Chapter 11
“Today is the last day of my life. Stable master, you noticed, didn’t you? That’s why you’re refusing to answer. What I’m looking for isn’t a brooch but—”
“Enough!”
The stable master, who had been spreading hay, cut off Belle’s words. The wisdom of surviving in Balzac by closing one’s eyes and ears flashed in his cloudy gaze.
“I’m uneducated, so I don’t know anything.”
It was an attitude befitting one of the few employees who had worked since the previous Balzac’s time. The stable master must have survived through silence.
However, Belle, who was about to die, couldn’t care less about the stable master’s circumstances.
“Tell me.”
“You persistent thing! Anaïs probably did what she did because she desperately missed her previous life.”
Officially, she had stolen a family heirloom. But the truth was that she had been caught trying to extract some information and was killed.
Belle had wondered what Anaïs had to do with the informants, but she was now convinced that the informant the Grand Duke was watching out for was someone sent from the same side as Anaïs. That’s why she thought she could quickly find them if she uncovered clues about Anaïs.
Moreover, even if the two didn’t know each other, they were likely to make similar mistakes since they were pursuing the same goal. Even if they were careful after learning from Anaïs’s example, they would have made one or two mistakes.
“She was a noble like you.”
“Could Christine possibly have been the only person Anaïs was close to?”
“Didn’t that girl tell you?”
Confusion and shock spread across Belle’s face. Christine had deceived her. Why hadn’t she said anything? For what reason?
“What about Meira? What was her relationship with Anaïs?”
The wrinkles around the stable master’s eyes deepened. Belle sensed something was going wrong.
“Isn’t Meira the head maid?”
“Pardon?”
The stable master nervously fingered his braided beard.
“Meira is one of the Grand Duke’s close aides.”
“But she can’t speak…”
“The Grand Duke cut out her tongue.”
Though she hadn’t trusted Meira from the beginning, so there was no room for feeling betrayed, Belle’s heart sank at the Grand Duke’s cruelty, which was beyond what she had imagined.
Then, a self-deprecating laugh escaped her at Christine’s betrayal that wasn’t quite a betrayal. Meira had been monitoring her, and Christine had lied.
“It seems no one told me.”
Belle realized anew. She was alone in this castle.
Everyone was an enemy, a mountain to overcome. At midnight today, she had to reveal the identity of the informant to the Grand Duke.
“Thank you. That was very helpful.”
Christine hadn’t revealed that she and Anaïs were friends.
Why? For fear of being suspected? If that was the case, why had she approached Belle in the first place?
The Grand Duke is a closed-off person who would cut out the tongue of his close aide. And Christine said Anaïs had no close friends.
It was a lie that would be easily exposed, but with employees fleeing at the sight of Belle and only a week’s deadline, it was quite a plausible lie.
Belle immediately went to the kitchen to find Christine. For some reason, Christine wasn’t there. She approached an employee who was peeling onions. They had changed their attitude from throwing things to ignoring her, as Belle visited every day.
“I’m looking for Christine. Where is she?”
“……”
“More silence, I see.”
Belle glared at the woman before moving to another. The woman who was about to cut carrots with a kitchen knife dropped it on the floor in shock when Belle approached.
“Shouldn’t you be used to me by now?”
Belle picked up the knife, washed it in water, and handed it back with the handle toward the woman. When the woman hesitated to take the knife, Belle said irritably:
“There’s no need to be this wary.”
Then she stabbed the knife into the cutting board. Though she knew this was rude and an improper venting of frustration, she felt these people deserved such treatment.
The woman pulled the knife out forcefully. Belle took a seat beside her and began peeling the pile of potatoes.
“I’m not leaving until Christine comes. So if you don’t like me, either someone brings Christine or you answer my questions.”
While peeling potatoes, Belle continued:
“Anaïs was the employee who came in with Christine, right? How close were they?”
“……”
“I think Christine stole the brooch. She lied to me about not being close to Anaïs.”
Belle decided to admit she wasn’t a detective. But not being a detective didn’t mean she couldn’t deduce.
“What’s your name?”
Belle asked the woman cutting carrots, the one she had just handed the knife to. Belle’s gaze moved between the knife and the woman.
“Marie? Julia? Sophie?”
“……”
“Well, if you don’t want to answer, don’t.”
Just then, the door opened and Christine entered. Her expression hardened when she saw Belle, and Belle greeted her with a bright smile.
“Welcome, Christine. Would you like to congratulate me? I’ve finally found the brooch.”
Christine’s face turned pale.
***
Having finished his meal, the Grand Duke looked languid like a satiated predator. He was polishing his sword.
Depending on the answer, the well-honed sword would decide whose neck would be cut. Belle swallowed as she stared at the gleaming blade. If her answer was wrong, she would be the one to die.
Though she had found the informant, it was a bit difficult to appear composed in front of the Grand Duke. However, feigning composure, she spoke first:
“Will you kill with that sword right away?”
Instead of answering her question, the Grand Duke asked his own:
“You say you found the informant?”
“Yes.”
Rising from his seat, the Grand Duke walked steadily toward Belle and held out his sword.
“Take it.”
Belle took the sword in confusion. The Grand Duke pulled out a decorative sword hanging on the wall.
“Samuel. Bring the child Miss Sevigne has identified.”
“Yes.”
Samuel looked at the two with indecipherable eyes before leaving.
“Is this a duel?”
“Even if you failed to identify the informant, I’ll spare you and employ you if you defeat me.”
“Like Meira, with my tongue cut out?”
Instead of answering, the Grand Duke smiled faintly. The leisurely manner of a top predator before prey was revealed by slowly circling around, as if mocking the opponent.
She recalled the tension from her training days with Randolph and the mercenary commander when she was young.
The thrill when she first held a real sword, that tenacious spirit then, and the lonely pain of knowing that only she could take care of herself.
Belle charged first. Swords clashed. Though it was a decorative sword, the blade was real, and she felt the familiar vibration. The Grand Duke hadn’t put much strength into it, yet her arm tensed.
The Grand Duke’s face was visible up close. White skin contrasting with icy blue eyes. And a sharp aura.
“My future boss seems quite mischievous.”
Disliking the feeling of defeat, she stared directly into the Grand Duke’s eyes. He smiled leisurely.
“You’re quite confident.”
She stepped back, pushed by the Grand Duke’s strength. Belle changed the direction of her sword to deflect his power, then swung. However, the Grand Duke quickly blocked her swing.
The sound of clashing swords rang in her ears.
They exchanged attacks and defenses rapidly. Belle knew she was at an overwhelming disadvantage but didn’t yield. If she were to give up over something like this, she would have given up on her life long ago.
“If I succeed in identifying the informant and also hold my ground, what reward would there be?”
“What do you want?”
Clang!
The sharp metallic sound made her ears ring. Her body ached from the recoil felt in her arms. She used all her strength to kick at the Grand Duke’s leg, trying to push him back. But he didn’t budge.
Instead, it was Belle who lost her balance.
With a fluid movement, she rolled on the floor to avoid the direction of the incoming sword. Then she quickly got up and regained her stance.
“Let me see. Don’t pull out my tongue?”
At her smile, which could be called impertinent, the Grand Duke’s eyebrows rose. Such a woman was truly a first. She was quite an interesting person.
“I permit it.”
No sooner had the words fallen than she lunged sharply toward the Grand Duke. He predicted the direction of her swing and defended. This time, the Grand Duke began his attack. Belle swallowed a curse. She couldn’t understand what he was trying to achieve by giving her a sword.
Simple entertainment? A test? Determining if she was an informant?
“Come to think of it, being able to speak seems basic for an assistant.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Trust.”
At that moment, Belle lost her sword, overpowered in the strength contest with the Grand Duke. The silver blade nearly touched Belle’s neck. Though it was decorative, it was sharper than expected, making her tense.
She showed her palms as a sign of surrender, and just then, Samuel returned. The Grand Duke didn’t withdraw his sword. He was ready to behead Belle immediately if her answer was incorrect.
“The way she held the kitchen knife was the same as someone who used a dagger. She corrected her grip unconsciously, but I was fortunate enough to catch that moment.”
Belle continued to explain:
“And the calluses on her hands weren’t from household chores. Like mine.”
Belle’s palms had different calluses—some from holding a sword, others from holding a quill. The informant’s palms weren’t much different from Belle’s.