“The library is… in the annex, my lady.”

The annex? So that’s it… The place Vivi had guided me to as the “library” was never a library to begin with. I nodded in understanding.

“You mean the annex behind the main building?”

“Yes, my lady. However, that place… is not under my jurisdiction.”

“Not under your jurisdiction? Does that mean I cannot go there?”

“…No. There’s nowhere in Manderley that you cannot access, my lady.”

Not under her jurisdiction but still accessible. It was an ambiguous answer that lacked certainty and suggested there might be more to the story, but I had already made up my mind.

“Lead the way.”

“Yes.”

The annex we reached was virtually in ruins, just as the head butler had said—it had been a very long time since it was last used. We circled around a glass greenhouse so thick with cobwebs that it looked shrouded in fog.

Beyond it stood a stone building covered in black, ash-like dust, abandoned as though it had survived a fire. When I ran my fingertips across what must have once been a magnificent exterior, dull white marble revealed itself beneath.

Watching me, the head butler spoke up.

“When the previous lady was here, parties were held day and night almost every day. Snowflakes scattered like embers in the starlight, breath clouding like mist in the air. Between them, dresses studded with finely ground gems of every color twirled endlessly around this lawn, like courting parrots.”

Previous lady?

The fifth wife disappeared ten years ago, so perhaps around that time? I couldn’t be sure. Instead of asking further questions, I chose to turn back. After all, I had only wanted to verify Vivi’s statement, not learn more about this place.

“Let’s go back.”

“…Pardon? You’re leaving just like that?”

For once, the head butler couldn’t hide her surprise, but I had already turned around.

“Yes.”

“The head butler is right. Coming all this way just to leave—that won’t do.”

As I was about to depart, a voice called out.

It was him. Rondo, the Duke of Winter’s aide.

The man strode toward me, extending his arm. At the tip of his fingers dangled a key—a silver key about the size of an index finger.

“By order of His Grace.”

Those words stopped me in my tracks.

“He wishes to entrust the management of the annex to you.”

“‘You’? It seems you need to relearn proper etiquette.”

I pointed out his error while accepting the key. The man who had so readily handed it over let out a dry laugh. Then he stepped forward and grasped my hand holding the key.

“My lady.”

He pressed his lips to the back of my hand.

“Sir.”

“Ah, yes. I forgot one word.”

With his eyes looking up at me,

“Duchess.”

He was mocking me. A cold breeze blew. Feeling my fingertips grow cold, I pulled my hand forcefully from his grip. I stepped back, drew in a breath, and as I observed his dry face and the surroundings filled only with the sound of wind, I realized something.

Looking at the head butler who remained unresponsive despite witnessing this man’s rudeness, I became certain.

This man before me couldn’t possibly be just an aide.

“Now, are you satisfied?”

Look at him. His entire body was screaming for recognition.

* * *

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“My lady. It’s Miriam.”

About a week had passed since receiving the key from that man.

That day, like any other, I was writing a letter to Edith. I was finishing up a letter reassuring her that life in the North was much more peaceful than I had worried about, that nothing concerning had happened, and that it would continue to be so. After completing it, I called for the head butler to enter.

“Come in.”

As usual, with her hands neatly folded in front and eyes slightly lowered, the head butler entered. She slowly stepped forward and stood opposite me.

“It’s already been nearly three months since you arrived in the North, my lady.”

Wondering if it had truly been that long, I counted the days and quietly nodded. The season had already passed from midsummer to mid-autumn. In the South, I would have immediately noticed the change of seasons from the cool wind and falling rain, but here… In the North, the weather remained consistently clear and bright, making it difficult to notice the change without paying attention.

“Indeed.”

I answered briefly while pouring turquoise wax, bubbling over a candle flame, onto the envelope. I picked up a stamp engraved with a laurel wreath, confirmed the pattern once more, and pressed it into the wax.

“Therefore, I was thinking it might be appropriate to hold a salon.”

“…A salon?”

“Yes.”

A salon, a salon…

Unlike the capital and the South, where the social season began in autumn and ended in early summer the following year, the northern social circles held regular salons. It seemed inevitable. While it made sense that no salons had been held during the vacancy of the Duchess position, now that the position was filled, further postponement would be inappropriate.

Even as this thought crossed my mind, I wondered, “Why now?” The past three months had not been a short time, and during that period, the Duke had not required me to host any public events.

Looking down at the wax that had spilled beyond the stamp, I suddenly raised my gaze. My eyes fell on the silver key protruding from beneath the eyeglass stand.

The key to the annex, and now a salon.

“Miriam. Is there a salon in the annex?”

“…Yes.”

Looking up at Miriam’s composed face, I tapped the desk lightly. Was it a coincidence? The Duke’s aide appearing as if he had been waiting, the key to the annex received from him, the head butler suggesting a salon, and the salon located in the annex.

I couldn’t tell where coincidence ended and planning began, but one thing seemed certain. Though I couldn’t presume to guess the Duke’s intentions as he circled around me without revealing his true thoughts, testing me, I could easily discern what he wanted from me.

To open the doors of the annex.

And for me to step inside.

Recalling the marble steps covered in ash-like dust a finger-joint thick, the unkempt courtyard overgrown with weeds, and the cobwebbed greenhouse—all clearly neglected for a long time even without looking inside—I stopped tapping the desk and nodded.

Transforming that place into a suitable venue for guests would take considerable time.

“We should start preparations immediately.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“But first, I need to see His Grace.”

The head butler’s face, which had brightened at my words, suddenly darkened, but I pretended not to notice and turned away. This was a matter on which I couldn’t back down.

The change of seasons meant that Edith’s graduation was approaching rapidly, and the fact that I hadn’t received a single reply from her during this long period meant that my letters probably weren’t reaching her.

Since there was no way she wouldn’t reply to my letters, someone in this mansion must have been intercepting them.

‘You’ll come, right? To my graduation. You promised you would.’

I took action to maintain at least this basic courtesy to her.

Contrary to my concerns, the Duke readily granted me permission to leave. Following the aide, who had narrowed his eyes in evident displeasure, I entered the Duke’s office.

“So, you wished to see me.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Was it because he sat with his back to the window? The Duke’s red eyes, which had strangely retained their vibrant color despite his seventy years, now appeared white and hazy like those of an ordinary elderly man. Like… yes, like the northern sky.

“Let me hear what brings you here.”

His voice, heavily accented with northern inflections, remained rough as I remembered, but without anger. Meeting the Duke again after nearly two months, he greeted me with a serene face, seemingly having forgotten his words about meeting me in the North. Encouraged by his expression, I spoke.

“I would like to visit the capital.”

“…The capital?”

“Yes.”

A moment of silence fell between us.

As the silence lengthened, I straightened my back even more, raised my chin, and lowered my eyes deeper. I could feel his gaze fixed intently on my face, but I never raised my eyes to meet his. I needed to maintain a posture of dignity while showing submission to him. That was the best I could do in my current position.

Trying to ignore those sharp gazes, I spoke again.

“I only need a short time, Your Grace.”

To be honest, even as I made this unreasonable request, I fully expected my opinion to be dismissed. Not because he was a Duke rumored to be a monster who had devoured five wives, but because I knew no husband would welcome his wife suddenly wanting to visit the capital without any apparent connections there.

Moreover… the capital was not only where Edith was, but also where that man resided.

I prepared my next response while waiting for the Duke’s answer.

A moment of silence. Our gazes met. Then the answer I had been waiting for came.

“Very well. I’ll give you two weeks.”

In a direction I hadn’t anticipated at all.

“On the condition that you travel with my aide.”

At that moment, the aide’s head turned sharply toward the Duke with a swishing sound, but the Duke ignored him and pressed me for an answer.

“Will you still go?”

Fearing he might change his mind, I quickly bent my knee to accept his favor. Though I couldn’t understand the Duke’s decision, this was an opportunity. An opportunity for me, who had only come to him to retrieve intercepted letters and send Edith a graduation gift with a letter.

“Yes. Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Wait—”

“Then I’ll consider it settled.”

“…Your Grace. Just a moment—”

“I’m tired now. If your business is concluded, I would like everyone to leave.”

The aide, looking quite flustered, continued trying to say something, but with a single gesture from the Duke, we were ushered out of the office.

Bang. The door closed in our faces.

Despite being rudely dismissed in violation of proper etiquette, I couldn’t help but smile at the thought that I might be able to keep my promise to Edith.

“…My lady?”

“Ahem. Let’s go, Miriam.”

Having accomplished my task, I turned and began walking to leave the fourth-floor corridor.

That’s when it happened.

“Why?”

The aide, with one eyebrow tightly furrowed in evident displeasure, suddenly blocked my path. He challenged me in an irritable tone. Though the head butler was also present in the corridor besides the man and myself, he paid no heed. He snapped at me in a distinctly northern accent with abrupt, choppy speech.

“The capital, why, what is there for you?”

“……”

It was a strange confrontation, but once again, the head butler made no attempt to correct the man’s rude behavior. As I parted my lips to answer him, I quickly changed my mind. Not knowing the man’s true identity, ignoring him seemed the best course of action. I stepped past him and continued walking.

“Ah, I see. Why, are you thinking of that lover you said you left behind?”

For a moment, I visibly stiffened… but I immediately took another step forward, then another, continuing straight ahead without looking back until I had left that place behind.