Chapter 57
A large black carriage, elegantly styled, was surrounded front and back by knights of House Béarn in white robes.
It was a splendid procession, fit for royalty. It finally came to an end late that evening, when the black carriage passed through the gates of House Béarn’s townhouse.
Supported by Eugenie and Eily, who had come with them from the village, Eleonore stepped down from the carriage. Perhaps because of her frail build, she still had trouble moving her legs, despite what the physician had said.
“Brother, I’ll head upstairs first, then.”
At Eleonore’s words, Dmitri nodded.
“Ah, right. Go on, then. Get a good rest tonight, and come talk with your brother tomorrow.”
Then Sophie and the maids came rushing out of the entrance and gathered around Eleonore, who looked utterly exhausted.
Despite her assurances that she was fine, the estate’s maids, led by Manuela, refused to let Eleonore go. Watching the platinum-haired young lady, shining with elegant poise among the women dressed in black as they ushered her inside, Dmitri murmured softly.
“Haa… It’s finally all over.”
He hadn’t shown it until now, but exhaustion had built up quite a bit. Physical fatigue was nothing compared to the Northern winters he endured every year, but he was mentally worn out.
As he ran through the night with Eleonore in his arms, he’d been on edge, afraid something might happen to her.
And after she woke, his heart had been in such turmoil that he couldn’t properly rest.
With a hollow chuckle, Dmitri dismounted and ran his hand over the mane of the black horse, which had suffered nearly as much as he had.
As if responding to its master’s touch, the horse brought its head to Dmitri’s forehead and rubbed against him.
And the horse’s behavior brought back the image of Eleonore rubbing her head against him in his arms last night.
‘Get a grip. If I get any more involved with her, I’ll—’
Just as Dmitri shook his head and repeated the words to himself…
“Your Grace. It’s rather late. Why not spend the night at our estate?”
“Whoa!”
At the soft-spoken man’s interruption, Dmitri let out a strange yelp—something he never did under normal circumstances.
“Ha. Could you make some noise when you walk, man?”
“Heh heh. I see even Your Grace can be startled.”
Albris looked at Dmitri with an easygoing laugh. Yet there wasn’t a trace of emotion in his smiling face.
Dmitri quietly studied his expression. Albris’s dry smile made it hard to believe the man before him was the same one who had gone wild at Dorio’s house earlier.
Unbothered by Dmitri’s gaze, Albris stepped in front of his black horse and stroked its neck.
“Your Grace’s horse looks quite tired as well. Why not stay the night?”
Dmitri considered it for a moment.
As he’d just resolved, he shouldn’t get any more entangled with the young lady. In this state, both he and the young lady ought to be able to put their feelings behind them cleanly.
Yet, without realizing it, Dmitri’s head was nodding up and down.
“Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I’ll accept your hospitality for one night.”
“Your Grace, please don’t say such hurtful things. One night? You saved our precious Eli. House Béarn would welcome you even if you stayed for the rest of your life.”
Well… there was also much to discuss urgently about the magicite mine and the monsters inside it.
As Dmitri looked at Albris’s genial smile, he handed the reins of his horse to the groom who had come over.
#.
Dmitri elegantly swirled the wine in his glass and gazed out the window.
When he’d first arrived at the estate’s entrance, a reddish glow still lingered beyond the darkening sky. Now twilight had settled in completely.
House Béarn’s hospitality left nothing to be desired. No, it was so generous that it almost made him uncomfortable.
As always, the Béarn family’s dining table had been lavishly laid out.
After a meal spent chatting lightly with Albris, Dmitri had been shown to the guest room where he’d be staying for the night. It was an elegant, stately room furnished with dark-toned wood.
The bed and sofas were all soft and comfortable, and not a single piece of furniture had a scratch. The freshly laundered bedding and curtains hanging by the windows gave off a pleasant, soothing scent of soap.
The clothes they’d brought for him to wear during his stay were equally luxurious, from the material to the finish on every detail.
But Dmitri’s heart was anything but comfortable. He felt unsettled, as if he’d set foot somewhere he shouldn’t have gone.
Fortunately, Eleonore, who had gone upstairs before him, had stayed cooped up in her room the whole time.
After all, the young lady was the reason his heart was in such turmoil.
Fizz…
Watching the bubbles rise to the surface of his wine, Dmitri murmured softly to himself.
“There’s no time to waste lingering here.”
There was no autumn in the North. After summer passed, the land that had thawed in the heat began to freeze once more, and monsters and magical beasts crept toward the barrier to escape the approaching cold.
He needed to return to his territory before summer began, at the latest, and prepare to weather the winter. That time was drawing nearer.
Dmitri brought the wineglass in his hand to his lips and downed the rest of the white wine in one gulp. Savoring its distinctive crisp, refreshing taste, he set the glass beside the cheese platter.
“Where is Young Master Albris?”
At Dmitri’s question, the House Béarn servant waiting respectfully behind the sofa answered.
“At this hour, the young master should be in his study. If you wish to speak with him, I can let him know Your Grace is looking for him.”
“No, there’s no need. I’ll go see him myself.”
Dmitri said as he rose from the sofa.
“Then I’ll show you the way.”
“Thank you.”
He’d wanted to walk alone and sort out his thoughts, but even as a grand duke, he was still a guest here. Dmitri followed the servant without complaint.
As if word that he was coming had already reached Albris, refreshments had been laid out on the table in front of the sofa by the time Dmitri entered the study.
“I’ve prepared a few things for you to enjoy.”
In a low voice, Albris ushered Dmitri to the seat of honor. Despite his words, the bottle in his hand was a square whiskey decanter that looked quite potent.
“It’s strong liquor. Will it be all right?”
“Are you asking a Northerner whether he can handle strong liquor?”
“Haha. You’ve had a difficult journey, so I thought I’d better ask.”
With a bright smile, Albris tilted the square whiskey decanter over the clear glass.
“My father and the rest of my family love wine, like most people in the West, but I’ve always been rather fond of this whiskey.”
“At this point, you’re closer to a capital native than a Westerner.”
That was true.
Unlike the blunt, somewhat emotional people of the West, Albris’s temperament suited the capital’s affected air and practiced emotional restraint.
Albris poured whiskey into his own glass with an inscrutable smile, while Dmitri raised his glass to his lips and watched him.
“Still, from what I saw earlier, your hometown’s temperament hasn’t entirely left you.”
Dmitri spoke as he swallowed the bitter whiskey.
“With Eleonore involved, it’s hard for me to keep my emotions in check.”
“I hold my younger sister dear as well, so I think I can understand a little.”
Of course, not as much as you. Dmitri kept the thought to himself and, watching Albris’s awkward smile, finally got to the point.
“You’ve already heard what’s inside the mine your family plans to hand over, haven’t you?”
Albris set his glass down on the table and replied.
“You needn’t worry.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whatever is inside it, we’ll keep our promise. Even if the mine were filled with gold.”
Dmitri looked rather surprised. No matter how wealthy the West was, a magicite mine would surely be tempting enough to covet.
As he met Dmitri’s gaze, Albris’s blue eyes grew even darker.
“Your Grace. Did you really think I didn’t know that what was in there was magicite?”
“You knew?”
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but for our family, it’s poison. As it is, the way people in the capital look at us is already troubling.”
At Albris’s words, Dmitri gave a slight nod.
The West supplied more than half the Empire’s food. Whenever people struggled to make ends meet, the West was naturally the first to be blamed.
The snake-like politicians, hardened by the capital’s murky political labyrinth, would never let that fact pass unnoticed. And despite the Empire’s progress in many areas, there was no sign that life for the lower classes was improving.
“What truly surprised me today wasn’t the magicite.”
“The Shilob…”
Dmitri murmured the monster’s name.
“Before we left the village earlier, I sent a few knights to the mine. They just returned, and they said it was completely empty inside. There was nothing but the smell of burning.”
“Someone’s already dealt with it?”
Albris nodded quietly.
“I’m planning to send Eli away from the capital for a while.”
“Do you think someone is targeting the young lady?”
“Not necessarily. But the poison would most likely be used in the struggle over the succession, and our family would be the most conspicuous in that conflict.”
A viscous scarlet liquid trickled into the empty glass once more.
“But why are you telling me this?”
At Dmitri’s question, Albris gave an ambiguous smile.
“Who knows? Perhaps it’s my sense of responsibility as her older brother.”
Albris brought the glass in his hand to his lips, then downed the whiskey that filled it halfway in one go.
“Dmitri Verbritz. I acknowledge you as a man—and as Eleonore’s older brother.”