If she does not speak, she dies.
Her survival instinct was warning her.
Nora lowered her head flat down and reported in a trembling voice.
“I-it is in the storage room on the second floor.”
Before Nora’s words had even finished, Lionel’s steps were already heading toward the storage.
Arriving in front of the upper storage that required climbing the spiral staircase Agnes would never have dared to ascend, Lionel kicked open the old door as if tearing it down.
Then thick dust poured out first.
In the middle of the storage room that no one visited, two pairs of toe shoes were rolling around.
Striding straight inside, Lionel snatched up the toe shoes.
The dust clinging to the soles and ribbons fell off in a flurry onto his hands and the floor.
Lionel remembered clearly.
How much Agnes had treasured these.
Even on the first night, until the moment she was humiliated by him, she had been someone who kept the worn toe shoes he had given her in childhood—so distant she could not even remember it—inside a clean box like a treasure.
Even under the collapsing theater, she had been someone who hugged the toe shoes she had pulled out of the trash can to her chest.
Just because it was he who had given them to her.
And yet they treated them like this.
Something that felt as though it would burst surged within his chest, trembling beneath his thin skin.
Lionel walked out of the storage with a frighteningly hardened face.
As soon as he came out, Nora shook her head repeatedly and approached on her knees.
“Your Grace! You know, I truly had no other intention! Solely for the prosperity of the Valheim family, with that one thought—!”
“It is enough to bring tears to my eyes, that damned loyalty of yours.”
Whether it was his father’s will or not.
He should not have brought Nora into the mansion.
No, at the very least, knowing Nora’s obsessive loyalty toward the name of Valheim, he should have watched her carefully.
Whether that madness would extend its hand toward Agnes.
It was clearly his own mistake.
Lionel’s military boot came down onto Nora’s hand that was trembling at his feet.
As he pressed down firmly with his foot, a silent scream flowed out from Nora’s mouth.
“You are so loyal, perhaps I should give you a reward.”
Even in pain, Nora looked up in confusion.
And at the words that followed, the blood drained from her face.
“You have devoted yourself to Valheim until now, so it would be best for you to rest. I shall grant you a very long vacation.”
Lionel removed his boot and gave the order.
“Take her away. Strip Nora Etelvier of her position as head maid.”
“Your Grace!”
A sharp scream burst out from Nora.
Perhaps being expelled from her position as head maid was worse than death, as she now almost clung to Lionel’s boots, pressing her hands together and begging.
“I will accept any other punishment! Please do not cast me out! Please!”
Lionel shook off Nora’s hand as if something filthy had touched him.
“The reason shall be that you dared to insult your master without knowing your place.”
For Nora, who had been obsessed with the name of Valheim, it was a most fitting statement.
From now on, Nora would not be able to serve not only Valheim, but anyone at all.
No one would employ as head maid someone who had dared to rise above the head of the master she served.
The way she had pressured Jessie using employment returned to Nora as it was.
Of course, even if some insane noble tried to hire Nora, it would never come to pass.
The moment she left this mansion, her life would end.
The crime of insulting a noble.
That was another charge that would be added to Nora.
Lionel had no intention of letting Nora, who had touched Agnes and even brought up Cedric Alexio Valheim, leave this mansion unharmed.
“Your Grace! No! You are just angry right now and hate this Nora!”
Nora screamed almost hysterically.
“Your Grace is currently bewitched by that woman and your judgment has been clouded! Please, you must regain your reason!”
As the knights approached, Nora screamed and dragged herself backward on the floor.
“It is me! The nanny who raised Your Grace! I am the one who has eliminated dangers for Valheim! If you cast me out, the ducal house might collapse, just like back then over a decade ago! I must remain here!”
However, her cries were soon cut off as her jaw was seized by Lionel’s large hand.
Lionel spoke in an even lower voice, as if crushing her words.
“That woman. Who gave someone like you permission to call Agnes that?”
“Y-Your Grace.”
“If you do not wish your tongue to be pulled out right here, it would be best for you to keep it still.”
Hic.
At the fierce gaze, the knights who grabbed Nora’s arms dragged her away like baggage as she struggled.
The other servants who had neglected Agnes along with Nora received punishments not much different.
Even while being dragged away, Nora insisted until the end that she had done nothing wrong.
However, in the end, she began begging that everything was her fault and simply cried for her life to be spared.
“Your Grace! I, I am a person of Valheim! Please do not abandon me!”
Only then did Nora seem to realize.
That the name Valheim, which she had clung to so desperately, had now become the noose tightening around her own neck.
Nora’s cries gradually thinned and tore sharply, and once she turned the corner and was no longer visible, they became so faint that it was hard to tell whether it was a scream or merely the sound of wind passing by.
However, that echo settled darkly throughout the corridors of the mansion and did not easily disappear.
Andrew’s trembling hands could not be controlled, and cold sweat flowed down him.
He would probably never see his mother again.
The end of a commoner who insulted a noble was obvious.
Perhaps he would be tortured to the point where death seemed preferable, and only when he began to wish to live would he finally die.
And his corpse would be displayed in the center of the plaza.
However, whatever happened to his mother did not matter to Andrew.
His own survival came first.
And the situation had reached this point because his mother had brought it upon herself.
She should have simply kept things within proper bounds.
Andrew sincerely believed he had nothing to do with Nora.
He had never once deliberately tormented Agnes.
Yes, regardless of what feelings he had toward Agnes, all of his treatments had truly stemmed from pure medical ambition.
He had nothing to feel guilty about.
Not a single thing.
And as he had wished, Andrew was at least able to preserve his life.
Although it was clear that he had administered excessive treatment to Agnes, the meticulous treatment records and medical justifications he left behind saved him.
Above all, at this moment, the only person who might be able to fully restore Agnes’s leg was also Andrew alone.
Therefore, he was not expelled from the mansion like Nora.
Although, he could not completely escape Lionel’s anger.
Andrew was sentenced to be imprisoned in the underground dungeon of the mansion without food or water.
Andrew did not scream foolishly like his mother.
He knew better than anyone that it was wiser not to resist in order to survive.
Thus, he was taken away obediently.
With a face drained of all blood down to the tips of his toes.
After the aftermath had passed, only Simon remained in the corridor.
“…Your Grace.”
On his face, instead of the seasoned composure that had always maintained order in the mansion, only guilt was cast.
“All responsibility lies with me. I was blind and caused this. Please, grant punishment to me as well.”
Nora’s madness, the servants’ neglect, Andrew’s arbitrary treatment.
The one who had watched all those vicious cycles from the closest position was Simon.
Naturally, he too had to pay the price.
However, with the recent measures, more than half of the servants had disappeared.
Bringing in new people, training them again, and establishing order—there was ultimately only Simon who could handle all of that immediately.
“When the time comes, I will do so. For now, fulfill your duty first. So that when Agnes returns, the mansion will not be in disarray.”
At the deferred punishment, Simon bowed his head deeply.
Those words did not mean that his sins would be forgiven.
By his own words, he might not be different from Nora.
However, for now, following Lionel’s orders and fulfilling his role would be the way to at least repay a part of the guilt of having neglected Agnes.
“…I will obey your command.”
After those words, the corridor fell silent.
In the heavy silence, Simon realized.
That if Agnes returned safely to this mansion, Valheim would surely be different from before.
Perhaps, the change had already begun.
Eyes bearing the traces of time cautiously looked at Lionel.
Lionel was wavering like someone who had lost what was most precious and did not know where to go.
He was trying to cover it with a cold mask, but signs he could not hide were leaking through the cracks.
The master of Valheim, who once shone brighter than anyone at the highest place.
Something within him was changing.
Something more important than the most brilliant medals and honors had already coiled deeply within him.
The possessiveness toward Agnes, whom he had thought of as a passing lover.
That insignificant thing was revealing the face of another emotion and shedding its shell.
