Chapter 7
“Nestor Le Moyne? I heard the Grand Duke had no family left.”
“It’s practically the same. Nestor also has only the Grand Duke as family, so he was taken in by the Grand Ducal family during childhood. He has a good personality, so even the butler has half-given up on him, and he knows many employees.”
Ludvico grumbled as he explained. Belle decided that if she became the Grand Duke’s assistant, she would overlook at least one of Ludvico’s small mistakes someday.
“Thank you. I’ll definitely repay this debt when the wager is over.”
“You seem confident. If you really do survive, take over teaching Bertrand how to read.”
“Sure. It’s not that difficult anyway. And—”
Belle silently mouthed her words. Bertrand was hiding right beside him.
Ludvico nodded, indicating he understood, and Belle continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
“Come to think of it, I should find Sir Nestor myself. I’ll be going now.”
Belle slightly pushed Bertrand’s shoulder, signaling him to run away, and left her seat.
As she exited the corridor, she heard Bertrand’s scream and Ludvico’s irritated voice in the distance. Belle headed for the Ponce Knight Order’s training ground.
While watching from afar, waiting for training to end, she felt someone’s gaze nearby.
She looked around but couldn’t determine where it was coming from. Wondering if she had imagined it, she tilted her head.
Then she heard small footsteps.
Certain someone was watching her, Belle turned toward the sound and ran.
Pitter-patter.
The sound came from a corner on the first floor. She called out:
“Wait a moment!”
But perhaps due to the distance, she couldn’t see anyone. As she tried to gauge the direction, she heard a very faint sound, like last winter’s remaining leaves crumbling.
Though it was faint, Belle, who had become extremely sensitive, didn’t miss it.
“Who’s there?”
The sound came from a secluded area behind the castle. Belle had never been there before.
She sensed hurried footsteps at her voice. She began running with all her might. Grabbing her billowing skirt, she turned the corner and saw the hem of a dress fleeing in the distance.
Belle gritted her teeth and shouted:
“Stop!”
Fear was about to overflow beyond the vessel, and there was a mountain of things to discover. Even while out of breath, she forced her voice out:
“Wait a moment. Please!”
Inwardly cursing, she looked around for the woman who had disappeared from sight.
“I just want to talk.”
In the maze-like castle, Belle had access to only certain areas. Therefore, she couldn’t predict where the woman had disappeared to.
“I’m Belle.”
She spoke to the empty air. Her panting breath was audible.
“Belle Sevigne.”
She needed to show that she was friendly. Catching her breath, she continued:
“If you work in the kitchen, I wanted to tell you the food is delicious. I especially like that the carrots aren’t mushy.”
Belle was certain the fleeing woman was nearby, attentively listening to her words. It was an intuition that only someone who had received gazes throughout her life and reacted sensitively to them could have.
“As you know, I haven’t been here long, and I’m in a life-or-death wager with His Grace the Grand Duke. I don’t think you stole the brooch. Won’t you help me? No, just spare me a little time. Ten minutes, five minutes. That would be enough.”
Come over. Come over. There must be a reason you approached me first.
Belle gave her a little time to think, then continued softly:
“I don’t know much, and I’m curious about many things. Above all, I’m very lonely.”
After waiting with anticipation and tension, a side door she hadn’t known existed opened. A woman who had been holding her breath peeked out from inside.
She was a plain-looking woman around Belle’s age. The woman glanced furtively at Belle and spoke:
“You shouldn’t trust anyone here.”
“Pardon?”
“You… how much do you think you can trust what I say?”
Once again, a test had begun.
***
The woman’s name was Christine Belmont.
Belle and Christine shared the similarity of entering the castle to repay their family’s debt. Christine seemed to feel some affinity because of this.
“I came from the capital last year. It’s been nine months since I arrived here. When I came, there was another woman who came with me. She was also from the capital, so we relied on each other.”
“Where is she now?”
As soon as she asked, Belle realized from Christine’s expression that she shouldn’t have spoken. As sadness lingered on Christine’s fragile face, Belle quickly apologized.
“I’m sorry……”
“No. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
Christine was so thin that her bones were clearly visible through her thick clothes. Despite her dry appearance, there was a strange kindness in her tone. It seemed to be her inherent personality rather than something fabricated.
“His Grace enjoys seeing blood. That’s why he finds excuses to kill two or three people each year. We have debts, and this is Balzac territory, so the Grand Duke is practically a king. Our existence is bound to be quietly erased.”
“I see. What did you mean when you said I shouldn’t trust anyone?”
“All the women brought here must become maids to repay their debts. So we must be suspicious of each other.”
“Suspicious?”
“Yes. Suspicious.”
Fear seeped into Christine’s deep brown eyes. Her bony hands clutching her skirt trembled slightly.
“Employees monitor each other. So if someone tries to escape, has something to hide, or seems to have ulterior motives, they report to Samuel. And each time their suspicions prove true, they receive a debt reduction of 100,000 berks from Samuel.”
“Why go to such lengths?”
Christine exhaled sharply, as if to say ‘how can you not know?’
“This is the land of body-modified individuals! They breathe, work, and live here without any issue, so of course one would want to leave this castle!”
Belle’s face hardened slightly. But she nodded in understanding to humor Christine.
“As time passes, wouldn’t some people adapt to these minor things and quietly repay their debts? Isn’t that so?”
“That’s impossible. The Grand Duke kills employees quarterly…”
Christine looked around and whispered:
“There must be some secret hidden here.”
“A secret…?”
She had thought there must be something hidden since there were things being concealed, but it was a different matter when an employee mentioned it. Didn’t they know the inner workings of this place better?
“I don’t know exactly. It’s just a feeling I get sometimes when watching the butler. What’s certain is that the Grand Duke wants blood.”
“Tell me more.”
“I think he wants to kill us as a warning.”
“To whom?”
“To the royal family, of course… Having grown up in the capital, I know. The royal family is hostile to the Grand Duke. Since he has no family, if the Grand Duke were gone, all of the Balzac territory would revert to the royal family.”
“……I see. But why are you telling me all this? Don’t you think it might make you suspicious?”
Christine’s face turned pale, and she rolled her eyes, not knowing what to do.
“I……”
After hesitating briefly, she confessed with tears filling her small eyes:
“You remind me of my dead friend. She was also of noble birth like you. She couldn’t endure life here and eventually… Isn’t that why you made such a wager? Because you thought death would be better than living like this…”
Though Belle’s only thought was to survive, she deliberately didn’t correct Christine. She felt that letting Christine misunderstand would be helpful in the long run.
“Thank you. That was very helpful.”
“No, …I’m sorry.”
Christine burst into tears. Her quivering lips as she poured out her sorrow looked quite painful, so Belle perfunctorily rubbed her back.
“I wanted to suspect if one of my colleagues had stolen the brooch, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. They’re all just scared, kind, ordinary people. This isn’t very helpful, is it? I’m sorry. I hope my story was of some use to you. And even if you don’t find the brooch, there must be another good solution. His Grace likes clever and courageous people.”
With Christine sobbing like this, Belle couldn’t bring herself to speak. There was so much she needed to know: why Anaïs was killed, how often the Grand Duke left the castle, why there were separate paths for employees, what the employees’ working hours were, and what tasks each was assigned.
In truth, as a suspicious and cautious person, Belle was skeptical even of Christine’s tears. Starting with asking how much Belle could trust her words was suspicious.
Also, since Belle herself couldn’t freely divulge information to a stranger she had just met, she was confused whether Christine was lying to confuse her, or if she had noticed Belle and approached her first because she was the informant.
“Christine.”
“Yes?”
“If it’s alright, could you introduce me to your other colleagues? I’m not suspecting them. I want to compare the Grand Duke’s movements with the employees’ movements in detail.”
“Not right now. I need to get their permission. Just my approaching you like this will make them suspicious and critical of me.”
“Then tell me where they are, and I’ll find them myself. I won’t say you told me. I swear.”
“In that case… go to the stables. The stable master is relatively relaxed. Having worked here a long time, he knows a lot.”
“Thank you.”
A bell rang. It was the bell announcing 3 PM. Christine jumped up in alarm.