Chapter 82
Unlike her own excitement at seeing him again, Anne’s face looked as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her. She had gone pale.
Grey, startled, quickly spoke.
“Do I seem difficult to approach now that I’m a duke? Anne, I’m still the same. I—”
When he took a step closer, Anne hastily backed away.
They were surrounded by servants, all gathered to welcome the new duke who had arrived from the capital.
Yet he was ignoring everyone else and approaching only Anne with familiarity.
The stares that converged on her dredged up terrible memories, as if they were coming back to life.
Please, just disappear from my sight. Please.
“Duke Benton, I am Victoria Clayde, acting lord of this estate!”
Victoria stepped in between them, grasped Grey’s shoulder, and turned him around.
“…?”
Grey frowned at her. Then, brushing the spot where her hand had been as if to rid himself of it, he replied curtly.
“Yes, pleased to meet you. It’s simply that she and I go back a long way in my household. I owe Anne a great deal and wished to catch up after so long. Would you permit me a little of her time?”
“That won’t be possible.”
Victoria flashed a bright smile, showing all her teeth.
Grey’s frown deepened; clearly he hadn’t expected a refusal.
“Anne is now the fiancée of Lord Hannibal Clayde, the future mistress of Teganess Castle. To request a private meeting with her without leave is inappropriate. I had heard the capital was very particular about decorum—does the Benton household not hold the same standards?”
“We are betrothed, not married. There’s a difference, is there not?”
While they clashed, the butler Patrick swiftly dispersed the gathered servants.
With the lobby empty, Victoria stood protectively in front of Anne, staring Grey down.
“Anne, go back to your room.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Anne moved at once, as if waiting for the chance.
“Anne—”
Grey called after her, but she ignored him, disappearing up the stairs. Victoria glared at the back of his bright-red head and then spoke firmly.
“From now on, all conversations will be with me. You are forbidden from requesting private meetings with the lord’s fiancée. I say this as acting lord, and you are to obey while you remain in Teganess.”
She called it a request, but her tone made it clear: defy her and you’d be expelled immediately.
“Hah!”
Grey let out a disbelieving laugh, but Victoria met his eyes without flinching.
“You must be tired from your journey. Please rest. Butler, show him to his quarters.”
“Yes, my lady!”
Patrick hurriedly approached and led Grey away.
“Phew.”
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Victoria was still catching her breath when Jamie entered, lugging bags the servants had just unloaded.
“Master? Sister? Oh! G-Greetings!”
Looking around for Anne and Grey, his eyes landed on Victoria, and he bent in a hurried bow.
Grey’s attendant—Anne’s brother.
Victoria remembered only then. She pointed in the direction Grey had gone.
“Try the room at the far right end of the first floor.”
“Thank you!”
Jamie bowed repeatedly before scurrying off. Soon after, Count Arthur ambled through the front door.
“Looks to me like Anne Ferro and Duke Benton aren’t on ordinary terms, eh?”
He had already forgotten being ignored himself and now smiled slyly at this new amusement.
“Of course not.”
“Hmm.”
Ignoring Victoria’s reply, his tone was low and oily.
With a weary face, she turned her back on him.
Anne sank into a chair the moment she returned to her room, trying to steady her breath.
Grey Benton’s sudden appearance had dragged her into a flood of painful memories.
A future she thought could never come to pass had crashed down on her the instant she faced him again.
We’re only betrothed, not married, are we?
To Grey, she was still nothing but a maid of House Benton.
Even after hearing she was Hannibal’s fiancée, he hadn’t hesitated—pretending it was for her sake when really it was all about his own feelings.
“Better to avoid him. I’ll just stay out of his way.”
For days afterward, Anne did not leave her room.
The scars stirred up by seeing Grey again left her physically ill, and she spent two days in bed with fever.
In the meantime, rumors had begun circulating through the castle about her and Grey.
Hearing of it, Victoria rushed to her.
“Are you feeling better, Anne? The duke has agreed to stay in the annex. Thankfully, he moved without protest.”
“….”
“So you can move about the main residence freely. I ordered the servants to hold their tongues, but it wasn’t much use. I’m sorry, Anne.”
“There’s no need for you to apologize, my lady. The count was there, and so many were watching. No matter what we did, word would have spread.”
The gossip that servants spread most eagerly was scandals involving noble ladies.
And they had witnessed it with their own eyes. How juicy that must have been.
The rumors had already spread inside and outside the castle—perhaps even as far as Hannibal, wherever he was.
That thought drained Anne of all strength.
What if Hannibal misunderstood?
Her scandal could stain his honor as well.
The very idea left her so dispirited she spent her time lying in bed, eyes closed, shutting out the world.
But she couldn’t remain that way forever. Hannibal would return soon.
After several uneasy days, Anne forced herself to look at the situation with a clearer mind.
She could not remain silent.
“This isn’t like me.”
While she was gathering her thoughts, Victoria suddenly said,
“When there’s a problem, you’ve always faced it head-on and solved it. Hiding like this—it’s not you. Can’t I help somehow?”
So she had worried Victoria to the point of making her wear such a troubled expression.
“If you keep lying here, people really will think there’s something between you and that man.”
Which meant the rumors were already spreading that way.
Anger and resentment welled up in her slackened body, giving her back some strength.
“…I can’t let that happen.”
Whatever Grey said—she could not let it stand. Once in her life was enough to endure humiliation and scorn.
“Anne.”
Seeing the spark return to her eyes, Victoria relaxed, her brow easing.
“Why did the duke come, anyway?”
“He wouldn’t say. Just that he’ll wait until the lord arrives, since it’s not a matter for the acting lord. So very high and mighty.”
“Perhaps he’s here to persuade us to support the First Prince. At present, the West backs the Second Prince.”
As the war wound to a close, the succession had become the Empire’s most pressing issue.
“Once peace talks finish, the question of the throne will arise at once. The West’s fate depends on who the next emperor is. We can’t just sit by.”
“And if the First Prince becomes emperor?”
“Then the count’s beloved trips to the capital won’t be so pleasant anymore. Trade could dwindle or even be cut off.”
That could be mitigated if relations with Ruto improved, but…
As a noble house of the Empire, the Claydes could never fully escape the emperor’s influence.
“We’ll see whether the duke becomes a bridge to the First Prince—or an enemy. In the meantime, we should place more eyes and ears among the annex servants.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Victoria nodded vigorously, while Anne finally rose from her bed.
She left her room for the first time in days and strolled the estate alongside Victoria, inside and out.
“My lady, are you feeling well enough?”
“The weather is clear today—it’s a fine day for walking.”
The servants they passed greeted them with bright smiles.
Some of them surely had spread the rumors. Others likely believed them. Yet meeting them face-to-face didn’t feel as frightening as she’d thought.
Far better to stand openly before them than to cower in her room.
Anne smiled with composure and stepped forward.
Grey sat in the annex bedchamber, staring vacantly out the window.
“I was too hasty.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Just finish what you’re doing.”
Jamie, who was unpacking the rest of their baggage, tilted his head, but Grey waved him off and returned his gaze outside.
Several days had passed since their arrival, but aside from that first day, Anne hadn’t shown herself.
And the acting lord had gone so far as to assign him quarters in the distant annex.
To treat a distinguished guest this way—there must have been some exchange between her and Anne.
He had made a mistake. In his joy at seeing her again, he had let his feelings overwhelm him.
Anne hated attention. In the past, even attending a single party had been difficult for her.
Grey regretted his rashness and pictured her face once more.
At twenty-four, Anne had lost her girlishness, grown more mature, more beautiful. Just like when they had once been married.
Yet when she faced him now, her eyes were nothing but cold and desolate.
Since the time he had turned back the clock, she had always kept him at a subtle, frosty distance. Why?
Could it be—
“Master, where should I put this?”
Jamie had taken out a bag of riding tack.
“Near my bed.”
“Yes, sir. They say it’s easier to get good tack here in the West, being closer to Ruto.”
“Good.”
Though his reply was curt, Jamie simply did as told, then asked,
“Shall I bring tea and refreshments?”
“No need.”
Grey shook his head. Jamie returned to unpacking. Grey took a sip of water and muttered,
“A lot has changed.”
His family now supported the First Prince, not the Second. And much of the imperial army from the south still survived.
“Jamie.”
“Yes?”
Grey glanced at him, thoughtful.
So you survived too—thanks to Anne’s different choices.
Was it mere coincidence? Or… did she, like him, remember their past life?
Either way, both she and her brother had gained new lives because of him.
He didn’t need gratitude, but he wished Anne would at least recognize it.
This time, he had to convey his true heart to her properly.
“Jamie, hand me that bag.”
“Yes, sir.”
Grey took the tack bag, laid it on the table, and waited until Jamie’s attention wandered. Then he pulled out a small slip of paper.
Slowly, faint lines appeared on the blank sheet, forming a map. At one spot, a blue dot pulsed.
Grey pressed his finger to it and smiled faintly.
“…There you are.”
The blue dot moved along the grounds of Teganess—the unmistakable mark of Anne Ferro.
