The next morning at dawn.

Griselda, who had been plagued by a strange nightmare, only jolted awake at the end of her dream. Her eyes wide open, she sat up abruptly, but without any small trembling or cold sweat on her upper body, so it wasn’t particularly due to fear.

She was just flustered, as if she had been suddenly struck on the crown of her head resting on the pillow. Where is this? She blinked her wide-open eyes rapidly. She saw an interior so bleak it was unmatched, with hardly any common decorations, let alone furniture. Even the sight of the early summer dawn eating away at the darkness in the room was familiar. It was her bedroom.

Griselda let out a short sigh, as if correcting her posture.

As she washed up briefly and changed clothes, she pondered deeply on the nightmare she had just had. It must have been quite a dream to make someone who had gone to bed completely exhausted from the afternoon’s commotion sit up in an instant. As often happens, she couldn’t recall a single fragment. Only the scent of charcoal and the smell of rain lingered at the tip of her nose like a shadow. All this….

‘That’.

It was because she had gone to sleep without constantly checking on it.

Griselda saw the faint furrowing of the brow of the woman adjusting her headdress in the hazy bronze mirror. That woman in the mirror. Certainly in her younger days, her eyes and hands were all nimble. That is, before she lost her husband. To be precise, before she miscarried the child they had conceived together….

Now she treats everything except Winfrid’s circumstances as casually as a vain autumn, but even to herself, that innate basic temperament was quite meticulous. So it must be weighing on her mind like such a persistent habit.

That feeling.

The identity of that intense impression received the day before.

Griselda, who left the bedroom carrying the water container placed at the doorway, stopped by the kitchen to get hot water first. While exchanging a few words of small talk with the cook who had been busy preparing breakfast early on, she checked the temperature by dipping her elbow into the water container.

“By the way…. I heard the young lady has started speaking, is that true?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Well, I never.”

The cook, who had casually inquired about the truth of the rumor, clicked her tongue as if displeased.

“When the whole continent is pointing fingers…. What’s the use now…. Oh my, hey! Are you standing there with your mind elsewhere? It’s burning, burning!”

She muttered hurriedly as if sprinkling a pinch of salt into a boiling soup, then bustled away pretending not to notice. Griselda silently watched her retreating figure covered in misty steam, then headed straight for the ladies’ chamber. Today, the stairs leading up to the chamber felt especially high. Before opening the door to the chamber, she took a deep breath for a moment. Click. Had the sound of the door opening always been this loud?

The first thing that caught her eye was the deep indigo color.

The ladies’ chamber, which is in eternal shade except when the sun is directly shining, is dark even at this hour. Although all the few windows are usually kept open, the one next to the princess’s bed was an exception last night, adding to the predawn shadows. It was because the conscious princess, despite the heat, was reluctant to have the window open.

“I’m scared, so… don’t open this one…. Okay? Okay?”

The princess, somehow pale, had pleaded so pitifully. Though she had thrown sharp knives at her own brothers without hesitation. Though she had laughed so brightly, with transparent tears, seemingly oblivious to the commotion at the foot of the tower. Was it all just a mirage that only I saw? Now, as the princess clings to her nurse’s sleeve like a child who has only grown in body…. What to do about this? Griselda had simply folded her shadowed heart silently.

After quietly opening the closed window, she approached the bed and gently shook the princess’s shoulder to wake her. ‘Is it morning?’ asked the princess, opening her eyes prettily, and soon surrendered herself to Griselda’s touch.

Meanwhile, not having fully shaken off her drowsiness, she docilely followed like a doll, undressing as Griselda undressed her and dressing as she dressed her, in a way that seemed completely unlike someone she knew. Before losing her mind, she was a young lady with many complaints like gentle bones, and after losing her mind, she was more like a corpse being prepared for burial than a doll.

But today….

“You know…. I must have played the gayageum too much last night, my fingers hurt. Could you massage them for me?”

There was even a hint of shyness in her quiet voice. Griselda was momentarily at a loss for words. She immediately collected herself and said.

“Give me your hand, please.”

Griselda’s gaze soon sank even deeper. This morning, the princess who was lying face down in front of the dressing table, extending one hand as if already exhausted from just a moment’s movement…. Yes. Griselda did not know this person.

She should have checked. Even if she had been somewhat flustered, she shouldn’t have just passed it by, Griselda inwardly lamented as she massaged the princess’s hand and firmed her resolve. She would seek out the devil today. It was clear as day that there must be some circumstance behind the princess’s unfamiliar appearance, and it seemed not unrelated to ‘that face’ the heir had shown yesterday.

It was definitely… not an ordinary face. That impression. That ominous feeling. That fear. That power. The ominous premonition that clawed at even the inside of the chest of one who had no particular relation or concern, all came from the side of the boy’s face. Surely not, it can’t be…. It can’t be what?

What can’t it be?

“What are you thinking about so intently?”

Griselda’s focus only then returned clearly. She saw the princess lying face down, resting one hand on her cheek, smiling gently towards her. It was an expression that made the observer feel a strange sense of guilt. Griselda felt her heart sink a little.

“I’m worried because the weather is gloomy. I hope Winfrid’s return journey won’t be too muddy. I heard he’s supposed to arrive around midnight tonight….”

She made up something that wasn’t true.

It wasn’t an impulse born out of altruism to help someone by telling the truth. Even in kind words, she dared not say so. She just hoped her guess was wrong. She hoped that when she dug up this wet soil, there wouldn’t be even a small bone fragment left underneath. With that confirmation, she hoped to be able to return lightly to the world where there were only her son and herself, to the child’s early years, to ponder over.

“Winfrid…. That’s right, he’s absent.”

The princess seemed to be counting the days, rolling only her blue eyes. Absent. Griselda quietly pressed her suddenly throbbing chest.

“Yes. It’s been quite a while. You remember.”

“Yes, yes. Of course I remember…. How could I forget the day my only brother left? Even though he had a peculiar temperament, he was the youngest. That wouldn’t be right….”

The princess whispers with a somewhat embarrassed look. Nevertheless, that was certainly not something that would come from the mouth of the eldest daughter who had acted as if Johannes was her only brother. Griselda found herself blurting out unintentionally.

“Then what about Johannes?”

It might have been venting. Griselda was startled at herself and slightly raised her gaze that had been fixed on the princess’s hand until then. The princess, still lying face down, was staring at Griselda with slightly dazed eyes.

For some reason, there was no reaction at all. Even though she realized her mistake, it was too late to take back the spilled water. It was something she shouldn’t have asked so directly. Griselda couldn’t even gauge how the princess would react. An indescribable silence flowed between the two women for several seconds.

“That child… what?”

The princess asked, barely moving her lips.

“Pardon?”

“Why…? Did he go somewhere too?”

“Johannes?”

“Hmm?”

The princess closed her mouth with a bewildered look. Then, slowly raising her upper body, she asks again.

“Um, what are we talking about right now?”

“No. It’s just….”

Griselda awkwardly avoided the princess’s gaze. She was more bewildered by her own bewilderment at this moment. She wasn’t sure what she had expected. Perhaps a fiery reaction like the princess’s brothers? A pathological laugh like yesterday? In any case, the princess’s reaction was so ordinary that she had lost her bearings without realizing it. She bowed her head briefly as if to organize her thoughts.

“I didn’t sleep well last night, so I think I’m a bit out of sorts. I misspoke. I’m sorry.”

“There are other things to talk nonsense about…. You seem a bit strange today.”

The princess, who had been unusually watching her nurse’s expression, soon returned to her initial languid impression, also emanating a confused atmosphere from both shoulders. The princess, lying face down again, smiled softly. Was she trying to recall a non-existent memory? Griselda felt the girl’s sunken gaze drift a little.

“Johannes… isn’t he strange? He seems so much more adult-like than the rest of us.”

“…”

“I guess it’s because he’s the heir, he’s exceptional from the start.”

“…”

“When was the last time I talked with him…”

“…”

“I can’t remember that…”

Her eyelids were sinking heavily, as if she would fall asleep soon if left like this. It must have been because of that quiet demeanor, like a pond. For a brief moment, Griselda thought it might not be so bad to let things flow like this. Just like this, with nothing happening, the princess as she is, the heir as he is…. She to her child. Despising the departed duke consort, just peaceful days.

However.

“Griselda.”

The slender hand that Griselda had been massaging suddenly flailed as if shaking off everything. She quickly raised her head. She saw the girl turning pale blue from her lips, still lying face down. Her wide-open eyes, full of tears, were seeking her help.

“Gri…. I can’t breathe…”

“Young lady!”

“I can’t… breathe…”

The princess violently arches her back. Griselda, panic-stricken, first helped the princess sit up. Even after sitting her up, she didn’t know what to do. She hugged the princess and just paced back and forth, belatedly calling for the maid. Shouting to bring a priest, she resolved once again.

That today, she would go to the heir. No matter what anyone said, she would question him and confirm from his own mouth. What the meaning of that face that day was. Oh devil. Devil who seemed gripped by fear. You who have not yet fully grown. Ah, that day.

I saw passion in your face, it was an immature and sorrowful passion, all the more terrible…. So please tell me it’s not so, tell me all my concerns are just groundless worries. Tell me that I and my child, who have nothing to do with the bloodline of Ducomeng, will be safe from your power, please tell me…!

Ah.

So that I can turn my eyes away from your ‘misfortune’.