Chapter 19.2

Anne took a sip of the warm tea and wet her lips. The sweet and spicy taste of cinnamon soaked into her tongue at the same time, but all that lingered on her tongue was the taste of plain water.

Her throat stung as if pierced by a thorn, so Anne took another sip and swallowed. The delicious-looking refreshments never reached her hand, and she was constantly thirsty.

“His Grace has a lot of scars on his body . . .”

“Scars?”

Marie’s face suddenly lifted up at Anne’s words. Her round eyes and startled reaction only heightened Anne’s suspicions.

Why are you so surprised? You must have seen it all already . . .

Anne put down the teacup, seemingly ignoring the reaction. And she didn’t seem to show her agitation, and she continued to ask calmly.

“I had never heard that His Grace had been to the battlefield separately, so . . .. I’m asking because I’m wondering if there has been any disputes over the territory that I’m not aware of.”

It was said that they were living in a social circle where rumors flew fast, but most of those rumors could not be confirmed. Indeed, if Marie was the mistress, she would have known more about the Grand Duke than Anne. The scar appeared quite deep, so if the Grand Duke had slept with Marie, Marie would have seen it too.

“. . . As for what His Grace does . . . I don’t know either . . . Maybe asking Ashton would be better than me.”

Marie gave a quiet answer, but she cleverly deflected. In an instant, a look of nervousness appeared on her face.

As expected, it’s suspicious . . .

Her outward appearance wasn’t the only reason Anne’s first impression of Marie was modest. No matter what Marie said or did, she was the type to show the emotions on her face. To be precise, she couldn’t hide her thoughts or feelings at all.

Over the years, she had learned through personal experience that there were hidden meanings in words, even when lightly uttered by the well-respected people in social circles.

But Marie had never shown this, so she must have been unable to hide her intentions. Marie herself may not know about it, but for Anne, it was one of the best ways to reach Marie’s heart.

“His Highness had a pretty large scar on her left lower abdomen . . .”

Anne with her eyelashes long lowered, took a peek. Marie, who had not noticed any other signs, was helplessly caught.

“Yes . . . yes . . . that’s right . . . It must have come about when he was dealing with the beasts that came down from the Silbur Mountains in the past.”

“So, a wound from a beast . . .. In the abdomen . . . he must have been seriously injured at the time . . .?”

“Yes, that’s right. There are many knights who get injured every time they go to subjugate those beasts. It must be the wound His Grace suffered back then.”

Anne pulled back her shoulders and sat with her back straight. And she looked at Marie’s face closely. Looking at her face as she nodded her head as she answered, the uncomfortable expression from before had completely disappeared, and there was a sense of relief that she had escaped the troublesome question.

Anne’s blue eyes, like a calm lake, were clouded like the sky outside her window.

As expected, Marie . . . doesn’t know about that wound.

The exact location of the wound, which Anne said, was not in the abdomen. It was in the chest, which was right next to her heart.

Why are you lying to me?

There was no intention to deceive Anne in that innocent face as Marie picked up the chocolate-stuffed cookies and brought them to her mouth. Still, Anne stared quietly at Marie, who was sitting opposite her.

The reason was unknown, but one thing was certain. Marie had never seen the Grand Duke’s body.

Marie was never the Grand Duke’s mistress from the beginning.

* * *

As soon as Marie came out of the Grand Duke’s room, she said to Anne to enjoy the refreshments and rest in peace.

As she walked down the hallway of the West Wing, she saw Ashton coming out of the Grand Duke’s office. Seeing Marie walking from the other side, he also carefully closed the door and waited with his back against the wall.

Ashton looked at Marie’s face, as she had arrived completely in front of him, and spoke his words first.

“Did Madam drink the tea quietly?”

“Yes. It was as usual.”

“What kind of conversation did she have with Lord Luciel?”

“It was nothing. They just exchanged greetings.”

Although she witnessed a bit of embarrassment, they didn’t really talk much, so she responded this way.

Instead of going to her room, Marie came straight over here to report what happened to the Grand Duchess. The reason she attended the Grand Duchess without missing a day was because of Ashton’s request.

On Anne’s first day at the castle, Ashton told Marie to visit the Grand Duchess every day, talk to her, and report every detail of how they were spending time together.

Marie didn’t know exactly why, but it didn’t harm the Grand Duchess, so she followed suit. It was an order from Ashton, but she knew it was the Grand Duke who truly gave the orders. Their master was the Grand Duke, not the Grand Duchess.