The mansion doors were tightly shut. An even deeper silence than when the previous duchess was alive blanketed the estate. Few people wanted to set foot in a place shadowed by death that had struck repeatedly in less than half a year.

However, despite the unsettling atmosphere, there were always people who needed money.

A young woman in a plain dress crossed the garden threshold with a very nervous expression. The sharp-featured head maid guided her inside.

“Wait in the reception room and the Duke will come.”

Left alone, the woman hunched her shoulders. They say the best way to leave a strong impression on people is to overwhelm them with scale, and the pressure she had felt from the garden felt even greater indoors.

Unlike outside where snow piled knee-high, a warm fireplace blazed inside. Children’s books scattered on the table seemed to belong to the little young duke she would need to serve. Whether Duke Chesterfield, known for his fastidiousness, hadn’t bothered with the reception room, traces of a child playing could be seen here and there.

The woman, who had been contemplating ways to play with the adorable Young Duke, jumped up startled.

“Introduce yourself.”

This man was Duke Chesterfield.

He was exactly as she had heard. His eyes beneath his black hair appeared even redder due to bloodshot. His face, devoid of any excess flesh, was handsome enough to understand his fame, and his legs crossed elegantly on the sofa were long.

Among these features, his white hands resting on his knee caught her attention. It was hard to imagine those fine hands that seemed never to have done rough work had held a gun just months ago.

“Your introduction.”

Only upon hearing the emotionless voice did the woman realize her mistake. Recalling her purpose for coming, she hurriedly removed her hat.

“I, I am Ann Liere. I came after seeing the notice seeking a governess……”

“Rejected. Send her back.”

Duke Chesterfield left, creating a cold draft, as if she’s not worth exchanging any more words with.

The young woman who had failed the interview in an instant moved her lips. But she alone was flustered; the head maid who had followed the Duke showed a reaction suggesting she had expected this.

“I’ll escort you to the main gate.”

“……Why was I rejected? Did I make some mistake?”

“Miss Liere made no mistakes. You simply didn’t meet the Duke’s standards.”

As the head maid sent the young miss away with kind words, Marsha approached her.

“Again?”

“Yes, Marsha.”

“And the Duke went upstairs?”

“He’ll likely sleep.”

It had been half a year since the head maid had taken over the missing butler’s position after the previous Duke’s accident. She had predicted this governess candidate would fail as soon as she saw her. To think of seeking employment in this house with platinum blonde hair… The Miss who came up from the countryside seemed unaware of the capital’s rumors.

The head maid clicked her tongue and went inside. Today again, checking on the Young Duke’s bed would be her responsibility. 

 * * *

 Eyeballs moved busily under eyelids. Wrinkles formed as his nose bridge twitched.

His tightly closed eyes snapped open.

“Hah!”

His upper body shot up. Izer wiped his face with trembling hands. His entire body was drenched in sweat.

Another nightmare. The reason it felt more vivid than usual was probably because of the young woman who came for the governess interview today. Though he left as soon as he saw the platinum blonde hair, it was enough to remind him of his dead wife.

His hand reached out to the medicine bottle right beside the bed. Two sleeping pills and one sedative went into his mouth.

Izer buried his face in his hands.

Even after taking the medicine, the trembling wouldn’t stop. After fumbling on top of the drawer, he finally picked up a cigarette. The strong cigar seemed to calm him down a little as he put it between his lips.

Celian’s sweet voice echoed in his ears.

「Izer, I love you.」

They were in their familiar room. In their kingdom that had once been destroyed and gloriously rebuilt. In that beautiful place where fairies were busy blessing lovers with their flutes, she whispered love with a radiant face.

In his recurring dreams, Izer cried. Laying his body over hers and caressing her lips, he begged.

「I love you, Lian. Please don’t go.」

「Where do you think I’m going?」

As he nodded, completely believing the Miss who asked with a tilted head, blood began to flow from Celian’s body.

Sometimes from her mouth, sometimes from her eyes, sometimes from near her heart — the amount of blood that started flowing was enormous. No matter how much he screamed and tried to wipe it away, the blood flowed and covered everything in red.

One day, Celian looked up at him with twisted bones and a broken neck in the blink of an eye. It was the result of overlapping her with the corpses he had seen on the battlefield. That day, Izer woke up screaming.

Though less horrific than that, Celian died before him every night. Today, she bled as if her heart had been split.

“Hic……”

The finished cigar fell to the floor. The floor was already covered with broken wine glasses from before he had gone to bed and half-burned cigars. The Duke’s mansion that would be cleaned spotlessly by maids in the morning as if nothing had happened was this debauched in the middle of the night.

The convulsions in his body wouldn’t stop. The scream Celian let out just before he woke up was vivid in his ears. He desperately needed something, anything to recall good memories of her.

He opened the drawer below the medicine drawer. Items too modest for the Duke of Chesterfield to possess revealed themselves.

The traces she left behind were this modest. A handkerchief with loose threads, the last blood she shed, a small cross necklace found at the house in Porchmen…… Though he held these things and called her name several times a day, it seemed only that one wish for even a ghost to appear remained unfulfilled.

Izer buried his face in the worn handkerchief, sobbing.

“Lian……”

He resented God. Was her death the price for Izer’s sins? If He wanted to give pain, He should have given it to him alone — why did she have to writhe in such terrible pain too?

When she had committed no sin at all.

His curled-up body craved warmth that no longer existed. The name of the woman who wouldn’t return no matter how much he called was heartbreaking, and the empty space beside him was cold.

“I miss you. I miss you so much. Please come before me, not in dreams……”

He could have everything but what he wanted most. His beast-like crying echoed between the expensive furniture.

“Lian, I did everything you wanted……”

After returning from Fairville, Izer thought and thought about what she would want in between handling matters that needed to be dealt with.

Percy came to mind first. Thinking she would want that child to be well cared for, he put out the governess notice.

He was also concerned about Beth. He fulfilled his role as guardian thoroughly. The young girl who shared his context of losing family cried floods of tears before her brother-in-law.

That day, despite the dry weather, a small sprout grew in front of Celian’s grave.

Even though he knew it wasn’t Celian, Izer dug up that small sprout and transplanted it to a pot. He cherished it and talked to it as if his wife had been reincarnated. Though concerned about their master going half-mad, no one dared to tell him to come to his senses.

It was indeed the perfect condition for going mad. 

 * * *

 After nights filled with the master’s chilling cries passed, bright mornings came to the Duke’s mansion.

A maid holding a broom knocked on the door nervously. It was just a formality. The Duke would be sleeping now anyway, and she would clean silently and leave.

So when she heard a response, the maid was startled enough to faint.

“Come in.”

The maid who suddenly found herself facing her master blinked. It had been so long since they’d had a conversation that she didn’t know what to say.

“Uh, Your Grace, that is, cle, cleaning……”

“Don’t mind me, do as you please.”

The Duke, leaning casually against the bookshelf, was perfectly dressed. It was an appearance that would reassure the young maid who had been trying not to look at the pile of blankets whenever she came in to clean.

The elegantly flowing sleeves were tied at the wrists with ribbons. The buttons at his neck were neatly fastened. The pants Marsha had diligently laundered didn’t have a single lint, and the medal he received for his contributions in the war gleamed on the chest of his jacket, which he wore as if he had an appointment.

Feeling the maid’s gaze, Izer put the letter he had been reading back in its envelope. The maid who had been staring blankly at the white fingers elegantly handling the envelope stamped with the royal crest suddenly came to her senses.

“I’m, I’m sorry!”

“Clean. I’m going to the palace. Count Schwenn will visit in the afternoon, so prepare refreshments.”

“Yes, yes.”

It had been a while since the Duke had visitors too. The maid who hoped the Duke would quickly recover from his depression over losing his wife answered energetically.

Jade sat down, patting Izer’s shoulder.

“Hey, congratulations. Your hardship has finally ended.”

He who couldn’t even make eye contact with Izer for a while had finally visited the Duke’s mansion again.