Chapter 43
***
The Duke, on one hand, highly regarded Isaiah’s actions. If the Duke hadn’t intervened, the boy could have lost his position as a squire over the commotion he caused. Knowing this, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to act on lody’s behalf.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
lody quickly bowed in gratitude.
“Indeed.”
The Duke, seemingly reminded of sothing, shifted the topic.
“You’ll need clothes to et that squire boy.”
However, his tone was awkward, unlike his usual manner of speaking, like an actor who hadn’t mastered his lines.
“Clothes… I already have many.”
“But not for winter. If you don’t dress warmly when you et the boy, you might catch a cold.”
Ah… Really?
“Is that so?”
Feeling as though the Duke was desperately seeking agreent, lody nodded.
“It does seem so…”
“Good timing.”
He then ‘coincidentally’ handed her a thick catalog the postman had delivered.
“I haven’t read it myself, but it’s said to be organized with items girls use in winter, categorized by purpose and design.”
Contrary to his claim of not having read it, the catalog bore marks of being fervently read, its corners worn. Hmm, it seems the Duke had secretly been pondering over what winter clothes to buy for Loretta.
Realizing this, lody smiled broadly, clutching the catalog. She could certainly help with that.
“Don’t worry. I’ll pick out the most suitable winter clothes for Miss Loretta and inform Butler Higgins. Finding clothes that suit Miss Loretta is sothing I’m best at!”
The Duke wanted to say ‘And for you as well’, but lody, tapping her chest confidently and declaring ‘Leave it to !’, turned and left before he could.
“…It seems a conversation is needed between the Duke and Miss lody as well.”
Butler Higgins, quietly arranging books in the corner, smiled and comnted.
The Duke couldn’t deny Higgins’ observation.
***
Exiting the Duke’s room and heading downstairs, lody unfortunately ran into Claude.
Her regretful description of this encounter had a valid reason.
Behind him was a trolley stacked with records.
Yes, those ‘records’ he always made lody work on.
“Thank you, Miss lody.”
“…I didn’t say anything though?”
“You thought you should help , didn’t you?”
lody intended to retort with ‘What kind of nonsensical remark is that?’ until he added this before she could.
“I appreciate you still rembering the help I provided during the day. It wasn’t anything significant.”
He must be referring to accompanying her to the prison. Was this his way of pressuring her to repay the favor?
“Uh.”
As lody struggled to find a rebuttal, he signaled the servant who was pulling the trolley to leave.
“I will really only help with carrying.”
lody sighed softly and began to push the handle of the trolley.
“Thank you. You’re very kind.”
Despite forcing her into labor, he thanked her with a shalessly gentle smile.
‘Annoying young master.’
lody turned her head sharply, looking at the trolley stacked with records.
Even at a glance, there seed to be a considerable amount, well over thirty volus, and all of them were quite thick.
Why would he need these late at night?
“Are you researching sothing for the academy again this ti?”
“No, this is just sothing I started out of personal interest.”
They arrived in front of his room. He pushed the door, which was ajar, open with his shoulder, and the two placed the records on a side of the large desk.
Maintained as if new by magic, lody hadn’t realized, but seeing the dates on the spines, these records were quite old.
Curiosity getting the best of her, lody slightly opened the topmost book.
It was detailed, from the weather to events in certain regions. Not much different from what lody had been transcribing until now.
“Is there a story in these records that interests you, young master?”
“As I said before, records are important. You can find what you’re looking for with a few clues.”
“What you’re looking for?”
Instead of answering imdiately, he gave a slightly enigmatic smile.
Suddenly, lody’s eyes widened.
She rembered.
“You said it was spring, but painful snow was pouring, right?”
lody recalled her mother’s words and exclaid. She wondered why she had only let it slide at that ti.
Records about painful snow had been seen several tis while transcribing. It was customary for travelers to note the peculiarity of days when thick, heavy snow fell.
Feeling like she was onto sothing, lody paced frantically in front of the desk, thinking of other clues.
“And, and then… soldiers ca out and acted nacingly. It seems she was running away from them. But why?”
Her mother was a heavily pregnant woman, in a pitiful situation with nowhere to go. If a soldier had found her, they would have tried to help sohow.
“That’s probably because she had just committed sothing dishonest.”
“So, you an the soldiers were after my mother?”
“No.”
Claude shook his head slightly.
“If that were the case, it would have been recorded, and she would be held accountable for her cri even now. But there’s nothing like that. It’s more natural to assu she panicked and fled on her own.”
“Then why were soldiers roaming the village? Especially on a day with painful snow.”
lody, lost in thought, relayed to Claude everything her mother had told her. It might hold a minor clue, so she explained in as much detail as possible.
Claude, who had been listening attentively, fiddled near his chin for a mont.
“It’s odd that on such a day, a pregnant woman ca seeking shelter, yet no one opened their door for her.”
Commonly in the religions that people believed in, it was taught to open one’s door to the distressed, treating them like guests.
There would be no one ‘more distressed’ than a pregnant woman about to give birth.
“Perhaps…”
He swept his hand over the surface of the stack of records.
“There must have been an order. Sothing like not to let strangers into their hos.”
“The soldiers roaming the village?”
“Yes. Precisely, it would have been decided by the knights above them.”
Such extre orders were, in fact, not common.
“That kind of order would only be given when soone from the royal family was passing through the village. I’ve read it in the records a few tis.”
A long ti ago.
There was an incident where an assassin hid in a village house on the route a royal was to pass, posing as a guest in order to murder the royal.
Eventually, the plan failed, and after harming the house owners to silence them, the assassin was arrested.
Since then, whenever a mber of the royal family traveled far, the villages along their route had this rule – ‘not to accept any unfamiliar guests.’
Of course, mbers of the royal family seldom left the capital, so such orders were rarely issued.
“And around the ti Miss lody was born, it was when His Majesty’s brother personally descended to the Earldom of Grais.”
Claude toppled the stack of records and picked out one with the royal emblem imprinted on it.
Seeing it for the first ti, lody looked on curiously, to which he explained, “I borrowed it, just for a bit.”
‘…Is it even possible to borrow records from the royal archives?’
lody harbored a mont of skepticism. After all, this was the Duke of Baldwin’s residence, so perhaps such special allowances could be made.
“Don’t look at
with those eyes. I didn’t cross the line that much.”
lody exclaid in surprise.
“So, you’re implying you did cross the line!”
“Hmm. If I had to put it into words, I’d say I only just touched it with the tip of my toe.”
He selected one of the royal records and extended it towards lody.
“If the line is drawn so lightly that you can barely step over it, isn’t that almost the sa as permission to take a look?”
The light-heartedness in his words was sowhat shocking, and lody couldn’t bring herself to accept the record he was offering.
“I don’t think so…”
Forbidden is forbidden. Surely the Duke, a man of principles, would think the sa.
“But really important things in the royal archives are made so you can’t see them no matter how much you cross the line. So, you see.”
He extended the book towards lody again.
“This is just drawing a line that’s easily crossed, for the sheer pleasure of sneaking around. Here, take it.”
“You want to make
an accomplice now?”
lody frowned slightly. If this was discovered, Claude might be forgiven in the na of his family, but lody had no such protection.
Even before the Duke could exert his influence, she might be beheaded.
A child of a commoner, moreover, a child of a criminal, caught peeking at royal records.
“Don’t be silly. I had no intention of making you an accomplice from the start.”
He said this in a gentle tone, wearing an utterly cunning smile.
Of course, to lody, it seed wicked, but to anyone else, it might have appeared as sweet as cotton candy.
“The carrier, Miss lody.”
“…!”
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