# 41
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At that moment, with a cautious knock, the door opened and Mrs. Isaacs entered.
When Isaac saw Eliza standing, she realized that what she was seeing was not a dream but reality. I felt tears that were about to burst, and I approached her.
“The knights have withdrawn, and we have made accommodations for Miss Taylor's maid.”
Eliza was about to say something, then stopped, and just watched her maid silently.
“What's the matter?”
When Isaac asked, Eliza asked in a low, suppressed voice:
“Didn't you always wear the pearl earrings and pearl necklace that I gave you? How did you come today without any jewelry, as if you had bare hands?
Isaac's eyes became red, and when she could not hold back her tears, they rolled down her chin as she knelt before her mistress.
“My eldest lady... how can I wear pearl earrings and a necklace, when my lady herf is not adorned with anything?”
Dry wrinkles appeared on Eliza's neck. She swallowed with difficulty the heat that was rising in her chest. Then she suddenly fell asleep.
What is the value of jewels, glory, and family? What good is it to rule the world, if the world itf has vanished?
"my grandmother!"
Perhaps her time stopped at that precise moment, so that she could at least keep that voice.
As the barely moving time slowed down again, two sharp green eyes suddenly flashed into her mind.
“Does it mean that Taylor's honor will be preserved if I live subserviently as the wife of Saxon, the murderer of my parents?”
Eliza read in Grace's eyes intense resistance. She saw a carefully suppressed fire, and felt the bitterness of losing the world.
It was Grace's bitterness that awakened Eliza's time, which had crouched and fallen.
“Didn't I tell you? I will inevitably come back alive and repeat everything, so wait and do not die.”
Walter's anger violently pulled Eliza's time forward.
Eliza looked out the window. The knights were still searching here and there for Jesse.
“I was just tired, so I closed my eyes a little.”
After a long silence, Eliza finally opened her mouth.
“Arwin.”
“Yes, Grand Madam.”
“Bring me Grace Taylor's maid, and inquire what is going on at Richmond Castle.”
Isaac's heart almost exploded with joy. The moment you have been waiting for and hoping for has arrived.
Eliza Richmond. The lady of this castle is finally preparing to awaken from her slumber.
Isaac wiped away her tears and answered in a steady voice:
“Your command.”
＊ ＊ ＊
At noon the next day.
The Marquis of Lenco exploded in anger at Count Lewin, who returned empty-handed.
“You even searched Eliza Richmond's annex and did not find it?! Not a single rat came out of the castle! He must still be here!!”
“I apologize...”
Count Lewin bowed repeatedly in apology, but the Marquis took out his anger and anxiety on him. The Count said that the Grand Madame had risen and obstructed the inspection, and that the annex was still in doubt, but that only made the Marquis angrier.
“Are you using a deranged old woman as an excuse?!”
"…I apologize."
“Search!!”
No sooner had the Count left in haste than the Marquise clicked her tongue contemptuously.
“The virtue of that family is nothing more than a decent appearance and a trivial ambition.”
The Marquis drank the wine like water, wiped his mustache and lips with a handkerchief, and then, after calming down a little, said:
“What about the duke’s mistress? Did she open her mouth?
When she didn't answer, he turned to her frowning.
“You didn't even succeed?”
“Be patient. This is not looking for a rat. “That dungeon is slowly driving people crazy.”
“I don't want to go slowly. I want her crazy now. “This is a war, and we must win within days.”
Walter's silence worried him. The Marquise shook her head, but there was some truth in what he said. A long war harms both sides. Time for a quick and accurate attack.
She approached him and whispered:
“Okay. I'm going to make it collapse today. But this alone is not enough. Have you prepared the person I asked for?”
“I found someone who met the conditions at dawn. “We are negotiating now.”
"I did well. By the way, there is no need to touch the accessory. Let the deranged old woman sleep.”
Then I stopped and asked him:
“Where has our son been? Isn't it due to arrive soon? "I wanted to have a reception, but that's difficult now... at least let's prepare food."
“They said he would arrive in two days. "It seems something happened at Miss Tyler's wedding."
“There is no day without wind. The Taylor family ended the day the former duke and his wife were murdered. The Empress and the capital's nobles say they are a 'treasury'. The current Duke and his wife do not realize this, yet they show off.”
She mumbled that whoever is more greedy than he has the right to end up like this, and left.
She headed to the Blue Room, stacked with Richmond's treasures. She took out a black box as long as two palms, picked up a fur, and went straight down to the basement.
As soon as I entered the basement, where the line between night and day disappears, the season became winter. She wrapped herf in fur as she was struck by a bone-chilling cold.
However, this cold was nothing compared to Grace's cell. That was the deepest point of Richmond, and no sane person ever came out of it.
“Did she say she was going to confess?”
The soldier guard shook his head.
“Don't even cry.”
“Stubborn.”
The Marquise refused to accompany her and went down alone. With each degree, the winter became more intense. A wet cold cut through the fur like knives.
She stopped in front of a black door, and opened the small window at the top. When I brought the torch closer, the interior was dim: a woman in a cream dress, with her eyes closed, leaning against the wall.
The Marquise narrowed her eyes. Usually, one day is enough for them to cry and beg, but this woman seemed completely unharmed. She wanted to torture her, but being a woman brought by the Duke prevented her from leaving traces.
“We caught the maid you brought, and are interrogating her. Admitting that you are one of the “invisible”... I think an hour is enough.”
Grace didn't move. The Marquise shouted angrily:
“You bastard!! Your plan will be revealed soon!! And when it is revealed, do you know what awaits you? Brutal punishments. Even the Duke won't protect you. "This cell is nothing."
She pressed against the door and whispered descriptions of the agony.
“Confess. Blame the maid for all the blame, and say that you were forced. "Then I spare your life."
Only then did Grace slowly open her eyes. The corner of the Marquise's mouth rose.
Grace saw in her bent eyes what looked like the eyes of demons in the scriptures, and said slowly:
“I told you. "Jesse and I can't be 'Invisibles'."
The Marquise's gaze straightened and then filled with anger, but she quickly smiled again coldly.
“It seems there was not enough time to think.”
I opened the black box. There is a thick penis inside. She lit it and stuck it in a crack near the door, and thick white smoke billowed out.
She covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve, and closed the window whispering:
“Now the hell begins. Think again there.”
The door closed, and the light faded. Smoke and cold seeped from the food hatch. Grace got up quickly, covering her mouth with her dress, but the smoke penetrated the tissues and filled the lungs.
She reached out to turn off the bar, but she didn't reach it. The cell quickly filled up.
Her breathing quickened, and his voice rang out in the silence. Dizzy, she leaned her back against the wall and whispered to herf:
“Then… hold on, Grace Taylor.”
M.M.: Oh my heart 🥹🥹💔