The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 113
Of course, there were limits to how much she could deceive people’s perception if she went in alone.
“Madam, did you call for me?!”
One thing Grace was truly fortunate about was that she had someone to help her.
‘I’ll have to deceive her a little, though.’
She couldn’t outright say she needed to search Boris’s belongings, so she had to add a little lie.
“Sally, can you help me for a moment?!”
Feeling a slight pang of guilt, Grace grabbed Sally. Only Sally and Grace were in the hallway at that moment.
“Actually, I prepared a handkerchief embroidered for His Excellency. I meant to give it to him at the last banquet, but with all the chaos that happened, I didn’t get the chance.”
“Oh my… That must have been so disappointing for you.”
“Yes, and that handkerchief is currently in the bathroom.”
“……?!”
When Grace got straight to the point, a giant question mark seemed to pop up on Sally’s face.
“I checked the bathroom earlier before Priest Benedict used it. I mean, as the lady of the house, it’s my first time hosting such an important guest… But I accidentally left it in there.”
“O-Oh my goodness…”
“I trust His Excellency wouldn’t mock my handiwork, but it’s not exactly something I want others to see… If it’s alright with you, could you check inside and find it for me?”
Suggesting they go in together would have looked truly suspicious, so sending Sally alone was the smarter choice.
“Of course, let’s keep this between us—don’t tell His Excellency. If anything happens, I’ll take full responsibility.”
“Yes, don’t worry. I needed to put some towels in there anyway. Do you remember where you left it?”
“I think it’s either on the side table near the partition or by the sink. I’m not entirely sure, though.”
Sally readily agreed to Grace’s request and went inside with some towels.
‘Sorry, but you won’t find it anywhere…’
The handkerchief Grace had prepared for Benjamin was safely tucked in her pocket. She was still debating when to give it to him.
‘I missed the perfect timing, but at least this gave me a good excuse.’
The main building was operated with many magic tools.
‘Yeah, this bathroom is packed with magic tools too.’
In fact, no other country had developed magic tools as much as the empire, and as the Felton Dukedom was at the centre of it all, this was only natural.
‘Come to think of it, the annex seems to have fewer magic tools.’
Grace had become certain that she possessed divine power. And since divine power was inherently at odds with magic tools, ruining them was surprisingly easy.
‘That’s why people with divine power usually learn to control it first when they discover their constitution, but I don’t have to bother with that.’
While working with Aria, Grace had roughly figured out how to draw out her power.
She looked down at her hand, took a deep breath, and thought of happy moments.
There was no need to force it. Despite the hardships she’d faced, there were undeniably moments of joy scattered throughout.
“……Got it.”
A turquoise light flickered at her fingertips.
It was commonly known that divine power was used to purify impurities, but as soon as Grace learned how to draw it out, she used it to destroy magic tools.
She found it ironic but didn’t feel bad about it and let out a faint chuckle.
Shortly after, a flustered sound came from inside the bathroom.
“Oh dear, what’s going on? These things don’t normally break like this.”
“It might have been because of me. It’s alright.”
Though it was unthinkable that Boris couldn’t control his divine power, he still offered reassuring words to Sally.
“Just a moment, I’ll go to the central control room. But before that…”
Sally hurriedly grabbed a lamp and lit it inside. Grace cast a quick glance out the window.
‘They should be arriving right about now.’
“Madam, I’ll be back shortly.”
“Did something happen?”
“I’m not sure, but I’ll inform the head butler just in case.”
‘Sorry.’
Grace muttered a silent apology in her heart. It really was her fault, after all. She watched Sally leave before slipping into the bathroom herself.
People’s eyes are naturally drawn to distinctive places. While the Felton Ducal estate was remarkable everywhere, the bathroom was currently dark.
‘And since it just got noisy and then quiet, people instinctively look for light when they’re trying to calm down.’
It’s said that when it’s too dark to see anything, people become more sensitive to sound, but that only applies when it’s truly quiet.
The knights of the Felton Duchy began entering the main building, causing a slight commotion as they rushed to assemble more personnel.
In other words, Boris didn’t have the capacity to notice Grace, who was hiding her presence.
‘It’s not like I’m in some spy movie.’
One fortunate thing about Grace checking the bathroom beforehand was that she had narrowed down the possible places where Boris could have left his belongings.
There was no place to leave anything next to the bathtub, and if Boris was the type of person she thought he was…
‘There it is.’
A small tray situated right next to the partition.
Underneath it was a pouch she hadn’t seen before.
Grace held her breath and carefully reached out to grab the pouch without making a sound.
‘Did I get caught?’
Just then, the clatter of hooves echoed from outside. Boris seemed to be looking out the window.
‘Thank goodness.’
She quickly checked the contents of the pouch and frowned as she realized her guess was correct but also noticed something strange.
In the past, priests who visited under the pretext of treating Grace also brought pendulums made of sacred stones.
However, the pendulum Boris brought didn’t have golden but instead had a faint sky-blue hue.
‘……?’
Grace frowned for a moment as she stared at it, then quickly realized she could ponder this later and hurriedly swapped it with the now-useless pendulum she had brought.
‘He won’t have time to check the contents anyway.’
Even if he did check, there would be no evidence that Grace had swapped them, so it wasn’t too risky.
‘Of course, if he finds out, Boris might avoid the annex, which is a bit of a loss. But it can’t be helped, this is my only chance.’
As she was about to sneak back out, Boris spoke up.
“…Are you back already?”
“……!”
Right by the door, Grace froze, holding her breath and her lips parted slightly.
‘What do I do?’
No wonder my luck felt too good today…
Her heart started pounding wildly. What should I do? Should I disguise my voice? How should I handle this? While she was frantically thinking all this, her eyes met Roselia’s through the door.
‘Roselia…!’
Quickly, Grace pulled the embroidered handkerchief from her pocket and flashed it to Roselia. Then, with a subtle motion, she pointed toward the small table next to her.
She trusted Roselia’s quick wit to figure out what she meant.
‘And, no matter what, even if she finds it strange, Roselia will protect me. She’ll help.’
“…….”
Roselia seemed to understand, nodding slightly as she knocked on the door.
“I apologize for the delay. On my way here, I heard that the bathroom’s magic tools had malfunctioned. Any inconvenience caused to you, Your Holiness, will be fully reported to His Excellency later.”
Her tone was formal and curt as she addressed Boris, all while signaling Grace to step outside.
‘I’m saved.’
“I knocked, but since there was no response, I assumed there might be an issue and took the liberty of opening the door. If this has caused you any discomfort, I will accept punishment according to our internal rules later.”
Roselia preemptively cut off any questions Boris might have had about why she entered without waiting for permission. Her handling was flawless, even echoing a statement Boris himself had made during the western expedition.
‘Roselia, so you were really upset about that back then…’
Well, it’s not like she could have felt good about it. Since Boris had said those words himself back then, he couldn’t argue now.
Grace turned to Roselia and silently mouthed her thanks.
‘Thank you, Dame Vantrin.’
As Grace expressed her gratitude, Rosellia, who was closing the door, offered a faint smile and mouthed her reply,
‘I simply did what was expected of me.’
⋆★⋆
‘But why is the color different?’
If it contained divine power, shouldn’t it be golden like the others? Grace felt something was off.
A faint sky-blue light? She thought back to Boris’s appearance.
‘Is it the color of Boris’s eyes?’
It seems subtly different, or am I mistaken?
Is it because it contains Boris’s divine power? Grace fiddled with the pendulum in her pocket.
‘Wait, is this light on the pendulum even visible to other priests in the first place?’
If this light operated on a similar principle to Grace and Aria’s divine power, it might be invisible to others.
‘If that’s the case, even if he inspects it, the chances of being discovered are slim.’
Whether Grace’s assumption was correct or Boris simply hadn’t opened the pouch, he emerged from the bathroom with a calm expression, holding his clothing.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had guests, and yet incidents keep occurring. I feel embarrassed to face you.”
“Not at all. I’m the one who has unexpectedly caused trouble. It’s getting late, so I should hurry. Would it be alright if I headed to the annex now?”
“…Of course.”
Grace thought the moment had finally come and began walking side by side with Boris. Inside her pocket was the real pendulum Boris had brought.
‘I can do this.’
Since the mist around the bed had already disappeared, Grace had hidden another piece of furniture shrouded in mist beneath the bed.
‘It’s okay, stay calm.’
She calmly guided Boris into the room, pretending not to see the mist. Fortunately, the mist didn’t approach the pendulum.
‘Is the reason he doesn’t use his divine power because he can’t dispel that mist?’
Being surrounded by the mist made her feel depressed, and for some reason, they were tormenting Grace. If that torment included depression, then his actions—carrying the pendulum without actually using his divine power—suddenly made perfect sense.
As Grace and Boris entered the room, the others exited to allow privacy for the consultation. They all appeared accustomed to the procedure.
‘I don’t really remember much about it, though.’
Even though this didn’t occur during her lost year, she couldn’t recall any details. This strongly indicated that the so-called ‘consultation’ Grace had undergone wasn’t a normal procedure at all.
“Madam, please lie down comfortably.”
“…Um, Priest Benedict.”
Grace cautiously reached out her hand to Boris, who sat on a small chair by the bedside.
“I’m sorry, but could you hold my hand for a moment? It’s been a long time since my last examination, and I feel nervous knowing that such an esteemed priest is conducting it.”
“Of course.”
Boris willingly took Grace’s hand.
‘It’s working.’
The moment their hands met, she began channeling her divine power into him. Carefully and delicately, like drawing out the thinnest thread, she let the flow remain subtle enough for him not to detect.
Under normal circumstances, such an action would have little to no effect, and between priests, it would simply reinforce their divine power. However, Boris’s current state was slightly different.
The food he had consumed today contained the same medication Grace had been taking regularly.
“…Hmm.”
His eyes began to cloud over.
