Chapter 42

I was confined to my room under the pretext of being tired so as not to encounter the servants as much as possible.

But soon after, a maid knocked on my door.

“Will you have dinner, Duke?”

I was about to say no, but my stomach just started to growl.

I finally opened the door.

“Yeah, I’ll eat.”

“I’ll take you to the Dining Hall. The cook prepared a dinner to commemorate the Duke’s return.”

I was nibbling at the food at the palace because I was going to visit the mansion, and I was looking forward to eating a dinner that I put my heart and soul into for the first time in a long time.

I stopped on my tracks while following the maid.

“Oh, take care of the birds, too.”

Only then did the maid blink to see a cage in the corner of the room.

“I’ll try to bring new food as soon as possible.”

The maid bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry for the lack of preparation. It’s your first time the Duke brought a bird, so I couldn’t prepare it.”

The duke never brought a bird to the mansion?

It means I’m safe from the danger of poisoning here.

My step down to the dining hall became lighter.

“We’re here, Duke.”

As soon as I entered the dining hall, the butler and servants who were waiting for me greeted me politely.

The butler took out my chair and repeatedly checked if I was uncomfortable.

Although I stiffened up from the pleasant hospitality I received for the first time, I kept my face as calm as possible.

Duke Baloa seemed to have quite a few people in her own house, while she lived without a dedicated servant like a junior official in the palace.

“This evening we have an oyster soup, a light fruit salad, a platter with caviar, a veal steak, and a plum tart for dessert.”

The butler, who listed high-quality dishes that I haven’t  tasted even at the palace, clapped his hands once.

At the butler’s signal, the servants served the first dish.

When the setting was finished, the butler and servants bowed down and stepped down.

“If you need anything, please feel free to call me.”

The butler, who pointed to a small bell on the table, stepped back and left the hall.

There was only a maid left by my side.

I wondered a little, but I took up a spoon and tried to scoop out the soup.

“Hold on.”

Then the maid stepped in.

“May I go first, Duke?”

“Ah….”

For a moment, I thought I heard something wrong.

Go first?

It was the Duke of Baloa, who, despite the many dangers of poisoning in the imperial palace, did not give any signs to anyone.

I could tell from the fact that she had been using pigeons and cotton swabs.

But the maid is going to step up to test the plate of this duke?

It was like giving up one’s life.

At the same time, I quickly realized.

This maid is one of the duke’s servants.

I stared at the door where the butler and his servants had disappeared.

No, maybe the Duke was the only one to believe.

I slowly put down the spoon.

“So.”

The maid smeared my food little by little throughout the meal.

Thanks to her, I could eat comfortably after a long time.

The chef’s cooking skills were great, so I ate and ate until my stomach almost exploded.

When I go back to the palace, I will be forced to go on a diet again, so I have to eat a lot even now.

I finished the meal after finishing the last piece of the plum tart.

“If you’re done eating, do you want me to put on the bath water for you?”

“No.”

I wiped the corners of my mouth with a napkin. And I spoke nonchalantly.

“I want to see Eleanor after a long time.”

Silence lingered on the table for a while.

I wet my lips with a glass pretending to drink water to avoid getting nervous.

It was a gamble.

However, I couldn’t stay unaware of the contract anymore.

In addition, it was highly likely that any employer trusted enough to take a hint knew about Eleanor.

“I’ll prepare right away.”

My prediction seemed to be right.

But the maid rang the bell instead of guiding me right away.

And she commanded the incoming servant soon after.

“Lock all the doors that lead outside and close the curtains of all the windows. For the next three hours, all servants should move in line with their movements.”

The servants began to move busily at the word of the maid.

As I watched their behavior in silence, wondering what this was, the maid stood up with an unnecessary gesture.

“Let’s go, Duke.”

☆*: .｡.  .｡.:*☆

The maid led me down a more complicated path than a maze.

Everywhere I went, the windows were covered with thick velvet curtains, and sometimes there were corridors with no windows at all.

When I glanced around in wonder, the maid smiled warmly.

“Don’t worry too much, Duke. The presence of the servants below will hide our presence.”

“Ah… yes.”

Only then did I realize what the order meant to move in line for three hours.

If everyone in the castle moves in unison, no matter how sensitive a person is, he will not be able to catch the signs of each individual.

Even if it’s a sword master.

After passing through the door behind the giant portrait hanging in the drawing room, turning the head of the decorated armor halfway through the secret aisle, and going up and down several stairs, the maid stopped at the big door.

“We’ve arrived.”

I was a little nervous.

What’s beyond this?

A room that’s like a prison without a window?

A woman locked up in chains?

However, even before I could prepare myself, the maid unlocked the door with a deft hand gesture.

Kiiiik.

The door slowly opened with the sound of an old hinge.

☆*: .｡.  .｡.:*☆

At the same time, Cardan succeeded in hiding inside the Duke’s castle.

He crouched under the window of the dining hall on the first floor and listened.

Thanks to his hearing as he reached the level of the sword master, the Duke’s voice that talked with the servants inside was weakly heard.

“I want to see Eleanor after a long time.”

The duke’s simple words made his heart sink.

Cardan beckoned the crow hovering around.

It was soon.

Soon the Duke would guide him to Eleanor.

But the very next moment, curtains were drawn on the window where the light was leaking, and the sound of doors slamming everywhere rang out.

He tried to sense the duke’s position with all his senses, but it was useless.

The peaceful time began to resonate with all kinds of noise.

It was impossible to discern the noise and point out the sound of the duke’s words or footsteps.

“Kkaa. Kkaa.”

Even the crows hovering over the duke’s mansion in the distance seemed to have no clue because they were blocked by curtains covering all the windows tightly.

“Huh…”

Cardan eventually collapsed.

She was such a horrifyingly thorough woman.

☆*: .｡.  .｡.:*☆

Contrary to my worries, the room beyond the door was cozy.

The fireplace was filled with warm flames, and the floor was covered with fluffy rugs.

Luxurious furniture on cream-colored wallpaper

A window covered with velvet curtains

It was more like a bedroom of a noble than a prison.

“You should leave.”

When the maid beckoned to the maid who was guarding the room, the maid bowed to me and disappeared quickly.

Before I knew it, only I and the maid were left in the room.

“Eleanor…?”

No matter where I looked, I couldn’t see the woman in the portrait.

If she was a beautiful woman, enough to captivate Cardan, her presence would be extraordinary, but I could not hear anything but the sound of the burning fireplace.

For a moment, a wonder flashed across the maid’s face, but she soon led me into the middle of the room.

To be exact, a bed in the middle of the room.

“Lady Eleanor is asleep as always.”

I finally found a woman lying in bed.

She was motionless, and she was lying there like a wax doll.

It was not until I got close that I could hear a feeble breath.

“Huh…?”

The woman in the portrait was the same.

She has light brown hair, harmonious features, and a sad air around her.

I was definitely right.

“How old is she?”

She was much older than the portrait.

In other words, it was an age that could never be Cardan’s first love.

After looking at her for a long time, I had a hunch.

It’s X.

My decision was quick.

There was only one person I could trust right now.

The only person who carries out the tasks for the Duke of Baloa

“Maid.”

I stared straight at the maid.

“I lost my memory.”