‘In any case, if I can bring the Celestine Marquis family into the fold, it wouldn’t be a bad deal, even if I have to hand that woman over to the marquisate later.’
To do that, he needed to find out how deep the bond between the two women really went.
Laslo ordered a servant to call Edele to the first-floor drawing room. Rather than his office, a drawing room—while not accessible to everyone—felt like a more appropriate, semi-open space.
* * *
“Pardon? The Count has called for me? Where to?”
“The first-floor drawing room. You must follow me right now.”
“O-oh, I understand.”
Edele was startled by the sudden summons from Laslo, but she felt relieved upon hearing it was in the drawing room.
‘Since there will be others around, nothing untoward should happen. But why would he be looking for me?’
Edele asked Salia for permission, wiped the water from her hands onto her apron, and followed the servant.
Laslo was already sitting in the drawing room, waiting.
‘That man—I feel overwhelmed every time I see him.’
Even as a count’s daughter and a duchess, Edele had seen many knights, but there was an unrefined energy in Laslo that she had never felt from the others.
It was savage and dangerous, yet it possessed a charisma that was nothing short of admirable.
That was what made him special.
“It is Edele. I was told you called for me.”
“Come, sit.”
Laslo pointed his chin toward the sofa opposite him, looking nonchalant as he stared down at a letter.
However, he remained silent for a long time, even after Edele sat down and untied the towel from her head, resting it beneath her neatly folded hands.
Only when he heard her swallow dryly did he open his mouth.
“By any chance…”
Edele tensed up at the abrupt opening.
“Do you know the Dowager Marchioness Barbara Celestine?”
“Pardon? Barba—no, the Dowager Marchioness Celestine?”
“Why? Are you strangers?”
At the sight of Edele almost letting the name ‘Barbara’ slip from her lips, Laslo realized instantly that she and Barbara were quite close.
But Edele, having no idea why she had been summoned, felt her lips go dry. Thinking that Barbara might get into trouble depending on her answer, she couldn’t easily speak.
‘The fact that I’m close to her won’t be good for Barbara. It can’t hurt to be cautious.’
Edele replied with an awkward smile.
“Ah, we are acquainted, but… just to the extent of having tea together a few times while passing through…”
“The tea you had back then must have been extraordinary. Extraordinary enough that you still haven’t forgotten it.”
Edele’s heart plummeted once again.
‘That man knows everything.’
She barely stopped herself from squeezing her eyes shut.
Edele, who had been gnawing on her lip with her front teeth without realizing it, decided to brazen it out. After all, neither she nor Barbara had done anything wrong.
“Well. I would be grateful if she remembered me, but I don’t quite understand the point of the Count’s question.”
It was a polite and vague response.
Laslo stared at Edele for a long while with a gaze that gave away none of his thoughts, then handed her the letter he had been holding.
“To think this fussy woman would write such a desperate plea to a lowly mercenary… I think I’m well within my rights to be curious about your relationship.”
“This is… a letter from the Dowager Marchioness Celestine?”
Edele took the letter with trembling hands and began to read the lines.
The period of her association with Barbara was only about seven years, but their friendship was much deeper than that of people who had known each other for decades.
It was a friendship that began with Edele’s minor assistance to Barbara—yet it was never a minor friendship.
And Barbara, a mentor and dear friend whom she had always respected, had moved Edele’s heart once again.
“Ah…!”
At the part that read, *“Please do not push her into even greater despair. I implore you,”* Edele squeezed her eyes shut.
She had tried to appear as composed as possible in front of Laslo, but upon learning of her dear friend’s heart-wrenching worry and concern, she couldn’t even breathe properly due to the surging emotions.
‘I thought everyone had abandoned me…’
When she existed as the daughter of Count Canyon and later as the Duchess of Lancaster, countless people approached her calling themselves her friends.
But the moment the Lancaster duchy collapsed, Edele easily anticipated that her past friends would turn their backs on her.
Was it not to be expected? It was, after all, treason.
Even her own parents and siblings had turned away, as their family name could be shaken if they were even remotely involved. Thus, she did not harbor resentment toward the old friends who pretended not to know her.
But with Barbara’s letter, Edele realized her own true feelings.
‘I was longing for this one sincere heart all along. I wanted to be comforted this much.’
Everything—from her status changing to a commoner and a sinner, to being gifted as a war trophy to a man she had never even spoken to, to being reduced to a hard-working laundry maid—felt manageable because of this one letter.
At least one person believed in her innocence and had even gone so far as to ask for her to be treated well.
‘But what does Count Krissus think? Could he be misunderstanding and thinking that Barbara was part of the Lancaster faction?’
Once the tidal wave of intense emotion receded, she suddenly grew fearful.
Edele struggled to find the right words, her lips parting several times, until she finally managed to speak.
“The Dowager Marchioness Celestine is a very compassionate person. Like the Celestine Marquis family, she has no connection to the Lancaster duchy, and our friendship is purely personal. I hope you do not misunderstand this letter as having any other meaning.”
Laslo’s brow furrowed slightly at her plea.
“Do you think I’d torment an old woman over something like this? Everyone seems to think I’m such a ruthless monster.”
“N-no! That is absolutely not the case! If I have said something to offend you, I apologize.”
“Look at you. You’re trembling as if I’m about to cut someone’s head off right now.”
Then, he paused.
“……That wasn’t something I should have said in front of you.”
He averted his gaze from Edele, looking like someone who didn’t know what kind of expression to wear. It was a look she had never seen before on a man who always seemed so sharp and guarded.
She had wondered why he acted that way, but then she remembered—it was Laslo who had cut off the heads of the people of Lancaster.
‘Is he actually feeling sorry for me? How unexpected.’
But for Edele, it was not something he needed to apologize for at all.
“The Count only faithfully followed the Emperor’s orders and achieved victory. It is a wonder that I am still alive, so this is not something the Count needs to feel uncomfortable about.”
Laslo’s expression turned strange again at her words.
‘Was that reply too heartless…?’
Edele felt a sting of conscience; she hadn’t felt a shred of affection for the people of the Lancaster house. Besides, it wouldn’t look good to seem pleased by their deaths.
However, after thinking for a moment, Laslo nodded slightly and reacted as if nothing had happened.
“That is true. Anyway, I would like you to write a reply to the Dowager Marchioness Celestine yourself. She wouldn’t believe my self-defense, after all.”
“Pardon? Me?”
Edele was surprised, but at the same time, her heart pounded. She could write to Barbara!
“What… should I write?”
“Whatever you wish.”
Then, as if he had just remembered, Laslo added:
“For your reference, I want you to be certain that I have no intention of treating you according to ‘public expectation’.”
At that moment, Edele couldn’t help but feel immensely relieved. She realized her slip and tried to adjust her expression belatedly, but Laslo seemed to have already noticed.
Edele, flustered, changed the subject as awkwardly as it was obvious.
“I apologize, but I do not have any stationery or a pen. Might you be able to lend me some?”
“Don’t worry about such things.”
“Thank you. By when should I have the reply ready?”
“That, too, is up to your convenience.”
Laslo’s tone was closer to being bothered, but he didn’t seem angry.
Edele, fiddling with Barbara’s letter, shyly expressed her gratitude.
“Truly… thank you.”
She was sincerely grateful to Laslo. For not misinterpreting Barbara’s letter, for showing it to her, and for allowing her to write back to Barbara. Thanks to this, Edele felt a little more will to live today.
* * *
‘For some reason, I feel drained.’
Returning to his room, Laslo took off the jacket he was wearing, tossed it aside, and sat in his chair.
The reason he had called for Edele today was to see her reaction to Barbara’s letter. He had needed to determine whether the Dowager Marchioness Celestine was part of the anti-imperial faction.
However, Edele hadn’t shown even the slightest sign of hiding anything; she had merely been surprised, touched, and struggling to hold back her sorrow.
‘She’s like a wounded bird.’
That was exactly how she looked, trembling her reddened lips while trying so hard to hold back her tears.
A small bird with wings broken so badly it couldn’t even flutter, simply enduring the pain.
And Laslo was not such a cold-blooded man that he would go out of his way to torment a dying bird.