# 63
---
The Marquis answered in a subdued voice, placing his hand on his forehead.
"say."
You must leave the castle and return without being caught by the Duke.
The Marquis lifted only his eyes and stared at his son.
You must go secretly without anyone knowing.
“Where.”
“We are nowhere near enough to overcome this obstacle with our own strength. After all, this is not power we seized through our own efforts from the beginning.”
“…….”
I was seething with anger, but it was a statement I could not possibly refute.
Therefore, you must reach out again to the one who first extended a helping hand.
“…….”
I will go meet with Her Majesty the Empress's chief lady-in-waiting.
The Duke's castle was vast and still in disarray. Nevertheless, it was not an easy task for Edward to get out of the castle. Having barely managed to slip out, he headed straight for the commoners' residential area. Just as he had passed through several narrow alleys where one could not pass without bumping shoulders, a young boy suddenly appeared.
The boy headed toward a shabby tavern. As he went down to the basement, a door appeared, followed by a hallway barely wide enough for one person to pass through. After traversing the winding path underground for quite some time, the boy grinned and pointed to a door.
Edward Rinko opened the door without hesitation. Contrary to his expectation that it would smell of musty mold, the air beyond the door was quite pleasant. Edward instinctively scanned his surroundings. A few candles softly illuminated the enclosed room.
Just then, I sensed a presence behind me. As I turned, the door opened and a plump woman wearing a black veil appeared. Her gaze from behind the veil was sharp.
Edward greeted him politely.
I am Edward Rinco.
The Empress's chief lady-in-waiting brushed past him and sat on the sofa. As soon as Edward sat down in front of her, the chief lady-in-waiting spoke bluntly.
“I never imagined Lewen would fall so quickly. I heard the Duke of Richmond marched around the castle's perimeter and interior with his knights as if celebrating?”
Flowery language was unnecessary for a secret meeting.
"Your family controlled the Duke of Richmond Castle for such a long time, yet you were stripped of all authority the moment the Duke returned?"
At the stinging rebuke, Edward took a deep breath and exhaled, speaking in a low voice.
“Mrs. Eliza Richmond has risen.”
“…Eliza Richmond?”
The head maid's brow furrowed sharply.
"I told you you were senile!"
It wasn't.
However, the head lady-in-waiting was someone who had spent 10 years in the imperial palace.
“Of course, the return of Eliza Richmond and the Duke is undoubtedly a threat. After all, they are the rightful owners of Richmond, no matter what anyone says. Even so, it wouldn't have been easy for the two of them to suddenly squeeze their way in, would it?”
Power is the recognized right to subjugate and dominate others, and people wield their own power at their respective levels. For some, money; for others, love; and for still others, deep resentment are the driving forces behind their lives; consequently, the prey of power is bound to vary from person to person and situation to situation.
This is incomprehensible, and no matter how overwhelming power an emperor has seized, he cannot perfectly understand the tower of power, which is sharply interwoven like warp and weft threads.
Therefore, wise rulers grant sufficient power to those close to them, yet they see right through the motives behind their actions as clearly as reading the lines on their own palms.
As such chains intertwine and descend downwards, the tower of power eventually takes the form of being tightly bound under a single chain, so that it does not sway significantly even if a single person enters or leaves it.
“…….”
“In Richmond, the Marquis Rinko family has built a tower of power for as long as ten years. They must be entangled with one another. How can one easily penetrate such a tower? In times like these, there is only one simple method.”
Completely destroying the tower.
However, the Duke of Richmond has not yet touched the Marquis of Rinco.
why?
The head maid reached an easy conclusion.
“Don’t the Duke of Richmond and Eliza Richmond currently lack the power to bring down Rinco? If they did, they would have already used it. In the end, all they have is one thing: the justification granted by their name.”
“…….”
"But Rinko has a valid reason, too. I just don't understand why she's been driven so far onto the defensive."
Edward spoke sharply, as if he found it difficult to listen any longer.
You are making light of the justification that a name brings.
He leaned forward and warned.
If the owner appears and asserts their rights, there isn't as much you can do as you might think.
As the head maid glared at him from behind the veil, Edward straightened his posture and continued speaking.
And the Duke has a solid military force.
“Only 500?”
It is O Baek who returned alive from the Wall of Death.
“…….”
Furthermore, they imprisoned Rinko and key figures from the families who collaborated with her inside the castle under the pretext of a business handover. Just look at how I had no choice but to sneak out.
Edward roughly scanned the face. He could not forget the Duke's piercing black eyes.
The Duke wouldn't be leaving Richmond alone just because he can't crush it by force.
The head maid tilted her head as if she couldn't understand. Edward was convinced that she was someone who had never once possessed anything of her own.
I don't want Richmond to turn to ashes.
The head maid, who had been silent, pointed out a different question this time.
"In any case, by the time the Duke returned, Eliza Richmond was quiet, and Rinko had taken control of the inner fortress. But what on earth did the Duke do to turn the situation like this in just over a week? Was there a trap?"
"yes."
“…A trap? Really?”
It was not a trap set by the Duke alone.
Edward recalled the green eyes that held a steely core.
Grace Taylor is currently at the Duke of Richmond Castle.
The head maid's eyes widened at the unexpected name.
“Grace Taylor?”
She blinked her eyes in confusion and asked back in a dumbfounded tone.
“That woman who was supposed to marry the Little Count of Saxony?”
"yes."
“Oh my. That woman… she has been completely expelled from the Duchy of Taylor. The wedding was called off, and the Duke of Taylor felt embarrassed to face Her Majesty the Empress, so he just expelled her entirely. I heard that the House of Saxony was pursuing her; so you are saying she is here? For what reason?”
The Duke introduced him as my lover.
“…Oh my? …Hoho.”
As the Head Lady let out a hollow laugh and fell into thought, Edward slowly chose his words. Then, at the appropriate moment, he broke the silence and spoke.
The Duke, Eliza Richmond, and Grace Taylor have joined hands. Do not take this lightly.
The head maid looked up.
Rinko is just the beginning.
“…….”
Once they have pacified Richmond, they will head to the capital. And they will move thoroughly and precisely. As if to show that this is how revenge is done.
The head maid paused, her eyes wide with shock, and glared at her.
“Revenge! How can they say they are taking revenge on whom and for what?!”
Think as you please. However, please do not take this lightly.
The head maid, who seemed about to get angry again, unexpectedly remained silent and lost in thought. Edward endured her silence, and after a moment, the head maid asked in a low voice.
“What is the reason you asked to meet me?”
Please help Rinko.
"how?"
“We need an army. And, …please send them as well.”
"them?"
Edward whispered, glaring sharply as if he knew everything.
I mean those 'invisible ones' who tore down the tower of power more than a decade ago.
* * *
A man in a black suit counted the number of carts loaded with wheat and gave a cold order.
We need one more cart for the calculation to be correct. Please fill another cart.
“Yes, I understand!”
The man who had served as the butler during the current Duke of Taylor's days as a Baron was now the Duke's attendant. This man, who was practically the Duke's right-hand man, smiled and bowed, then approached the farmers standing to the side and spoke fiercely.
Load another cartload!
“No...! This is just too much! What on earth are we supposed to eat when you take everything?! Yes!!”
“Shut up!! Whose wheat is all this?! It’s all His Excellency Duke Taylor’s wheat!! His Excellency ordered that we give him as much wheat as he asks for! Anyone who resists will be flogged, so stop talking and load it!!”
The servant, frowning fiercely, turned around while shaking off the wheat dust from his clothes.
“You lowlifes, I’m busy to death! Seriously!”
Words like daggers pierced the blackened hearts of the people. The farmer, who had been enduring disgrace and humiliation with his head half-bowed, lifted his eyes.
But do you know that?
The servant, who had been walking along panting, stopped short at the sudden sound of the voice. When he turned around, the farmer spoke in a hoarse voice.
“As you said, I am of humble origins, so I do not know who the owner of that cart carrying Taylor’s wheat is.”
“…….”
But...
The farmer's eyes turned bright red.
"When the late Duke was alive, such things never happened."