Chapter 47

“Your Grace, I ran into the mountain guard at Barg Mountain yesterday.”

“Did you now.”

The duke resumed eating as if nothing had happened.

I moved quickly to the point before the conversation stalled.

“How is Brother Vincent’s search going? I heard you left it to the mountain guard.”

“…”

“Surely you haven’t still not found him?”

The duke’s indifferent eyes flickered for a moment.

His expression toward me was hard to read, and it carried a subtle tone that wasn’t exactly pleasant.

“They said he still hasn’t returned to the archdiocese as of yesterday. If something has truly happened to Brother Vincent, the Holy City will lodge a formal protest.”

“Hmm.”

“If we sour relations with the Holy City it won’t be good for Lombard.”

The Capital watches Lombard because it holds powerful military authority.

So Lombard benefits from keeping the Holy City on its side to maintain a balance of power. The painful lesson of the late duke’s death was not forgotten.

‘Ah, that’s not something I should be bringing up.’

The late duke’s death involved the former crown prince, which was Elicia’s father.

Realizing that, I pressed my lips together and let my eyes flick away.

The duke gave a low sigh as if weighing something and then asked quietly.

“Do you trust me?”

“No.”

“As I said before, I don’t think you need to worry much about Brother Vincent. Whatever sweet talk he used on you—”

He ignored my answer as if it were the most natural thing.

“The man I saw isn’t someone who’d be undone by a wild beast.”

“Yes, Brother Vincent looks tall and strong like a knight. I’ll give you that. But he’s timid. He used to hide behind Lady Olden when he got scared.”

“Again, do you trust me?”

“No.”

“Priests are sometimes sent out by the Holy City for a lot of reasons. Mostly they’re ordinary missions, but sometimes they carry secrets.”

Again the duke passed over my answer.

“Do you think Brother Vincent was on such a secret mission and returned quietly when it finished?”

“To be honest, yes.”

His certainty made me sift back through memories.

‘I’m sorry! I’m really sorry. I couldn’t see well so I… I need new spectacles but there’s no time—’

When I first met Vincent, he’d seemed shocked and flustered after bumping into a highborn lady. He looked like an ordinary priest.

‘Don’t you ever look in a mirror? It’s rude to say it to a priest, but Brother, you’re handsome.’

‘I-I’m handsome?’

‘Why that face?’

‘It’s the first time I’ve heard that…’

When I half joked that he was handsome, Vincent had genuinely blushed until his ears and even the tips of his hair warmed.

‘Can acting cover that?’

If, as the duke suggested, Brother Vincent had come under orders for a secret assignment, it wasn’t impossible.

But I’d watched Vincent closely these last months.

And more than anything I couldn’t believe someone could fake that shy, flustered manner.

Even if my judgment had been a bit off in the past, not that far off.

‘Of course I used to be gullible back then.’

But not now.

I’d been tricked and ruined once by Edwin. Why would I fall for the same thing twice.

Well, not now. Probably not. Maybe… perhaps.

“Understood what you mean, Your Grace.”

“I still don’t think so.”

“Even so, we should keep the search going for the sake of our relations with the Holy City. If you need it, I’ll cover the guard costs.”

I’d already asked Berry’s mother, who knew winter mountain paths and hunting, to help.

If the mountain guard joined the search, I’d feel safer.

Even if I had no special affection for Brother Vincent, I wanted to use every option to the end.

“All right. We’ll continue the search. No need to give the Holy City an excuse.”

“Thank you.”

Our food had gone cold while we talked.

I was about to stand when the duke spoke again.

“Have you considered taking formal charge of Lombard’s domestic affairs?”

“…Excuse me?”

I burst out because the question was absurd.

‘Did I just hear that?’

He must be joking.

I thought about how much he disliked me.

I was the daughter of the man who’d driven the late duke to his death. He’d held a grudge so deep that he avoided me from the start.

He hadn’t even fulfilled the noble duty of consummation when we married. It’d been months since I married and still nothing.

That meant he didn’t intend to secure an heir.

‘And now he wants me to run Lombard’s household? The whole estate? It would all fall to pieces if I messed up.’

I knew the tragic record of a previous duchess who’d mismanaged things. Summers brought floods, winters brought famine, and pests and disease ravaged crops. Northern Lombard couldn’t sustain itself without careful preparation. The late duchess had been indulgent and ignored the bureaucrats, and the result had been catastrophic.

‘Edwin knows all that. He wouldn’t hand me the household lightly.’

Elicia was foolish in some ways but not like the late duchess. Still the idea that he trusted me made no sense.

“Madam, I think you should run Lombard’s internal governance.”

“No.”

My hearing apparently worked fine. I refused instantly without the least hesitation. My answer had to be faster than light.

The duke either didn’t hear me or pretended not to, and went on as calmly as ever.

“I’m often absent at the Northern Wall. Lombard needs a wise and decisive mistress. I think you are that person.”

What would the old me have done on hearing that? Starved for recognition, I would have clung to such an offer even if it was beyond me. I would have risked anything for a chance to see the people of Lombard smile.

‘But not now.’

The Elicia who sacrificed everything for Lombard was dead.

Now I cared for only myself. I would not be responsible for anything.

“I’m busy enough preparing for guests. Berthold is handling the household well, I think he can continue.”

“It’s a shame. If you change your mind, tell me.”

“That will never happen.”

My refusal was blunt, almost rude, yet the duke’s face stayed composed and unreadable.

What was he thinking now?

I blurted the next thing without thinking.

“Why did you do that yesterday?”

It was impulsive. I wanted to pry off the duke’s cool mask.

“The knights we met said you ordered the mountain guard to secure the Barg area.”

“…”

“I believed the mountain guard’s jurisdiction is near the Northern Wall. Barg Mountain is quite far from that. Why move them to eastern Lombard?”

I wasn’t really expecting a clear answer. Maybe he’d been nervous about me loitering alone, or worried some wild beast might harm me and provoke the Holy City. Excuses piled up.

Then I saw the crack in his usual mask.

He wasn’t the same distant, unreadable man for the first time.

“Honestly, do you trust me?”

“Well, that is—”

“…No.”

His unexpected answer froze me. He turned his gaze away and said simply.

“I misspoke.”

And with that he returned to the composed, inscrutable man I knew.