Chapter 46
But those decisions were usually made by Madam Reiffers or steward Nastan, out of concern for the family head’s temper, not by Reiffers himself.
What unsettled Elia wasn’t the thought of being confined for a week, but that the order came from Reiffers.
“Did you do something wrong to the Master?”
Susan asked with worried eyes, and Elia tried to recall if she had done anything wrong to Reiffers.
When they had met earlier at the funeral, Reiffers had seemed unusually cheerful. She remembered how he had been chuckling quietly right in the middle of the ceremony, like something had amused him deeply.
“No, not really.”
Elia tilted her head. Of course, no celebrations could be held during the mourning period, so the delay of her and Rias’s wedding was understandably frustrating. But that wasn’t her fault.
“I’ll probably know more once I hear what Nastan says tomorrow.”
Elia murmured while slipping off her coat with tired hands. For now, all she wanted was to soak her whole body in warm water. She still felt Cyrone’s lingering breath clinging stubbornly to her skin.
* * *
“Miss, you are ordered not to leave your room until Sunday afternoon.”
At dawn, the elderly steward Nastan arrived.
After hearing this, Elia’s expression hardened. Apart from the funeral of the deposed Empress, Reiffers had hardly left the estate in recent days. Instead, he had confined himself to the underground reception room day and night, entertaining guests most of whom were familiar faces even to Elia.
“I don’t believe I’ve done anything wrong.”
Nastan smiled gently but then spoke politely as if to reassure her.
“This isn’t a punishment, but a request. An important guest is coming.”
“An important guest?”
Elia asked, but Nastan only nodded without further explanation. Elia’s mind wandered back—she recalled how the stable lights were kept on until dawn recently.
What kind of guest could be coming at such late hours?
“Who exactly is it that I’m not supposed to see?”
“You already know. Of course, it’s ‘that’ guest.”
“Then who is ‘that’ guest, exactly?”
“It’s still before dawn. Please try to rest a little longer, miss.”
Nastan smoothly cut off Elia’s question and bowed his head. As the door closed, only the sound of Nastan’s footsteps fading down the quiet hallway remained.
“…An important guest.”
Left alone, Elia whispered softly. She had never given it much thought before, but now a faint sense of unease settled over her. She stared intently at the firmly shut door.
It was someone who she must not know. But who exactly was ‘that’ guest?
4. The Shadow of Night
“After the late Crown Prince’s suicide, the struggle for the next throne was fierce for several years, so border security was extremely tight.”
Camille and Nielsen leaned over a worn-out piece of paper, its edges frayed and the faded text barely legible. Camille had seen it enough and spoke with finality.
“Given the long passage of time, there’s naturally a problem with the preservation of records, but even statistically, long-distance travel was almost nonexistent.”
Camille’s voice was full of conviction. Nielsen nodded, staring at the aged travel permits Camille had handed over. After Cyrone had instructed them to investigate the former Crown Prince’s mistress and the child, Camille and Nielsen moved very quietly and carefully.
“However, there are testimonies that around that time, a heavily pregnant woman came alone to the northern region. Most accounts were similar.”
At that, Nielsen looked at Camille with surprise and asked.
“A woman alone? And heavily pregnant?”
“Which means someone must have helped her cross the border in some way.”
At that time, anyone capable of helping a woman cross the border alone would have to be at least a high-ranking noble in the capital or someone with influence in the northern territories.
Nielsen glanced back at Camille.
“If the testimonies are similar, then some people must still remember this even though it happened quite a long time ago?”
Camille nodded. They had agents placed throughout the country and open routes established, so it wasn’t too difficult to have ties reach even the north.
However, since this incident happened about twenty years ago, there wasn’t much concrete evidence left to find.
“It’s quite rare for a heavily pregnant woman to travel alone all the way to the harsh northern lands. Around that time, outsiders hardly came through, so she must have stood out quite a bit.”
“That makes sense.”
Nielsen agreed thoughtfully. Camille continued.
“But what’s even more peculiar is that the woman’s hair was black.”
Nielsen finally let out a puzzled, ‘Huh?’
Black hair wasn’t very common in the empire. Considering the time period and the woman’s appearance Camille described, no matter how much she tried to conceal herself, it would have been impossible to go unnoticed.
That must be why people still remembered her.
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