CH 64.1

With Anne acting like that, word gradually began to spread among the maids in the mansion that the Grand Duchess’ condition had turned strange. Many times they found her in a daze, unlike before, when she was always neat and dignified.

“She’s been a little strange since she came back from the capital.”

“I know. What happened? She seems to have left her mind somewhere else.”

Her usual forlorn face was still the same, but her eyes lingered somewhere in the air from time to time. It wasn’t even a proper gaze. To anyone’s eyes, she seemed to have lost her mind.

And their concerns reached the Grand Duke through Ashton.

“Madam seems to have noticed the matter about the Libelois family. Maybe she’s just staying in the room because she’s blaming herself for that?”

Ashton spoke to the Grand Duke’s back, as he stared out the window with his hands behind his back.

His face was tired from working late into the night to quickly solve the Libelois matter for the past few days. However, his appearance was still clean and undisturbed.

“Blaming herself…”

The Grand Duke, who had been staring at the servants who were diligently polishing the carved statues on the fountain in celebration of spring, turned his body. He leaned back into the chair and stretched one leg up.

His calm hand opened a desk drawer and took out a luxurious box with a high quality bronze finish. Then he opened the lid and took out a long, neatly arranged cigar. Count Brussels gave it as a gift to say thank him for his hard work. It was said to be of the highest quality, and even though it wasn’t lit, the spicy scent seduced his nose.

“I ordered it to be handled secretly, but it seems that it reached the Grand Duchess’s ears anyway.”

“Forgive me. Rumors hadn’t spread to the north yet, so I was caught off guard. It seems that it was not enough to completely block the rumors from leaking out through the nobles.”

As he wasn’t being reprimanded for failing to carry out the Grand Duke’s order properly, Ashton raised his glasses awkwardly.

“It’s not too much.”

It was impossible to completely hide this matter, as it was all about erasing the traces of a family. The Grand Duke also knew that someday news would reach Anne’s ears, but it was faster than he expected.

The Grand Duke’s sunken eyes looked at the cigars laced with dark brown. He had quit because of her a few hundred years ago, and he never thought that he would become desperate for cigars again because of her.

As his thoughts deepened, the cigar that gave off a faint scent was rolled between the Grand Duke’s index and middle fingers. As Ashton approached to light it, he shook his head. She used to frown, saying that the smell was disgusting, so even the current Grand Duchess wouldn’t be happy with it.

The Grand Duke put down the cigar he was holding back into the box and stashed it roughly into the drawer. He was thorough with other things, but anything related to Anne was difficult. He couldn’t find the answer, so he had been secretly keeping a distance from her lately.

“What do you plan to do with Her Grace?”

The Grand Duke sighed as he wondered whether it was okay to just leave the matter like this. The Grand Duke felt that he should have said something, but he couldn’t undo what had already happened.

He showed patience in her presence and avoided cutting Robert’s throat, but upon his return he immediately did everything he had intended. So Anne wouldn’t know exactly what had become of them.

“It’s already been dealt with, so don’t let them fool around in front of the Grand Duchess again.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. They should be on board by now. They will never return to the Empire again.”

Contrary to rumors that they disappeared, the Grand Duke moved them somewhere they would never be seen again.

Despite Ashton’s reply that he would deal with all those who were bothering him, the Grand Duke’s expression was quite dark.

“Angroanne… I just don’t know where to start.”

“I’m sorry, but since the Grand Duchess has been hurt, she will need someone else’s help.”

Ashton pretended not to, but spoke to the Grand Duke, who kept looking outside the window. It was better to bump into her than to avoid her.

“Help… She would feel even more offended if she saw my face now.”

“Shouldn’t you keep trying? Considering the hardships she suffered here, Your Grace should approach her more.”

“You have grown up a lot.”

The Grand Duke’s voice went lower as he spoke to his subordinate, who kept saying what he had to say instead of backing down. However, Ashton did not hesitate to express his opinion.

“Isn’t it true that the Grand Duchess had a hard time here?”

It was an undeniable fact. The reason he was frustrated was that every single word Ashton said was correct.

Since the Grand Duke had been so harsh and had harassed her so much, she must have been resentful of him. In addition, there was this incident. Since he did a lot of hateful things, it would take twice as much time to undo them.

The Grand Duke rose from his seat. It was late, but he was going to follow Ashton’s advice.

* * *