# 22
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The red corner of the man's mouth, which had been tilted upward, slowly dropped. As he narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak
The door leading to the hallway opened gently, the sharpness dividing the tense air inside the room.
Walter and the man turned around simultaneously.
«……»
The round eyes, soft like bunches of fresh grapes, widened slightly, then quickly returned to their calm. That slight change alone was enough for Walter to be sure that the man in front of him was the one whom Grace had summoned.
Grace's gaze moved to the man. Next to her, faint laughter could be heard from Jesse.
The man facing Walter turned to Grace, then approached her with quick steps. As he approached, Grace's features changed.
“Eric.”
She called him in a voice mixed with a smile, and Eric stopped a step away from her and smiled widely.
“Miss.”
At that honey-sweet call, Joseph's eyebrows suddenly rose.
What is this? Why do all these people change their positions like a flip of the palm?
Grace gave Eric a slight wave, then walked towards Walter.
“I should have told you earlier, I apologize. This is Eric Napier, so it is. "One of Pete Taylor's henchmen, currently running a trade convoy undercover."
As she was introduced, Eric bowed very politely, as if none of the above had happened.
“Nice to meet you. I'm Eric Napier. "Please excuse my rudeness a moment ago."
Of course, Walter didn't think that Eric wasn't aware of his existence.
“I also committed impudence, so excuse me. “He was an unexpected presence.”
"effrontery? No, never.”
And yet, you were looking at me like you were going to tear me apart, right?
Walter let out a short laugh, then was about to turn around, but he stopped and asked Grace:
“How was it?”
The sentence was short, but Grace understood what was meant and answered immediately:
“I met Mrs. Isaacs, and she agreed to help. The eldest lady will rise soon.”
Walter almost asked more, then changed his mind. Now is the time to make room. Grace also didn't call him when he walked through the door.
When Walter entered his room and turned around, he saw, through the door that was closing, Eric bending down to kiss the back of Grace's hand.
Grace was smiling brightly. With that smile, a small dimple appeared on the right side of her mouth.
The door was closed, and Walter clicked his tongue faintly. He stood for a moment, contemplating the room, and then, without sitting down, went straight out into the hallway. Joseph quickly followed him, and Walter said:
“Stay alert, and help him get out unnoticed.”
“Ah... yes!”
Walter left Joseph behind, and walked forward with long strides.
The day had extended, and the sun was about to set.
Walter hated this time. The mixing of bright colors in the layers of the air was suffocating him.
He increased his stride length. After walking for a long time, facing the glowing red sunlight, a lone building appeared before him, like the remains of a fallen country.
The place where he hid for three years after that incident. For Lotter, it was a prison not because he was locked up, but because he was guilty here.
Guilty because he lived instead of Richmond's heir.
And guilty because even his name was stolen.
＊ ＊ ＊
Whenever he saw the twilight, his chest tightened; Because the intense, suffocating colors bring back equally suffocating memories.
The red light filtering through the hallway windows seemed thick, sticky, like dark paint.
Mrs. Isaac hurried over, and she came in a hurry, so she bowed respectfully to Walter.
"It arrived."
“…It's been a long time.”
The two face off.
During the space of ten years, the level of sight between them changed. After a moment, Walter passed her, and Isaac quickly turned around.
There was no need for guidance.
With every step he climbed, he felt as if he was taking a step deeper into a deep sea.
Walter… how hot that was, how hot… Walter…
The day he heard Eliza's muffled cries, he realized that staying alive might be a crime.
Your Highness the Crown Prince, you must survive. You have to rescue His Majesty the Emperor and return to your original place.
He blamed the previous duke who saved him and left him behind.
Walter stopped in front of a huge, ancient door, like the trunk of an old tree.
When the door opened, cold air that smelled of death rushed in. The furniture in the room was the same as it had been ten years ago, right down to its placement.
And in the middle of the room, on the huge bed, was an emaciated body, like a heap that would soon vanish. As soon as he saw it, he felt as if the blood in his veins had become boiling oil.
Isaac hurried to bed.
“Grand Madam.”
«……»
“Madam, His Highness the Duke has arrived.”
«……»
“Mrs...”
“That's enough.”
At Walter's nod, Isaac hesitated and then backed down.
Walter approached Eliza. He felt as if a deep swamp was pulling at his feet, and then he leaned his heavy body on the sofa at the head of the bed. He threw his head back and looked at the ceiling, a posture very different from his permanent balanced stance, even on the battlefield.
He sat slouched to the point of relaxation, and his mask of calm and smile fell off.
“!”
The moment the mask fell, Isaac subconsciously took a step back.
Among the savage knights of Richmond, Walter alone seemed calm because he concealed himf so well. When the mask was removed, a dense and rough aura was revealed that was incomparable to that of knights.
Isaac's lips twitched. Her husband and three sons are knights, and she knows the aura of those who survived.
Is it evil? Is he thirsty to kill?
no.
This is... accumulated madness, layer upon layer, over a long time.
“I'm back.”
«……»
“Why are you like this? While you are like this, Richmond Palace is infested with rats.”
He laughed sharply while muttering lazily, and cold sweat trickled down Isaac's back.
“I intended to clean up as soon as I arrived. As they did they cut off the head first.”
If he hadn't met Grace, he would have really done it. The smell of blood would now fill Richmond Palace.
When Eliza did not get up, the Marquis of Lenco seized everything. The petrified tower of power would not fall easily, so he planned to destroy it completely.
Richmond would be covered in blood, but he saw no other choice.
Which neck is cut first? And how?
Perhaps because he thought about it so much, he realized that the madness inside him was swelling uncontrollably. Even now, when he sees those rats playing the role of masters, he rages toward murder.
Walter closed his eyes, clenched his hand, then extended it.
Then, her soft voice penetrated his troubled mind like a breeze:
Richmond must not be drowned in blood. Only then can that power be used.
Walter slowly opened his eyes and straightened his head. Between the covers, strands of silvery-white hair were scattered. It seemed that all the blackness had disappeared. He felt like a hand was squeezing his neck.
“Get up.”
«……»
“You must rise, lest the land of Richmond be drenched in blood. And the punishment of Richmond's followers should be in your hands, not mine.'
«……»
Eliza didn't answer.
For her, perhaps the person she wants to punish more than the Lenko family... is herf.
Walter got up.
He felt that if he stayed here any longer, he would suffocate to death.
＊ ＊ ＊
Meanwhile, the Marquise of Lenco had had enough of her afternoon tea, and was repeating what she had learned from her conversation with the Duke.
“Slang without a title...”
It was not wise to trust blindly, so I sent a secret request to the information merchants. But the response was disappointing.
“She said
Red moon
“It will take three months to get accurate information about that woman.”
“Three months? Very long.”
She couldn't wait idly for three months. Her gut was screaming that now was the time to take control.
"Yes. But he added that even common people have nicknames, and that not using a nickname suggests that her parents are criminals.”
“My parents are criminals... It was said that near the Wall of Death were villages for fugitives, right?”
"indeed."
A meeting between a duke serving near the Wall of Death, and a woman from the villages of fugitives.
«Hmm. Everything made sense.”