Chapter 22

In the end, Lachesis only managed to finish speaking when the carriage arrived right in front of the Deate residence.

“As expected, it seems my meager words still aren’t enough to explain it all.”

Even though she had talked on her own for well over ten minutes, Lachesis truly believed that.

“It would have been so nice if you had seen it in person, Your Grace. If you went to the Bilder Marquisate’s residence because you heard rumors about the painting, why didn’t you ask Marcel? Marcel would have gladly agreed.”

Lachesis couldn’t hide her regret, as though she were the one who had missed the chance to see a masterpiece. Kadenic, on the other hand, remained composed. No—rather, he looked satisfied, like someone who had achieved what he wanted.

Kadenic looked at Lachesis as if admiring her instead of the painting and said,

“It’s enough. I was greedy because if it wasn’t today, it would likely be hard to see you going forward. It was worth it.”

“That’s all it takes? I still feel it’s nowhere near enough.”

“I agree it’s not enough. Shall I tell the coachman to take a lap around the Imperial City?”

Ah. At those words, Lachesis came back to her senses belatedly.

The carriage was already slowing to a stop. Outside the window, the Deate residence rose tall. She hadn’t even finished the main point with Kadenic, and yet they had already arrived.

Kadenic seemed like a better person than she’d thought—someone who cared about art, even more than expected…… but she still had to say what she had to say.

Clunk—she heard the coachman jump down from the driver’s seat of the fully stopped carriage. He would open the door any moment. Her heart grew urgent.

It was just as Lachesis was about to make her rejection of the proposal clear once again.

“Just for today, I won’t listen to your rejection.”

Kadenic spoke first and opened the carriage door himself. Then, standing outside, he offered his hand to escort Lachesis.

“If you refuse me again the next time we meet, then I’ll withdraw cleanly.”

“It won’t change anyway. Why won’t you listen right now?”

“I assure you, this way will be better for both of us.”

“I don’t understand what you mean at all.”

Kadenic walked with Lachesis all the way to the front gate. He didn’t let go of her hand the entire time.

“You’ll know soon enough. Now, go in.”

Instead of a farewell, he lightly kissed the back of her hand and turned away—so plain it was almost startling. She’d expected him to drop by the residence like yesterday, so this was very unexpected.

What scheme was this now? As Lachesis turned it over in her head and stared thoughtfully at his receding back, Kadenic suddenly looked back at her over his shoulder.

“Chessie.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t worry. Things will work out better than you think.”

“Mm. They will, as long as you cooperate, Your Grace.”

“I’ll let you know that I’m always prepared to do so.”

If only he wouldn’t talk like that.

Lachesis let out a small laugh and, as if to a friend, waved lightly.

If it was Kadenic, he would keep what he said, so next time she would surely be able to cleanly sort out her relationship with him. Drawing even this much of an answer out of the stubborn Kadenic was, in its own way, an achievement.

Her heart felt relieved, and yet, somehow, something felt off.

‘It’s not like I don’t want to distance myself from Kadenic.’

Was it because his last remark felt oddly meaningful?

‘It looked like he wanted to reassure mw. Why?’

Lachesis’s brooding didn’t last long. The moment she entered the residence, she sensed something strange in the unusually quiet main hall.

It was well past ten at night, so it was natural that the servants weren’t bustling about. Yet the oddly chilly stillness sent a cold shiver down her spine.

“Something’s strange…….”

Come to think of it, there wasn’t a single person greeting her. Even if the maids had finished their duties and gone to bed, Marel would have been waiting for her.

As Lachesis craned her neck, a maid who happened to be crossing the corridor spotted her and flinched in shock. Like someone who had seen a ghost.

“M-Miss!”

“What. Why are you so startled?”

“Ah, um, well…….”

At her playful question, the maid shrank as if she’d been stabbed. The reaction wasn’t normal.

Lachesis wiped the playfulness from her face and asked,

“What happened? Did something happen at home?”

“Well…… um, Miss. What do we do. Marel has been confined!”

“……What?”

Lachesis froze in place. It was hard to interpret those simple words.

Marel…… confined?

It was a pairing of words that couldn’t coexist in a single sentence.

Why? How? For what reason?

Perhaps she had mumbled those questions without realizing, because the maid stammered out an answer.

“Well, I-I don’t really know either……. It suddenly became like that……. Right now, in front of Marel’s room, knights are…….”

Managing to understand the maid’s stammering voice, Lachesis started running before the maid could even finish. She couldn’t tell whether her breath was short because she was rushing up the stairs, or because her heart had been shocked.

The one saving grace amid misfortune was that Marel’s room was in the main building. If she had had to carry this anxiety all the way to the servants’ quarters in the annex, she might have gone mad before she even grasped what was happening.

‘No. It can’t be. There must be some mistake.’

But contrary to Lachesis’s optimism, there really were two armed knights standing in front of Marel’s door.

The moment they saw Lachesis, they crossed the spears in their hands to block the door.

“Miss, you may not enter.”

“What are you doing? Move aside, right now.”

“It’s the Earl’s order.”

“The Earl?”

Father? 

The situation fell even deeper into a maze.

Earl Deate had already stopped involving himself in family affairs long ago. His position as head of house was only nominal. All his work belonged to Katrin.

‘And Father suddenly confined Marel? That’s impossible.’

Unable to believe it, Lachesis glared at the knights. The knights didn’t look like they would step aside easily.

There was no other way. Lachesis reached out and placed her hand on the spear blocking the door.

“Miss!”

Red blood ran down Lachesis’s hand where the sharp spear had cut her. The knight hastily pulled the spear back and stepped in front of her with his body.

“What a dangerous thing to do! You’re bleeding!”

“I clearly told you to move. Marel is my dedicated maid. Who dares stop me from seeing her?”

Lachesis didn’t even blink at the sight of blood.

The two knights exchanged awkward looks.

Their minds busied themselves weighing which responsibility would be heavier: injuring the youngest lady of the house, or defying the head of house’s order.

The answer was calculated clearly—and quickly.

If they defied the strict head of house’s will, it would be at minimum a pay cut, at maximum expulsion from the knight order. But if they let the strict head of house see blood on the body of the youngest daughter he treasured, it would be at minimum a wrist, at maximum a head.

“…….”

“…….”

Perhaps thinking the same thing, both knights’ faces went pale at once. They pulled their spears behind their backs so Lachesis couldn’t touch them, and stepped aside.

“You must come out quickly. Miss, you will only get scolded once and be done with it, but for us, our livelihood is on the line, Miss.”

With a groan, the knight pulled a handkerchief from his chest and tightly wrapped it around Lachesis’s bleeding hand. Lachesis barely listened and immediately threw the door open.

The handkerchief, still not fully tied, fell to the floor, but she had no time to worry about something so small.

“Marel!”

“Miss……?”

Marel, veiled, was pacing around the room. From afar, she had seemed fine, but it was too early to be reassured.

Lachesis rushed to Marel and turned her body this way and that, checking her. After meticulously confirming three separate times that there was no injury, she removed the veil with trembling hands to check her face.

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt anywhere.”

“Marel, you always say you’re fine. I can’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.”

Perhaps understanding Lachesis’s heart, Marel didn’t try to stop her anymore and simply let her. Their eyes met—Marel’s black eyes beneath the veil, brimming with worry.

‘Who’s worrying about whom.’

Swallowing a hollow breath, Lachesis looked sadly over Marel’s scarred face.