Chapter 73
“Don’t abandon me, Rael……”
“…….”
Returning to the office building of the Black Iron Knights, Lionel Edmund Valheim pressed his throbbing forehead.
He had just come from stopping by the mansion for a moment to check on the condition of the ailing Agnes.
The image of Agnes seeking him even while her consciousness was blurred, swept up in a high fever, kept flickering before his eyes.
At the same time, a rage that had not yet subsided seethed within him.
Why was he so angry?
Simply because Cedric Alexio Valheim had been insulted?
Of course, that was true, but it wasn’t everything.
He felt a sense of betrayal.
The source of this emotion stemmed from the fact that ‘Agnes’ of all people had done such a thing.
“It’s not as if I didn’t know she was that kind of woman, so why on earth do I feel this damn way.”
This was all because of the testimony of that cursed train attendant.
From the moment he knew Agnes had not boarded the train heading South, he had unconsciously been excluding Agnes from Cedric Alexio Valheim’s death.
Thinking that if nothing else, she was innocent of that.
Thinking that perhaps, Agnes’s wrongdoing might not be as great as the hatred he held.
At some point, Lionel Edmund Valheim became unable to purely hate Agnes as before.
Whenever he tried to pour out indiscriminate hatred onto Agnes’s clear face as he used to, a sickening headache like this would find him.
As if instinct were warning him that he must not do so.
Even at this moment, now that he had seen Agnes’s loathsome true face.
Lionel Edmund Valheim threw the window wide open to shake off the wretched mood.
Then, cold winter air rushed into the room.
The piercing chill felt as if it would freeze even his reason, but he felt that if he didn’t do at least this, he wouldn’t be able to handle the tangled emotions seething inside.
Outside, preparations for the Eve festival were in full swing.
Instead of flowers that had all wilted, paper flowers were decorating the streets.
Children running around frantically on the white streets.
And among them, a young girl holding an armful of paper flower bouquets caught his eye.
The modest, pale light-blue flowers resembled the atmosphere Agnes exuded.
Lionel Edmund Valheim sat loosely on the windowsill, leaning his temple against the cold window frame.
In his hand, he held the brooch Agnes had worn.
“Possessed, truly and deeply possessed.”
Lionel Edmund Valheim let out a caustic sneer directed at himself.
“That must be why I’m doing this kind of thing.”
Lionel Edmund Valheim’s sleeves were unusually wrinkled.
It was a look entirely different from his always neat attire.
It was a trace that showed he had been moving without a moment to catch his breath for the past few days.
Briefly seeing the sleeping Agnes today was also a result obtained by barely carving out time.
Starting from Cedric Alexio Valheim’s birthday, high-ranking officials of Sercadia were being found as corpses one after another.
It couldn’t be a coincidence.
On the surface, all were announced as accidental deaths, but this was an act of cutting off tails and, at the same time, a clear warning sent by the Emperor.
Telling him to no longer dig into the truth of the war.
Furthermore, as if he had smelled something, Jerome was persistently prying into the House of Marquis Guten.
“I thought it was strangely quiet.”
If nothing else, Jerome must never find out about the relationship between Agnes and Rael.
If that happened, Agnes’s life could be in danger.
To a degree incomparable to the childish schemes of trying to link her to charges of communicating with Rebelt.
So, even if Rael was not her biological father, he had to take measures in advance so that even a slight possibility of being linked with Agnes would not reach Jerome’s ears.
“Erase everything regarding Rael Herben Guten. Down to the most trivial things. Anything that can be connected to Agnes.”
Lionel Edmund Valheim gritted his teeth as he gave the order to Kalt, who was standing at the corner of the wall.
Yes, it seemed he was already deeply possessed. Something in his head must have broken.
If not, there was no way he would be going through such troublesome efforts to protect Agnes, who had trampled on Cedric Alexio Valheim once again.
One side of his heart was not moving according to his will.
Hundreds of times a day, the face of his emotions changed.
From hatred, it became affection.
From affection, it became loathing again.
The consistency he had thrown away at the start—now not even a trace of it could be found.
Yes.
He was being steadily swayed.
By Agnes.
***
“You suffered from fever for a full four days.”
Andrew measured Agnes’s temperature with a dry touch.
*Cough.*
A dry cough burst from between Agnes’s cracked lips.
Whether Agnes was struggling with the unstoppable cough or not, Andrew only said what he had to say.
“The fever has all subsided now. However, you have symptoms of mild pneumonia, so do not overexert yourself for the time being.”
Ignoring such an Andrew, Agnes got out of bed and stood up, holding the railing installed along the wall.
“Did you not hear my words? You must still take rest. If you do not want to suffer from aftereffects—,”
“The Head Maid, ugh.”
As she began to speak, her throat throbbed. However, Agnes continued her words to the end.
“Bring the Head Maid.”
At the commanding tone, Andrew cleared his throat and, without hiding his displeased expression, rang the bell.
Then the door opened at once.
It was the door that would not open no matter how much Agnes shook the bell.
Yet, seeing them rush over just because Andrew’s coughing sound was mixed in, a sense of futility washed over her.
Agnes briefly closed her eyes and then opened them.
“Lord Andrew, is there anything you need?”
“Please call your mother. Lady Agnes is seeking her.”
“Ah—. Lady Agnes is.”
The servant, who glanced at Agnes, belatedly gave a greeting and then left the room with quick steps to find Nora.
Soon, Nora appeared.
“Did you seek me, Lady Agnes?”
Agnes gripped the railing so hard that her hands turned white.
The strength was already leaving her legs.
But she endured. Agnes intentionally straightened her body further and met Nora’s eyes.
“Do you not have something to say to me?”
“What would that be about?”
“I mean what happened six days ago.”
She had a rough idea, but she still wanted to hear it directly from Nora’s mouth.
Why she had turned her into a shameless person who insulted Cedric Alexio Valheim.
“Ah. Are you speaking of what happened on Lord Cedric’s birthday? I was merely carrying out Lady Agnes’s orders.”
“Don’t lie.”
Agnes’s breath trembled as she suppressed a cough trying to burst out.
“The brooch. The keepsakes. It was all your doing.”
“I do not know what you are talking about. I merely set the schedule because Lady Agnes said she wanted a fitting, and I merely followed the command because you told me to store the items in another room.”
Nora loathsomely brought her joined hands to her cheek.
“But to say it is my doing? I have done nothing.”
At those words, Agnes’s insides turned cold.
The strength in her legs, which she had been stubbornly maintaining, suddenly gave way.
“Oh my! Are you alright?”
Nora, approaching Agnes with exaggerated gestures, whispered as she tenderly embraced Agnes’s shoulders.
“Why are you like this? What, are you going to tell the Duke that it was all a scheme of mine?”
Agnes brushed off Nora’s hand.
“And if I do?”
“If Lady Agnes were to do so, what could a mere powerless Head Maid do? I would have to follow that will.”
Nora coddled Agnes’s shoulders again as if she were truly worried.
“But, would the Duke really believe the words Lady Agnes says? This Nora is concerned that Lady Agnes might be hurt by hollow hope.”
Nora subtly turned Agnes’s shoulders to make her look into the mirror hanging in front.
Agnes’s appearance reflected inside was truly shabby.
Her crumbly hair texture, her pale complexion thick with a sickly look. Not a single part of her was fine.
“Look. What your situation is like right now, Lady Agnes. While staying in a room the Duke does not seek, what could you possibly do.”
Nora whispered in a more secretive voice into Agnes’s ear.
“Lady Agnes. The virtues of a noblewoman also include grasping one’s own situation well.”
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