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Chapter 21
As you said, by tomorrow the rumor about an illegitimate child in the Lacet family will spread through high society.”
“Good.”
Karl accepted the handkerchief Max handed him and wiped the sweat from his face. He passed his sword to another knight and began walking back toward the mansion.
Most of Avery’s reports to him had been useless. But among them, there had been something worth keeping.
Without realizing it, Avery had placed the lifeline of a noble house into his hands.
As he left the training grounds, the sinking sunset bathed the mansion in red light.
At this hour, she was probably—
Karl stopped walking and looked toward his office, then turned his gaze toward the greenhouse instead. Max, ever the perceptive aide, quickly offered what he assumed the Duke would want.
“Shall I have tea prepared?”
“…No. Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir.”
Whether she was there or not, his daily life did not change much. Recently, the ghost would leave the mansion early in the morning and return late at night. As a result, the chatter that used to bother him had disappeared.
The silence he loved so much had returned.
Max followed one step behind the Duke. Lately, his predictions had often been wrong. These days, his master stopped walking far more often than before.
Surely he must want something.
But Max could not figure out what it was.
He had noticed that his master had changed. The Duke, who had once lived in rigid repetition, now showed clear differences. Max, who had stayed by his side for years, could tell.
But he had no idea what had caused it.
Had his instincts dulled?
Step.
Not long after entering the mansion, the Duke stopped again. Max sharpened his gaze and followed the direction of Karl’s eyes, determined to discover his master’s desire this time.
But there was nothing there.
Max would likely never know. The answer was close, but he did not have the ability to see it. To find it, one had to see what others could not.
As proof, the moment Karl stepped inside, he found Avery Graham.
The only difference from usual was that Avery—who always noticed him first and approached him—was staring somewhere else.
She did not even realize he had come. She stood frozen, staring at a single room as if trying to bore a hole through the door.
Frozen was the right word.
From her face, he clearly read one emotion.
Despair.
Avery Graham was in despair.
Why?
The reason had to be found a little earlier.
“Where on earth did it go?”
The atelier remained empty for hours. In the end, Avery had no choice but to return to the mansion.
When she arrived, she noticed an unfamiliar carriage parked outside. It was neither the plain carriage she usually rode nor the carriage bearing the Lander crest.
The mansion felt chaotic. For some reason, not a single ghost was in sight.
Then one ghost rushed past her, running somewhere in a hurry.
Soon after, several more ghosts ran in the same direction.
All of them looked delighted.
“What’s going on? Is today some special day?”
Where is everyone going without me?
She did not dare ask the ghosts directly.
What if I get dragged into trouble?
She briefly considered going straight to Karl instead. But the answer had already been decided from the beginning.
She followed the ghosts.
She was easily frightened, but her curiosity was stronger.
It did not take long to find their destination.
All the ghosts in the mansion had gathered in one room. Some could not even fit inside and stood outside the door.
If this many ghosts had gathered in her room, she would have fainted.
Honestly, I kind of want to faint right now.
Shivering, she approached the door.
If Avery had been a little more observant, she would have recognized that the carriage parked outside belonged to the atelier she visited every day.
Recently, she had spent her entire days there and knew nothing about what was happening in the mansion.
Who could have imagined that Angelo had found the perfect person to complete his masterpiece—here?
Inside the room, Wendy and Deborah stood staring blankly at the dress. Deborah, in particular, looked completely enchanted.
Of course she would be. The person Deborah had hoped for was wearing the dress.
Avery could not bring herself to look at the woman’s face.
She prayed it would not be someone she knew.
So when the woman was excluded from her mental list of potential victims, she had secretly felt relieved.
She had relaxed.
Like a fool.
“Stupid Avery Graham.”
She had to face reality now.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze and finally looked at the woman’s face.
Angelo had truly found the perfect owner for his masterpiece.
There could be no other.
Before her stood a woman with ash-gray hair, smiling gently in the beautiful black dress.
Briana Lander.
She was the second victim of the serial murders.
The murders had already begun—without Avery even realizing it.
“You said you’d never left for another kingdom…”
“……”
“Such a liar…”
With an unusually drooping voice, Avery muttered her complaints before burying her face in her arms.
“If you have something to say, say it tomorrow.”
“Liar…”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Two in the morning…”
“You’re well aware. Leave.”
In her right mind, she would never crouch on the floor beside Karl’s bed in his bedroom and pour out her grievances.
But she still had not recovered from the shock that Briana was the second victim.
“Your Grace.”
“……”
“I know you’re not asleep.”
“Do you know who the reason is?”
“If someone you knew was destined to die, what would you do?”
If she were sane, she would not ignore his words so easily.
If she were sane.
But Avery had already done the impossible twice.
“There is no such destiny.”
“What if there is?”
“I wouldn’t care.”
His personality is unbelievable.
“Aren’t you sad?”
“Why would I be?”
“Cold-blooded.”
Unlike usual, she did not hide her thoughts.
She was definitely not in her right mind.
Part of it was the shock that Briana was the second victim.
But another reason weighed on her as well—Briana would wear that dress to the upcoming Crown Prince’s investiture banquet.
Karl had been right.
Avery had been wrong.
The banquet was only a little over a month away.
She had been too complacent.
“Do you feel pity for everyone?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why are you so sad? So desperate?”
“……”
It was a simple question, asked out of pure curiosity.
But she could not answer.
She was not someone who pitied everyone.
It was because it was Briana.
She had known for a while that she was conscious of Briana. And she knew why.
Because of her eyes.
When Briana smiled, the servants of the mansion blushed at her beauty. But to Avery, her smile always seemed calculated—like an emotionless doll.
Eyes without light.
Avery knew those eyes well.
They were the eyes she used to see in the mirror in her previous life.
Lonely. Suffering. Waiting for someone to help.
Unable to stand on their own.
She understood that better than anyone.
And yet she had turned away.
Because she had been focused on identifying the victim.
Now that she knew Briana was the victim, guilt pressed down on her twice as hard.
“But now I know.”
“……”
“Such a destiny is too cruel.”
Avery lay down on the floor and curled into herself.
She did not expect any further conversation.
But unexpectedly, his voice came.
“If you’re going to be frightened before anything even happens, then stop now.”
“……”
“Are you going to sit still and obsess over something that hasn’t even occurred?”
“……”
“If not, focus on what you can do. Stop talking nonsense.”
“……”
“There is no such destiny.”
Karl Graham’s words were merciless.
But at the same time, his cold and objective tone brought her back to reality.
As he said, if she did nothing, she would only be dragged along by fate.
In the end, what she could do was find clues about the murders and catch the killer.
“Your Grace. Let’s catch the murderer. No matter what.”
Her voice trembled with desperation.
There was no reply.
She did not add anything further and quietly closed her eyes.
For a moment, she thought she heard a low voice say—
“…All right.”
