“Well, it happened while Miss Joyce was washing Madam’s body. I’m sorry.”

Joyce looked like a Balshwin but her temperament was closer to an Ohr. Unnecessarily compassionate, she would often bring home dying birds or cats she found while out walking. Since last year when Cecilie’s condition worsened, she had been visiting her every morning to wash her hands and feet.

It was behavior Beitram couldn’t understand at all, but he didn’t interfere much with his daughters’ actions. He didn’t want to create unnecessary occasions to see their faces.

Clicking his tongue briefly, Beitram followed the sound of crying. The room where Cecilie had been lying for a long time wasn’t the largest in the castle but was the one that received the most sunlight.

It was cleaned daily, the bedding changed, and all kinds of good incense burned, but the unavoidable smell of death still lingered gloomily. Beitram paused briefly at the wide-open door.

The second daughter was hanging on the bed, burying her head and crying, while the youngest was kneeling beside her, awkwardly imitating her sister. Joyce, who had been standing by the bed looking down at Cecilie’s face, noticed him and raised her head.

“Father, you’ve come…… There’s blood on your clothes…!”

“It’s not my blood.”

Casually restraining Joyce who was about to run to him, he approached the bed. The youngest shrank her neck with a frightened face, and the second daughter hurriedly stood up and bowed her head. Beitram looked at Cecilie’s snow-white face.

A fancy scarf was tied around her neck to hide the scar. It hadn’t suited her before, but now that her body had lost its soul, all vitality had completely disappeared, making it truly unsuitable.

Her tightly closed eyes and mouth showed no trace of pain. According to Hansen, she had suddenly started shaking as if having a seizure and then stopped breathing. Joyce and a maid had witnessed this up close.

Sitting askew on the bed, he placed his hand on Cecilie’s cheek. He thought he could feel a lukewarm warmth. Her skin, which had dried up long ago, seemed like it would crumble into powder at the slightest pressure, like winter tree bark.

He tried to recall Cecilie’s bright smile but couldn’t. The only thing he remembered was her expression as she approached with empty eyes and cut her own throat.

If she had been just a little more cold-hearted, a little more clever, she wouldn’t have met such an end.

“Now you can meet your family.”

As he murmured quietly, the second daughter began to sob again. The children believed their mother had become like this after trying to take her own life. That she couldn’t bear the grief of her father’s and brothers’ deaths.

Joyce, being rather intelligent, both pitied and resented her mother. She thought her mother had abandoned her living family for the sake of the dead ones.

Beitram didn’t bother to correct this misunderstanding. All disgrace naturally becomes the property of the dead anyway.

“All of you, give your mother a final kiss. She suffered for a long time, so pray that death brings her peace as you send her off.”

At his words as he rose from the bed, the children approached. Joyce carefully took his hand with one hand and Cecilie’s with the other. Beitram reluctantly patted the child’s shoulder lightly.

His mind was occupied only with thoughts about the Ohr family’s assets that needed to be sorted out as quickly as possible.

* * *

Tom spilled alcohol from his mouth. Nix might have given him something to wipe with, but he couldn’t. He too was staring blankly at me, having paused mid-sip of his tea.

Normally I would have gone to the merchant group first, but unusually, I first stopped by the dress shop to quickly get measured and order clothes. I also paid extra to have them completed as quickly as possible. I planned to attend Isabel’s engagement party this week.

“What are you… saying you’ll do…?”

“Marriage.”

As Tom stammered his question, my prompt answer made his mouth open wider. Nix put down his teacup and interjected with a fake cough.

“I don’t know what wind has blown your way, but this doesn’t seem like a decision to make so suddenly.”

“It’s not a sudden decision, Nix. I’ve been hearing about marriage from Maya so much that it’s been hammered into my ears since the year before last. It’s just that the time has come when I can’t delay it any longer.”

“No, did you have a man in mind? If so, why did you leave all those false rumors alone until now?”

Tom raised his voice as if truly surprised. I looked at him with narrowed eyes, rested my chin on my hand, and whispered with a slight smile:

“How about marrying me, Tom?”

Finally, the glass fell from Tom’s hand. Since it was already empty, there was only the sound of the glass breaking, but no one looked down at it. I enjoyed watching Tom’s soul leave his eyes and added nonchalantly:

“Come to think of it, it doesn’t seem like a bad combination. It would definitely be a big help in running the merchant group. We’d have much more freedom.”

Wrinkles formed on the bridge of his nose. Showing his teeth like a growling dog, he glared with a fierce light in his eyes.

“A noblewoman, a lady, with a butcher from Ningatan who’s much older? Please stop saying things that will get you struck by lightning!”

“You just look old because of your presbyopia, but you’re not really that much older.”

“Enough, please take back those words because I’ll surely have nightmares tonight, Miss. Please? I’m begging you. And please don’t say such things even as a joke anywhere else. This could become an issue for the Bickman family itself!”

If you’re going to make an issue of status, you should start with the fact that you’re getting angry at me right now.

Silently swallowing my complaint, I turned my head with a tsk. Nix composed his voice calmly and said:

“I agree with that part, Miss. It’s not something to say even as a joke. Tom is too inadequate a human being to be anyone’s husband.”

Tom’s growling intensified. Eventually, he stood up with his cheek twitching.

“What did you say? Has this big, old man already lost strength in his mouth? Picking up any words? Should I stuff two or three pieces of firewood into those nostrils to expand the square footage so you can distinguish between front and back?”

Haah. Sighing, I banged my forehead on the table. The scent of wood pleasantly invaded my nostrils.

“I realized how indulgent I’ve been. It wasn’t the time to postpone marriage. If I had decided last year, it wouldn’t have become this difficult.”

Tom, who had been showing Nix how large and clean his whites were, glanced back at me. Seeing my drooping shoulders, he clicked his tongue.

“What, Miss, what’s lacking in you that you can’t find a groom? You’re pretty, quick with calculations, bold, ride horses well, and now you’re even decent with a knife. Where else in Edmus could there be a bride like this?”

“So that’s why I’m saying let’s get married?”

When I proposed again, this time Tom showed me how big and sharp his teeth were. He’s a man with many things to boast about. Nix exhaled a faint sigh.

“Does the count still visit the mansion?”

“He came today too. And a message arrived.”

I slowly raised my upper body and continued:

“It said the countess had finally passed away. He left after hearing that news.”

The weight in Nix’s gaze as he stared at me increased. Clenching and unclenching his large fist, he murmured:

“The rumors will get worse.”

“What rumors?”

Unable to follow the context, Tom blinked and asked. Listening to Nix’s deep sigh, I once again rested my chin on my hand.

“Anyway, anyone will do. A lower noble who came up from the countryside is fine, a distant relative of a barely surviving noble family is fine too. Even a wandering idler would be fine. He’d probably not care about this business anyway.”

“But once they know about the count, they’ll all back out. It doesn’t seem like it will be easy.”

“So what rumors are going to get worse? The ridiculous rumor that the count is head over heels for Miss Lucy?”

“Please try to find someone suitable, Nix. Tom, if you’re not going to marry me, don’t worry about it. Besides, didn’t you say you had something to talk about regarding Fatura?”

As I cut him off, Tom folded his arms with a disgruntled expression.

“It seems the most information brokers will gather at the secret banquet being held today. After the end of the Freemont civil war, many soldiers have come to Edmus looking for work, and merchants who visited Mükeln Island also arrived by ship this morning. You were interested in Mükeln, weren’t you?”

“We can go together then. What time and where?”

“Well, about that……”

Ahem, clearing his throat a couple of times, Tom rolled his eyes. With a somewhat embarrassed face, he lowered his voice.

“It, it might be a kind of banquet that’s a bit, um, inappropriate for you to see, Miss.”

When Nix and I just blinked silently, Tom scratched his jaw and waved his muscular arm.

“Since many soldiers who’ve been through rough times and sailors will gather, it’s likely to be a serpent’s banquet.”

I nodded while suppressing an exclamation. In Fatura, a ‘serpent’s banquet’ means a banquet where promiscuous *ntercourse will be enjoyed. Entangling with two or three others is basic, and it’s a lewd banquet where people indulge in just one night of pleasure without caring about status, gender, or others’ gazes.

The atmosphere would quickly become excited among people gathered for such a purpose, and unrestrained conversations would naturally flow in such places. In other words, it’s a place where all kinds of rumors are spread without filter.

“So?”

“What do you mean ‘so’? How can I go there with you, Miss?”

Hearing Tom’s voice rise sharply at the end, I suppressed a laugh.

“At my age, others are already having children, so what’s the big deal now? And people usually wear masks at serpent’s banquets. It’s not a place I can’t attend. I can dress as a man.”

As I showed him by brushing back my hair that easily fell from my hand, Tom shook his head repeatedly.

“Still, it could be dangerous. Will that pretty face be hidden just because you’re dressed as a man? Men who like pretty boys will go crazy and rush at you. Then it will become chaotic, and how am I supposed to protect you alone?”

Looking at his contorted face, I raised an eyebrow and shifted my gaze to Nix.

“Tom sometimes has a strange way of complimenting me on being pretty.”

“To Tom, Miss is the most beautiful woman in Edmus. More than gods or fairies could match. And still a young girl. He seems to want to keep you away from dirty and rough things.”

“No, when did I ever say such things…!”