Chapter: 7
“Did I seal it wrong?”
If that were the case, it would have been resealed. But no matter how many times she looked, both the color and the crest were unmistakably those of Count Heriond’s house. Reilly told herself she was just being overly sensitive lately and carefully pushed herself upright.
She had been about to return to her room, thinking that exposing the child to too much cold wind wouldn’t be good. Instead, she took the path behind the mansion and headed toward the side door. Since she wasn’t quite ready to go back inside, she walked at a leisurely pace.
Once my body gets any heavier, I won’t be able to come out like this anymore.
She smiled as she stroked her belly. She should keep her mind at ease so the child could be at ease too, but lately there had been too many things weighing on her heart, and she felt sorry for the baby.
“I should put some flowers in the room.”
At the very least, she thought she’d bring back some of the pretty flowers blooming in the garden. Mixing a few kinds in a vase would look quite lovely. They would be nice to look at when she felt stifled, and her mood would surely improve.
She was bending down to pick flowers when she heard hushed voices nearby.
…What are they talking about here?
It was a corner of the garden people rarely visited.
The maids knew she sometimes went into the garden, but they didn’t know she occasionally came back into the mansion by circling around this way. If Theo had known, he would have forbidden it. Whenever she entered with a maid or when he came to fetch her himself, they always used the usual path, so they clearly didn’t expect Reilly to be here.
“You did a good job keeping it discreet. She rewarded me generously.”
“Really?”
“Good thing we didn’t burn the earlier ones and hid them as collateral.”
“Right. Just like you said, it was smart to gather them just in case. Isn’t that woman a fool?”
A giggle followed, along with the clinking sound of coins. At the mention of that woman, Reilly held her breath and crept closer.
It was Philia and Bote, the two maids who were always at Anna’s side.
She could see them standing near the back door, heads bowed as they checked something. A bad feeling washed over her, and she listened carefully.
“Where did you put the rest of the letters?”
Philia asked as she divided up gold coins and handed them to Bote.
Since Philia had only pretended to take the letters to burn them and had actually passed them to Bote, she didn’t know where they were. They were in this together, but it didn’t hurt to know.
“Don’t worry. I hid them well, just in case.”
Bote replied calmly as she pocketed the coins. She could tell her, but she didn’t feel like it.
“Anna really isn’t right in the head. How can she order someone to burn letters sent from a person’s family?”
“Don’t try to understand her. How could we ever understand the way those people think? Besides, she’s riding high after taking the duke’s love.”
Bote clicked her tongue and shook her head in disgust. As Reilly quietly listened, she took out the letter she had received earlier. The distorted seal didn’t align properly, as if someone had reattached it.
Earlier, in her rush at the thought that it was a letter from Leta, she hadn’t examined it closely. But now that she looked carefully, she could see that the paper on the opposite side had been torn slightly and pasted back together.
…Could it be?
Surely the letters the maids mentioned couldn’t be the ones sent to her. And yet, thinking back, Anna had always been present at the ducal estate.
If Anna had wanted to intercept them secretly, it would have been entirely possible.
Theo was busy and spent his days in his office, and the maids followed Anna’s words rather than Reilly’s. Theo entrusted nothing to Reilly—so perhaps this wasn’t just a theory.
If so, then this letter too was likely a fake.
“You didn’t stupidly hide them inside the ducal estate, did you?”
“Of course not. I buried them.”
“What? Don’t tell me… in the garden?”
Philia frowned deeply and questioned Bote. Judging by her expression, it didn’t seem like a lie. Still, it was hard to understand why Bote would hide the letters there.
“Don’t you know the madam comes to the garden often?”
Philia said, her face going pale. Her anxious eyes darted back and forth, but Bote looked relaxed.
“She doesn’t come this far. She always sticks to the same path.”
“Still… Well, I guess. There are lots of flowers, so they won’t be discovered.”
“I checked again today. There are weeds everywhere—she won’t even look that way. There are hydrangeas right next to it; do you think she’d bother looking elsewhere?”
“True… I guess you’re right.”
At Bote’s words, Philia let out a sigh of relief and nodded. Only after dividing up the coins in their pockets did the two look around cautiously.
Thanks to the densely grown hydrangeas, they couldn’t see Reilly. It was uncomfortable, but she couldn’t stand up now. If she did, she would never find Leta’s hidden letters.
Leta…
Reilly’s heart began to pound violently.
She couldn’t believe it, but if what they said was true, she had to find Leta’s letters immediately and confirm it for herself. She remained frozen in place, waiting for them to leave.
She watched the maids through the stems of the hydrangeas. Only after a long while did she see them head back toward the ducal estate.
Only then did Reilly carefully rise.
“I have to find them quickly, before anyone else comes out.”
She moved through the area filled with hydrangeas that covered a large portion of the garden’s rear and began circling nearby. Afraid she might miss something, she bent her head low and examined the ground slowly.
They said they hadn’t burned them yet. They must be here.
From her vague memory of coming here before, the hydrangeas were clustered only in this area.
Up front, flashy flowers like roses and tulips bloomed in abundance, and beyond that were mostly trees. This had to be the place Bote mentioned.
Since she rarely came here, they must have thought it an ideal hiding spot.
“Please… no. Please let it really be from Leta…”
She desperately wished that the letter saying her sister was happy had been genuine.
Forcing her trembling heart to steady, Reilly began searching through the weed-choked areas around the hydrangeas. To give her a letter, they would have had to dig it up—there would surely be traces.
They would have needed an envelope and seal from the Heriond family to falsify the letter.
There wasn’t much time. As the sun slowly began to set, Reilly grew anxious. If it got too late, they would surely come looking for her.
Careful not to strain herself, she scanned the ground. Her eyes moved quickly, searching for any trace left behind in the dwindling time.
Huh?
After staring at the ground for quite a while, she noticed a patch of weeds that had been pressed down unnaturally. The disturbed weeds and clumsily covered grass caught her eye. Looking closer, she saw that the color of the soil was subtly different.
It was slightly darker, as if the ground had been dug up and covered again.
Reilly immediately reached out and dug into the soil. As if it hadn’t been buried deeply, a small box soon came into view.
She carefully lifted it and opened it. Inside were all the letters Leta had sent her over the years.
[To my beloved sister Ri,
I ran away saying I didn’t want to get married, but Father dragged me back. Sister… how did you endure all this? After you left, I’m seeing sides of Father I never noticed as a child, and it’s so hard. I didn’t know… but now I think I finally see your pain. What on earth is that crest…? He keeps asking me whether a mark has appeared on me. Sister, I’m scared.]**
[To my beloved sister Ri,
Sister, please come get me… You can make me do anything—just please take me with you. I hate Father, but I hate Count Heriond even more. I thought it would be enough if you were happy there, but enduring this is too hard. The count keeps looking at me with the same eyes Father does. Couldn’t I just… couldn’t I live by your side?]**
[To my beloved sister Ri,
…Did you abandon me? You’re all I have. Please save me from this hell. I tried to endure it. But when will this ever end? If I endure long enough, will a day of peace really come? No… I don’t think it will. I’ve been sending letters in secret from Father, so why isn’t any reply coming? Did you forget me?]**
[To my beloved sister Ri,
No matter how much I struggle, it’s no use. No one listens to me. Now I think I finally understand why you married as if you were fleeing… I’m getting married tomorrow. I hope you’re happy there. I’ll send the invitation in secret from Father. I miss you. And I don’t resent you, sister—so please, even once, come see me.]**
“Hic…”
Even the last bit of hope she had been clinging to crumbled away. She had thought—hoped—that her sister might be doing a little better. But it was no different from her own situation.
Leta had kept writing to her until the very end. The words saying she didn’t resent her made Reilly feel as if her heart were being torn apart.
How desperately had she searched for her? How many times a day had she cried as she wrote those letters? Reilly had done nothing for Leta, who had reached out her hand to her.
Her body trembled with rage.
She could not forgive Anna for hiding the letters sent to her, nor the maids who helped her. Clutching the letters, she headed straight for the ducal estate.
“Madam, the duke is busy with work and ordered that no one be let in!”
She didn’t know where the strength came from, but Reilly lightly shoved aside the maid who blocked her. When another maid tried to stop her, she slapped the woman’s hand away.
“I-I’ll inform the duke right away that you’re looking for him!”
“There’s no need. I’ve already come to see him myself.”
“B-but…”
“Why? Are the two of them tangled up inside or something?”
The maids’ faces turned deathly pale. They had heard that Anna had gone into his office earlier, and they knew exactly what was happening inside after she went in.
But at Reilly’s voice—one that made it clear she already knew—they could no longer stop her.
Reilly flung the door open without even knocking.
“R-Reilly.”
There stood Theo, his face full of shock—and beside him, Anna, wearing a faint smile.
Seeing the two of them half-undressed, clothes not yet properly arranged, a hollow laugh escaped Reilly’s lips.
