Chapter 49

 “Did you have somewhere to go?”

 “Do you want to hear that so badly?”

 Her angular eyes were sharp. Larque waited for an answer without being pushed away. If she answered that she had somewhere to go to escape from him, he would surely destroy it. No place to go, no person to rely on, whether foster mother or siblings. It was a futile matter. As Elender’s daughter, she should just be his woman by his possession, and she should be filled only with him. So he couldn’t return the princess. He glared at the faintly emerging afterimages of the king and royal consort and grabbed the woman.

 “It doesn’t matter where. If it’s a place without you, Master, if it’s someone other than you, Master, nothing matters.”

 The phonemes cut through her teeth were cruel. Ella’s lips trembled with humiliation and then raised her head. The man was still calm. It seemed as if only she had been hurt in the collapsed past days. While his arms lost strength, Ella pulled back the blanket and got up.

 *** 

 The lady was carefully examining the features of the child in her arms. As if knowing it wasn’t an affectionate gaze, Eselmund whined and twisted his tiny body. The woman with hollow gray eyes raised her head. Her face was still cold as ever. Long black hair like silk. An elegant, smooth figure. Lucretia von Durac. Despite their gazes meeting, she ignored Ella.

 “Welcome, Lady.”

 “It’s been a while, Rowena. Have you been well?”

 “Thanks to His Highness’s care, I’ve been peaceful as always.”

 The wet nurse standing beside Ella welcomed Durac’s lady with a bright smile. Ella glanced at Eselmund’s wet nurse. Baroness Laerik was courteous. She had heard they had a deep connection since childhood, but even with such a person, Lucretia maintained her consistently arrogant attitude.

 “And him?”

 “His Highness is in his office.”

 “Not even a greeting when his aunt has arrived? What will the young baby learn?”

 “He must be busy. The servants have notified him, so he’ll come down.”

“Fine. He’s not the type to come when called.”

 The baroness looked bewildered at the lady’s refusal. Lucretia handed the child she was holding to her and walked up to the office where the duke had secluded himself. The baroness followed her up the stairs while holding the child.

 Lucretia, with her tall height and long legs, walked very quickly. When she, who had firmly grasped the hem of her skirt, reached the office, Larque was out in the corridor with Hermel. Ella, who had been following the baroness, stopped walking. The two who hadn’t had any meaningful conversation since that twisted morning temporarily stiffened and stared at each other.

 “It’s been a while.”

 “You came all the way to my office?”

 “Because you wouldn’t come down. I have something important to tell you, so I came to find you myself. May I come in?”

 Larque’s gaze, which had been looking at the slender woman behind the baroness, like a flower seed, reached Lucretia. The woman smiled faintly. It was a rare smile, but her nephew showed no sign of being moved.

 “Later……”

 “I need to say this now.”

 Larque narrowed the space between his eyebrows. Realizing that his gaze wasn’t resting on her, Lucretia turned around and looked at Ella. It was a dry look. Though no malice seemed to permeate as usual, it was so emotionless that it rather felt malicious. Anyway, Ella was preparing to go back down the stairs. She didn’t understand why she had followed all the way up here to a place where she didn’t belong.

 “That child should hear this too. I don’t care either way, but thinking about it… You have a special relationship with that child. I felt it wasn’t an issue that required understanding from a mere servant girl, but after seeing Endymion, I realized it needs to be made clear.”

 Lucretia frowned. She wrinkled her face as if recalling her son, who resembled no part of her, was burdensome.

 *** 

 An issue requiring a servant girl’s understanding. Something that needed to be made clear…… Ella looked at the neatly stacked parchments on the wooden desk. Black ink and a quill pen. A seal waiting for its master. Durac’s lady, who had visited San Parvale early in the morning, was a very different woman from Larien. That was because Lucretia was the legitimate descendant who had most clearly inherited Durac’s lineage. She was different from head to toe from Larien, who completely resembled only her mother.

 Suddenly she missed Larien. The girl who had left home saying she was traveling to the neighboring kingdom of Solerium and never returned. Apart from hearing a year ago that she had conceived the king of Solerium’s child, even she knew nothing more. Larque was a man who was indifferent to his half-sister to the point of coldness. Despite it being clearly forced, he showed no reaction. With painful thoughts, Ella shook her head. It was something she needed to put aside.

 She looked at Lucretia again. She couldn’t help but be bothered by what she had just said. What could be an issue requiring the understanding of a mere servant girl? Her mouth dried with unbearable displeasure. Ella pressed down her frantically beating pulse and stared at the woman. The baroness poured herbal tea into the teacup. Lucretia parted her lips while watching the steam rising.

 “I heard that troops were moved from the Grimaldi Islands. You probably know about it too. Yet Terzo. That man is sending his daughter to San Parvale.”

 “How did you know when I haven’t sent any messengers?”

 Larque was cold. He had led family matters alone with his own decisions. Naturally, his aunt, who had left the duke’s house long ago when she married, wouldn’t be pleased about matters she hadn’t been informed of. Ella took her eyes off Lucretia and looked at the man.

 A tense atmosphere wrapped around them. In the meantime, Ella recalled the Grimaldi Islands. The strait encompassing Lier and Dale. The islands located in the middle of the Chankal Strait had been under Durac’s control since the time they were the ruling family of the north.

 The islands, which were said to have been subjugated by some king of the northern kingdom through a southern invasion, were famous for their abundant resources. Even though the granary areas were few, the variety of fish species and the amount of catch were greater than in other archipelagos, so Durac had continued to send troops and rule over the islands for a long time, even after losing their royal status.

 Three months ago, troops were moved from those Grimaldi Islands. It was said to be due to a minor dispute, but the duke’s direct adjutant lost his life. The Mertel family, who effectively ruled the islands, still kept an eye out to please the duke. But Durac was not an easy opponent. More certain subjugation. And control. Durac would never lose the islands.

 “We need a hostage.”

 Lucretia, who had swallowed a sip of tea, stared at Larque. A hostage to subjugate Mertel. A more certain pledge for submission. Lucretia was talking about a kind of collateral. And Ella thought of Guinevere. The princess of Treden and the woman with the empty title of queen of Kylaq.

 The poor queen, a byproduct of the treaty, was pitifully more of a hostage detained in Kylaq than a queen. She felt as if her throat was being pressed. There was no need to say “at last.” She had been anticipating this conversation since her pulse quickened. She was just curious about what justification would be given.

 “You’re thirty-one now.”

 “……”

 “You can’t keep living with just a servant girl forever. It’s a late age to get married, but what does it matter? You already have an heir…… There’s no rush.”

 The woman turned her gaze. The oblique glance was terrible. She didn’t want to know what would be added. She was someone who didn’t know how to speak indirectly. Get married and take a wife. That’s what she meant. It wasn’t surprising. Yet it felt like the ground was collapsing beneath her feet. Like cutting a clear vein at her wrist, tearing through flesh with a blunt knife, and finally severing an artery, that kind of…

 “Ella. I don’t mean to harm your baby. No need for such an expression. I don’t intend to take your man from you.”

 “Madam, I……”

 “I know from experiencing Marie early on. She acted as if I had stolen her man. While Endymion was always crazy about her.”

 Her pursed lips stung. Whenever she faced Lucretia, her solar plexus would feel pressed and her stomach would ache, but today that sensation was even more severe. Contemplating the cause of the pain, she raised her head that had been lowered. The sunlight penetrating through the window sparkled unusually bright even though it wasn’t midsummer. Ella, who had been looking at the fragmented white sunlight, moved her gaze.

 Since when? The hollow gaze had been resting on her. It was clear without any hint of haziness. She lowered her eyes, uncomfortable with how directly it was fixed on her. Suddenly she thought of Marie. And then Marquis Gwendel, who was said to have slapped Henrietta as if to cut her in two. Was this what was meant by something that needed to be made clear?

 Such as, even if the master gets married, quietly fulfill your duty as a bedchamber maid…… A persuasion not to cause a disturbance or unnecessarily complicate matters. The reason the nephew’s woman was being given reliable words was probably because Lucretia had recently experienced trial and error with the marquis’s affairs.