MHHC Chapter 109

Futile Proof

"From what I can see, that, that seems to be the case."

"Where is Margaret right now?"

"S-she went to meet with the auditor. The auditor called for her because there was something missing from Your Grace's permit."

...If she thought it intentional from the start—separating Margaret from her—would that be mere paranoia?

"..."

While the vessel that had been her 'soul' shattered and her consciousness drifted between dream and reality, mingling with Valentin's, Adelheid's mind had grown terribly fragile.

Only one thing remained unchanged. Whether in dream or reality, she was a 'sinner'—that fact alone persisted.

With one shocking situation following another in such a state, everything felt overwhelming, unbearably heavy.

This was her first trial, leaving her bewildered by every aspect, and now a private audience with the Emperor on top of it all.

'It's all right.'

Adelheid clenched her hands tightly where they rested on her knees.

'I decided not to run away. I decided to endure at Valentin's side.'

Thinking of him calmed her racing heart.

'Stalling for time would be ideal, but they're already rushing me like this... I won't be able to drag it out even thirty minutes.'

No matter how she considered it, the next best option was to inform Valentin of her current situation.

Given that he'd sent a messenger, he was most likely inside the palace with high probability.

So if she could somehow get word to him, he would surely come to her.

'And the only people who know the palace's inner workings thoroughly are the maids.'

As she gazed at the young maid steadily, the girl flinched and hunched her shoulders. Adelheid made her request in the gentlest face and voice she could manage.

"Could you bring me some paper and a pen?"

"Of, of course."

At Adelheid's request, the maid quickly crossed the parlor and brought a quill pen and paper from atop a small side table.

After briefly considering the contents, Adelheid dipped the quill heavily in ink and hurriedly scrawled something across the paper.

She wrote two copies—one she left on the table for Margaret, the other she folded neatly and handed to the maid.

"Could you possibly deliver this to my husband?"

"M-me?"

"If you know where he is."

Though she phrased it that way, there was nowhere in the palace the maids' intelligence network didn't reach.

It wouldn't happen, but even if his whereabouts were unavoidably restricted, the maids could find out anything.

They could enter anywhere without suspicion.

Adelheid removed a peridot button from her sleeve and pressed it firmly into the maid's small hand.

"This is truly important to me. If you can't manage it, even just finding out my husband's situation would help. Please, I'm asking you."

"Please don't lower yourself like that. For someone like me to receive such words from Your Grace..."

"Won't you really do it?"

"I, actually, I can't..."

The maid's face flushed bright red as she stammered and shook her head.

She'd probably been firmly instructed not to privately accommodate any requests from the accused.

"You only need to deliver it."

Hesitation flickered in the maid's guileless eyes. She looked back and forth between the jeweled button and the letter, swallowed audibly, then nodded.

"I'll do it."

The maid glanced around the empty room unnecessarily, then carefully took the letter and button from Adelheid's hand.

After checking herself over, she tucked the letter inside her sleeve and the button into her apron's inner pocket.

"I can't promise I'll definitely deliver it, but... if, if it comes to that, I'll at least find out about his situation for you."

"Thank you."

The knocking on the door rang out loudly once more just then. Irritation colored the messenger's voice.

"Your Grace. If you delay any further, I will open the door by force."

"I'm almost ready."

Adelheid started to rise hurriedly from her seat, then paused to look at the full-length mirror standing in one corner of the room.

In the mirror gazed back an elegant noblewoman dressed splendidly—Margaret's work, meant to keep her spirits up.

Adelheid's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied that reflection.

"Excuse me."

Adelheid stopped the maid who'd been rushing to leave the room.

"I'm sorry, but could I ask you for one more thing?"

"How shameless."

"Look at her, walking in with her head held high like that."

Adelheid walked down the long corridor as though she heard nothing, meeting those malicious stares with an impassive gaze.

Though knights surrounded her on all sides with her at the center, their ironclad escort didn't shield her from the venomous looks of the onlookers.

"But did that frail woman really use the power of terrible monsters?"

At someone's innocent question, the nobles' eyes poured toward Adelheid all at once.

Black dress. A clean, pale white face contrasting against it. Her slender, petite frame.

With the maid's help, she'd changed into a dress buttoned all the way to her throat, reminiscent of a devout priest's vestments.

Her quietly lowered eyelids appeared demure; her expression and bearing were modest.

Finding anything sinister in her hair, pinned up without a single strand out of place, proved difficult.

She seemed less like a woman possessed by monsters and more like the reincarnation of Saint Degunda herself.

"I did hear that when humans transform into monsters, their eye color changes first... but she still looks perfectly normal on the outside."

After a brief silence, someone's whisper to their neighbor started it. The murmuring spread from mouth to mouth, quickly filling the corridor.

"They say she healed someone dying, even though she wasn't born with healing abilities."

"She's Count Reichenau's daughter, so... maybe her gift just manifested late?"

"The witnesses said the energy itself felt different."

"Then, then what happens to Lady Charlotte? The rumors that she'll soon be engaged to His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince were everywhere..."

When someone tactlessly mentioned Charlotte, the whispering ceased all at once.

Adelheid, who'd been walking with her eyes on her feet, finally lifted her gaze forward at that unnatural silence.

Count Reichenau stood blocking the procession at the center of the long corridor leading to the audience chamber.

"Step aside, Your Excellency."

The messenger warned the Count in a flat tone.

"This is a prisoner being escorted by His Majesty's command. Further approach is not permitted."

A private audience with the Emperor, they'd said, but now they were openly treating her as a criminal.

From their perspective, not placing handcuffs on her wrists already constituted lenient treatment.

Count Reichenau wheezed with his corpulent body and pleaded with the messenger.

"I understand that, but there's something I absolutely must tell her before she meets His Majesty. Could you spare just a moment? It won't take long."

"Did you not hear me? This is His Majesty's order. Naturally, delays are impossible."

"The survival of my house depends on it. I was foolish and made the mistake of bringing great trouble into my home."

Count Reichenau stepped closer to the messenger and leaned in.

"Ten minutes will be enough. I'm asking you this favor."

In that fleeting moment, Adelheid saw several gold coins pass from the Count's hand toward the messenger's sleeve.

The messenger sighed, then jerked his chin toward a nearby door.

"Ten minutes only."

Throughout the process, no one asked Adelheid's opinion. The knights seized her and pushed her into the room along with the Count.

As the door closed, the Count grabbed Adelheid's wrist and dragged her to the table, then slammed down a stack of documents he'd been carrying under his arm as though discarding them.

Quill pen and ink appeared in succession—prepared in advance, it seemed.

"No need for long explanations. Sign immediately."

The Count spat the words out, wheezing. Adelheid gazed quietly at the various documents he thrust before her repeatedly.

Even at a glance, papers filled with all manner of responsibility-evading phrases were piled high.

Thinking she couldn't understand, the Count pointed to each one with his finger as he explained.

"This is a document agreeing that your identity will be completely expunged from Reichenau's registry stone. In your case, you were registered on the stone exceptionally without three witnesses through the High Priest's special permission, but recently a wanderer appeared claiming to be your biological father."

"What on earth are you talking about..."

"Upon investigation, he turned out to be a runaway slave who briefly stayed at the Reichenau estate long ago. I've obtained his entry pass and identification tag from that time, as well as the midwife's testimony."

Every word from the Count's mouth was a lie from beginning to end. As evidence, he no longer even glanced at her face.

Adelheid stared blankly at the worn identification tag stained with blood of unknown origin.

"This is an oath that you won't claim any blood relation or legal standing with Reichenau going forward. Sign everything without exception, and you and I are finished as of today."

Finished. What she'd once longed for so desperately was now offered this easily. Though in no way she'd ever wanted.

"..."

Adelheid clenched her trembling hands until the backs turned white. Inside her chest, the dormant anger grew like a spark slowly building its body.

If he'd truly thought of her as his child, he wouldn't dispose of her this way.

After extracting considerable wealth from Ansgar in exchange for selling her off, the moment things grew slightly difficult, he was shoving her to die for the family's sake.

Even though he knew full well this would leave Ansgar saddled with a Grand Duchess bearing not just commoner status, but a slave-born label.

"Now, there's no time, so hurry and sign..."

"I won't."

The Count glared at Adelheid with a face that couldn't believe his own ears.