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Chapter 47
By the time the long dinner finally ended, it was already quite late.
The conversation naturally flowed toward Lucas staying the night at the Rayford estate.
“Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll impose and stay here for the night,” Lucas said, smiling brightly, his gaze fixed on Lucy.
Lucy ignored his eyes, stabbing at her salad as if it were to blame, only waiting for the dinner to end quickly.
As soon as the meal ended, Lucy returned straight to her room and locked the door.
It was clear that Lucas’s visit to the estate tonight wasn’t mere coincidence.
She had thought she’d finally steadied her confused feelings toward him, but now he had suddenly shown up and even announced he would be staying the night. Her mind was unsettled all over again.
Not long after, Lucy’s worries became reality. Lucas came to find her.
When she opened the door at the sound of knocking, Lucas was standing there with an awkward expression.
“Forgive me. I know it’s rude, but I wanted to talk with you…”
“I don’t know how you figured out which room was mine, but if you have something to say, please keep it brief. There are too many eyes around us. If strange rumors spread, it would be troublesome.”
Lucy deliberately spoke coldly.
“Ah… I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I felt like I didn’t properly greet you earlier…”
“It’s very late now. It was nice to see you again today. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Speaking indifferently, Lucy tried to close the door.
But Lucas hurriedly grabbed the door, stopping it from closing.
“Lucy, I’ll be honest. I had to come like this, otherwise I’d never have the chance to see you. If so, then next time, I’ll formally ask and visit you properly. Would you allow that?”
His sudden directness startled Lucy.
But regaining her composure, she shook her head.
“No. I don’t know why you’re doing this to me, but let me be clear. Honestly, this makes me uncomfortable. I’d rather you stop taking an interest in me.”
At her words, his lips parted, but he seemed unable to find anything to say.
“I’m truly grateful for all the kindness you’ve shown me until now. I’ll never forget it. But I believe you’re not the type of man to demand something from me because of that. If you understand what I mean, then please leave.”
With a cold expression, Lucy shut the door.
Lucas froze in place as if turned to stone by her words.
Lucy locked the door again and slid down against it, leaning there.
The next morning, at sunrise, Lucas departed.
“So… I really won’t ever see him again…”
Hearing that he had left, Lucy felt strangely conflicted — guilty, yet also a little disappointed.
She didn’t even know what exactly she was disappointed about.
After that, peaceful days passed.
But one day, a sense of foreboding began to spread through the mansion.
It began with just one person.
When Lucy visited the dressing room that day, one of the maids she knew had fallen ill. She was Lady Meriel’s personal maid.
It was said she had started to waste away with sickness. Even after seeing a physician, she showed no signs of recovery. Instead, her condition only worsened.
Then, the two maids who shared a room with her also fell sick.
Only then did Lucy realize the situation was grave.
But by that time, it was already too late.
Recently, Lady Meriel had often complained of being tired. Her appetite dwindled, and today, she was so weakened she said she felt like she had caught a fever and could barely rise from bed.
Lucy told the steward to call a physician, suspecting it might be some contagious disease.
The steward didn’t dismiss her words and reported directly to Count Rayford.
That night, the count himself came to Lucy with a grave expression.
“It seems some plague is spreading through the village.”
A strange, unknown disease had broken out in nearby villages.
Even the physicians couldn’t identify its cause, nor find any cure.
From that day on, Count Rayford strictly limited contact with Lady Meriel.
Servants showing similar symptoms were quarantined in the annex.
Though they were mere employees, the count didn’t cast them out; he tried to save them.
But after ten days, some began coughing blood and losing consciousness. There was no time to do anything.
Lucy wondered if it might be the Black Death, but when she asked the steward, he said none of the patients had shown the telltale sign of blackened skin.
“My knowledge is shallow, but I’ve never heard of such an illness. Even if I had, what could I do…?”
Time passed helplessly.
Strangely, Lady Meriel no longer asked to see Lucy.
Though her mind was said to remain clear, she only ever asked after Lucy’s well-being through the steward, never requesting Lucy’s presence.
‘Honestly… if Lady Meriel had asked to see me, would I have been able to run to her side?’
No one even knew how the disease spread.
If Lady Meriel had called her, could Lucy have held her hand without hesitation? She had no such confidence.
Then, about ten days after the outbreak began in the estate, several carriages bearing the crest of House Cretine arrived.
The steward came to Lucy, holding a birdcage.
“His Grace, the Grand Duke Cretine, asked me to deliver this to you, my lady.”
Surprised, Lucy took the birdcage. The steward also handed her a sealed letter.
“And he wished you to have this letter as well.”
Inside the cage was a snow-white dove.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Lucy quickly opened the letter.
Lucy, forgive me for troubling you once more.
I hear a plague is spreading through the estate. As yet, no one knows the cause or the cure.
So please, avoid contact with others and do not leave your room unless absolutely necessary.
Soon, the nearby villages will be sealed off to prevent the disease from reaching the capital. Travel will be forbidden.
I have already sent emergency supplies and provisions to House Rayford, but no one knows how long the blockade will last.
This dove is a carrier pigeon.
If you ever need help, send it.
If you require another place to stay, do not hesitate — send the pigeon to me.
And above all, please, take care of yourself.
—Lucas Cretine
The point was clear in his final words: he was offering her a safe refuge.
But Lucy thought she might already be a carrier. She had no symptoms, but she couldn’t be sure.
‘If I leave here just to save myself, I might end up spreading the disease to countless others!’
The government’s decision to restrict travel was perhaps wise.
“But if the villages are sealed, with no end in sight… won’t the isolated villagers be left to die without proper treatment?”
Biting her lip, Lucy stared at the dove inside its cage.
“Sigh…”
The despair of the situation crushed her, and she collapsed weakly to the floor.
After a long while, someone knocked on her door.
“Lucy, are you in there? It’s me, Herry.”
It was Hayris.
“Yes, come in. How’s Grandmother? Have you seen her?” Lucy asked as she opened the door.
“No one is allowed into Grandmother’s room except the physician and nurse. I only managed to glimpse her from the doorway…” Hayris sighed with a gloomy face.
“The village is about to be sealed. This estate won’t be safe much longer either. I can arrange a carriage for you — wouldn’t it be better to stay somewhere safe until the blockade is lifted?”
That seemed to be why Hayris had come.
But Lucy had nowhere she wanted to go.
‘No… there is somewhere I want to go. To Anna. Only there.’
But she didn’t know where Anna and Dino were now. And even if she did, traveling through plague-ridden villages would be impossible.
Above all, Lucy feared she might be a spreader of the disease. That thought bound her feet in place.
