Chapter 75
Leaving the palace wasn’t difficult. Leaving the capital wasn’t hard either, thanks to the transit permit issued by the royal palace. However, everyone agreed they should move carefully until reaching Woodpecker territory.
Adi fidgeted with the long hair of their wig. It was stifling. But the most uncomfortable part was sharing the Duke’s carriage like this.
“Long hair suits you too.”
Yuls said.
“But your original hair is better.”
Yuls recalled Adi’s natural hair as he spoke. That blonde hair would look good tied up too. It would be pretty loose as well. It would suit them whether short or long. In any style.
To be honest, he wanted to see their original appearance. The blonde hair instead of brown, wearing that dress.
But now he was uneasy. It would take more time to reach safe territory.
“You’ve been through a lot, Adi.”
“…Thank you for your consideration, Your Grace.”
“One way or another, I can take you to Woodpecker now.”
Saying this, Yuls turned his gaze to the window. With Adi in Woodpecker, they might learn more easily about the curse. After all, Woodpecker’s forests and territory overlapped with the witch’s domain.
Through the carriage window, Bert could be seen riding alongside. Yuls opened the window and called, “Bert.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Yuls smirked.
“Niece?”
“…”
“The Din surname suits you well, Adi.”
Nothing else had come to mind at the time. They couldn’t just say anyone, after all. The clothes were too fine to claim they were a maid or lady’s servant, so it seemed most natural to claim they were a relative borrowing influence from someone of status, and that was all he could think of.
“I was wondering what to do when we returned, but how about having a niece? Bert?”
“…I’d have to ask my wife.”
“Wouldn’t she want a daughter? She already has three sons.”
“That’s more likely.”
“What are you both talking about? Even dressed like that, they’re not a woman.”
Roy said. Those who knew the truth fell silent at his words. Whatever happened, Yuls didn’t mind. He had achieved what he wanted.
Adrina Grimaldi would go to Woodpecker.
“The southern forests are quite deep.”
Yuls said to Adi.
“Except for paths just wide enough for one carriage, it’s quite treacherous. Easy to get lost, and monsters tend to appear.”
Monsters. They used to be common everywhere, but nowadays they were rare to see. A forest where such things existed.
“Ten days from here to the oak forest, and to cross the forest… normally four days.”
Did “normally” mean there was another path?
“It will be a long journey, Adi.”
❖ ❖ ❖
Inside the outer wall of Palesa Palace, a person lay collapsed. Guards surrounded the area. Lev Jid looked at the fallen person with a hardened expression. They wore Woodpecker knight’s attire. Judging by height or anything else, it wasn’t Bert Din or Roy Gaillard. Besides, there was only one person with such blonde hair.
Adi Grimaldi.
When Lev turned over the body, the face was crushed. It seemed to have been smashed on an iron railing while climbing the wall. The blood-soaked blonde hair was the same color as hers. The height was similar too.
Lev reached inside the shirt. There was something he hoped wouldn’t be there. A knight’s notebook. Opening it revealed Adrian Grimaldi’s signature. Lev frowned.
At the same time, someone approached with quick steps from afar. The guards could be felt saluting in that direction. Lev stood and saluted the man.
“Lev.”
“Count.”
Spencer Grimaldi’s expression was also rigid. This was an unexpected situation. A guard said, “They seem to have slipped while trying to escape.”
“The face is crushed from hitting the railing. But other characteristics suggest it’s Lord Adrian Grimaldi.”
A familiar blonde. As Count Grimaldi frowned, Lev Jid handed him the notebook. The Count opened it. Adrian Grimaldi’s signature. A signature he knew. The signature that now came naturally after making Adrina practice it countless times was in the notebook.
Some pages were torn out, some remained. The writing on the remaining pages was definitely Adi’s.
“Dead?”
That couldn’t be. There was no need to escape in the first place. They had already prepared a corpse on the Count’s side. They were supposed to offer the traitor’s head to the royal family, and take the real Adrian—Adrina—back to Grimaldi for their final purpose.
But now the real one had vanished, and here was a corpse they hadn’t prepared. Was this really Adrina?
Perhaps having heard about Adi’s discovery, nobles had gathered nearby. Claude Dalkatir was among them.
Claude was one of the people who knew the truth and reality of this incident. He also knew they would offer a substitute corpse of Adrian to the King. So he had thought this was what Grimaldi had prepared.
If only their expressions hadn’t been so rigid.
Something’s wrong. That was his first thought.
Claude approached and asked, “What’s this, what happened?”
“Are they dead?”
The corpse was obviously dead. What Claude asked wasn’t about the ‘substitute’ corpse. Given their expressions, somehow it seemed the real Adrian might be dead.
Spencer Grimaldi looked at Claude. Judging by that face, Claude clearly knew nothing.
“Keep people from seeing.”
Spencer told Lev. Lev asked the guards to set up something like a tent to hide the area. The unexpected request took some time to fulfill.
Once Adrian’s body was hidden from outside view, Spencer dismissed all the guards.
When they protested that this wasn’t proper, Lev took a firm stance. Adrian Grimaldi was already dead and couldn’t escape, and their family needed to verify some things, so please give them even five minutes—finally, the guards withdrew.
“Your Highness, won’t you leave as well?”
“Is it a secret from me too?”
“I would prefer that, but you don’t seem inclined to leave.”
“Right, I’m curious. What can prove this is your son?”
Spencer exhaled deeply while keeping his mouth shut. Then he told Lev,
“Strip the clothes.”
Lev removed the clothing. Cape, shirt, and chemise. Claude frowned at the exposed upper body.
“Is it not Adrian?”
“It seems to be.”
“…”
This is a woman. But you say it’s Adrian?
“Count, I think we need to talk.”
“Later.”
“No, I need to hear this right now. Your son seems to be a woman.”
“You saw correctly. Adrian Grimaldi is a woman.”
Claude frowned. So he had given a knighthood to a woman?
“More precisely,”
The Count continued then.
“It’s Adrina Grimaldi.”
Only then did Claude recall Adrian’s dead twin sister.
“The one Your Highness wanted so much—”
“You raised her as a man because you didn’t want to give her to me?”
“Adrian died, we had no choice.”
So he hadn’t given a knighthood to a woman—rather, the man he’d given it to had died and been replaced by a woman.
“That’s why I tried to keep her from Your Highness. If Adrina went to you, our relationship might be bound by blood.”
“I wouldn’t mind. If my child could be both prince and count.”
Speaking thus, Claude tried to look at Adi’s face but quickly stepped back. Though beautiful when alive, now it was crushed beyond recognition.
“It’s all over now. Your daughter is dead.”
Meanwhile, Claude was curious. The Count had strong attachments to bloodline. Was that why he had placed his daughter in that position and raised her even after his son died?
Usually in such cases, it was common to adopt a nearby relative’s child as heir. Why hadn’t he done that? A Grimaldi who wasn’t a son…
That Grimaldi could bear children.
It wouldn’t matter who the father was. If Adrian’s—no, Adrina’s—blood flowed in them, they would be undeniably Grimaldi.
“…”
That too had been futile. Now that they were dead like this.
But the Count hadn’t given up, examining the ankle under the trousers. Then tilting his head, he asked Lev for his sword. Was he going to desecrate the corpse? As Claude wondered, the Count who had received the sword placed the scabbard over the wound.
The Count narrowed his eyes and smirked.
“I see.”
The wound was much thicker than Lev’s scabbard.
“This might not be my daughter.”
Though time might have reduced the wound, it couldn’t have grown larger. Returning the sword to Lev, the Count lifted the head. Looking closely, the hair length seemed different too.
Claude, now seeing the face directly, frowned.
“But it could be the person who assassinated His Grace Luigi.”
The Count let go. The body dropped with a thud. The Count spoke to Lev.
“Cut off this one’s head and present it to the King.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Lev drew his sword from its scabbard. At the cold sound, Claude’s mouth gaped. Their actions and conversation were horrifying. Though Claude had seen plenty of horrifying and cruel things, what he had experienced seemed only a small part.
They were people accustomed to such things. Not like Claude who finished things with a single order.
“Damn.”
Claude came out of the tent covering his mouth.
“Crazy old man.”
He felt nauseous.
