MHHC Chapter 40

As You Wish

"I know it's presumptuous of me to say this, but... could you perhaps visit His Grace the Grand Duke...?"

If such words emerged even from the thoughtful Margaret's lips, it was safe to assume half the population of Ansgar Castle had noticed she was avoiding Valentin.

Evidence of this could be seen in how Yanik's eyes widened as he glanced between them with undisguised curiosity.

Adelheid slowly set down her spoon. The stew she'd been enjoying moments ago now sat heavy in her stomach like a stone.

"You haven't... had a quarrel, have you? Or has something happened between you two...?"

"It's nothing like that."

Adelheid protested in a voice that barely rose above a whisper.

A quarrel. Such language could only be used between equals.

What had transpired was closer to her unilaterally fleeing from Valentin at every opportunity.

It was because her suspicion of him had peaked immediately after Greta's disappearance.

'The timing was too convenient.'

Greta had vanished exactly one week after they'd discussed the curse.

What made it worse—it happened just as her curse had begun showing signs of recovery. The herbs the healer Jürgen had provided seemed to be taking effect after long patience.

Even the herbalist summoned from the neighboring territory had assured them Greta's condition was improving, guaranteeing that within ten days the swelling in her throat would subside completely and her voice would return.

The situation had been that optimistic.

'And she had no reason to run away.'

Greta was the woman who'd replaced her deceased mother in Adelheid's life.

Perhaps because of that bond, Adelheid had never managed to sever ties with her, even knowing Greta subtly abused and undermined her self-worth.

Like a fool reaching for a rose despite knowing the thorns would pierce her skin, drawn by that fleeting beauty.

'If even Greta leaves... who will remain by my side?'

The people of Ansgar, whose attitudes might shift at any moment once her usefulness expired? Valentin, who concealed so much from her?

Whatever else could be said, Greta had been there during her darkest times.

She couldn't simply cast her aside now that circumstances had improved slightly. At least, not while she still worried about Greta's future.

Greta had understood Adelheid's nature best and exploited it thoroughly.

As Adelheid's authority grew, Greta would have anticipated—even celebrated—the crumbs that might fall her way. After enduring so much hardship to reach this point, there was absolutely no reason for her to leave Ansgar territory now.

Adelheid barely swallowed a sigh.

'There was so much I could have done for her. I could have raised her salary, replaced her furniture and bedding since she'd complained they were worn...'

Counting all the things she could have done for Greta, all the ways she might have compensated for those difficult years, brought her back obsessively to the same thought, like a compulsion tracing the same circular path.

'I can't think of any reason Greta would leave this castle of her own accord.'

So her suspicions continued their endless spiral.

Hadn't it been Valentin's doing from the start? Hadn't he planned everything—from the curse to Greta's disappearance, or perhaps death?

"I don't know what's troubling you, but wouldn't it help to talk things through?"

"...Even if we talk, I'm not sure it can be resolved easily..."

"Still, you must try. Wouldn't it be better to speak honestly about whatever misunderstandings might be building between you?"

Adelheid blinked slowly, her vision blurring. Her heart sank with a dull heaviness.

'If only all of this truly were a misunderstanding.'

What had finally shifted her conviction—her certainty that it couldn't possibly be true—was the information Hermann had brought.

Many people had witnessed Greta boarding a carriage and leaving the territory of her own volition. Even Yanik sitting beside her had seen it.

"......"

When Yanik's gaze met Adelheid's sidelong glance, his eyes widened before he suddenly began feigning disinterest.

Adelheid noticed not only Yanik but all the servants within earshot wore identical expressions.

They'd clearly been listening intently to the conversation while pretending otherwise.

'They're all worried.'

The subtle chill between the couple had indeed been the talk among the retainers for days.

Word was that Her Grace maintained a distance so precise it cut like a blade in its courtesy, while His Grace gazed at her with something like resentment but made no move to stop her. And each time, the temperature throughout Ansgar Castle seemed to drop another degree.

She'd lost count of how many times she'd heard such whispers behind her back.

'Perhaps I was wrong from the very beginning...'

She set down her bowl and lowered her gaze in dejection.

Then, lifting her head absently, she glanced toward the library window where Valentin would be.

For just an instant, she glimpsed an enormous shadow that had been watching her from the window—then it vanished in a blink, so swiftly it might have been imagination.

It seemed she could no longer avoid him.

"Valentin."

When Adelheid hesitantly called his name again, Valentin looked up from his book. He raised his head at a leisurely pace.

As though he'd only just noticed her standing there.

He wasn't human and could manipulate all shadows, so he would have known she was there without needing her voice—perhaps from the very moment she'd first stepped into the corridor leading to the library.

"......"

The silence stretched, undisturbed.

He simply gazed at her blankly, as if asking why she'd sought him out. She opened her mouth with reluctance.

"I hear you've been skipping meals again."

"Have I?"

Valentin responded strangely, as though hearing about someone else's affairs rather than his own. He rose from his seat with a gentle smile.

"The news reached you more slowly than I, expected."

"......"

"I thought you'd come at least three days, ago."

Adelheid felt her breath catch as she realized how smooth his speech had become. Yes. His reproach was accurate—it had been a long time.

Ten full days had passed before she faced Valentin again.

Which also meant it had been ten days since Greta's disappearance.

Any excuse about the timing coinciding by chance would be pointless.

It would only make her look either absurd or utterly foolish. Adelheid fidgeted with her hands before stammering out words.

"If you'd summoned me through a servant, I naturally would have—"

"Would you really have, come?"

There was no mockery or sarcasm in his tone. Just a quiet confirmation.

Would she have approached him even one step if she hadn't first received news of Greta's safety? It might have been closer to a reproach, but at least he didn't let that quality fully surface.

Perhaps it was because he looked unbearably cold and desolate.

"......"

Despite the depth of winter, he wore only a simple tunic.

For her to dismiss it thinking he'd be fine because he was a shadow rather than human—his nose was reddened, his lips tinged blue.

The library had many unrepaired windows that let in bitter drafts.

Unless he was staging some protest to prick her conscience... Though even as protest, it would be inefficient.

Was he truly determined to catch a cold?

Looking at him with something like disbelief, Adelheid noticed the stew the servants must have brought had frozen solid in its bowl.

She realized simultaneously that the cold penetrating the library wasn't merely from drafts.

Drafts alone couldn't freeze stew that had been boiling hot just moments ago into such a solid block.

Which meant only one thing.

He might possess the power to control atmospheric temperature.

'I'd already suspected as much, hadn't I?'

Adelheid clenched her trembling hands into fists. Then, as though unable to bear the lengthening silence any longer, he spoke.

"What suddenly brought you to, find me?"

Adelheid tore her gaze from the frozen stew bowl. Valentin met her eyes with languid indifference and blinked slowly.

He seemed to know perfectly well what she wanted to say, yet carried the air of someone waiting to hear it anyway.

Whenever he wore that expression, Adelheid always felt like a puppet dancing on the palm of his hand.

Valentin's alluring smile deepened slightly.

"You can't have suddenly wanted to, see me. You came because you need, something."

"......"

"Tell me."

"The snow..."

Though she'd begun, the words wouldn't come easily.

She'd been thinking all along that he might have some way to stop the snow, yet she'd looked away until now.

'If I'd acted, he wouldn't have bothered keeping her alive... barely breathing.'

It had been exactly one week after he'd said those words.

How could she not suspect him? Whether Greta was dead or missing, she hadn't wanted to prostrate herself at Valentin's feet and beg for her life while pretending ignorance.

Not when he might be the one who—

Adelheid bit her lip hard.

Perhaps, just as he'd suggested, it was all a misunderstanding, and her pointless stubbornness had caused everyone to suffer when an easy path lay open. Adelheid wanted to correct all those misunderstandings, even now.

"Could you... is it possible to stop the snow from falling, or melt it entirely?"

"Ah. So you've finally thought, of me?"

Adelheid raised her eyes, which she'd been deliberately avoiding his gaze with. Hope flickered in his pale green irises.

"Does that mean... it's possible?"

"Not, impossible, but I'm not sure it's the method you, want."

He explained with gentle patience.

"Controlling snow, rain, and storms falls under Morig's, domain, so there's nothing I can do, now. But I could melt all the snow in the, vicinity."

"That would..."

"I could raise the surface temperature in an, instant, or draw up hot spring water. Either way, it would appear far too, strange to the public eye."

"......"

"Do you want it?"

Valentin slowly circled the long table and stood before Adelheid.

He gazed directly into her eyes with a sensual smile.

Though she felt like a cornered mouse, she couldn't tear her gaze away from those eyes.

"Tell me. I'll do whatever you, want."