Chapter 59…………………………………………..
The three Cassius men had little interest in flowers, and Reiena, adopted after the Duchess’s death, naturally didn’t know much either. Besides, Duke Cassius had only begun seriously searching for the time capsule after his wife had passed away.
“So… does that mean there’s an issue with the hill as well? But the bell tower’s been standing for over a hundred years.”
The Duke answered his son’s question.
“…Come to think of it, the bell in the tower doesn’t ring three times at dawn.”
“What do you mean? The temple bells are supposed to ring three times each, three times a day.”
“Yes, morning, noon, and evening. But this poem specifically says ‘dawn.’”
“Doesn’t ‘dawn’ just mean morning? The bell doesn’t ring at that hour.”
“It does. Or rather, it did.”
A more detailed explanation came from another source.
“In the Cassius domain, the temple traditionally rang the bell four times at dawn—a custom unique to this region of the Empire. It didn’t exist anywhere else.”
Leandro, looking exhausted under his eyes, stood by the corridor door.
“Because it was criticized as heretical, the practice was abolished long ago.”
“Brother! Can I come out?”
“…It’s fine. We’re talking about Mother’s time capsule, so I can’t stay hidden. Besides, there’s something to discuss with the Duchess too.”
I’m not part of that, you brat.
Perhaps pricked by my gaze, Leandro didn’t sit but lingered nearby.
The Duke turned the topic back to the bell tower.
“I always found it odd, but I assumed it just meant morning. The dawn-bell custom had ended even before I married Sheryl. I never imagined she would know about it…”
I asked him.
“You didn’t want it abolished, did you? Our homeland’s unique tradition.”
“I had always intended to revive it someday. Once no one could dare call our family the Devil Dukes.”
“Perhaps the Duchess wrote this poem imagining that future, when the dawn bell would ring four times.”
“…Thank you for saying that, at least.”
It sounded oddly sarcastic, yet there was a faint sincerity behind it.
At the novel’s end, it just happened to turn out that way—but did my encouragement make it sound heartfelt?
“Anyway, the important point is that these three lines each contain a contradiction.”
“Isn’t it just a mistake? Mother could be quite careless, after all.”
“You don’t spare words for your mother, Rehaim.”
Ignoring the brothers’ bickering, I picked up a pen.
“If this were a complex cipher, we’d look for hidden meanings in these contradictions.”
I struck through the three lines.
“But from what we know, the Duchess wasn’t that kind of person. So let’s boldly remove these three lines from consideration.”
“Remove them entirely?”
“Yes. What word appears at the start of the poem?”
“Purity.”
“What does ‘purity’ mean? A clean state—it’s not usually used for lies.”
“So the three lines are lies?”
“Exactly. They’re false information. Then the remaining line is…”
“The spring of purity returns without fail! I have hidden treasure in all these places!”
“Rehaim, enough with your ears.”
“The first line was probably written just to include the word ‘purity.’ Maybe literally written in spring too.”
Duke Cassius recalled the past.
“Seems it really was spring then.”
“The key is the last line, which explicitly mentions the treasure.”
“I have hidden treasure in all these places.”
“All these places refer to the locations mentioned in the previous three lines. But since we’ve discarded those three lines, we should discard this one too.”
“Then only ‘I have hidden treasure’ remains.”
“That’s the important part—the fact that the Duchess actually hid treasure.”
Rehaim immediately objected.
“The person who hid the treasure was obviously Mother, not Father! What’s so important about that, sister-in-law?”
“Mind your words, Lord Rehaim.”
He stammered.
“W-what’s important?”
“That is…”
I deliberately paused. The Duke glared at his youngest son as if to kill him.
“E-excuse me, sister-in-law!”
“By the way, this reception room has an unusual number of artworks depicting the Duchess.”
The Duke looked frustrated but didn’t want to contradict my mood, so he answered.
“Sheryl especially liked this room. She enjoyed meeting new people.”
I walked toward the artworks.
“Did the Duchess like these too?”
“No, she was a bit embarrassed by them. She was shy. I added them out of my own desire.”
“This bust as well?”
“Oh, that plaster bust was one of the few gifts Sheryl gave me. It’s a copy of a marble statue in the manor, and she told me to look at her face even when I was in the capital…”
The Duke’s words faltered, lost in a bittersweet memory.
“But does this matter? The time capsule?”
I lifted the bust. The Cassius family froze.
“Be careful!”
“It’ll break!”
“It’s fine. It’s empty inside, lighter than it looks.”
The first to notice was Reiena.
“Wait… you said it’s empty?”
“Yes. The Duchess herself prepared this hollow plaster bust of herself. Duke, when exactly did she give it to you?”
Being a devoted husband, Duke Cassius remembered perfectly.
“Seventeen years ago.”
“And when did you hear about the time capsule?”
“Also seventeen years ago…”
All three men’s eyes widened simultaneously.
“Could it be…the ‘I’ in the poem?”
“I told you—the important thing is that the Duchess hid it.”
The poem had explicitly revealed both the person who hid the time capsule and its location.
The place Duke Cassius never thought to check—the inside of his wife’s own bust. Who would dare suggest breaking the cherished bust of his beloved wife?
“Shall we shake it a little?”
“Wait! I’ll do it!”
“Shaking it with those thin arms?”
Pressing his ear to the bust, the Duke carefully shook it and acknowledged hearing something inside.
Destroying a gift from his wife was painful…
“But if it’s Sheryl, she’d do something like this. She had a mischievous streak.”
Finally, he made a decision.
Soon after, experts arrived at the manor. They carefully opened the bottom of the statue to minimize damage.
Inside were bundles of letters and bookmarks wrapped in woolen fabric. The wool was a scarf the Duchess had knitted herself, and there were three thick envelopes.
The three men each took the envelope with their name, opening it carefully. Reading the letters brought tears to their eyes.
I quietly sipped tea while waiting. At first, I ignored the guests, but halfway through the maids hurriedly brought me black tea.
“…”
Reiena looked conflicted. Perhaps it was awkward because she couldn’t share her memories of the Duchess with the family.
‘That has nothing to do with me.’
It was the letters. The one the Duke was reading. Thanks to the original novel, I could recall the contents exactly.
The full letters weren’t in the novel, but key parts were preserved verbatim.
Don’t worry too much. I trust my husband. You will never be like your father, no matter how time passes.
The Duke’s father, the previous Duke Cassius, had been competent but cruel. To him, the subjects were not to be cared for, but controlled; individuals could be sacrificed for the greater good.
Do you remember a few years ago, when Kayden’s son Joshua was born? I told you to hold the baby, and you didn’t know what to do.
Perhaps reading that line, Duke Cassius’ tearful expression stiffened.
Joshua was born prematurely. You said he was so small compared to our children, you were afraid something might happen if you touched him. How funny it was to see such a big man flustered before a newborn.
The Duke’s hands shook as he held the letters.
I trusted you back then. You may look frightening, but you’re warm at heart. You would never oppress the powerless like your father. So trust yourself too.
In the novel, Joshua was a minor character who appeared only once, so this letter merely reassured Duke Cassius and reminded him of his wife’s love.
But today, as he faced my own direct actions, the effect on his heart would be entirely his own.
What is Edmond Cassius thinking now? The man gazing blankly at the distant scenery outside the window.
‘Is he reflecting on the past self he had forgotten?’
Before long, the reception room became a sea of tears. Rehaim sobbed so hard the manor seemed to shake, and Leandro wiped his own tears.
The Duke, having wiped his own tears, approached me formally.
“Idel, thank you sincerely. Without you, I would never have read my wife’s letters in my lifetime.”
Not at all. Even without me, Reiena would have found them—but let’s leave it at that.
“And… Kayden.”
The two met each other’s eyes at the same level.
“Though it’s shameless, will you give me another chance to apologize?”
From here, I had no place to interfere.
I looked at the steward, signaling, ‘Shall we go first?’ He returned the same look: yes.
I arranged to meet the Duke at the city hall tomorrow and left the townhouse. Leandro came running late, perhaps to say something, but I was gone.
That evening, the steward reportedly spent a long, late night in deep conversation with his former master.
