soaked her parched heart.
“Please don’t refuse what’s natural. All the power and wealth I have are yours too, aren’t they?”
Peon finally grasped her trembling hand and kissed the back of it.
****
Had she gone mad after dying once?
Kaela stared at a few ledgers, a mere fraction of the books recording Lusenford Castle’s income and expenditures.
The butler isn’t that meticulous. He probably thought it would be fine to hand these over to Kaela. In Lusenford, there’s a strong sentiment of looking down on those raised delicately and weakly, so he must have found Kaela amusing.
Even so, Kaela looked down at her hands, now more stained with ink.
To get excited and thoroughly examine and organize the ledgers, symbols of the Grand Duchess’s authority, after receiving just a small portion, not even all of them? She must truly be mad.
‘Didn’t you say you wouldn’t do anything? You didn’t even have the strength.’
Who are you, Kaela de Chasser? She had no response, having already eagerly found all the suspicious parts in the expanded ledgers.
Well, it was satisfying to confirm her suspicions about the butler’s misconduct from before her death. It was irritating to think she had struggled against such a sloppy person. But what good did that do? She needed to find physical evidence.
Kaela glanced at the now-dark window outside and quietly rose from her seat. It was the time when everyone was asleep; Lusenford nights are especially deep. Having sent her maids away earlier, Kaela hesitated no more and stealthily got up.
Without even taking a candle, she needed to fumble through the dark corridors to search a very important place for evidence. Even if she couldn’t expose it, she wanted to confirm that she had been right. If caught, she’d make up all sorts of strange excuses.
‘I was hungry, I got lost, something like that. What could they say? And if something goes wrong…’
As she crept down the dim corridor, Kaela touched the small, round bottle in her pocket.
It contained a poison that could kill painlessly with just a small sip. Just touching the bottle containing a portion of the poison she had brought as part of her dowry calmed her worries. Kaela carefully chose only isolated staircases to descend.
There were places in this castle absolutely forbidden to Kaela. No, there were many such places. So she needed to be properly prepared to search the most suspicious place she had deduced from the ledgers. Even the Grand Duchess wasn’t allowed in that place.
Patting the pocket containing the poison bottle, Kaela passed through corridors that would have echoed if not for her soft fur slippers, reaching her target room. It was the butler’s office.
In Lusenford Castle, only four people had offices: the Grand Duke, the Grand Duchess, the butler who acted as the castle’s proxy in the absence of the Grand Duke and Duchess, and the head maid.
The butler, in charge of financial transactions and estate management, held great authority.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had more authority than the Grand Duchess. This was unthinkable in most of the Crania Empire, including Ostein, but in Lusenford, it was so.
‘I received the key. Isn’t it given to be used?’
Among the things Kaela received from Peon this time were not just work and ledgers, but also keys. Having the authority to enter most places in Lusenford Castle meant just that.
Something given naturally. She didn’t know what kind of trap this might be, but Kaela intended to use it to solve the questions she had pondered throughout her confinement in the tower. Even if she were to die, she wanted to resolve her unjust treatment and curiosities before dying.
She planned to first test whether the butler’s office was included among the spaces her newly received key could open.
This would gauge the extent of power Kaela now held. After cautiously surveying her surroundings once more, though too dark to discern anything, she inserted the key.
‘Will it work? …It does!’
As the key turned with a click and the doorknob moved, Kaela’s heart raced uncontrollably. Goodness, it actually worked? This was the moment she dared to step into the butler’s office.
The small room, filled with musty documents and smelling of mold, contained two chairs, a desk, and a few bookshelves, with another door behind them. Kaela’s goal wasn’t the office itself, but that small door within.
‘It doesn’t make sense to have put this in the butler’s office in the first place, but this is Lusenford.’
Would she have the authority to enter that small door and confirm the item she had in mind? Well, there’s only one way to find out. She inserted the master key once again.
This time too, the key turned very smoothly, nearly bringing Kaela to tears. She was filled with elation at being acknowledged to this extent. Even knowing the high possibility of it being a trap, she was happy.
The inner room was for storing more valuable items. Every drawer was locked, as was the display cabinet.
Kaela stood before the tightly closed cabinet and tried moving the door. Of course, the cabinet was also locked, and to insert the master key—oh no. The keyhole was too small.
‘Of course, they wouldn’t give such an important key.’
Perhaps she had gotten too carried away with hope. Kaela’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. It had been a good chance to discover one of the things she had been desperately curious about before dying. She couldn’t rest without confirming this.
Just then, footsteps were heard in the darkness. Kaela wasn’t surprised. She hunched her shoulders and glared into the darkness with eyes full of wariness, no, venom and murderous intent, before hiding behind the door she had entered through.
She placed her hand on the pocket containing the poison bottle. All that remained for the pale Kaela was poison and malice. If things went wrong, she would drink it and die without hesitation.
The closed door opened and someone entered. Though her heart was pounding, Kaela wasn’t afraid.
Who is it? The butler? In the pitch darkness where one had to fumble to confirm anything, a large hand reached out towards her. Kaela’s mouth was abruptly covered.
The moment she recognized who was covering her mouth, Kaela was gripped by terror.
