After seeing the traces left by Agnes, Lionel’s mind became even more muddled.
Lionel could not tell where this emotion was directed, nor what it was that was trying to destroy him.
Contrary to his intention, the more he traced the fragments Agnes had left behind, the more the headache heavily consumed his mind.
“Y-Your Grace…! This room is, well, ah! It’s a practice room. It’s only used when practicing dance—”
Chloe’s excuse did not reach Lionel’s ears.
Holding the box and the dance outfit, his steps seemed to move beyond his own will.
As Lionel turned toward the corridor like that, he suddenly stopped in front of Chloe’s room, whose door was half open.
Amid the bewildered employees of the trading company, Chloe hurriedly rushed into the room and clutched the most expensive dress.
As if Lionel might destroy it.
However, Lionel did not even glance at the dress.
The place his gaze turned to was the mirrors that filled the walls as if for display.
Lionel said nothing.
He simply approached and pushed one of the mirrors down with his fingertips.
Clang—.
A sharp shattering sound scattered through the room.
However, there was not even the slightest change in Lionel’s expression.
As his long fingers moved gracefully once more, as if gliding over piano keys, the second mirror fell to the floor and shattered.
The third, and the fourth as well.
Fragments of the shattered mirrors sparkled under the luxurious lighting and rolled around piece by piece.
Startled, Chloe and the servants collapsed while covering their ears with screams.
On Lionel’s palm, cut by the broken pieces, a red wound opened and blood dripped down.
However, Lionel merely stared expressionlessly at the mirror fragments reflecting the light in different directions.
Only after turning one room into a complete mess did Lionel leave the trading company.
Now, he had to return.
The place Agnes would return to was not this space covered in vanity, but her own home.
The Valheim Ducal residence.
Therefore, that place had to be put in order.
So that when Agnes returned, there would be nothing left to hurt or wound her again.
Everything that could harm her had to be cleanly cut out.
An irrational light settled in Lionel’s eyes.
“…Yes. It is something that can be set right starting now.”
☆☆☆
Upon returning to the mansion, Lionel headed straight to Agnes’s room next to the office without even taking a moment to catch his breath.
Entering inside, Lionel did not hesitate for even a moment and flung open the door to the dressing room located at the end of the room.
In the dressing room, boxes of dresses that had not even been unwrapped were stacked layer upon layer.
The accessories he had personally chosen were in no different condition.
The silk wrapping paper remained exactly as it had been first folded.
There was not a single trace of them having been worn.
“……”
What he had given her as compensation had not held that much value to Agnes.
What she had wanted from him was probably not something like this.
Lionel stood silently for a long time.
Breaking that quiet atmosphere was a cautious presence seeping in from the doorway.
“You have returned.”
It was Simon.
When Lionel slightly turned his head, Simon knelt down.
“There is something I must tell you… During this time, there have been several unfortunate incidents regarding Lady Agnes.”
Lionel gave no reply.
He simply crossed his arms and slightly tilted his head.
It was a signal to continue.
Simon swallowed as if his throat were tightening.
“There were many days when Lady Agnes could not properly move her body due to treatment. Even so, there were frequent instances where she was not given meals on time or her room was not properly heated.”
Simon’s words did not differ in the slightest from what Jessie had said.
Over that, the expressions Agnes had shown when she was with him kept coming to mind.
Though she had only walked a short distance down the corridor, her cheeks had been cold as if she had been in the cold for a long time.
And the strangely chilly temperature of the room when he had visited.
What he had dismissed as insignificant had all been intentional acts of torment.
Lionel slowly clenched and unclenched his hand.
It felt as if blood was not flowing properly to his fingertips.
This was the truth he had shoved into a drawer and refused to see.
Because he was busy right now.
Because the ducal residence was safe.
With such excuses, the result he had postponed was now laid bare before his eyes.
Cold sweat ran down Simon’s back.
It would have been better if Lionel had burst into anger and shouted.
Instead, Lionel’s excessively calm reaction made chills rise on his skin.
“What did you do. Did you not say before that you would make sure no such disgraceful incidents would happen again?”
At the question he had expected, Simon’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“If it was not something that directly harmed Lady Agnes… I did not look into it deeply.”
Lionel stared at Simon, who did not even attempt to make excuses, without any emotion.
Could this be blamed solely on Simon?
Since he himself had neglected Agnes, it was not unreasonable that the servants acted this way.
Servants first read the mood and attitude of their master and act accordingly.
And since he had treated Agnes coldly, they too had naturally turned their backs on her.
Nora had incited the servants, but the fundamental cause that made this situation possible lay with himself.
“……”
“I will step down from my position as head butler. If you impose a greater punishment, I will accept it willingly. However, there is not a single falsehood in what I have said. Please believe me.”
Even at Simon’s confession-like words, Lionel’s face revealed nothing of what he was thinking.
He simply stood with his arms crossed, tapping his forearm with the tip of his index finger.
Rhythmically.
“Maintaining order in the ducal residence was my duty. While Lady Agnes was treated this way, I… abandoned the position where I should have been the eyes and hands of my master.”
Tap.
At last, Lionel’s finger stopped.
And finally, the command was given.
“First, I should deal with those who dared to run wild in my space without fear.”
—
Leaning crookedly against the threshold of Agnes’s room, Lionel looked down at Nora, who had been dragged in.
Beside Nora, the servants who had been captured together and Andrew were lying face down with tense expressions.
In Lionel’s blue irises, a suppressed killing intent faintly spread.
“Did I not warn you.”
With each low word that echoed, the servants’ heads lowered further.
As if they would dig into the floor.
“I believe I said that if you touched what is mine carelessly even once more, I would not forgive it.”
Nora trembled and barely raised her head.
“W-we only acted for Your Grace… for the ducal residence!”
“So for my sake, you made it so that my wife could neither eat, dress, nor sleep properly?”
Ha. A short laugh escaped from Lionel.
“And what you did on Cedric Alexio Valheim’s birthday, will you claim that was also for me?”
Nora’s face flushed instantly.
Confusion, fear, and clumsy excuses tangled together.
“Th-that was… because I could not bear to see Your Grace’s honor tarnished because of Lady Agnes! I only did it hoping that Your Grace would maintain your composure…!”
Nora immediately took the bait of the words he had thrown out.
What she thought was a logical justification ended up becoming a confession of her own crime.
Anger stirred within Lionel.
Agnes’s words were true.
She was unrelated. Agnes… had never insulted Cedric Alexio Valheim.
Unaware of Lionel’s boiling fury, Nora continued to move her mouth endlessly.
“Are you aware of the ridiculous rumors circulating in high society these days?”
“Of course I am. The rumor that I have fallen for Agnes and am showering her with all kinds of treasures.”
As Lionel cut her off, Nora’s shoulders flinched upward.
“Y-you may be angry now, but later you will realize that this Nora’s actions were right. Your Grace, your reason has been clouded by beauty!”
“You spout nonsense with remarkable dedication.”
“Please do not doubt my loyalty…! Lady Agnes cannot become a proper Duchess. I taught her etiquette with utmost effort again and again, yet she said she could not even throw away a single pair of toe shoes. Those are things worn only by the lowly, yet I barely managed to get rid of them!”
At the moment he was seized by the urge to snap Nora’s neck as she spouted nonsense.
Lionel’s blood ran cold.
Toe shoes.
Yes, that was what Agnes cherished the most.
He had clearly seen them hanging on the wall before.
Now, they were nowhere to be seen.
“Where did you dispose of them.”
“Pardon? Wh-what are you referring to?”
Nora feigned ignorance.
However, Lionel no longer had any patience left.
As he clenched his fist once more, the blue veins on the back of his hand bulged prominently.
“I am asking where the belongings of my wife, which you dared to touch without knowing your place, are.”
