TPWSM 86

Chapter 86

As if by prior agreement, the Grand Duke came to the pawnshop early the next night.

[You’re here already? We haven’t even opened for business yet.]

I asked innocently, though I already knew why he had come.

[I want the wedding ornaments returned.]

Just as planned.

I stifled a laugh as I looked at the Grand Duke, who blurted out his request without preamble. Even through the hood covering his face, I could see his desperation as clear as day.

Tomorrow, I was supposed to go with the Grand Duke to the Yorca Palace, where my maternal grandfather, King Salesio, awaited me. Because of an untimely fever, I hadn’t been able to visit him before. The King had sent word that he would return to his country only after seeing me in person.

Which meant that the Grand Duke had to retrieve the ornaments today. His wife, the Grand Duchess, had coaxed him with her charms and insisted he give them to her to wear. He didn’t have much excuse to refuse.

Should I be happy? In the end, the reason he had come here to retrieve the ornaments was because he wanted to look good in front of me.

Clack.

The Grand Duke let out a heavy sigh and placed a thick bundle of gold coins on the table. Quite a sum—it was about half the value of the ornaments. But my answer was already decided.

[I refuse. I’m not giving them back.]

[I can bring more in a few days. I promise you, just hand them over now.]

[Even if you offered me 100 million Rebels, I still wouldn’t return them.]

[That makes no sense.]

I could see his broad chest heaving.

I knew I was being unreasonable.

I remembered the fable of The Sun and the Wind I had once read to his younger sister.

The sun had waited patiently, shining warmly, believing that the traveler would one day remove his coat on his own.

Until now, I had only waited like the sun, believing that the Grand Duke would eventually cast off his tightly wrapped coat by himself.

But he hadn’t.

Now, it seemed, a storm was needed.

[They’re right here.]

[I need the ornaments. Now.]

[Because your wife asked for them? That’s your problem.]

[Why are you doing this?]

His voice rose with frustration, sharp enough to make even Katarina flinch where she stood nearby.

[Because I hate people who aren’t truthful.]

[What does that even mean?]

He shook his head, as if completely unable to understand me.

[Your sister told me so.]

[You spoke with my sister?]

[On the carriage ride. She said she wanted to know who she was. That no one would tell her. That she wanted to see the world.]

The Grand Duke fell silent.

I raised my hands higher, gesturing emphatically.

[Does that make any sense? That she doesn’t even know her own brother is her brother? I don’t know whether your father is alive or not, but even if he refused to acknowledge her as his daughter, there are some things you just don’t keep hidden.]

He stared at my gestures with an exasperated look.

He said nothing. A suffocating silence filled the room.

[How frustrated must she have been to confess something like that to a stranger like me? Probably because you wouldn’t listen.]

The Grand Duke raised his hands as if to retort, but then let them drop.

He seemed to have lost his words.

I hadn’t just hit the mark—I’d pierced straight through him.

[Remember that time in front of the pawnshop, when you asked me why I was crying?]

That had been just before his reunion with his sister. He had caught me crying outside the shop.

He gave a small nod.

[I was crying because I felt sorry for your sister… and for your wife.]

Now his face looked as though he had just been struck on the back of the head.

This time, I wasn’t speaking as the pawnshop owner. I was speaking as Alisa Lasantia.

[Your so-called husband sold off his wife’s wedding ornaments to a pawnshop. He not only hid the hardships your sister endured, but her very existence. What exactly does your wife know about you? Can you even call that a normal marriage?]

If I had spoken aloud, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hide the resentment in my voice.

The Grand Duke wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

[There were circumstances. Why are you judging another man’s household like that?]

You’ll never understand—it’s not another household.

[There are circumstances one can sympathize with, and circumstances one cannot.]

Holding his wedding ornaments hostage, I acted like a judge.

He clenched his fists and then opened them again, as though suppressing the fury boiling inside. It was natural—what stranger butted into another’s private affairs and lectured them like this?

[Let me ask again. What must I do for you to let this go?]

Regaining his composure, he questioned me. He seemed to have decided that, since I had rescued his sister, he couldn’t treat me too harshly.

[From today on, be an honest man. That’s the only way you’ll get your ornaments back.]

I made the demand clearly with my gestures.

I knew I was in no position to lecture him when I was hiding my identity myself.

I’m sorry. But I wanted to hear you say it with your own mouth.

[Be specific. What do you mean by an “honest man”?]

He leaned forward, resting both hands on the table, like a predator ready to growl. The violet eyes that had mesmerized me yesterday now glared with vivid fury.

[There are two conditions.]

I raised two fingers before him.

He jerked his chin, signaling for me to continue.

[First—explain to your sister what her family ties are. I don’t care what your family circumstances are, but she deserves to at least know who her guardian is.]

[And the second?]

[Take your sister to meet your wife.]

[What?]

[Introduce them. I’m not asking you to pour out your entire family history. Do it for your sister. At the very least, she has the right to know who her only brother married.]

In truth, this was my own selfish wish.

I wanted to meet Princess Melania face-to-face, both as herself and as Alisa Lasantia.

Would she recognize me?

I wanted to confirm whether the person she had longed to find was truly me.

A memory surfaced.

The Grand Duke had hired investigators to find some woman from Levanteia—a tall woman with red hair. At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it. There were plenty of tall redheads in the world.

But now, I realized the clue clearly pointed to me.

He must have been searching on the Princess’s behalf.

At the very least, the Princess remembered me fondly. She had even kept the sign-language book and picture book I had given her.

…But if she were to learn that I was the Grand Duke’s wife, would she still accept me as family?

And if she discovered that I was the heir of House Lasantia?

She might be gravely disappointed. She might not even want to see me again.

That cursed war had forced her into exile on Padon Island, hiding in the forests. She must have been lonely and miserable.

Even if my savior ended up despising me, it was a burden I had to bear.

Which meant the Grand Duke had to bring Princess Melania before me.

Her existence could never be my weakness.

[You’re saying I should let my sister and my wife meet?]

[That’s right. If you do that, I’ll return the ornaments to you by tomorrow morning.]

[And how will you verify that I’ve done as you asked?]

I leaned back in my chair, looking him straight in the eye.

[You’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you? That anyone who lied to me to borrow money was all arrested by the garrison guard?]

His breathing hitched.

He must have felt a pang of guilt. On his very first visit, he had lied to me—using his guard’s name and calling himself “Danil.”

Of course, I had no intention of reporting him. I only wanted my bluff to work.

[I’m already getting real-time reports on your sister’s whereabouts in Blansk. I’ll confirm it directly. I won’t ask her anything else—just whether she finally knows who she really is.]

“The relentlessness of your intentions is beyond comprehension,” he muttered to himself.

I pretended not to hear and continued my signs calmly.

[I don’t know who your wife is, but I’m someone who hires mercenaries. I rescued your sister from being imprisoned in Padon Castle without trouble. Do you think I’d have difficulty finding out who your wife is?]

I deliberately heightened the sense of danger. If I learned his wife’s identity, then his own would inevitably be revealed as well.

His eyes wavered uncertainly.

He didn’t understand why I was pressing him like this, and it confused him.

[So act—before I do.]

I finished my signing with a polite bow.

Without a word, he turned and left.

I had pushed him to a crossroads. All that was left was to wait.

Knock, knock, knock.

At six in the morning, a knocking on my bedroom door jolted me up from my chair.

Had the bait been taken?

I straightened my hair and clothes before opening the door.

The face I had been waiting for was there.

“…Grand Duchess.”

“Grand Duke? What are you doing here?”

Feigning ignorance, I blinked innocently.

After a brief pause, he finally replied:

“There’s somewhere you need to go with me. Now.”