Chapter 22
As soon as she opened the envelope, a polite greeting caught her eye first.
Following that, there was a proposal to go together to the ballet performance being held today at the grand theater.
It seemed that the words about helping with rehabilitation were not just empty talk.
Kain appeared to be trying, in his own way, to touch the longing for dance that remained inside Agnes.
But what actually captured Agnes’s attention was the postscript at the end of the letter.
[p.s I heard that the head of the Bardo Trading Company will also be attending today’s performance.]
“Father at the grand theater……?”
Her head tilted involuntarily.
Adrian was a person who had no interest in things like performances.
Money over art.
He was the type to focus on deals rather than appreciation.
For such a person to invest time in watching a performance was truly strange news.
But her suspicion was short-lived. Agnes soon shook her head.
There was no reason to accept this invitation.
She was grateful for Kain’s consideration, but they had only met once.
That made it feel burdensome instead.
Above all, she didn’t want to cause another misunderstanding with Lionel.
She also didn’t yet have the confidence to casually watch dancers freely leaping on stage.
“Have I always been this narrow-minded?”
Agnes let out a self-mocking laugh and tried to put the letter back into the envelope.
At that moment,
Thud-.
Something fell out from inside the envelope.
It was a performance pamphlet.
The pamphlet contained photos of the stage images along with props and backgrounds.
Agnes was about to flip through it nonchalantly when her expression hardened.
It was because she spotted a familiar pattern among the boxes piled up in the background.
“……Why is our trading company’s emblem here?”
Agnes’s eyes narrowed as she held the pamphlet closer.
It wasn’t clear, but the owl pattern was unmistakably the crest of the Bardo Trading Company.
Having stamped seals with it daily for over a decade, there was no way she could mistake it.
Moreover, this mark with flames added below the owl was one recently designated by the company to distinguish the new type of bombs.
Her head stung as if someone had hit her from behind.
Only now did she seem to understand the meaning of the sentence written in the postscript.
‘No way…….’
The revolvers bearing the Bardo emblem that the Cercadia soldiers had been carrying.
The newspaper articles loudly claiming that those presumed to be Cercadia remnants had tried to detonate bombs in the middle of the city.
And even the whispering voice she had heard half-asleep.
“They are repeatedly moving between the Ben Grand Theater and the central square. It seems they are attempting to carry out the bomb terror attack that failed previously.”
“I had thought it was just something I misheard in my sleep.”
If she hadn’t misheard, then another terror attempt would occur in the capital.
And the location would likely be the grand theater or the central square. One of the two…….
“The grand theater.”
With an exclamation close to realization, the pamphlet crumpled in Agnes’s hand.
“They’re trying to detonate a bomb at the grand theater……!”
If that weren’t the case, there would be no reason for bombs to be at the grand theater.
She had wondered why the company kept holding onto such dangerous items even after the war ended. This was their intention.
Her father was the kind of person who wouldn’t bat an eye at whatever disaster occurred from the goods he sold, as long as he could make a profit.
It was her own fault for not realizing it sooner.
In an era where peace had arrived, there weren’t many places to buy bombs.
‘I was so blinded by my own misfortune that I couldn’t even suspect it.’
Agnes immediately shook the bell next to the bed vigorously.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-!
At the loud ringing, the same maid from earlier entered again.
It had been only a few minutes since she had cleaned up the broken glass and left.
Confusion appeared on the maid’s face.
“Is there something else you need?”
Agnes spoke in a hurried tone due to her urgency.
“When will the Duke return?”
The maid seemed flustered and slightly bowed her head.
“I’m sorry, but we are not shared the schedule, so I don’t know the exact time. And please use respectful speech.”
“Is there no way to find out? I’m begging you like this, please……?”
The maid let out a small sigh at Agnes’s desperate expression.
“The head butler might know. He personally manages all of the Duke’s schedules.”
As soon as she heard that, Agnes quickly reached for the wheelchair beside the bed.
At that precarious movement, the maid was startled and hurriedly approached.
“You mustn’t move so hastily like this!”
Without even properly sitting in the wheelchair, Agnes grabbed the maid’s arm.
“I need to meet the head butler. Right now, please!”
It was a voice clinging in desperation.
Only then did emotion appear for the first time on the maid’s face, which had been expressionless like a machine.
Perhaps sensing the seriousness of the situation, the maid nodded after a brief hesitation.
“Then I’ll bring the head butler here instead. So please stay put for a moment. Understood?”
She then immediately ran out the door.
A few minutes passed.
The door opened again with the sound of footsteps from two people.
The head butler, neatly dressed in a light ash-brown uniform, hurriedly entered the room.
“I heard you called for me.”
Beads of sweat, seemingly from running, had formed on his forehead.
“You asked about the Duke’s return schedule.”
The head butler took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat.
“His Grace is scheduled to watch the performance at the grand theater this evening and return late at night.”
At those words, the color slowly drained from Agnes’s face.
“No, he absolutely must not go to the grand theater. He needs to get out of there right away……!”
At Agnes’s urgent cry, the head butler opened his eyes wide in surprise.
He soon carefully chose his words and replied.
“If you tell me the reason for this, I will verify it and then send someone to inform His Grace.”
“……It will be too late after verifying.”
Her lips dried up at the thought that Lionel might be in danger.
Some might call this foolish upon seeing it.
Why worry about him after suffering such humiliation in the annex.
Agnes knew well that Lionel hated her to the point of loathing.
Still, it didn’t matter.
She was already cursed by the entire world, what difference would one more harsh judgment make?
Lionel was more important than such things.
It was for an extremely selfish reason.
The reason she hadn’t collapsed while living as a despised freeloader was thanks to her dream of being a dancer and the memories with Rael, who had cheered for that dream.
Now that she had lost the stage, all that remained for Agnes were those memories.
Even if they were faded memories for Lionel, those memories were barely keeping Agnes going.
That was why.
Even if he was someone who hated her, she absolutely did not want to lose Lionel.
Losing one leg was enough.
If she lost even the last precious thing she had, she felt she truly wouldn’t be able to endure it.
Agnes gripped the wheelchair armrest tightly.
Her desperate breathing spread to her fingertips.
“Please take me to where the Duke is. I beg you.”
***
At that moment.
Lionel was entering the hall of the grand theater.
The black uniform clinging to his shoulders, the line of military boots falling straight to his toes.
With not a single hair out of place, he was impeccably refined, as if symbolizing the empire’s boundary.
Lionel’s gaze sharply scanned from the stage to every corner of the hall.
“In preparation for any contingency, keep all doors of the theater open. In an emergency, evacuate civilians first.”
Lionel gave instructions in a calm but firm tone.
As the knights bowed in acknowledgment, he moved his steps toward the stage again.
His footsteps were low and steady, but they contained unspoken tension.
And.
The moment his back, heading toward the stage, brushed past the end of the hall, a group of people entered from the opposite entrance.
The passing was instantaneous.
Lionel did not see them entering and turned his gaze, disappearing into the inner stage.
“Hmm. The theater is large, so a lot of spectators will come.”
The one leading the group was none other than Adrian.
Wearing a coat densely studded with ruby buttons, he walked ahead, twitching his nose as if smelling money.
Then he disapprovingly scolded Chloe beside him.
“What good reason do you have for following me all the way here? It’s dangerous. Go back to the company right now.”
“I’m not a child. I’ll handle it myself.”
Lately, because Chloe was increasingly disobeying him, Adrian was burning inside.
His forehead furrowed before her retort even finished, and he was on the verge of sighing involuntarily.
“Tsk.”
The moment his suppressed dissatisfaction lingered on his lips, Adrian’s eyes suddenly widened.
He had caught sight of Lionel passing the end of the hall.
“Damn it! How did the Duke know and come here!”
One of the people from the Rivert side following him found Adrian’s reaction strange and asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, that—,”
Adrian’s eyes darted busily.
He had to leave this place before encountering Lionel.
“Ah! I just remembered I have an important contract today! Sorry, but can I go ahead first?”
However, the shallow excuse didn’t work at all.
Because the man with his hood pulled down to his nose threateningly cornered Adrian.
“Don’t play tricks. You have to show the goods in person. Considering how much we paid.”
“Tricks? That hurts my feelings.”
“Or perhaps you prepared defective goods? That’s why you’re trying to run before getting caught?”
“T-That wouldn’t happen!”
In the end, Adrian, overwhelmed by the momentum, slyly lowered his eyes.
Chloe, who had been looking at such a pathetic Adrian, primly lifted her chin and headed straight toward where Lionel was.
It happened in an instant, without time to stop her.
“Chloe, what, what are you doing……!”
Adrian tried to grab her, but it was already too late.
By then, Chloe had reached Lionel and smiled brightly with innocent face, crinkling the corners of her eyes.
“Oh my, isn’t this the Duke? I didn’t expect to see you here.”
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