RAMHM Chapter 40

New Discovery

The Emperor's youngest half-brother. An indispensable strategist. Ronteaux's only Grand Duke and master of the North. The Grand Ducal Estate of Trovika, as massive as its owner's prestige, housed dozens of servants. And at their center stood Annie and her group, noses in the air, halfheartedly wiping windows.

"I've never seen the Grand Duke so angry."

"Not since he was with that mistress woman at Her Grace the Grand Duchess's memorial service."

"What mistress? If she were a real mistress, why haven't there been any rumors about our master dating a woman?"

'Next time you see me, don't greet me standing on two healthy legs—kneel properly on both knees first, understand?'

That woman's words as she'd left the Grand Ducal Estate suddenly flashed through Annie's mind.

"Marie!!"

Annie's displeasure at the memory made her wrinkle her brow sharply as she called out to Marie.

"Y-yes!"

"Come here and finish wiping this yourself. Weren't you in charge of this area yesterday? How did you do it to leave so many handprints? You did it on purpose knowing I'd be wiping today, didn't you?"

"No, no! You're misunderstanding!"

"Then wipe it properly again, you clumsy girl."

Annie kicked the water bucket with her foot. Thud! With the sound, the bucket rolled and the murky water—used to rinse rags multiple times—seeped into the wooden floor with a musty smell.

"If-if water soaks into this floor...!"

"Figure it out yourself. You'll need to dry it well in the sunlight for days and oil it to get it right again."

Annie left the room with her group.

"By the way, I heard the master's anger yesterday might have been because of that woman."

"What?"

"I think I once heard the butler saying that woman's extravagance was excessive. Maybe she spent lavishly using the master's backing?"

"I don't think His Grace the Grand Duke would get that angry over some extravagance..."

"Leaving earlier than planned was also to visit that woman's estate..."

"If the mistress rumors are true, maybe he went to have a big fight and end things!"

'So that's what it was...?'

The tightly drawn nerve relaxed, and Annie's lips curved into a smile.

"That makes sense. How could a woman like that suit His Grace the Grand Duke?"

Kneel and greet me next time? Acting willfully only to be cast aside—just like a mistress. With a lighter heart, Annie walked toward the first-floor entrance, thinking about how to slip into his bedroom once the Grand Duke returned and finished the funeral—maybe doing some shopping in town while the head housekeeper wasn't watching. Her humming stopped abruptly not long after.

CRASH—! The estate's grand door burst open savagely, and an unfamiliar crowd poured into the Grand Ducal Estate. The person who'd barged into the masterless estate was none other than Countess Acacia, who'd torn through the place and disappeared not long ago.

"It's been a while, Annie."

"...!"

Behind the noblewoman who'd stormed in with dozens of knights came about fifteen maids from the Count's estate as well. The woman approached the frozen Annie without hesitation and whispered affectionately with a smile.

"What are you doing?"

Through the murmuring, gathering servants, the woman's voice pierced clearly.

"Did you forget? What I told you to do next time you saw me."

The woman's eyes—finally glimpsed looking up—were bloodshot and seemed half-crazed.

"Are you finished checking? I didn't realize His Grace the Grand Duke left without handling matters so properly."

"..."

Butler Gaspar scanned the official document in his hands several times. The format and the Empress's seal matched exactly with the occasional Imperial documents that came to the estate.

Countess Acacia sat there smiling leisurely yet somehow razor-sharp in presence—her unfamiliar dignity imposing. Behind the sofa where the noblewoman sat as if in her own home, the Count's maids stood with straight backs, looking around the estate as if they'd moved into a new house. Gaspar felt a sense of crisis at the momentum of these intruding stones.

"If I'm to stand before mourners paying respects to the body, I'll need to guard that body."

Bliea Acacia sat with crossed legs, stroking the sofa's armrest—oddly sensual. Gaspar swallowed dryly.

"His Grace the Grand Duke didn't show Her Grace the Grand Duchess's body publicly because he didn't want her to become a spectacle. Naturally, we show the body to no one visiting the estate."

"And so?"

"Naturally, he commanded us not to show you the body either, Madam, and to have you stay quietly before leaving."

"Don't guard the body, stay quietly, then leave?"

Adrienne narrowed her eyes and stared at Butler Gaspar. Seeing him stand stiffly clutching the official document from the Imperial household, the power Doris had let her briefly taste felt real.

"That's the order His Grace the Grand Duke gave you, but the order I received from Her Majesty the Empress is different."

"While we're grateful the Imperial household sent someone, the master of this Grand Ducal Estate and the owner of the body is naturally His Grace, so if you'll please follow accordingly, we'll ensure you're comfortable during your stay."

By whose authority was the body Novian's? Adrienne didn't hide her bitter smile as she stared at Gaspar. He seemed to think he'd spoken quite persuasively and was regaining his original composure.

"So what you're saying is that His Grace the Grand Duke's orders supersede the commands of Her Majesty the Empress, the Moon of the Empire?"

"That-that's not! You know that's not what I meant!"

"Then how is it not what you meant after saying exactly that?"

Adrienne understood perfectly what the butler meant: 'We're grateful for the Imperial consideration, but we'll handle it ourselves.' But Adrienne hadn't come here for meaningless verbal sparring.

"If you won't even show the body to the Imperial administrator sent to guard it, there's no help for it."

"While you may have come with such authority, within the Grand Ducal Estate, you cannot be completely above my authority as head butler."

"You're right about that."

Gaspar finally relaxed and smiled victoriously.

"Then I'll have to interrogate all the servants except you to find the body."

At least until Bliea Acacia, who'd been acting strangely noble lately, said those words.

"Summon all the servants except the butler."

"That's...!"

"You keep following your master's orders like that. No one will blame you. You do your job. I must absolutely follow Her Majesty the Empress's command, so I'll need some help from the others."

The smile that had flickered on the noblewoman's face vanished instantly, her expression freezing cold as she turned the other direction.

"First of all... how about you impudent ones?"

Where the noblewoman turned her head, Annie's group stood stiffly at the entrance, watching the entire situation unfold.

I had some idea where they might have hidden the body. But wherever I went, people's eyes would follow, so I couldn't recklessly tear through every location.

"Is there anyone who will help me follow Her Majesty the Empress's command?"

"Even if you ask us, we don't know anything."

"You know nothing in this estate?"

I didn't believe Annie's group, who tore through the entire estate spreading gossip, knew absolutely nothing. But I had limited time for gentle interrogation, and using outright violence with so many eyes watching wasn't wise either. Not knowing where Doris's eyes and ears might be, I couldn't act rashly.

"Really—?"

Watching Annie refuse to kneel and speak stiffly while the other maids exchanged glances, competitive spirit surged. I didn't know where Doris's people might be, or who Novian might have planted to watch me, but—

"Then I'll have to help you follow Her Majesty the Empress's command."

"Pardon...?"

The Grand Ducal Estate's elderly head housekeeper, Sophie, finally appeared with her aged body and looked at me with anxious eyes, wide open. As if to reassure her it was nothing serious, I smoothly curved my lips upward.

"Lock them in the closet."

"!"

"I need to help them want to speak."

Nobles have noble methods. Personally administering beatings isn't a good choice.

"Marie?"

"Y-yes...?"

Marie, who'd been trying her hardest to avoid meeting my eyes from the back, approached me trembling pitifully.

"Don't give those girls locked in the closet a single sip of water or a single crumb of stale bread."

"...!"

"And..."

I gently pulled her arm and whispered.

"Every two hours, kick the closet they're locked in as hard as you can, over and over."

"What-what kind of..."

"You have some built-up resentment, don't you?"

Marie's slightly limping gait and inability to meet anyone's eyes suggested she'd definitely been tormented by Annie. Like a devil who gives everything in exchange for one's soul, I whispered lower.

"The demons inside that closet will never imagine the person kicking it at all hours—night or dawn—is you."

Promise. After that final promise, Marie's expression became subtle.

"M-Madam... what are you planning to do after locking them in the closet...!"

"Head Housekeeper, you're aged and need rest. Leave the rest to me, entrusted with Her Majesty the Empress's command. I have no desire to turn this estate upside down either. Locking them in a closet to establish discipline—for servants of a noble house, isn't that a familiar and light punishment?"

"......"

At the words 'Her Majesty the Empress's command,' the head housekeeper pressed her lips together and simply watched as several knights dragged Annie's group away.

"Let-let go!"

"Lady Sophie! Lady Sophie! Help us! This doesn't make sense! Our master is Her Grace the late Grand Duchess!"

Hearing them invoke my dead self as they were dragged away, I brushed aside even the slight pang of conscience. Marie, who'd been restlessly wondering whether to follow them or stay by my side, received my quiet smile. Understanding its meaning, Marie hesitated before following after them.

I immediately examined the documents the butler had given me reluctantly—those meaningless things. Names of nobles who'd come to pay respects directly at the estate. And occasionally, those who'd brought consolation gifts to curry favor with Novian had the types of gifts meticulously written in the remarks column. Trivial information Novian had surely left to the butler.

While I was wracking my brain about how to access more important information with my authority, suddenly—very suddenly—a thought struck me.

"...Why is the butler's handwriting exactly the same as Novian's?"

I knew both Novian's handwriting and roughly the butler's as well. Novian and all Imperial family members learned the long-established Imperial calligraphy style, so while each person's was slightly different, they didn't deviate greatly from the form. Wait. I felt all the blood drain coldly from my body.

"Yona."

"Yes, Madam."

"Has there been a reply to the letter sent to the Second Prince?"

"No, but instead, this..."

Before coming to the Grand Ducal Estate, I'd sent a letter to Rhodness early in the morning saying I wanted to meet immediately. The thick envelope Yona handed me contained only corrections to my Ellaconian assignment he'd taken before—no reply. He hadn't responded to my letter wanting to meet.

Is he angry after all? Because I overstepped.

Remembering Rhodness's face as he'd pushed me away like we'd never meet again made my heart ache. But last night—unable to sleep properly, spending the night with open eyes—my momentum had risen, and throughout the journey to this Grand Ducal Estate, I'd wanted to meet him and confirm. About Cowan. About the little forest. As I quickly scanned through Rhodness's corrections, I suddenly shot to my feet, frozen stiff.

"Madam, is something wrong?"

Yona's worried voice echoed in the guest room. I sat back down heavily and placed the documents Gaspar had given me and Rhodness's corrections on the table.

"The handwriting... it's exactly the same."

The writing Rhodness had carefully corrected. The writing in Butler Gaspar's documents. And Novian's writing I remembered. All three handwritings were identical.