CH 44.1

“To dig?”

“Nothing grows in that place. It’s the same land, but isn’t it strange that only that place is barren?”

What he said made sense. When Anne looked at the gardener, he shook his head in disapproval.

“If we dig here, the other side may be affected. Rather, we will kill plants that have already sprouted by touching their roots.”

Anne, who judged that there was some truth in those words too, nodded her head in agreement. To save one, there was no need to scrape the roots of other shoots that were still intact.

“You are right. Let’s not dig for now.”

After briefly requesting a few details, Anne turned her back.

* * *

Anne, who lost her appetite after Luciel left, skipped dinner and changed into bed clothes early. Her lower belly was stiff, and her body felt heavy as if her moon cycle was about to start. Feeling heavy and swollen, she asked for a bunch of soft cushions and then lay down on the bed.

“Madam, if you feel cold, tell me. The weather here is very cold, so it will be difficult. I had a hard time too when I first came.”

“That’s right. For the first week, it was difficult because the wind seemed to penetrate my bones.”

“It is completely different from the capital city. Have some hot tea. They say you need to warm up your body to reduce the pain.”

As she comfortably held the cup of tea in the palm of her hand, she suddenly remembered the words the Grand Duke had said before leaving. If she found what he had hidden, he would grant her wish. She thought about it a few times, but came up with nothing.

As she pondered, she looked at Emily’s face as she checked the latch on the window, and something came to mind.

“The things you said when you came to this castle the other day.”

“Yes . . .”

“You said you came to protect me then. That’s what you said.”

“Yes, that’s right. But why are you suddenly asking about that time?”

“You didn’t listen to me then,” said Emily, pulling the knots and pulling the curtains tight. She even checked with her face to see if there was a slight cold wind coming in.

Anne looked straight at her and opened her mouth.

“If you know anything more than that, tell me.”

Ashton suddenly came that day, so she had to stop her conversation with Emily. After that, she was busy with work, and various things happened, so she forgot about it.

“In the words of my grandfather . . . there is a secret room.”

“Something like a secret space?”

She asked if Emily was referring to the hot springs, but Emily shook her head.

“At a certain time every day, there is a place that His Grace would always go to. He didn’t know what the Grand Duke did there, but it looked very suspicious, he said.”

“There is such a place . . . ?”

“At that time, the person who worked as a patissier died mysteriously . . . My grandfather suspected that it had something to do with it.”

Anne was lost in her thoughts. She had never heard of such a place, and she had no idea of his schedule. She didn’t even want to check his schedule, and she didn’t even bother to know.

“Do you know where it is?”

“That . . . I must have heard but I couldn’t think about it . . . I’m sure it was the west wing where His Grace is staying . . .”

Emily tapped her head, saying that it was so long ago that her memory was fuzzy. To be honest, ever since she was put in charge of serving the Grand Duchess, she had never been to the west wing, so she couldn’t even recall the location.

“The west wing . . .”

The west wing was a place where people didn’t even set foot except when going to the library. Anne had spent time visiting the library quite often, but she hadn’t been doing so recently because she was reading books she bought from the village. There was a secret room in the west building? She had never found a suspicious-looking door.

“I have to go there.”

As Anne was about to get up, Emily stopped her by holding her arm.

“You don’t know where it is. What if it’s a place where torture or other terrible things are done?”

“Torture?”

Anne frowned. She doesn’t think he would do such a thing, but she didn’t know about it since he was a high-ranking noble.

“I told you. The howling of a beast. Maybe it is there.”

“No way . . .”

Despite Anne’s disbelieving expression, Emily was serious.

“Anyway, if I remember later, I’ll let you know, so you can go to sleep now.”

Recalling that absurd word, Anne finally laid her body back on the soft bedding. She went to sleep, using the flames of the fireplace as a dancing mobile.

On that normal night, Anne had the second dream.