Chapter 101
Nerys blushed, embarrassed by the expression she had just thought of. Adorable?
She knew better than anyone just how different her jeweled eyes were from normal people’s. Others might revere or fear them, but no one ever found them adorable.
“…Isn’t it strange?”
She felt embarrassed. She didn’t know why, but she was deeply embarrassed. So Nerys just blurted out her awkward words, regretting them even as she spoke.
But Cledwyn only smiled and replied.
“It suits you.”
“Really?”
Something so precious? For someone like me? Nerys thought he was just saying something she wanted to hear. But Cledwyn continued softly, as if he could see right through her heart.
“However your eyes might look, they’re beautiful, but now, your eyes themselves tell me just how exquisitely cut a gem you are.”
Nerys’s cheeks turned even redder.
It was strange. If anyone else had said those words, she would have thought they were just buttering her up, but coming from Cledwyn… with that face, that voice, that tone…
It felt like the absolute truth.
“Whether or not to tell anyone about your eyes is up to you. I don’t mind.”
“Really?”
“Yes. After spending a few days here at the castle, how do you feel? Are you ready to reveal it? Either way, your safety will be absolutely guaranteed. This place was built that way.”
That was certainly how it felt. Thinking back on her time here so far, the staff of this castle really did seem genuine and, in some ways, even innocent.
After thinking it over, Nerys nodded.
“Then I’ll just tell them. It’s not a big deal if people know my eyes look a little unusual.”
As long as they didn’t find out about her abilities, it didn’t matter. Until now, she had only hidden the jeweled eyes because she didn’t know how Cledwyn would react to them. She couldn’t wear a veil all the time, so she would be found out soon enough—she might as well decide herself when to reveal it.
Only then did Nerys drink the tea Gilbert had poured for her. It was cold by now, but still fragrant.
‘How curious.’
She muttered inwardly. Even seeing something so convenient… and yet, he left it all for her to decide.
It was so curious.
❖ ❖ ❖
After finishing the conversation in the office, Cledwyn entered a meeting with his subordinates to discuss the outcome of the recent expedition. He said something ridiculous about how he was sure to be up all night, so Nerys should just go and sleep.
Nerys had never, in any of her previous lives, been told, ‘I’ll work, so you go rest.’ As the castle’s advisor, she naturally argued that she had every right to attend the meeting, but her argument was not accepted.
In the end, she returned to the west wing with a slightly frustrated heart. And for a walk, she put on a simple dress and just a shawl, then walked down the now-dark hallway of the west wing.
Through the glass windows set in intricately crafted frames, the moonlight fell on the dark trees outside. In one corner of the west wing’s garden, there was a greenhouse made of silvery steel beams, and seeing the rain stains, it seemed it hadn’t been maintained for a very long time.
“This place has been empty for a long time, hasn’t it?”
Lost in thought, Nerys asked. Dora answered quietly.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Why didn’t anyone use it before? The east wing is packed with people.”
If it really didn’t matter who used the empty rooms, why had this one stayed unused?
Dora replied earnestly, looking puzzled.
“I’m not sure. It was already empty when I arrived.”
“Really?”
Nerys was slowly growing used to the architecture of the north. The small windows, the low ceilings, the large fireplaces in every room.
But unlike the main castle or the east wing, which were typical northern style, the west wing was a bit more ‘southern.’ The windows were larger and the corridors were comparatively longer.
Was that because the building was designed for the person who lived here before?
Lost in thought, Nerys found herself walking on and on without realizing it. When she came to her senses, she was at the innermost part of the second floor, standing before a door adorned with golden palm frond carvings.
It was her first time coming this deep into the west wing.
All the other rooms here had either been empty or, even if the furniture was covered with cloths, had always been unlocked. But this lavish, quiet door had its handle wrapped tightly in a sturdy chain. And there was a large lock securing it.
“…Did someone lock someone up in here?”
She thought it was unlikely, since she couldn’t hear any signs of life, but still Nerys asked. Dora shook her head.
“No. As far as I know, since the passing of the late duchess, no one has used this room.”
The late duchess.
Of course, Nerys realized. That explained the peculiar luxury of this building, the southern-style architecture, and why it had stayed empty for so long. Thinking about it, it all pointed to one thing.
But why had they sealed off what appeared to be the duchess’s bedroom so strictly?
The late duchess was Cledwyn’s mother and the daughter of Marquis Tipian. Nerys didn’t know exactly how the marriage between the duchal and marquis families had been arranged, but was there really any reason to be so repulsed by the traces of someone who died so long ago?
“Do you know why this lock was put on here?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t. As I said, I only came here long after the west wing had already been empty. But I’m sure Mrs. Ellen would know. Shall I call her for you?”
“No, it’s not that important.”
The head maid was already busy enough, and with the lord of the castle back today, she’d be run off her feet. Nerys didn’t want to bother her over something that could wait.
Rejecting Dora’s offer, Nerys looked elsewhere.
The door with the golden palm leaves was locked, but the one right next to it wasn’t. Still, it was just as ornate. After a moment’s hesitation, Nerys went inside.
As soon as she opened the door, the smell of old cloth hit her. Northern summers weren’t humid, so it wasn’t overpowering, but it was more than enough to confirm that this room, too, hadn’t been touched in a long time.
Wherever the lamp’s candlelight touched, heavy shadows scattered as if screaming.
It was a small drawing room.
The low shapes covered in white cloth, with the shapes of legs sticking out from beneath, looked like furniture—chairs or tables. The walls were luxuriously decorated with a red background, golden cartouches, and landscapes.
Above the large, ornate fireplace in the center of the room, a curtain was drawn. It looked as though some large painting or mirror was hidden behind the curtain.
Almost as if in a trance, Nerys approached. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled the gold cord attached to the curtain.
Swish. The dark green curtain split to both sides, kicking up dust. Behind it was—
A huge portrait.
Chestnut-colored, glossy hair and blue-green eyes with a hint of green. A stubborn-looking nose and intense gaze.
Because she knew Marquis Tipian, and because she knew Cledwyn, Nerys could tell who this was.
It was the late duchess.
The late duchess, whose hair and eyes looked nothing like her son’s, was very different from what Nerys had imagined. As the esteemed daughter of an old show-off like Marquis Tipian, she had expected someone similar to the high-ranking nobles she’d met at social gatherings.
If anything, she resembled Nerys’s own mother. Playful and full of life.
Perhaps it was just the artist’s interpretation, but at least in this painting, she looked free. Her features strongly resembled Marquis Tipian, but the impression was entirely different—in a good way.
Just by looking at the size of the portrait, Nerys could tell her assumption that the late duchess had been harshly treated in the north was mistaken. It would have taken special effort and expense to paint such a large and beautiful portrait.
Did Marquis Tipian send it? Probably not. The background of the portrait was the main hall of the main castle, which even Nerys recognized.
Nerys looked around for something chair-like, pulled off the cloth covering it, and was surprised yet again.
It was the same type of chair as the one in the academy library, her secret hideout.
The chair Cledwyn had given her before graduation was still pretending to be an ordinary chair in the academy’s library. But it seemed that chair had originally been made as part of a set for this drawing room.
She felt strange. Incredibly strange.
“Have you ever been in this room, Dora?”
At Nerys’s question, Dora shook her head.
“No, my lady. I was instructed there’s no need to clean this area.”
“By whom?”
“Mrs. Ellen, my lady.”
…Ellen.
It was late, and a heavy layer of time hung over the room, warning not to disturb it carelessly. After hesitating, Nerys quietly left the room.
As she returned to her own room, she cautioned Dora.
“Don’t tell anyone that I found this place.”
❖ ❖ ❖
“We’re relieved the duke has returned safely.”
“They say he’s rooted out the traitors completely. Now we can relax.”
The first council meeting after the duke’s return.
The hall, filled with the officials and vassal lords who had greeted him at the castle gates the day before, buzzed with excitement.
Whether they were officials or vassal lords, they were all Maindulante people. They fought and competed among themselves, but at heart, they all wanted their proud homeland, Maindulante, to flourish.
It was a joyous occasion: the traitors who had dared to betray the great duke and shake the rightful successor’s position had finally been purged.
“The duke is coming.”
The noisy meeting room fell instantly silent at someone’s words. Everyone hurried to stand up straight and adjust their clothes.
Soon Cledwyn, dressed in a formal uniform and draped in a black cloak, entered the meeting room. At once, the room was filled with such solemn silence that you could hear a pin drop.
A cold gaze sharp enough to sting the skin, yet so captivating that no one could look away.
The people of Maindulante didn’t think of Cledwyn as a mad monster like those in the south did. But they, too, thought he was something more than human.
But what of it? If the monster ruled his people in peace, wasn’t he better than a foolish human?
Everyone in the meeting room instinctively placed a hand over their heart, the highest sign of reverence for their leader.
Seeing this, Cledwyn smiled slightly. Normally, this would be the time for him to say, “You may sit.”
Then another person passed through the door.
This had never happened before. The duke was always the last to enter, never waiting for a subordinate. Feeling awkward and sensing something was off, people looked at the newcomer.
And were thunderstruck.
A small figure, slender, with platinum-blonde hair like the light of dawn. Graceful steps and a straight posture—every detail was unmistakably that of the new advisor they all knew.
But for the first time, her face beneath the veil was visible, and it was astonishing.
“…Jeweled eyes…”
Someone murmured, and someone else caught their breath.
There had been many rumors about Nerys Truydd’s face beneath the veil, but no one had ever imagined jeweled eyes. And especially not that amethyst hue.
