Chapter 7

* * *

“Your Grace, Reina Botn requests an audience.”

“…”

Reina Botn.

Damian didn’t memorize every servant’s information, but her name was one he knew even without trying.

She was the woman who, on a bitterly cold winter day, had wrapped his own coat tightly around a small child, her skin flushed red from the cold, and cried helplessly in front of the ducal residence, begging him to save her child no matter what.

People had cried because they were afraid of Winternight, but a woman crying solely to save her child was a first.

At the time, he’d had no intention of taking in someone whose background he didn’t know, and his mood had been foul to begin with. If she hadn’t briefly overlapped with the image of his wife in his mind, he would’ve ordered her thrown out.

Even now, Damian thought it strange. She hadn’t resembled his wife in the slightest.

Maybe it was because the little girl she’d been holding had been about the same age as his missing daughter. That was the conclusion he’d come to.

Remembering his vanished wife and child, the duke had given Reina work as a maid and even prepared lodging so her daughter could stay with her.

A year later, after finally finding his daughter Estelle, the duke chose someone to entrust her to.

It was only natural that Reina came to mind.

“Let her in.”

The Duke of Winternight, seated at his desk, lightly set down the pen he’d been holding.

A moment later, the door opened quietly and Reina entered.

She was indeed a maid with a faint, indistinct presence that didn’t quite suit the name Reina.

“…There’s a group plotting to kidnap Lady Estelle.”

“…Who are they plotting to kidnap?”

At the sound of his precious daughter’s name, the duke growled in a low voice. Faced with his threatening presence, Reina’s face went pale and she clasped her hands tightly together.

“So the lunatics desperate to die have finally appeared.”

The duke sneered and rose from his seat, paying no attention to Reina’s condition. Reina forced her trembling body to steady itself and spoke.

“I-I can help you catch the culprit.”

“…”

It was absurd.

Who was helping whom. The duke looked down at Reina, who remained standing stiffly in place.

A brief silence followed.

“Help me?”

“…Y-Yes.”

Reina nodded and pulled a small piece of paper from the pocket of her apron.

“T-This is the letter written by the person who ordered me to kidnap the young lady.”

“…!”

When the duke reached for it, Reina quickly hid the letter behind her back.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“M-Make a deal with me.”

At that moment, anger flared in the duke’s eyes.

Yet Reina seemed not to realize the weight of what she’d just said.

Suppressing his fury, the duke asked in a low voice.

“What do you want?”

He could already imagine it.

Gold, land, a house. Every material demand made by those who’d given him false hope about finding his daughter flashed through his mind.

But the next words forced him to pause.

“My child…”

“…”

“Please save my child.”

As Reina finally finished speaking, a single tear dropped from her chin.

The sorrow she’d been holding back spilled over at last.

Clutching the threatening letter behind her like it was her lifeline, Reina spoke again.

“P-Please save her… I’ll accept whatever punishment you give me. I-I’m sorry for daring to try to bargain with the young lady’s life…”

From the standpoint of a subject, making such a deal was an act of disloyalty.

Worse still, Reina was a maid who’d cared for Estelle like a nurse. To trade information with someone plotting to kidnap the very child she served.

‘It’s horrible.’

Reina felt like she’d become a terrible person.

The duke said nothing and simply looked at her.

The alien texture of the letter in her hand made the grim reality unmistakable.

Still, Reina steeled herself as she thought of Bonita, alone and captured somewhere.

“…They say the letter contains a lot of information.”

“…”

She didn’t know how much of this would get through, but she had to say something. Estelle hadn’t been kidnapped yet.

“I… I once worked doing odd jobs at a letter workshop.”

During the social season, demand for letters rose sharply. Workshops hired temporary helpers, and Reina had once worked as one of them.

Using that memory as a base, she began weaving a lie. A lie grounded partly in truth.

She never imagined she could react so sharply in a crisis.

After listening silently to her explanation, the duke spoke.

“…So you’re saying this letter is rare?”

“Y-Yes.”

Each merchant house used slightly different formulas to make their letters.

The texture, the faint scent. Things only a careful buyer would notice.

Track down the merchant house distributing it, narrow down the workshops, then list the families who purchased from them. It would be manageable.

Seeing the duke remain silent, Reina trembled.

‘Do I look ridiculous?’

Of course he wouldn’t believe her. He might even think she was plotting something. She bit her lip hard.

After watching her for a long while, the duke finally spoke.

“…When you make a deal,”

“…”

“When you make a deal, you don’t offer what you have first.”

“…”

“And…”

He paused, frowning, lips moving as if weighing his words, then muttered softly.

“…I can’t tell what kind of person you really are.”

“…?”

Reina didn’t understand what he meant, but the duke had already turned away. He strode across the room and pulled a cord hanging in the corner of the office.

It was embroidered with black iron threads, and the one he pulled was red.

She immediately understood what it meant.

Almost as soon as he pulled it, the commander of the knights appeared through the adjacent corridor, fully armed.

“You summoned me, my lord.”

“Yes.”

Reina watched stiffly as the knight commander glanced over her, then saluted the duke again.

“That maid… Reina Botn’s child has been taken hostage.”

“…”

“The original target was Estelle, and that responsibility lies with me. A threat letter has arrived, so we’ll respond accordingly.”

“M-My lord!”

Reina interrupted without thinking.

“What is it?”

Even so, the duke didn’t scold her and calmly answered.

“Th-The letter has the meeting place written on it.”

With shaking hands, Reina handed the letter to the duke.

He looked at her quietly, then stepped closer.

“Reina Botn.”

“…Y-Yes.”

“I believe I told you earlier. When making a deal, you don’t give up what you have first.”

The letter she’d been holding was already in the duke’s hand.

“What if all of this had been a lie? I trusted you enough to change my orders.”

Reina’s eyes widened as she understood his meaning. No matter how urgent things were, public order mattered.

“…Ah.”

“Knight Commander, prepare to go to the location written here.”

“Understood.”

The duke handed the letter to the knight commander. Even if Reina hadn’t offered it, he would’ve gone anyway.

“There may be a spy inside. Take only the elite.”

“By your command.”

After the knight commander saluted once more and left the office, Reina finally collapsed to the floor.

“…Hah.”

What even was this situation.

She pressed a hand to her pounding chest.

“Th-Thank you… thank you…”

Why were those five simple words so hard to say.

Why was her vision so blurry.

Why did her heart feel so tight, her throat sting so badly.

Tears spilled freely, darkening patches of the carpet beneath her. Her pale pink hair fell loose over her arms.

The face that was always gentle toward children was now soaked with lingering fear and faint relief, mixed together with tears.

For the first time, she could see hope.

After watching her cry for a long while, the Duke of Winternight helped Reina up and seated her on the office sofa.

Handing her a handkerchief, he spoke.

“The desire to protect one’s child is the same for all parents.”

“…”

“As much as you treasure your daughter, I won’t treat your child lightly either.”

“…Yes.”

“Botn, you must’ve had many thoughts while coming here with that letter.”

Recalling his intense first meeting with her, the duke softened his gaze slightly and sat across from her.

The handkerchief he’d given her was already soaked through. Her small body kept producing tears, yet strangely, she didn’t make a single sound.

The duke left the office, allowing her to cry in peace.

It was unusual to show this much consideration to a mere servant.

But he concluded that Reina was simply someone Estelle loved most, and a pitiful mother who couldn’t abandon her daughter even for Estelle’s safety.

After thinking for a long while, the duke finally spoke to himself.

“This complicates things…”

Through this incident, he realized something he’d overlooked.

Before, protecting his own life had been enough. Now he had to protect Estelle as well. And protecting Estelle meant not just her body, but her heart.

Around his small daughter were many people who cherished her.

And each of those people had someone precious of their own.