# 57
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Eliza’s lips hardened as she confirmed that the date written on the last letter was this summer. After staring blankly at the letter for a long time, she spoke in a choked voice.
Bring the Duke here.
"yes."
As the sound of a door quietly opening and closing was heard, Eliza raised her eyes and gazed at the window. Her reflection was cast in the pitch-black darkness. Her silver-haired appearance felt incredibly unfamiliar. As she stared blankly at the image reflected in the window as if looking at a stranger, she soon felt a large, heavy presence distinct from that of the maid.
As I turned my head, a young man with a presence that could no longer be hidden was standing there.
Ares's gaze turned to her knee. He immediately noticed what the tangled bundle of papers on Eliza's knee was and wore a sneer.
I thought you had thrown it all away, but you still had it?
"Didn't I tell you not to just stand there idly between the doorposts?"
Ares made no secret of his disgust, but regardless, he stepped away from the doorframe and sat on the sofa next to Eliza.
“Is that etiquette or superstition?”
“…Why did you send so many letters?”
“Judging by how you’re changing the subject, it must be a superstition. Isn’t it a superstition that was popular more than half a century ago?”
As Ares ignored the question and muttered, Eliza furrowed her brow and let out a sigh.
You must have forgotten all manners.
"Because there is no time to observe etiquette in that stinking wall."
Eliza, who was about to say something, turned her eyes to the letter. Then she muttered curtly.
“What kind of letter is this, resembling a crime report? I searched through it, hoping to find even a single sentence of flowery language, but there isn’t a single line.”
However, contrary to his brusque tone, his touch as he handled the letter was quite careful. Ares turned his eyes away from the letter and retorted coldly.
“Why would I send flowery language when we aren’t close enough to? I just sent it to let you know I’m doing well.”
Eliza pretended not to have heard Ares and sorted through the letters one by one. Ares glanced at her and frowned. Then, he spat out the words he had been holding in the pit of his stomach all this time.
“I never asked for flowery language, either. And I certainly never asked for insincere concern. Couldn't you have simply had a handmaiden write and send a single sentence saying that Richmond is being guarded well?”
“…….”
Eliza simply looked down at the letter in silence. Her gaze rested on the name written at the top of the envelope.
[Walter Richmond]
Because a major problem would arise if a letter were misdelivered, Ares had written Walter's name as the sender on every letter. And Eliza could not bring herself to open the letter from her deceased grandson, so she had just left it alone.
However, I couldn't bring myself to make such an excuse to Ares.
Just then, Ares stood up, perhaps feeling there was no reason to sit there and endure Eliza's silence. Since a headstrong and ill-tempered nature was hereditary, Eliza knew that he would storm out of the room right then and there.
She suddenly lifted her head in a panic and spoke.
The words you said to me, "I'm sorry."
Ares paused as he was about to leave the room.
“You told me the day before you left for the Wall of Death. That you were sorry for surviving instead.”
It was a word hanging from the tip of Eliza's heart.
People outside the annex thought that Eliza had lost her mind immediately after the death of the previous Duke, but that was not true. On the contrary, she was more level-headed than anyone else at that time. That is why she was able to hide in the annex and raise and teach Ares for a full three years.
She could not say that she felt the same unconditional familial affection toward Ares as she had felt toward Walter. She thought she was treating Ares coldly. However, strangely enough, after Ares left for the Wall of Death, a sense of loss as if she had lost everything overwhelmed her.
When her son, his wife, and her grandson died, her heart was like a storm turning the sea upside down. Anger and sorrow raged, filling her entire body.
However, after Ares left for the Wall of Death, she was like a solitary rock left on the bare ground. Not even the anger and sorrow that had filled her heart remained. There was simply nothing.
The world slowly lost its color from the edges, eventually turning black and white. Soon, even the contrast between black and white faded, becoming a form where gray was layered upon gray. The world surrounding her became a different world.
In that gray world, everything felt simply futile.
Why did everything end up being let go as soon as Ares left?
Only now did she realize that she herself had been relying on the young boy. And that Ares, too, relied on her, and wanted to rely on her. Had he not, he would not have sent letters with no reply for such a long time.
Eliza spoke with sincerity.
It is not Your Majesty's fault.
“…….”
“It is not as if I survived in your place, nor is it as if Your Majesty killed that child. Therefore, I do not resent Your Majesty. Nor do I hate you.”
If she truly resented and hated him, how could she have cherished and raised him for three years?
Eliza was someone who had never fed or put a child to sleep. Such duties had always been handled by a dedicated nanny. That is why the three years she spent raising Ares were a special time for her as well.
I'm sorry for not replying properly... Welcome back.
Eliza Richmond, who had never apologized to anyone, not even the Emperor, offered a sincere apology to Ares.
Ares stopped at the doorway with a cold expression. Then, turning his eyes away, he spoke abruptly.
I didn't write this expecting a reply, so please don't worry about it.
The words that flowed out as if tossed out were not warm, but neither were they cold.
Eliza smiled faintly, then suddenly reverted to being an arrogant royal. Shaking her head gently, she fluttered the letter.
“Hmm. However, you need to relearn how to write letters. In all my life, this is the first time I have ever seen a letter this stiff and report-like.”
Ares tried to open the Duke's door without even replying, as if he were sick and tired. However, Eliza did not seem to have any intention of letting him go like this.
“How much does Taylor’s daughter know?”
Ares, having stopped moving, turned toward Eliza.
“You must need my assistance. Leave Grace with Arwen, and since I can’t sleep anyway, please explain it to me now before you go.”
"Please just take good care of the Duke of Richmond's stronghold. I ask for nothing more."
I will never run away again.
“…….”
“It is not my place to say this, having betrayed your trust, but please trust me this time. I will never run away again.”
Nevertheless, when Ares remained silent, Eliza rose from her seat and approached him.
An indescribable aura emanated from the dried-up old woman. The colorless and scentless energy was so intense that it even choked the breath of Ares, who had returned alive from the front lines.
And the next moment, Eliza surprised Ares in another sense. She knelt on her left knee before Ares.
Born as the most favored daughter of Argon III and commanding Richmond, she had never sworn allegiance to anyone. No one could force her to swear allegiance, and she, too, could find no reason to do so.
Who would have thought that Eliza Richmond, who was like that, would end up pledging allegiance in a place like this—not even the Imperial Palace—at nearly sixty years of age?
“I, Eliza Richmond, swear to serve Ares Decan until the moment my life ends. Everything belonging to me—even my life and my divine authority—will be used for you, and this oath will never be broken.”
What does it matter if it is sixty or seventy? What does it matter if it is not the imperial palace, or if it is on an old road covered in stone dust? Even if she were told to swear not once but ten times, Eliza would gladly kneel and swear.
Ares, who had been stiff, also read her will. With his broad shoulders slumped, he opened his mouth toward the silver-shining head of the old lady.
Say what you want.
Eliza slowly raised her head. In the jet-black eyes that met hers, there was firm determination, and she could feel the pride of one who never gives up. Therefore, he would eventually achieve it.
Hedby wants the life of the Empress of Saxony.
The old lady's dark eyes shone more intensely than ever before.
* * *
Duke Richmond's castle was literally like a stirred-up beehive. Over the course of a single day, the invisible current running through Duke Richmond's castle changed drastically.
The biggest change was that Eliza Richmond, who was known to have virtually died from her long seclusion, had risen. Her six ladies-in-waiting returned, and the Chandelier Room was also redecorated for the Madame.
Furthermore, news regarding the Count of Lewen's family spread like wildfire. The shock was even greater because it had been less than a week since rumors had circulated that the family's only daughter had been confirmed as the Duchess of Richmond. To think that the one carrying out the punishment was Marquis Rinko, even the new servants were busy talking about it whenever they gathered.
“Honestly, is there anyone in Richmond who doesn’t know whose dog Count Lewen was?”
"You know, Marquis Rinko is lenient with his own mistakes but throws a fit over the faults of his subordinates. Everyone knows that the servants in charge of his office desk have all suffered nervous breakdowns, right?"
“Of course I know. Oh, by the way! Do you know this? The one His Excellency brought,”
“—You mean she is Princess Taylor?”
“Right! To think I’d see someone carrying gold in person!”
Just as the servant recalling Grace's blonde hair was talking at length about her hair color, another servant appeared with an urgent look and gestured.
“Hurry up and come here! They say the Count Rwen family is being kicked out!”