# 7
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But Your Excellency, did the missus tell you to come somewhere...or give you such a hint?
"no."
At Walter’s light answer, Joseph narrowed his eyes and tilted his head in surprise.
“Um...so where are you going to meet her?”
Walter didn't feel the need to respond, so he remained silent. What comes to his mind are her green eyes, clear even from afar.
Grace Taylor, who had been staring at him calmly, turned silently and disappeared. She didn't ask where they met or where he even was. It means that she knows in advance, and she will come by herf.
Walter quickened his steps towards the inn.
“Um…? It was full of customers until the morning. Do they not work during the day?”
As he expected, the inn was completely empty. Walter handed the horse to Joseph and quickly climbed the stairs.
As he climbed, he felt a refreshing forest nearby. He jumped two or three steps at a time, reaching the top in an instant and stopping in front of his door, panting hard. He laughed lightly because he felt like he had to knock, then he grabbed the door handle, holding himf and opening it.
The moment he opened the door, Walter felt a forest flowing towards him.
＊ ＊ ＊
Grace arrived at the inn before Walter, stood dumbfounded in the empty room, and then sat on the edge of the sofa.
I prepared for the hunt and expelled anxiety and honor first. But the tension returned after an absence.
When she closed her eyes, she remembered the black eyes that met hers. The man who made even the huge church a mere backdrop. Remembering him made her fists wet with sweat.
Grace opened her eyes and took something out of her pocket. An old flag engraved with a roaring tiger that brought it back to the winter of 13 years ago.
＊ ＊ ＊
On that day, the news beam went up and crowned the Crown Prince. While they were with the Duke of Richmond and his wife visiting the sick Emperor, her carriage met with an accident and everyone died.
In the black carriage heading to the capital to pay respects to her parents, little Grace heard her parents' strange, faint conversation.
“The Duke of Richmond said he avoided the Empress and took precautions in advance, so maybe the Prince is okay.”
“So… the bodies…”
“Fragile, maybe it was the young heir.”
“How unfortunate.”
Her mother's sensitive eyes filled with tears.
After a full day of travel, they reached a mountain range and found a dying knight. Seeing his horrific condition, they put the little girl back in the carriage, but Grace stuck her ears out.
Strangely, the knight's voice was very clear.
“The prince...kah...the old lady...protects him...”
“Listen to me!”
“Run... soon... they will come. Beware... the invisible ones...”
The knight died before completing his speech.
After a short, serious discussion, they took Grace out of the carriage and placed the dead knight's banner in her little hand, then handed the daughter over to the knight of protection to take her back to Taylor's palace.
That was the last one. The Taylors' carriage was found completely burned, like the carriage of the Prince and the Duke of Richmond. The flames were so strong that the parents could not even collect the bodies. The Empress' investigation team ruled the situation an accident, but Grace thought otherwise.
The Duke of Richmond who spared the Empress, the body of the young heir, and the protection of the Grand Lady.
Despite her young age, Grace connected the pieces and became certain.
Like her parents, her parents were killed by the Empress. The remaining prince is hiding under the protection of the old lady.
Grace vowed revenge and began her preparations long and slowly.
'A man with black hair and black eyes.'
This was all the information about Walter Richmond, who was born a prince but chose the title of Duke of Richmond to hide. After the incident, the child, the Little Duke, chose isolation in the palace of the Grand Lady under the pretext of health, and years later he was sent with the family knights to the Wall of Death, where he spent 10 years in the war.
How many black-haired and eyed men are there in the empire? But when he saw him in the hallway, Grace knew immediately that he was the man she was looking for.
Fortunately, he responded to her invitation and watched the wedding collapse.
Now it remains to surrender herf to his hand. The strongest and most important step in the plan. She was not nervous even at the moment of the scandal in the church, but her mouth dried up in the face of what was coming.
While she was drawing in her mind a dialogue with him, she heard a bell ringing in her sensitive ears. She suddenly opened her eyes and heard the sound of a rapid flight of stairs. He jumps two or three steps, the sound approaching with amazing speed compared to his steps.
He is this man.
Grace jumped up, expecting Walter. The door suddenly opened and a man who conquered everything entered.
＊ ＊ ＊
Darkness swallows light and sound.
When facing Walter cloy, Grace remembered the mysterious darkness. Like a dark, moonless night that overcame time and space, the man approached in an enveloping silence. She didn't even feel like she was holding herf.
Despite his simple formal clothes, I felt a brutality that cut through the skin. A height that requires looking up, and shoulders that fill the door. But it is graceful, not heavy. Perhaps because of the sharpness of his strong, clear face.
Grace exhaled her trapped breath and pressed her palms with her nails. You cannot fail in front of his prestige. She bowed to Walter respectfully.
“May God pardon my impudence.”
While Walter stared at her with clear, stubborn eyes.
The woman quietly raised her eyes after her graceful greeting. Although the room was hazy with the slanting sunlight, Walter felt that it glowed like in a church. He swallowed the strange feeling and closed the door.
The saturated air between them pushes them both apart. Even blinking needed caution, so Walter moved first. Unlike the one who jumped the stairs, he moved slowly and heavy like a beast in its lair.
Grace felt an invisible wave pushing her as Walter approached. He stopped a few steps in front of her and spoke.
“The Taylor Mansion is upside down.”
A soft sound that scratches the ear, so low and so seductive. Grace smiled lightly and shook her head.
"certainly."
Walter took out the invitation card from his pocket and asked directly.
“Is ‘Less Sharpened Sword’ you?”
"Yes."
“What do you want from me? What do you know about me, miss?”
He tugged his chin and raised his eyes only to her. The intensity of someone who lives in destruction threatens to tear her apart.
But there is no escape. Grace bit the tender flesh of her mouth.
“My wish is that it was worth my long effort to get him here.”
Walter said sarcastically and buried his hand in his pocket, staring at the woman standing gently.
Because of the strong impression in the church? Or her flowing hairstyle? Despite taking off her wedding dress, she looked like a bride about to get married.
Then she raised her lowered eyes and said:
“Make me your official girlfriend, Your Excellency.”
"…What?"
Walter was surprised at the audacity and asked so late. Grace opened her round eyes clearly and slowly repeated:
“Make me your official girlfriend and take me to Richmond.”
Walter was silent, trying to understand her intentions, then laughed sharply.
“You mean now that I become the ‘secret lover’ that you announced in front of everyone in the church? If I become the lover of you who is going to marry the nephew of the Empress and entered the wedding hall with him, what do I gain?”
“If your ultimate goal is to control the Duchy of Richmond, you won’t need me, but what you really want is not everything.”
“……”
“Isn't it?”
Grace took a deep breath.
The reason for her need is Walter Richmond at the beginning of her long revenge plan. It's time to reveal the secret card.
“Mr. Crown Prince.”