Chapter 109
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 109
That was why Barbara, despite feeling sorry for Seo-ah, had no intention of passing the news to Oscar. Yet Oscar had come anyway, completely dismantling the trap Charlotte had laid.
Charlotte seemed even more shocked than anyone by Oscar’s uncharacteristic behavior. Barbara had never seen her look so utterly rattled. Fleeing the manor with a deathly pale face, Charlotte would undoubtedly obsess over today’s events for a long time to come. She would be feeling a profound sense of crisis.
There was no telling what a desperate Charlotte might do to Seo-ah in Oscar’s absence.
“Perhaps this is for the best.”
If Karl had finished his cleanup, it might indeed be better for Seo-ah to go with Oscar.
Barbara entered the study without delay. Seo-ah and Abel, who had been talking, looked up as she approached.
“Pack your bags,” Barbara announced. “His Excellency has declared that he will take you with him.”
“What? Where?”
“His Excellency is taking her? Where to?”
They both asked at once, their voices laced with bewilderment, but Barbara had no intention of answering every question. Amidst the confusion, Abel Sting quickly asked about his own situation.
“What about me?”
“……”
“Wait, I need to pack my things, too.”
Pleading with her not to leave him behind, Abel rushed out of the room. Barbara strode further inside and began packing Seo-ah’s belongings herself.
“Lady Barbara, where? Where is His Excellency taking me?” Seo-ah followed her, her voice unusually urgent.
Barbara simply opened the wardrobe. There were very few belongings to pack.
“We’ll have to buy you some clothes when we return, or perhaps purchase a few outfits once we arrive.”
“Once we arrive? Arrive where?”
Clicking her tongue at the sight of Seo-ah’s thin clothes, Barbara’s eyes fell upon the very worn coat Seo-ah had been wearing when she first arrived.
“For now, take this coat at least.”
As she said it, Barbara’s brow furrowed. The coat, with a design that looked at least twenty years old, was not only heavily worn but also didn't fit Seo-ah’s frame at all. Where on earth had she picked up such a thing?
Meanwhile, Seo-ah persisted with her questions.
“Is he sending me to Traun?”
Barbara let out a nearly inaudible sigh.
Honestly, she wanted to ask why Seo-ah was so reluctant to go to Traun, but there was no time. Her master’s patience was short. As for their destination, explaining it would be an endless ordeal. She could already picture the Outsider, unable to comprehend let alone accept it, asking “What? Why?” over and over. After all, even Simon had asked the same question with a dazed look on his face.
“Don’t worry. Even if you wanted to go there, I doubt His Excellency would allow it for the time being.”
This was the most Barbara could say.
“…What?”
Of course, Seo-ah didn’t seem to understand that either.
Barbara laid the coat on the bed and began to fold it neatly. Spread out, it was even larger than she had thought. It looked as though it would only fit someone like Barbara herself, who was far taller than average. As far as she knew, the only women who could wear a coat of this length were herself and Theresia.
Pockets were sewn inside the worn garment, and looking closely now, she noticed their arrangement was peculiar. Pockets as old as the coat itself were mixed with ones that had been added recently. While the stitching on the old pockets was exquisite, the work on the newer ones was clumsy. Furthermore, the material of the recently added pockets was not something commonly seen on the Norfolk Continent.
Come to think of it, Seo-ah had understood the instruction to sew pockets inside the coat.
“You sewed these pockets yourself, didn’t you, Young Lady?” Barbara asked, pointing to the clumsy stitching.
Seo-ah gave a small nod. “Yes.”
“Who taught you to sew them like this?”
“…My master.”
Barbara did not press further.
She quickly folded the coat, packed it into a bag, and gathered the other necessities. Finally, as she packed the medicine she had brought, Barbara held up a clear glass bottle containing a purple ointment.
“Apply this to your cheek. It will scar if you leave it.”
Closing the bag, Barbara straightened up. She turned to Seo-ah and spoke in a firm tone.
“Let’s go.”
Seo-ah looked as though she had a mountain of questions. But Barbara simply gestured with her eyes toward the window, where the Marquis stood below, surrounded by his Wolves.
“He is waiting.”
But why?
“We should head down before he comes up.”
Having effectively silenced the Outsider who clearly had so much more to say, the veteran wolf strode out, carrying the luggage. Seo-ah hurriedly followed her.
“I’ll carry that, Lady Barbara!”
“Just keep up.”
Of course, all Seo-ah could do was scurry to keep pace with Barbara, whose strides were exceptionally long and swift.
A wind was blowing through the once-silent Wolf’s Forest.
* * *
The carriage that departed from the Luxen Royal Palace and headed for an unknown destination eventually crossed the border of Luxen. After traveling a considerable distance, it arrived before a grand estate in Pelfe. When the coachman opened the door, a thick cloud of tobacco smoke billowed out as if it had been waiting to escape.
Stepping out of the carriage amidst the smoke was a handsome, sharp-featured man with closely cropped hair.
Only one person had boarded that carriage: the King’s Chief Lady-in-Waiting of the Luxen Royal Palace. Since no one else had entered or exited during the journey, the person stepping out should have been the Chief Lady-in-Waiting—or at least a woman. Yet, the figure dressed in a neat, formal suit was, by all appearances, unmistakably a man. A prominent Adam’s apple was clearly visible on his neck.
However, neither the coachman nor the man waiting near the estate showed any surprise. The waiting man approached and whispered, “The wolf has taken the bait.”
The Chief Lady-in-Waiting—no, the man who had been playing her role—was “The Seer” whom Oscar had been searching for. Peter, once one of Reinhardt’s elite intelligence agents, nodded.
“That bastard Karl probably thinks he did a clean sweep, without even realizing he walked into a trap.”
Peter chuckled, picturing the face of Karl, the man in charge of the Reinhardt Search Team. After laughing to himself for a moment, his eyes fixed on the ground, he wiped his face a few times, his expression instantly changing.
By the time he reached the entrance of the estate, his face was filled with a deep sorrow, as if he had never laughed at all. Wearing black gloves and a black hat, he walked toward the estate alone, leaving the coachman and his subordinate behind. Hanging at the entrance of the grand estate was a red paper, signaling that a funeral was underway.
“What brings you here?” the gatekeeper asked.
Peter put on a mournful expression. “I have come to bid His Highness the Grand Duke farewell on his final journey.”
The gatekeeper verified a few details and soon opened the gates. Peter stepped into the estate, which was shrouded in deep grief.
“Aaaargh! Aaagh!”
From somewhere within the death-shadowed estate came a blood-curdling shriek that made one’s hair stand on end. The servants went about their tasks with downcast eyes, as if this were not the first time they had heard such screams, while the mourners conversing in hushed whispers flinched at the outcry.
Just then, a group of priests in black robes emerged from the main building’s front entrance. Crossing the Pelfe-style garden, Peter made the sign of the cross and offered a polite greeting.
“How is the Countess holding up?”
The priests could not simply ignore Peter, who had crossed himself and spoken to them. Though he was a complete stranger, his poised, polite demeanor and aristocratic appearance made him look like a count at the very least.
The highest-ranking priest among them returned the greeting. “She has lost her only son, so you can imagine how immense her grief must be. It will take time for her to find peace.”
“I cannot comprehend how such a tragedy could occur.”
“Please offer her your deepest condolences and share in her sorrow.”
“Yes, I must. Thank you for coming here for His Highness the Grand Duke.”
“It is only our duty. Farewell.”
The butler, who had been watching the exchange from the entrance, bowed without a shred of suspicion as Peter approached with a sorrowful face.
“Welcome, sir.”
Guided by the butler, Peter arrived before the coffin of Grand Duke Baden.
The coffin of the Pelfe idiot was dazzlingly magnificent. Peter carefully placed a flower upon the casket of the fool who had died exactly as planned.
“May you find peace.”
Watching Peter cross himself and offer a prayer, the butler’s eyes welled with tears. Just then, another chilling shriek rang out.
“How terribly the Countess must be suffering,” Peter murmured.
“Do not even speak of it. I worry something terrible might happen to her at this rate…”
“I would like to pay my respects to her.”
“Would you?”
Deeply moved by the genuine sorrow radiating from Peter, the butler only realized he didn’t even know the man’s name once they arrived before the room where Countess Ilya was staying.
“Ah, may I ask your name?”
“Aaaargh!”
The butler’s belated question was drowned out by the Countess’s agonizing scream. Having fainted upon seeing her only son’s gruesome corpse, the Countess had woken up only to alternate between heart-wrenching sobs and raw screams in the prayer room. She was in no state to greet mourners.
“Your Majesty! You promised you would protect my son! Why do you not answer me, Your Majesty!”
The favored mistress of the Former King of Pelfe wept, crying out for the deceased king as if she had lost her mind. Peter knelt beside her and naturally drew her into an embrace. In her hysterical state, the Countess didn’t even realize who was holding her.