Chapter 74
“Rather than wasting your strength in vain…….”
Nora’s voice was soft, as always.
“……Wouldn’t it be better to become a perfect noblewoman without any flaws as soon as possible? Then, who knows. Perhaps the Duke will lay his eyes on Lady Agnes once more.”
*Slap!*
At the same time as the sharp bursting sound, Nora’s head was turned away.
Nora, who had been struck on the cheek by Agnes, blinked as if in disbelief, then twisted the corners of her mouth.
“It seems Lady Agnes is sensitive since it hasn’t been long since she woke up, so let us leave the room.”
At the end of those words, Nora slightly tilted her head toward Andrew, who was standing behind her.
The signal was clear.
*Click—.*
Without any hesitation, Andrew turned on the walkie-talkie and placed it down by the bedside.
A mechanical beep echoed through the room.
“Then, please rest comfortably, Lady Agnes.”
Nora’s polite smile was perfect.
The moment the door closed, the room was filled only with the sound from the walkie-talkie.
The cozy sunlight penetrated the window, stretching long lattice-patterned shadows,
And those shadows stretched out like iron bars trapping Agnes from all sides.
“……Ha, haha.”
A breath escaped that could not be distinguished as laughter or futility.
This place.
It was a perfect prison elaborately designed just for Agnes.
Completely neglected under the pretext of protection.
***
The eyes of one servant, who had been watching from the moment Nora entered Agnes’s room, moved anxiously.
She, who had come in to replace Jessie, was a person Simon had personally selected and brought in.
Simon had told her to report immediately if an ‘excessive incident’ occurred to Agnes.
When the boutique staff visited, she had received instructions through others and hadn’t been able to grasp what was happening.
But looking at the situation now, it seemed clear that the incident back then also belonged to the ‘excessive incidents’ Simon had mentioned.
The servant, who had been stealthily watching Nora’s reaction, immediately ran to the place where Simon was working.
“Chief Butler, I think you need to come quickly!”
Seeing the face of the servant who had run until her breath reached her throat, Simon felt as if a cold flame was stroking down his back.
And he immediately headed to the front of Agnes’s room.
By the time Simon arrived, Nora and Andrew were just coming out of the room.
He tried to knock on the door at once, but Nora blocked him.
“Step aside.”
“Lady Agnes must take rest. Do not disturb her.”
Just then, Agnes’s painful groans flowed out from beyond the door.
Startled by that, Simon pushed aside Nora, who was holding her ground in front of the door.
“Nora, what is the meaning of this! Just what kind of things have you been doing!”
Then, Nora let out a snort as if it were absurd.
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Haven’t you been turning a blind eye reasonably well even while knowing? Because you didn’t want things to get troublesome.”
“What are you talking about, woman!”
“Can you truly be confident that you knew nothing all this time? If so, why were there no particular words even after hearing about what happened on Lord Cedric’s birthday upon returning from vacation?”
Simon was left speechless.
Rather than dealing with Nora, he immediately knocked on the bedroom door.
“Lady Agnes? Are you alright?”
There was no answer.
Only the sound of the walkie-talkie was leaking out intermittently.
When he hurriedly opened the door, Agnes was sitting almost huddled under the bed, her body trembling slightly.
Her face was turned white, drained of all blood,
And her pupils were trembling without focus.
Simon’s heart sank.
“……Lady Agnes.”
Simon’s hands trembled.
He hastily turned off the walkie-talkie.
At that moment, Agnes’s shoulders flinched, jumping slightly.
How long had she been exposed to such a sound?
Why had no one, not even himself, known of this state?
By no means had he ever expected Agnes’s condition to be to this extent.
But at the same time, Nora’s words were true.
He knew that Agnes was not receiving proper treatment.
However, he considered that a task for Agnes to solve, and as long as the servants’ room for maneuver did not cross the line, he did not purposefully step in to mediate.
Simon, too, had been unconsciously mindful of the rumors regarding Agnes.
Therefore, he felt that failing to gain the trust of the servants was Agnes’s problem and…….
He had passed off the commotion that occurred while he was on vacation as the realization of Agnes’s wickedness, which he had only heard about through rumors.
Even though he had seen several times right by her side that Agnes was not of such a temperament. Simon had looked at Agnes through biased lenses.
Nora’s words hit home painfully.
“Haven’t you been turning a blind eye reasonably well even while knowing? Because you didn’t want things to get troublesome.”
Guilt began to pile up deep inside Simon’s chest.
He claimed to have fulfilled his responsibilities for Agnes all this time, but that responsibility was merely at the level of ‘as long as it’s not to the point of being a threat to her life.’
And that bystander effect eventually created this result.
“Just…… just what is…… Lady Agnes……!”
Even after hearing his voice, Agnes failed to react properly and only exhaled small breaths.
The walkie-talkie was turned off, but the room was still filled with a silence that seemed to vibrate.
Now, this was not a matter to be passed over ‘reasonably.’
It was not an emotional issue between servants, but the collapse of the mansion’s operation itself.
It was a matter for which he, as the Chief Butler, must take responsibility.
Simon suppressed his trembling breath.
He had to report it. To the Duke.
This had already exceeded the range he could solve by taking action alone.
***
The meeting room of the Imperial Palace was silent.
Only the sparks of the fireplace popped, filling the gaps in the tension.
The first to break that silence was the Emperor’s agitated shout.
“I told you to cover it up quietly…… Who told you to escalate things like this!”
*Clang—!*
The thrown wine glass struck Jerome’s temple accurately.
Red wine scattered like bursting blood, flowing down below his neckline along Jerome’s red hair.
Jerome’s nape, filled with tension, trembled.
Defiance and a sense of humiliation wavered in his bright yellow golden eyes.
“……It could not be helped, Your Majesty.”
Jerome, barely suppressing his rage, brushed off the wine pooled at the tip of his chin.
“Because the figures from Sercadia were creating a riot, threatening to expose the truth of the war if the path to exile was not opened immediately. The fastest and easiest way to shut their mouths was—”
“An easy way?”
The Emperor covered his eyes and burst into laughter like someone who had heard a funny joke.
Then he suddenly stopped laughing.
“That is why you are insufficient!”
*Thump—!*
The Emperor struck the table and leaned forward.
His gaze was venomous, and the look he gave Jerome was less than that given to a maggot.
“You should have used a method without trouble, not an easy method! Otherwise, who will eventually be hit by the arrow? It is me. Do you not understand?”
The Emperor waved his hand roughly as if frustrated.
“Take your hands off this matter, and also the investigation into Rebelt!”
“Your Majesty!”
Jerome’s eyes, which had been pretending to be somewhat obedient, became triangular.
“I cannot accept the matter regarding Rebelt, if nothing else. I am investigating well-,”
“You fool, be quiet!”
However, the Emperor turned his body away as if it were not worth listening to.
“Shouldn’t we throw another bait so that fellow Lionel Edmund Valheim cannot pay attention to the wrong place! Since he is a fellow who cannot resist anything regarding Rebelt, I am telling you to hand over the investigative authority again!”
“I will take responsibility and block Lionel Edmund Valheim. So please reconsider!”
“Enough, so get out of my sight right now!”
At the thunderous order to leave, Jerome could not speak further and was pushed outside.
As the door closed, a cold wind swept violently across his face.
At the end of the marble hallway of the Imperial Palace, a few servants whispered while glancing at his head glistening with wine.
That gaze grated on Jerome’s nerves even further.
Exiting the Imperial Palace with rough steps, Jerome, unable to contain his anger, kicked the palace wall and spat out curses.
“Damn it!”
Veins stood out as anger and humiliation mixed.
Did being the Emperor mean everything? He was also of the Imperial family. He had no reason to receive this kind of treatment.
“If only that seat were mine…… ……!”
At that moment, while he was muttering such dangerous things that his head would be cut off immediately if anyone heard.
Someone called Jerome.
“Colonel.”
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