Chapter 54: [Chapter 054] Don't leave me
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Noebian patted my shoulder comfortingly, as if to soothe my stiff muscles, and then went to greet other mourners.
"Madam, are you alright?"
Neil, who had been watching from a distance, approached cautiously.
"...Yes."
I wasn't okay at all. With a stiff neck, I followed Noebian's back with my gaze. And soon I felt the eyes of the servants who were looking at me and Noebian alternately, sighing deeply. The sight of a widow calmly accepting her lover's condolences without shedding a single tear was hardly a pleasant one. The gloomy expressions of the servants. And Noebian's relaxed expression.
'Was my method wrong?'
But the only way to strike back at Noebian as Blier Acacia was to go to his manor. How could I possibly take that position without provoking such a formidable opponent as Noebian Trovika? But...
'Is that really the only way?'
Had my attempt to ignore Noebian's warning and forcefully enter the Duke's mansion led to the Count's death? I had no more tears to shed, but my head ached. My plan, which had lost its certainty due to the Count's death, weighed heavily on me with the weight of guilt.
'I'm so tired.'
I wanted to run away. I wanted to hide somewhere, erase the person named Blier Acacia from the world, and just rest. I greeted the few remaining mourners like a lifeless puppet. The more I thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. At the same time, standing in this house filled with the Count's traces, I felt like I was slowly dying. It was even worse when I saw Noebian's face as he greeted people indifferently. He had deceived me. He had deceived Roardnes. Who knew if he had also deceived the Count who was in his grasp? Two of the people he had deceived had died, and one had almost taken her own life. Yet, he was so brazen. I stood stiffly and silently in anger, and then, at some point, I began to search the manor for Noebian who had disappeared from my sight. A tingling sensation all over my body indicated that Noebian Trovika was behind the Count's death. With a dazed head and trembling body, my eyes and feet diligently searched for traces of Noebian.
"Knight Neil, have you seen Lord Jimsker or the Duke?"
"Madam?"
"Have you seen them?"
Neil, who had been quietly following me, looked serious, sensing that something was amiss.
"I saw Lord Jimsker going towards the stables. I thought he might be on his way back after finishing his mourning prayers."
"Follow him from a distance. Don't get too close."
"Where are you going?"
"To the stables."
"There are still visitors..."
"No one cares about me, so just leave anyone there."
I called one of the maids and asked her to guard the lobby, and then quickly headed towards the garden path leading to the stables. I had a mountain of questions to ask and accusations to make. I wanted nothing more than to turn this uneasy hunch into certainty in a place that wasn't his territory.
***
Noebian's long-time aide, Jimsker, stared at his lord, who seemed to be in a good mood. It was completely different from the way he had acted at other nobles' funerals. His eyes, which were still hollow from lack of sleep, clearly showed signs of fatigue, but his strangely slow gait and movements seemed very relaxed to Jimsker, who had been watching him for a long time.
"Your Grace, are you alright?"
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"Hmm."
The smell of the poorly maintained stables was unpleasant, and Jimsker wanted to get out of the death-ridden manor as quickly as possible.
"Sir, come here tomorrow."
"...Yes?"
"The Count's will is definitely somewhere in this manor."
"The will... you mean?"
In the darkness, Noebian's face was somewhat pale and calm, but oddly excited.
"But how can I just search the manor?"
"The Countess, who has become a widow, cannot be left to guard this manor alone. Unless there are special instructions, you should come here for a while. Before the entire Count's family is thrown into chaos due to the sudden death of the Count, it would be right for me, as the lord, to look over the will."
"...I understand."
Jimsker was puzzled, but he had no intention of arguing with Noebian's words.
***
'The will...!'
As I watched Jimsker get on his horse, I hid myself in a darker, more secluded spot and gasped for breath. I had just overheard their conversation.
'The Count's will is somewhere in this manor.'
It was common sense to look for a will from a deceased nobleman. However, it was different for Noebian to pay attention to the will of this insignificant family. That alone meant the will was very important to Noebian. I could hear Noebian giving instructions to Jimsker. The will. Where was the will? If it was hidden somewhere...
'The keys!'
My heart raced. I had a bundle of keys that the Count had given me before he left for the estate! I felt around the exterior wall of the manor as I heard Jimsker leave. Approaching the back door of the manor, close to the exterior wall, Neil, who sensed something was amiss, approached me quietly. I pulled Neil towards me after confirming that Noebian had re-entered the manor through the front door.
"Madam?"
"Keep a close watch until the Duke returns to the manor. If he wants to see me, tell him that my meeting hours are over."
"Yes? Suddenly?"
"It's an order."
I didn't have time to explain everything to Neil. I quickly went through the back door, passed through the large laundry room, and climbed the stairs used by the servants.
"The key bundle, the key bundle!"
I returned to my bedroom and opened the safe containing Blier's diary and my jewels. The velvet pouch where I had put the key bundle was in a corner. With trembling hands, I grasped it tightly, feeling its hard, bumpy texture. Soon, I heard the sound of guests leaving the manor through the slightly open window. I hid behind the curtains and waited for the Duke's carriage to leave. After all the guests had left, and Noebian had come out to the entrance of the manor, he looked around the manor as if he knew I was watching. Then, after adjusting his clothes, he got into the carriage. Every movement was elegant and concise. He said something to Neil, who had followed him, and then left the manor without any hesitation. After his carriage had completely left the manor, and I had confirmed that Neil, who had been watching it until the end, was guarding the front of the manor with the other knights, I firmly closed the window. I made up my mind. I couldn't let Jimsker find the will before I did, and I didn't know what was written in it. With a clatter, I pulled the bell cord by my bedside, and Yona and Maggie rushed in.
"Madam! The knight said you weren't feeling well..."
"Don't let any of the servants come upstairs from now on."
"Yes?"
Maggie looked pale and bewildered. I pressed the key bundle in my hand.
"Just do as I say, don't ask any questions."
Maggie looked as worried as she had when I tried to make the servants drink the drugged wine at the Duke's manor. I patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"It's for the late Count."
"...Yes."
Seeing the determination in my eyes, Maggie left the room without a word. After confirming that all the servants upstairs had gone down and were busy cleaning on the first floor, I went straight to the Count's study.
***
The study, which I entered with a large key, was bleak, as if the owner hadn't stayed there for a long time. The desolate and cold study, without any decorations, felt like walking into a coffin. Thud. As soon as I entered the study, I closed the door again. I drew the curtains and approached the desk, relying on a single candle. Under the neat desk, there was a solitary cold metal safe. I tried inserting and turning the dozens of keys in the key bundle until finally, with a click, the safe door opened.
"...!"
A few gold bars were the first things I saw. And beneath them were several bundles of documents. Some were very old and yellowish, while others were as white as if they had just been brought in. With trembling hands, I pulled out a bundle of documents and my heart seemed to drop.
"!"
No, in fact, what fell at my feet was a pink diary, stuck between the bundles of documents like a foreign object. That's right, a pink diary. It looked exactly like the one I was familiar with and that filled me with rage as soon as I saw it. I brought the candle closer and wax dripped down. With trembling hands, I opened the diary. Unlike the previous diary, which was full of scribbles, this one was filled with densely written words in Elaconian.
"Why? Why are you here again?"
I couldn't understand the diary without a dictionary, but I could understand the first sentence.
"I hate you, Noebian Trovika."
I slammed the diary shut without realizing it. Even though it was just one sentence, I felt like I couldn't breathe. Time seemed to stop, and I could only breathe heavily. I barely came to my senses and hid the diary and the bundles of documents in the shawl I was wearing. I closed the safe and the study door as if nothing had happened and quickly returned to my office. I could light the room much brighter than the Count's study, but the excitement and fear I felt didn't easily subside. I grabbed the Elaconian dictionary from the bookshelf as if I were possessed and went to the desk. I walked so hard that it sounded like a thud. The memory of the day I first translated Blier's diary was still vivid. The fact that I had to translate Blier's diary again during my most difficult time was very burdensome.
'What kind of words will she use to mock and ridicule me this time?'
Just thinking about it made my head feel cold. However, contrary to my expectations, the sentences that I desperately looked up and translated, except for those that were very difficult, were as follows: "Regret and guilt are useless emotions."
"Count Acacia was just another person to be discarded after being used by Noebian Trovika."
"I want to run away, leaving everything behind..."
"On the other hand, there are nights when I can't bear the pity I feel for the life I've lost."
I rubbed my arms, which were getting goosebumps for no reason, and took a deep breath. It felt like something was crawling all over my body, and I couldn't stop rubbing my ears and the back of my neck.
'"Maybe this isn't even her diary?"'
It was as if Blier's diary was a mirror reflecting my current state of mind, such a foolish thought came to me.
[Do you want to run away?]
"...!"
I pushed the diary away as if I had touched a disgusting bug. It was as if Blier's ghost was standing in front of me, watching me and whispering to me. Fear and anger towards her surged simultaneously. I spat out the words, as if I were screaming at Blier who was right in front of me.
"Yes, I want to run away. Why are you doing this? Why do you keep..."
[It's too late to turn back.] A sentence that didn't even require a dictionary answered me. I eventually started laughing like I was crying.
"Who are you..."
[Don't run away. Go to the Duke's manor and reveal all the secrets.] Oh- How could this be? Who is this woman? [Don't run away.] How could she write such a diary? [Adrien Swan Pyreta.] My name, written in the Imperial language, was clearly placed at the end of the old diary, as if she knew I would see it.
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