# 40
---
Knock.
A small tremble ran through her hand holding the handle.
Hum!
The door shook violently, and at the same moment a scream rang out from behind it.
“The door is closed!!”
“This door is also closed!!”
“Break it!!”
As soon as the rush of feet was heard, the door shook with greater force.
Bang, bang!
Jessie bit her lip harshly.
Bang, bang!
The door hinge was broken, and the sharp red light penetrated the cracks like knives. One more hit and the door will open. Jessie slid her body between the curtain and the wall, and took out her dagger.
She would die if she had to, but she would never hold Grace's foot.
And at the moment when the veins in the hand holding the knife swelled
“You bastards.”
A sound as cold as eternal blue snow swept throughout the annex.
A dull wind blew. A dry wind that was so severe that movement stopped. The restless knights forgot even how to breathe. They wanted to ignore it, but an unignorable prestige grabbed their heads and forcibly turned them around.
“!”
There was a person standing on the staircase, as if he had appeared out of nowhere.
Under the moonlight filtering through a large arched window, a woman stood, blocking its light with her body, staring at the knights from above.
She said again:
“You bastards.”
The voice was frozen like countless layers of eternal snow, in which emotions accumulated until they solidified.
“Grand Madam!”
M.M.: She fell asleep 😭😭😭🔥
Mrs. Isaacs, who had been staring absently, rushed through the ranks of the knights.
Eliza narrowed her eyes as she looked at her maid, the only maid who had stayed by her side until the end. She wasn't in the shape she used to be. The hair that had been carefully raised was scattered, and the face that had been as fresh as a flower had withered and lost its vitality.
For the first time, Eliza truly encountered the form of her maid, who stayed with her until the end.
Her heart beat as if it was falling to the bottom. The stagnant, rotting blood slowly began to flow, and the cloud that obscured her vision lifted.
Broken doors, their mouths open, and the main door wide open, with cold air leaking through it without interruption. Jagged torches spewing black soot staining the ceiling, and hands wielding blue swords and clubs fill the corridor.
A sarcastic laugh burst out.
She was terrified of intruding into her annex without permission. After a long, depressing laugh, Eliza asked with deliberate laziness:
“Did the Duke command you?”
Count Luwin swallowed, and quickly gathered himf together.
“Grand Madam! "This is not the time"
“I asked if the Duke had ordered you.”
Eliza cut short the Count's justification, then fixed her gaze on him.
“Grand Madam, the castle now.”
“Can't you answer?!”
The lazy voice turned into a sharp blade that cut the Count's words. Eliza descended the stairs, one step at a time, pressing down on them as if she were vomiting blood.
“Who ordered the search of Eliza Richmond's quarters, ignoring my permission, and disregarding my maid's warning?!”
Under her scream, the knights bowed and retreated. Even those who were carrying iron bars to break down the doors dropped them in panic.
Eliza made the way opened by their retreat, and approached Count Lewin. His palms were wet with sweat.
They said she had lost her mind and that death was imminent. She remained silent when her maids were fired, and did not react when her luxurious rooms were taken away. Its treasures became the property of the Marquis of Linco, as if Richmond Castle was no longer hers.
But the presence of the old woman, whom they thought was dead, strangled the neck of the powerful knight leader.
Eliza stopped a step away from him and said:
“Did you act alone, Count Lewin?”
«……»
She gave him a sharp look and ordered:
“Get out.”
His features turned pale. He could no longer retreat; He's already crossed the line. He clenched his fist tightly.
“I cannot leave before this room is searched, Grand Madam.”
"What did you say?"
“It seems that the Invisibles who assassinated the previous Duke have infiltrated the castle. "You must open that door and check, ma'am!"
Anger flared in Eliza's eyes.
"truly?"
«……»
“Those who killed my children...those whom tearing apart is not enough to please...entered my castle?”
Eliza turned around violently and moved toward the door, which was barely open. Then she ordered the knights bearing the rods:
“Open it. “I will check for myf.”
The knights exchanged glances, and Eliza shouted:
“Won't you open it right now?!”
Finally, someone pushed the door open. Eliza reached for the torchbearer.
“Ma’am, let me.”
“Shut up!”
She snatched the torch from him. Mrs. Isaacs tried to take it from her, but Eliza refused, and began searching the room herf. Neither the knights nor the count could help but stare in amazement.
The old man had a touch of madness.
She searched madly, then tore the heavy curtain, and suddenly stopped. Behind the window is a turbulent scene. She handed the torch to Mrs. Isaacs slowly, then turned away.
It took the form of an angel of death emerging from hell, under a bright red light. Some of the knights backed away involuntarily, and Eliza asked quietly:
“Should I search more?”
Count Luwin did not dare to say yes. I stared at him.
“Aaron, are these bastards in my space?”
Mrs. Isaacs shook her head lightly.
"no."
“Well, all that's left is my bedroom. Who dares to search her?
«……»
No one came forward.
Even the Deccan Emperor would not easily order a search of her chambers.
In the midst of intense silence, Eliza slowly advanced. The knights retreated and all bowed. She stopped in front of Count Lewin and said:
“If you find who killed my children, bring them to me. "I will burn them to the last hair."
«……»
“Back off, Lewin.”
In the depths of her eyes directed at him, a hot flame blazed.
＊ ＊ ＊
After Grace and Walter left, Eliza couldn't sleep. Insomnia was annoying. She was about to fall asleep when a maid screamed.
“Stop!! This is where the grand lady resides!”
I descended the stairs slowly. Knights bearing the crest of Richmond filled the aisle. As if she had just emerged from cold water, she woke up completely. Then, when she saw her old maid, ten years passed as a flash before her eyes.
Eliza stood at the boudoir window, watching the knights move away. As the torches moved away, her face was reflected in the dark glass.
There was a frail old man.
The old woman's appearance with messy silver hair seemed strange to her. As she stared at herf, she recalled a past that seemed like it happened yesterday.
Her shiny black hair was her pride, polished by the maids. While the Emperor's father was alive, she monopolized his love and ruled the palace. When she became Duchess of Richmond, she controlled both the North-West and the capital's salons. The highest seat was always hers, and she went about the world with a procession of maids.
Eliza looked at her hands. She was accustomed to a neat hand shining with a studded ring, but what she saw now was a hand withered like a dead branch.
How did the Queen of Richmond, who maintained her dignity even in front of her husband and children, end up in this state?
She remembered Walter's sharp rebuke, and burst out into a short laugh.
“Lack of manners...has not changed from your childhood until now.”
M.M.: Praise be to God, she grew up 😭😭🫡