The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 85
“Yes, it was a name my sister mentioned, and something about it felt off. But I didn’t know why, so I couldn’t speak up right away.”
Grace had asked for him to pay off the debts for her because she wanted to confirm the name written on the IOU.
If it really was Baron Remante’s name on it, given Benjamin’s nature, it was likely he’d investigate further. After all, that man could be the root of all this trouble.
Grace apologized to Benjamin in a feeble voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“As long as you weren’t hurt, that’s all that matters.”
The hand embracing her tightened its hold.
Inside, the firewood in the fireplace was dying down, leaving only embers crackling on the logs.
Without a word, Benjamin simply looked down at the woman asleep in his arms, weaving his fingers through her curly hair. She had fallen asleep as if she had passed out from the day’s exhausting events.
Outside, the sound of rain could be heard, and thunder rumbled in the distance. With each clap of thunder, the woman flinched but did not wake.
“……That’s really all I need.”
He murmured words that reached no one else.
⋆★⋆
As soon as the sun rose, Grace left the territory and headed back to the capital. Unlike the journey there, the return was quick because the purpose was to come back.
‘I’m tired.’
Grace lay in bed, feeling exhausted. She could sense her maids watching her cautiously.
‘I wonder why they’re so careful, but it can’t be helped…’
Word of what had happened in the Viscount Linden’s territory had probably spread. She couldn’t scold them for being gossipy. Since they were her closest attendants, she couldn’t afford to make mistakes and give opportunities for the rumors.
Grace grew melancholic as she thought of the Viscount Linden’s territory again.
‘I shouldn’t be like this.’
To distract herself with tasks, Grace forced her sluggish body up.
‘Right, first I’ll send someone to check if Tom Birkin has arrived, and then I’ll search the mansion.’
As depressing as it was, she needed to get moving to truly avoid death. Grace felt absurd, but had no choice.
‘And after staying outside for a while, I realize it. Definitely, entering the annex makes my head heavier and the mood darker.’
It was a different kind of gloom from what she’d felt due to the events in the Viscount’s territory. It was like being forcibly dragged into a swamp.
She hadn’t noticed it while continuously staying in the mansion. This was an unexpected revelation she gained from her recent experiences.
To lay the groundwork for resolving this issue, Grace opened a personal trunk she hadn’t unpacked yet.
‘It should be here.’
Inside the small trunk were a diary and a little box she had brought from Viscount Linden’s territory. What she was looking for was in the box, specifically, its contents.
After securing the box, Grace wrote a request for several bolts of cloth to be sent as a gift to the Marquis Charles’ house on a piece of paper on her desk. She also penned a message for Tom Birkin. Then she called for Sally.
“Sally, I have some letters that need to be delivered. The address is on the back.”
“Yes, Madam. I’ll be back quickly.”
“Mm, wait.”
Grace placed a purse of coins in Sally’s hand.
“I’ve been down since returning from the trip, and you all have been bearing with me. Why don’t you buy some snacks on your way back, and share them with others while taking a break?”
“Madam…!”
“Don’t worry about me; I’ll be taking a walk in the annex today.”
“Okay!”
Sally looked at Grace, touched by her kindness, nodded, and headed out.
‘If it’s like this, there shouldn’t be many people in the annex today.’
With the added break time, Grace could explore the annex at her leisure.
She nodded slowly to herself and opened the box.
With a click, a gleaming pendulum revealed itself.
“I never expected to receive something like this…”
In fact, Aria had given this pendulum to Grace before they parted ways.
A round bead shimmered with a golden light inside a metal frame shaped like a diamond. The warm, sacred light felt strangely familiar.
‘Could this contain the Saintess’s divine power?’
Grace rolled the unfamiliar object in her hand and then pointed the pendulum toward the ground.
“How does this work…?”
Aria had given the pendulum to Grace, saying it could help her find the source of the curse.
‘But even if I find the source, the real problem is what to do with it.’
It seemed Aria hadn’t considered that part at all. It had passed so naturally in conversation that Grace hadn’t even thought to ask.
‘I must be out of my mind.’
She should have asked about it. Really, she should be getting things right. Grace almost scolded herself out of habit but stopped short.
“……Hmm?”
Lost in thought, the pendulum began to resonate softly. Grace moved it around, trying to find the spot where the resonance grew stronger.
‘There is no one in the hallway, right?’
She peeked out to make sure it was clear, then started moving through the space, noting down where the resonance intensified.
‘The annex is unnecessarily large for an outbuilding.’
Despite being called an annex, the building was so vast that it took a long time to explore everything.
Halfway through, Grace holed up in the library to look over her notes.
‘This pattern is too strange.’
There were spots where the resonance was stronger, but it resonated everywhere.
‘It’s almost like…’
Crack.
“……?”
A crack appeared in the bead inside the pendulum, and one by one, large fissures formed, letting light seep through.
“Just a minute…!”
Startled, Grace gripped the pendulum in both hands instead of dropping it.
Golden light, like wind-blown sand, seeped through her fingers.
Grace’s mind cleared. She looked down at the pendulum in her hand, which now contained a bead turned opaque, like a piece of stone.
But what really unsettled her was something else.
‘What’s this mist?’
Grace started to see something else. A black mist appeared out of nowhere, writhing as it tried to grasp her legs.
“Ah!”
She flailed her arms to get away from the mist.
‘Where did this mist come from?!’
The mist that vanished in an instant was now seeping through the cracks of the library door.
“……!”
And then she dashed out of the library to revisit the places she had just explored.
“……What is this?”
At every spot where the pendulum had resonated intensely, there was furniture emitting the same black mist.
Grace thought of the black pebbles.
‘Yes, those… I didn’t imagine them.’
The ominous black pebbles, though not mist, had a similar aura.
‘Have I been living in such a place all this time?’
Since when had she been surrounded by this mist? She felt suffocated. Everyone else seemed unaffected, except for Grace.
As Grace stood there, pale-faced and dazed, the butler approached her with concern.
“Madam, is something the matter?”
“Oh, no. Butler. It’s just that, um.”
Grace was about to dismiss it when she suddenly lifted her head.
“Can you tell me where the furniture in the annex was purchased from?”
“The furniture in the annex, madam? All the furniture you use has been overseen by the master himself.”
“……His Excellency, you mean.”
Grace believed Benjamin wouldn’t harm her. But right now, the black mist was writhing and crawling up her legs.
It seemed intent on enveloping only Grace, not targeting anyone else.
Just as her trust in Benjamin began to waver, she snapped back to her senses.
‘Wait a minute.’
“Is it the same with the white pebbles outside?”
“Yes. The master arranged them in a hurry.”
“I see, thank you.”
With those words, Grace went straight outside to check.
‘They’re gone.’
The newly laid white pebbles radiated neither energy nor mist. Grace exhaled a breath of relief and looked back.
‘I can see it now, that’s why it had to be this way.’
She swallowed hard.
‘Even if I replace all the furniture in the annex, would it really be safe?’
These white pebbles, hastily laid after Grace had been injured, might have been spared from ‘someone’s’ trickery simply due to the rush.
Perhaps, if there had been more time, this place too would have been shrouded in black mist.
“……?”
Then, Grace suddenly realized something.
‘Didn’t I break it that time?’
Maybe, just maybe, she could dispel this mist.
‘I’m not exactly sure how, but I did it before.’
She looked down at her hands with a grim determination and clenched them tightly.
“……Let’s try, just once.”
What if she failed? After a moment of hesitation, she shook her head.
‘If I fail, I’ll run. Now that I can see it, it’s not so scary anymore.’
She turned her head towards the main building. It looked pristine without a trace of black mist. Compared to the shadowy annex, the main building where Benjamin might be seemed like heaven.
‘Alright, let’s go.’
The first place Grace visited was her bedroom. The bed was emitting a dense black mist.
