136.

Hesitating uncharacteristically, the younger brother poked his head out of Griselda’s embrace and looked around. Then he curled up again. He mumbled, now looking quite embarrassed.

“The written language… they say a noble man doesn’t particularly need to learn it if it doesn’t interfere with his chivalry…”

“…Ah.”

There were no words of comfort. The metallic gaze, revealing an unpleasant expression with chilling intensity, was clear in Johannes’ mind as well. Father must have looked down on this child with those dark blue eyes. Johannes was also well aware of the duke’s contempt for academics in general.

Sometimes the duke would place his hand on his proud heir’s shoulder and sneer. He’d say that although some nobles claim to be scholars, it’s just a ploy by incompetent men to cover up their inadequacies. In fact, Johannes had never felt any particular sentiment or doubt about the duke’s mocking assertions.

For him, who had never failed to live up to the expectations implied by that contempt—namely, that he was different from those pathetic individuals—it wasn’t particularly something to be concerned about.

“Winfrid, you next…”

“Yeah.”

The younger brother stared at him. Johannes, who had been anxiously choosing his words with his gaze lowered without realizing it, raised his head again.

“Um. You, teach me how to write.”

“What?”

Winfrid raised his eyebrows as if in disgust.

“What would elder brother need to learn that for?”

His tone was completely incredulous. Johannes hid his inner turmoil, which felt like he might break into a cold sweat, and managed to produce a smile as natural as possible.

“Well… there might be urgent situations during wartime, you know. If the army is wiped out and there’s not even a soldier fit to be a messenger, I might have to send a dispatch myself. If the scribe dies early on too, ah, it would surely be troublesome.”

“……”

“I’m sorry. Since I don’t know much yet, I can’t think of better uses, but I’m sure it’ll be useful somewhere else too. Ah, yes. Your knowledge will be much broader than mine, so you can teach me that as well.”

“…I suppose.”

“Come on. Let’s do that. Hmm?”

“……”

“Someday, if you could be my strategy advisor, it would be most reassuring, Winfrid.”

Whether he was listening or not. At some point, the younger brother had become motionless. His face, which had been red until just now, seemed to turn pale. Not a positive response. As Johannes was wondering about this, Winfrid buried his face in Griselda’s chest.

“…Tired.”

“Why are you tired already? Did you come out on purpose today even though breathing is still difficult?”

“That’s not it.”

Did I make another mistake? Johannes hid the slight self-loathing he felt inside. His hand rose automatically, feeling sorry for his seemingly weak younger brother. The hair, more disheveled than their sister’s, was gently tousled between his fingers. Meanwhile, Winfrid, who seemed to be glancing at Johannes from the corner of his eye, grumbled with some force. It seemed he was trying to change the subject.

“It’s about elder sister. She’s annoying.”

“Inette?”

And that worked perfectly.

“With all that commotion every night, how can anyone sleep? It’s exhausting. What’s wrong with her anyway?”

Furrowing his light eyebrows sharply, the younger brother now seemed to have no intention of hiding his displeasure. Johannes had a bad feeling about this attitude. Although the sister and brother were usually on indifferent terms, he had never seen such open hostility displayed. He calmly asked again.

“What commotion?”

“It’s been about three days now. Can’t you hear it from your bedroom?”

“I haven’t heard anything. Tell me in detail.”

“You can’t hear that?”

Raising one eyebrow, Winfrid looked truly perplexed. How strange. The younger brother muttered to himself and then let out an exasperated sigh.

“Ever since the news spread, the mother and daughter have been screaming in unison, and at night it carries right through the walls…. I don’t know if they’re thinking or not…. It’s really driving me crazy.”

“News?”

“Mother made an official announcement, didn’t she? That there would be no revoking of the confinement order. That news.”

“What… are you talking about?”

Johannes was truly, startlingly surprised. As his heart seemed to sink, making him unconsciously take a step back, Griselda, who had been standing silently until then, added:

“It’s exactly as the butler reported.”

But even that lacked any context.

“What did the butler say?”

“Why, then, three days ago. You heard it with me, didn’t you?”

“Three days ago?”

“Yes. In the morning assembly three days ago….”

“……”

“You’ve been ‘quiet’ often lately. Have you forgotten already?”

Johannes’ complexion, frozen in place, was now clearly ashen.

Forgotten? No. It was completely news to him.

***

According to Griselda’s explanation, the incident from a fortnight ago when the Duke’s consort had attempted to strangle the heir had been hushed up. All members of the fortress, except for the Duke, that is, every vassal who knew the details of the incident, had promised silence as if they were accomplices.

This was the result of the butler, who had turned pale upon hearing the circumstances, issuing a gag order. If it reached the Duke’s ears, there was no telling what disaster might occur. All of these measures were said to have been taken with the safety of the Duke’s consort as the priority.

Of course, it was a fragile conspiracy that would immediately fall apart if even one person opened their mouth. However, the consort’s usual conduct served as a strong adhesive sealing the vassals’ lips. Griselda carefully added that even before losing her mind, she had not been a particularly difficult mistress, and even after her mental breakdown, she had consistently been regarded as a pitiful woman.

Although there were occasional outbursts that overworked the maids, it didn’t seem to be entirely incomprehensible behavior. A woman with bad luck who married the wrong husband. A woman who had completely lost her mind. A ‘unfortunate’ woman despite her noble status. It was a virtue of sorts, though not exactly a virtue.

However, despite all this, there was one decisive reason why this conspiracy could be maintained. Namely, despite the incident, the heir had emerged unscathed. Everyone had successfully kept the matter under wraps.

But three days ago, the Duke’s consort had taken the initiative to officially announce her daughter’s confinement. The consort gave a brief explanation that this punishment would include wife education and would be lifted on the day of her daughter’s first wedding, deliberately leaving the reason for the confinement unspoken. Do not ask for details. Keep silent even if you know. This was likely a warning to be careful not to let it reach the Duke’s ears.

And today.

Johannes was on the verge of losing his breath. How could he have forgotten such a profound absence? The lapse of memory was unbelievable. Although he had been feeling lately as if his reason was functioning a few beats late, he never dreamed he had been this out of his mind. Now, overcome with worry, Johannes was finally boiling inside.

That it was unjust from beginning to end.

Yes. Although the sin committed was too great to dare speak of, there had been unreasonable aspects to his mother’s actions from the very beginning. No, of course, Johannes himself was not entirely blameless. After all, it was his sister who had first initiated ‘that kind of play’.

However, he was an even worse accomplice than the main culprit in this incident. He had responded to his sister’s provocation knowing it was wrong. Perhaps that was exactly the point his mother had pointed out in her cursing.

He couldn’t resist. Unlike his sister, who had acted out of pure naive curiosity without realizing it was a dangerous act, his guilt was of a different nature. This was firmly proven by the consort’s reaction. The consort, who must have watched the entire incident from the bedroom window, blamed him, not his sister. It was a fury so intense and clearly directed that she had tried to substitute punishment by attempting to kill him. In this situation, you are the real criminal, it seemed to say.

Yet it was his sister who was actually confined.

Moreover, the idea that there was such a thing as ‘education’ that involved locking someone up was something he had never heard of in his short life.

He had even heard somewhere a rumor that even noble ladies who had entered convents would choose young, pure priests for night outings. No, perhaps there was no need to look so far. The maids scattered like grains of sand throughout Castle Gustavus, the unmarried daughters of vassal knights—had they ever shown any sign of being restricted in their movements?

They hadn’t. At least, he had never seen it. If one were to say they weren’t nobles, well, that wasn’t strictly true either. Although their status and appearance were shabby compared to the Valdemar family, they were from knightly families before whom mere commoners wouldn’t dare open their mouths—in other words, they were of the same class as the Valdemar family.

“Mother, why…”

“……”

“Why go to such lengths…”

His voice came out in fits and starts, trembling from deep inside his chest. Griselda’s head turned slightly to the side.

“I have no idea.”

“……”

She beckoned to a seemingly idle maid outside the training ground and entrusted Winfrid, whom she had been holding until now. Although it was just a matter of transferring a weight so light it seemed it might fly away if blown, her movements were quite careful as she handed over the child. Griselda watched Winfrid’s retreating back for a moment before looking down at Johannes again.

“It’s strange.”

“What is?”

Johannes retorted. Right now, his mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of his sister that he had no room for composure. He needed to bring her out. He had to get her immediately. But how?

“You haven’t been yourself lately.”

“…Is that so.”

“Even now, you seem genuinely perplexed.”

“I had… completely forgotten. It seems I’ve been excessively distracted recently.”

Although it had been a blank slate from the beginning with no trace of memory, Johannes made a vague excuse. His current state wasn’t important right now. More importantly, his sister. His sister….

“Perhaps, are you also unable to read the Duke’s consort’s true intentions at all?”

Griselda suddenly asked, as if she had read his mind.

“How could I possibly read someone’s mind?”

Johannes frowned and raised his head. Somehow, he had snapped back uncharacteristically. His eyes met those of the woman, cold and sunken. It was difficult to gauge the meaning behind that gaze.