# 43
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“Ares Deccan……”
“I'm here.”
He was walking on the road bearing the name of a dead person, so he was alive but dead, and dead but alive. This was how he was in the eyes of everyone, and even in his own eyes.
Except for one person: Grace Tyler.
Even in the moments when he wasn't aware of it, she was keenly aware of his presence. When she called his name, that ambiguous living that was neither life nor death became clear.
“Ares……”
Grace's faint call slowly dissolved the name “Walter” that was tightly covering Ares. As that painful name, stained with suffocating guilt and countless scars, dissolved, the name that had been shrunken for so long was revealed.
“Ares.”
Did you know?
What does your calling mean to me?
Ares buried his head in her shoulder and replied:
“I'm on your side.”
He continued to calm her down without interruption, sharing his warmth with her.
“Grace. Grace Taylor.”
He pronounced her name, an elegant, sharp-sounding name, repeatedly, until her trembling subsided.
＊ ＊ ＊
There were those who called the palace of the Duchy of Richmond “Blue Eagle Castle.” This is because the eagle is the symbol of Richmond, but the more precise reason is represented by the blue eagle banner hanging in the main hall of the palace, and in the decorations of the chandeliers.
The huge eagle banner, used since the time of the founding duke, was still hanging directly behind the duke's chair, flaunting its magnificence.
The hall, carefully constructed by the 1st Duke of Richmond, was a legacy in itf, a standing treasure. The hall's twelve ivory-coloured columns supporting the dome were eye-catching, but what really caught the eye were the sheer number of chandeliers.
The greatest of them is the one hanging in the center of the hall’s ceiling, decorated with two thousand pieces of crystal and a thousand pieces of blue sapphires. On top of it is a ruby figure of a soaring eagle.
They used to open the hall for major events and banquets, and the last event held there was the Marchioness's birthday. That day, the brilliance of the hall reached an indescribable level.
But tomorrow the hall will be used for a different reason.
The Marquise said that the hall should be prepared for the purpose, so she walked around it herf for two days.
“Take off all the decorations.”
Not only did she remove the luxurious decorations prepared for her birthday, but she ordered the removal of antique porcelain and jars that date back as far back as the hall. The blue velvet flags hanging on the walls were replaced with black flags. The chandeliers were raised so high that one could almost feel their absence, and even the chairs of the heads of families were made black.
The atmosphere of the hall changed completely, like the flip of a palm.
“It's like a funeral hall.” Really, you're amazing.”
The Marquis of Lenco laughed lightly as he complimented his wife when he came to inspect the hall at night.
“Where the Duke of Richmond's political career ends. Do you think it would be appropriate to decorate it?
“Haha, it would have been an interesting sight though.”
But the Marquis's smile as he patted his chin gradually faded. He stared at the podium, at the duke's chair, then walked towards him as if enchanted.
His footsteps on the stairs were loud, loud, like thunder. As soon as he sat on the enormous chair, a violent tremor ran through his body from head to toe, as if his blood was boiling.
"tomorrow. "It's tomorrow."
He didn't kill him before entering the palace, but tomorrow if he ended his political career completely, everything would return to normal.
＊ ＊ ＊
And so the next day came.
The Marquis of Lenco woke up with a rare feeling of refreshment. He did not have a bad dream at night, nor did he feel the joint pain that always plagued him.
"What's up with the Duke?"
“He did not take a single step outside his room.”
“No different from his grandmother, then. Is the senile old man still asleep?
"Yes. The eldest lady is also motionless.”
“Good, good. "Everything is fine."
He spent the morning enjoying the quiet, and only came out when the time for the Supreme Council approached, wearing a black suit.
“Has the Duke arrived?”
“In fact... he was the first to arrive.”
"the first? "He seemed eager."
“Um...yes.”
The servant's tone was suspicious, but the Marquis laughed contentedly. However, his smile began to fade as soon as he entered the corridor leading to the hall.
Maybe it's because the hall was set up as a funeral, but usually soft whispers seep into the corridor through the open doors. Now, the silence was so thick as to hear the drop of a needle. It was not just solemnity, but a mysterious tension.
The Marquis stopped and asked:
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes, Monsieur Marquis.”
His mood worsened for no reason, so he deliberately coughed loudly and then continued walking.
The original is that the owner of the place finally appears. That's how all the people in power he saw were. They arrive at the end, surrounded by attention. So he straightened his shoulders, raised his chin a little, and walked like the real owner. But as soon as he reached the open door and turned towards the hall, he felt as if he was being swallowed up without knowing it.
Neither the huge size of the place nor the huge blue eagle flag stopped him.
The blackness suited him. Rather, it is as if blackness was created for him. Everything that was prepared to resemble a funeral blended with the aura of the duke, until the place seemed like a court of hell.
What is this feeling? This eerie sense of familiarity... where had he seen him before?
At that moment, the Duke, who was leaning on the enormous chair, slowly uncrossed his legs and leaned his torso forward. Broken light poured onto his face. As the face that was immersed in shadow was revealed, the shadow of a black panther came to the Marquis and at the same moment he realized the reality of that feeling.
His features turned pale.
More than twenty years ago, the day he accompanied the former Duke to the Imperial Palace. That day, the Marquis was dazzled by a majestic hall filled with blackness. Under the flag of a black tiger, even greater than the flag of the blue eagle, a man was smiling at them, as if the tiger had reincarnated as a human.
“You are late, Duke of Richmond.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. But why are you always here so early? Isn’t it common for the owner of the place to come after the guests have entered?”
“Because there are many things worth considering: who comes, with whom, and with what expression.”
The Emperor's face was fresh in his memory as if it were yesterday, and now the Duke was smiling with the same face.
“You are late, Marquis of Lenco.”
Cold sweat ran down the Marquis's back.