MHHC Chapter 7

Warning

Only then did Adelheid realize she had been holding her breath all this time. Her startled gasping quickly turned into hiccups.

"Adelheid."

A face beautiful enough to enchant anyone drew close. The voice calling her name again, so soothingly, was sweet as honey. A name that no one had ever called with joy, as if it were a hymn of praise offered to someone truly precious.

Adelheid lowered her trembling eyelids. Warm heat settled over them.

That night, Adelheid could not return to her room.

The moment Adelheid disappeared from his sight, even for an instant, Valentin would throw a violent tantrum bordering on seizure. Even sturdy knights holding him down proved useless.

Those groans, those blazing eyes, that gaze that relentlessly pursued only her even while his limbs were restrained, that mouth dripping with saliva...

Blasphemously, he seemed comparable to a madman. A person who was utterly rational and calm when the Grand Duchess was in sight would fall to such depths the moment she vanished.

At that point, butler Hermann bowed his head first, asking her please not to leave the Grand Duke's side for the time being. It was the first time Adelheid had ever experienced such submission.

"Long live the Grand Duke!"

"For the great Ansgar!"

Adelheid snapped out of her daze and looked down below the window at the loud cheering coming from the distance.

In the back courtyard, groups of people were gathered in threes and fives, raising toasts to celebrate the Grand Duke's resurrection. It seemed they had taken some of the ceremonial wine meant for the mourners and generously distributed it to the servants at their discretion.

Everyone looked far too merry and joyful.

As if they had forgotten that just yesterday, the Grand Duke had been a corpse destined for burial.

People forgot so many things all too easily. Fear had been transformed into awe, and all the ominous signs had been rewritten as miracles of Morig. They believed that the power of blessing dwelling in Ansgar's land had remained with the Grand Duke and made him 'freeze' at the decisive moment.

All these changes in perception had occurred in just one night. And throughout all of Bitzleben, she seemed to be the only one who still feared her husband as if he were a resurrected corpse.

'Let's hurry.'

It was a brief moment when Valentin, who had been holding onto Adelheid and keeping watch all night, had finally fallen asleep as if fainting. Adelheid hurriedly left the room to return to her own quarters, even if only briefly. She planned to arrange her clothing and gather a few items and returning before he woke.

Her steps up to the northern tower were urgent. The Grand Duchess's proper quarters should have been in the center of the main castle. But the butler had given her the old room in the tower under the pretext that the inner chambers hadn't been used for a long time and needed repairs. She had spent a full three years there.

The room was rather shabby for a noblewoman's quarters. A narrow window only a span wide, and a fireplace with cleared ashes were its only features. In the narrow room sat a bed, wardrobe, desk, and chair—one each—but they all seemed to be scavenged pieces barely assembled for appearance, each crafted from various types of wood.

'There's no time to light a fire.'

She skillfully undressed and poured the icy cold water from the pitcher into a brass bowl. She dampened a towel and thoroughly wiped away the soup stains that had dried on her body. Adelheid crouched before the wardrobe.

'Thank goodness I have spare undergarments and clothing.'

She pulled on an old chemise and rummaged through the wardrobe to find a farthingale whose only virtue was cleanliness. Tying the garment strings by herself took considerable time.

At that moment, the door opened urgently. As Adelheid spun around in panic, covering herself, a shrill voice flew in.

"My Lady! How I've been searching for you!"

It was Greta. Her face was ghastly pale, more than Adelheid had ever seen before. She strode quickly across the room and seized Adelheid's arm tightly. She gasped as if dying and spat out her words.

"N-now is not the time for this. You must leave immediately, right now."

Whether it was excitement, fear, or dread... The fragments of emotion scattered across Greta's face only confused Adelheid more.

"I don't understand what you're saying. Leave?"

"My Lady, you cannot stay here. You must leave before that thing wakes up. There's no time to delay."

Greta seemed to have forgotten that Adelheid was only in her chemise. She rummaged through the wardrobe and forcibly pulled a hood over Adelheid's head.

With that rough force, Adelheid's hair was messily pulled and disheveled. She frowned, which was rare for her.

"What do you mean, nanny? The Grand Duke has awakened and the situation has changed. Going to a convent is something I wanted too, but..."

"No. That's not it..."

Greta cut off her words and murmured desperately. She trembled so much that the voice crushed on her tongue scattered unclearly, as if she were talking to herself.

"It recognized you, My Lady. That thing... came looking to devour you at last."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"T-the time has come. Now there's really no way to stop it. What was it again? Yes. You must watch the shadows very carefully. Because it will move on its own..."

"Nanny. Why are you being so frightening all of a sudden? Shadows?"

Greta seemed to have forgotten that Adelheid was even in front of her. The lips of the old woman, pale with fear, suddenly opened.

"The dragon of Bitzleben is a cunning, vicious, and seductive beast..."

Anyone from the north would know what followed. It was a very famous story in Bitzleben. An ancient tale layered years upon years, passed down through generations from parent to child, cautioning children against venturing into the forest.

The dragon of Bitzleben is a cunning, vicious, and seductive beast. It freely manipulates shadows and cleverly hides among people, copying human behavior and mimicking language,

But speechless beasts will recognize it first.

Suddenly, the eerie crowing of a rooster drifted in through the window.

"What's a rooster doing crowing at this hour of the night..."

"It has awakened. It's looking for you, My Lady."

As Greta's face turned pale with terror, similar commotion arose from the floor below.

It came from the direction of the window that had been left open for ventilation. The sounds of servants calling to each other in the back courtyard leaked through, rising over the tall tower.

"Damn, what's all this racket?"

"Suddenly they're all making a fuss. Have the beasts all gone mad together, or what..."

"The horses were like that too. Is there a pack of wolves passing nearby?"

The murmuring voices gradually grew louder. The festive atmosphere began to break apart. The horses in the stable stamped their front hooves with frantic terror, and the chickens released shrill screams. Sounds that should only be heard just before dawn tore through the midnight hour. The dogs' barking voices rose tremendously.

"......"

A bleak wind came rushing in. It struck the half-open window, violently flinging it wide open. At that moment, what she had thought was the wind's whooshing became audibly louder.

Uhhh, uhhh.

It sounded like an ominous gale, a prisoner's death throes, or screams let out in agony.

"No, no..."

Greta covered her ears, her face as white as a sheet. She sat down, curled up, and rocked back and forth. Like someone utterly consumed by anxiety. Adelheid wrapped both hands around Greta's shoulders.

"Greta, please pull yourself together. Why are you suddenly acting like this?"

Adelheid wrapped both hands around Greta's shoulders. Inexplicable fear tended to spread like a contagious disease. And just as Adelheid was about to be gradually consumed by Greta's emotions—

Thud thud. It was the sound of someone urgently knocking on the old wooden door. Adelheid's head snapped up.

"Your Grace. Are you inside?"

It was Hermann. There was only one reason the butler would search for her so desperately.

"His Grace is looking for you. You should come quickly."

His voice carried deep urgency that he hadn't quite managed to hide. Adelheid was flustered and momentarily speechless. Immediately, the merciless knocking on the chamber door resumed.

His usually calm nature seemed to have been sold cheaply somewhere, as his urging voice was quite rushed.

"Your Grace. If you're inside, please hurry..."

"Wait just a moment, please. I haven't finished dressing properly yet."

Adelheid hurriedly arranged her appearance. She tied strings where her hands could reach and tucked the unreachable parts inside her clothing. Since Greta was in no state to help her, she did everything alone.

She threw on an old shawl and opened the door to find Hermann standing there, his face half-haggard. His complexion worn.

He showed excessive relief the moment he saw Adelheid.

"Thank you..."

Not knowing how to respond to gratitude she'd never received before despite doing nothing, she hesitated, and Hermann changed his expression and urged her on.

"You must hurry. I apologize, but from the moment he woke, he has been calling only Your Grace's name..."

Adelheid!

Just then, the Grand Duke's howling cry split the clear night. It was a terrible shriek that didn't seem like a human voice. Upon hearing it, eerie goosebumps rose immediately. When she widened her eyes in surprise, wondering if that voice really belonged to her husband, the butler nodded gravely.

Adelheid hurried down from the tower and ran down the corridor. Several people passed by offering greetings, but she had no presence of mind to return them.

Servants and soldiers crowded the area in front of the Grand Duke's bedroom, leaving no room to move.

"Butler! And... Your Grace the Grand Duchess."

"Her Grace has come!"

Starting with someone recognizing her, cracks began to appear in the seamlessly standing crowd.

People made way for her to pass, moving their bodies aside. After repeating this several times, Adelheid was finally pushed into the room as if expelled from the crowd.

"......"

Inside the room was complete chaos.

Pottery and bowls, broken window glass fragments were scattered everywhere, and the thick wooden table lay broken in half. Overturned flower vases and water-soaked carpets, torn curtains and burst pillowcases were strewn about in all directions.

Adelheid's gaze moved slowly as if crawling.

And finally.

"Adelheid."

Her eyes met golden pupils gazing clearly at her.