“Ugh.”

Griselda reflexively bit her thumb. As she sucked it like a child, the taste of iron quickly swirled on her tongue tip. Had she lost focus due to the sweltering heat? She pricked her thumb while sewing. On her lap lay the stretched-out ceremonial robe that Winfrid used to wear when he was still a nursing infant.

It had been several months since her son, whom she could never reveal to anyone, had left home. From the child who had turned his back and left as if never to return, she unexpectedly received word at dawn today. The child sent a message through a messenger that he planned to stop by this fortress soon. Thanks to that, Griselda’s heart had been restless until this afternoon.

She felt strangely uneasy whether sitting or standing. The light on her face was not entirely joyful, as if the unexpected good news had been too much for her. Perhaps, if she faced the child this time, would the anxiety she felt last time disappear? Would this strange sensation pressing on her lungs vanish?

It was the anxious look of one who desperately hoped to be reassured, yet refused to acknowledge her own wish. Lord Winfrid, will you show me again that adorable sight of you puffing your cheeks with dazed eyes? As if praying, as if ignoring the anxiety within herself. She had already stitched the past childhood one stitch at a time.

Even though there would be no more occasions to wear it.

Griselda suddenly lifts her face. A cool breeze was blowing in. Griselda’s gaze, longing for the child’s return, naturally follows the refreshing air towards the window. At the wide-open window like a chamber door, the devotedly served young lady was standing somewhat vaguely with a distant air. At that back view, Griselda had to erase her breath for a moment. A platinum-colored line that seemed about to vanish at any moment. For an instant, she thought it was the princess consort.

Griselda lets out a barely audible sigh. She turns her head to tidy up the sewing basket and thread, and neatly folds Winfrid’s ceremonial robe. The person whose mind was not quite whole had been often looking out the window lately, so perhaps she was getting some fresh air like that. A sudden feeling of pity arose.

In fact, at this time of year, swimming would have been appropriate.

If the young lady’s mind had been sound, she would have gone swimming at least a hundred times by now, riding a gentle mare accompanied by several sharp-witted maids and handsome guards to the lakeside in the great forest an hour’s ride away. Isn’t that the most noble way to endure this scorching season that drains one’s spirit?

Thoroughly washing one’s body in clear water, then lazily sprawling in the shade of lush trees. And if bored, casually picking and eating chilled fruits. Who knows? With that nature of hers, knowing too well how precious and beautiful she was, she might have even exchanged some suggestive glances with young and vigorous guard knights, gently coaxing even the evil twin brothers to twist around her finger like the tongue in her mouth. For the young lady, it would have been nothing to elegantly tease those knights full of enthusiasm and naive innocence.

But judging by her condition, it seemed she would never set foot even in the shadow of the great forest, let alone go swimming. How strange and pitiful this cursed fate was.

Griselda had no way of knowing. Where had that sharp girl gone, who on the day the princess consort breathed her last, had wailed as if bursting with anger, swearing she would never end up like that even if she died? Would she have any idea what had become of herself now?

She wouldn’t know.

“That… mad woman.”

I still remember that voice.

That clear voice of the young lady who, even when slapped by her own mother, forced to wear a chastity belt far too early for no reason, with her ankles bound like an animal, would quietly curse as if by habit when her anger reached its peak – it’s still vivid in my ears.

Griselda shook her head. She was already overwhelmed enough with her own worries that she harbored without even realizing. No, she was so desperate in avoiding those worries that she felt drained every second. Moreover, though she cared for the young lady in her heart, she was not her own child but someone else’s. Though pitiable, there was nothing to be done. She’ll have to live not knowing what she doesn’t know. It was all because of that sinful mother, the princess consort. What more could I…? Whoosh!

There was a sound of air being cut.

……

“…Young lady?”

Griselda’s puzzled gaze fixed on the young lady’s back.

“Young lady!”

Griselda sprang up like a spring. The young lady’s back view looked just like someone about to jump to their death. With one hand stretched far out the window, the young lady was gripping the windowsill tightly with her remaining hand, her entire body trembling. The sound of her taking labored breaths, her shoulders and upper body heaving as if overcome by something, reached Griselda’s seat clearly. Griselda ran, losing her senses.

“What are you doing!”

She frantically embraced the young lady’s thin shoulders. But she had put so much strength into that slender frame that it was stiff and wouldn’t easily yield to Griselda’s embrace. Finally, she too craned her neck. She peered at the young lady’s profile, staring intensely at some distant place below the main tower.

“Young lady…?”

Griselda called out to the young lady. But the girl paid no attention to her nurse’s call. Moreover, the young lady’s cheeks, nose bridge, and forehead, which were always pale, were now all flushed red as if sunburnt. Below her eyes brimming with angry tears, even the tip of her tightly clenched jaw was trembling. Ah, that. It was an expression she hadn’t shown since she was twelve years old. And then.

Plop.

Suddenly, the young lady widened her eyes.

Griselda saw the young lady’s brow, which had been crumpled like a piece of paper, smooth out as if by a lie. Her gaze, which had been fixed on the area below, was now losing focus and drifting into empty space.

Griselda finally checked where the young lady had been looking. Below the window was just the well area. There was nothing particularly noteworthy. Only the boys following the fortress heir were rushing towards one place in a group. Towards the direction of the main tower entrance. Where did he go? The devil who usually stood at their center was somehow not visible. As Griselda was briefly puzzled, momentarily forgetting the situation.

“Ha.”

“……”

“Haha.”

The young lady’s laughter sounded like air leaking. It had been truly years since she had laughed out loud like that, so Griselda doubted her own ears. Unable to hide her bewilderment, she peered at the young lady’s face.

The young lady, who had been practically collapsed on the windowsill in her nurse’s arms, very slowly, as if crawling along the windowsill, retreated back and straightened her posture. Regardless of her nurse’s hands restraining her body, she turned her back to the window. She slid down, as if gliding. Dropping clear tears, plop, plop….

The young lady laughs like a young girl.

Griselda froze for a moment. She stares at the young lady’s face as if bound. The face that had been full of heat until just now was gone without a trace. As if asking when that brow and those cheeks had ever worn an unholy expression. The young lady’s smile, with even the corners of her eyes folded into long gentle curves, was clear to the point of being sorrowful, like water in a basin. Even her cheeks, wet with tears, were blooming with a different kind of blush, like a delicate flower.

“He was right….”

The young lady murmured as if whispering. Her speech, which had been blocked for years, burst forth so suddenly.

While Griselda couldn’t even breathe, the young lady lightly raised her two hands in a praying gesture. She gently covered her face, still brimming with remaining tears. As if modestly hiding the emotion welling up deep inside her mouth, she lightly touched her nose bridge, lips, and chin. Ah, that was completely….

The demeanor of a young noblewoman.

“…Griselda.”

When the call continued as if a lie, Griselda was completely flustered. She forgot even what to say. She just quickly knelt down, following the young lady who was sitting with her back against the wall below the window.

“…Yes. Yes.”

“He’s coming.”

He?

“He’s… coming up here.”

Having whispered thus, the young lady did not give her nurse even a glance. As for Griselda, she could only gaze softly at the wide-open chamber door opposite her with eyes still wet like glass, enveloped in an indescribable joy.

“How… angry will he be? How… dumbfounded will he be…? Will he want to tear my chest apart?”

“……”

“But I won’t know anything. I’ll never know….”

“……”

“Griselda…. Do you understand? He was right a hundred times over….”

The incomprehensible whispers continued like a song.

“You know, Griselda. I’m… going to live as an idiot.”

“What do you….”

Griselda couldn’t finish asking what she meant. It was because the commotion from the far end of the corridor could be heard through the open door. Griselda raised her head like a sensitive beast and cast her gaze towards the distant doorway.

The voices of not yet fully mature men were resonating at the end of the corridor. The sharp cry of the old head butler could also be heard cutting through the noise. Strange. That person, though always stern, never raises his voice.

“Young lady. I’m sorry. Please wait a moment.”

Griselda didn’t wait for an answer. She rushed out into the corridor. The heir, who had just climbed the stairs and reached the chamber corridor, came into her view. He was walking towards Griselda as if flying. No. Griselda seemed to be just one of the objects that entered his view, his destination appearing to be the chamber.

And he was red.

What’s this?

Griselda’s eyes widened. She couldn’t quickly make sense of the situation.

The heir was in a state of half-putting on his top. The platinum-haired boy, with only one arm roughly inserted so that the clothing flapped, was so completely red. From the right side of his neck, the back of his hand and forearm that wrapped around that neck, to his broad chest, all were flooded with a dark red liquid as if burst from within.

Even the atmosphere that had seized his entire face.

Why was it? The moment Griselda’s eyes took in the devil’s face, her heart seemed to plead to run away immediately. Thump thump, thump thump. It beats frantically. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing with her own eyes. That face. So expressionless. So white. With all color drained. How could it be so….

Red.

Somehow, she felt a slight shudder again. Because the first impression that filled her vision had even colored Griselda’s sight, she only noticed the dagger stuck in the heir’s shoulder line when he had approached within five or six steps. The reason why the heir’s companions and the head butler were following behind him in an uproar was precisely because of that dagger. They cry out like a swarm of bees, saying treatment should be the priority, asking whose deed this was.

And at that moment….

The young lady, who had sprung up like lightning, could be heard rushing to the entrance.

“…Young lady?”

When Griselda asked in bewilderment, the young lady was grabbing the doorknob while bowing deeply to her waist. Through the closing gap in the door, Griselda caught a glimpse of a smile that was still moistly clear, almost like a symptom of illness. The young lady with wet eyes was smiling gently towards Griselda. And then… Bang! The chamber door closed loudly right in front of her face.

“Young la…!”

Griselda turned around as if throwing herself. However, her call wasn’t fully completed. She froze like a stone with her mouth still open. So Griselda couldn’t quite understand. Just when… How on earth did he approach so instantly in the blink of an eye?

The shadow that suddenly enveloped her entire body was like some ominous flame.