Ch.41True Colors (1)

“You’re a bit late…”

It’s been three hours since my husband went to see the craftsmen. Even if he’s seeking advice because the blueprints are still lacking, it’s far too late.

There are no more traces of my husband to collect in the office, so I wish he would return quickly…

Knock knockㅡ

“…Come in.”

Just then, there’s a knock on the door in Lorel’s distinctive style.

Instinctively sensing that the servant will explain why Claude hasn’t returned, Ines feels slightly tense as she grants permission to enter to the servant waiting outside.

“Excuse me, Lady Ines.”

“What is it?”

“Lord Claude and Lady Chloe went into the garden together, and they haven’t come out for two hours now.”

…What?

I’m certain I ordered them to report immediately if Chloe did anything strange to my husband… Why are they only reporting such important information now?

The atmosphere in the office instantly turns cold.

Dark shadows fall across Ines’s face, and the servant, not knowing what to do, hurriedly offers an excuse.

“W-well, the terrain made it difficult to maintain surveillance, and since the garden is a restricted area, it took time to locate them…”

“That’s enough, you don’t need to say more.”

Indeed, there aren’t many places to hide on the way to the craftsmen’s quarters, and if they went into the garden, it would have been difficult to follow them.

It seems they tried to track my husband’s party by circling around the garden, lost them, and finally managed to gather information while wandering around, barely discovering the clue that they were still in the garden.

Having reached her own understanding, Ines curtly tells the servant that no further explanation is needed, but hearing this, the servant’s face grows even paler.

“Umm…”

The servant wants to continue apologizing, but cannot do so because Ines has ordered them not to speak.

The servants who attend to Ines know her frightening side very well.

In front of others, Ines acts like an innocent young lady to gain favor, but she doesn’t maintain this facade with those she clearly considers beneath her. She shows her true colors to them.

‘Please… please…’

The servant continues to pray inwardly.

Recently, a fellow servant who had been monitoring Lady Chloe disappeared, yet Lady Ines reacted as if she had merely lost a pencil she had been using.

If Lady Ines sees me as just another tool… I could be disposed of at any time for not working properly. I might be sent to that terrible roomㅡ

“Hmm… I should go to the garden.”

However, Ines pays no attention to the servant’s condition.

Anyone would notice that something was wrong, given the servant’s pale face, trembling eyes, and quivering lips.

“Guide me.”

Ines gives her orders to the servant as usual.

Of course she would. Just as there’s no reason not to use a pencil that’s broken in half if it can still write, there’s no reason not to use a servant who can still function.

“Y-yes…!”

Regardless of what Ines might be thinking, the servant feels immense relief inside.

The fact that she’s giving orders means I still have value to her. It doesn’t mean I’m useless.

Relieved to have survived, the servant hurriedly prepares to guide Ines.

……….

“How many times must I say it? The garden is normally off-limits to anyone except the gardener and the ducal family…wait?”

“Heehee, hello.”

Upon seeing Lorel’s servant, the attendant sighs deeply and is about to repeat the same words as before, but immediately swallows his breath when he notices Ines coming behind.

“Lady Ines, welcome!”

“May I enter?”

“You don’t need my permission!”

Ines is Claude’s wife, the Duchess.

The attendant has neither grounds nor reason to stop her.

The irritation that was evident just moments ago vanishes completely as the frightened attendant bows deeply to Ines.

If Ines were to take issue with his behavior, he would immediately lose his job.

“Heehee, keep up the good work.”

“Thank you!”

However, Ines smiles at him, making his worries seem unfounded, and enters the garden.

The attendant, who had been extremely anxious after making a verbal slip by not immediately recognizing Ines, feels relieved by her smile.

‘Of course, someone as kind-hearted as Lady Ines wouldn’t get angry over something like this.’

They say marriage in the noble world is a complete gamble since you can’t know your spouse’s personality and appearance beforehand… The Duke is truly blessed to have married someone like her.

Hmm… I could never say this out loud, but the Duke is certainly a fortunate man.

Rising to the position of Duke as an illegitimate child could only be described as heaven-sent luck.

‘Falling to death… fairy disease… an accident that wiped out the entire family except for the Duke himself…’

…It must be coincidence.

Even if it wasn’t coincidence, lowly servants like me have the same duties regardless. I should stop thinking about this matter.

The attendant monologues to himself as he watches Ines’s back as she enters the garden.

……….

“Where could my husband be…”

My husband and I first met in this garden. Back then, I never imagined we would become like this… It’s touching.

As Ines searches the garden for Claude, she simultaneously gets lost in memories.

“I remember there should be a main path if I go this way… Ah, here it is.”

Ines finds her way by tracing her memories.

Nothing has changed from when she saw it at banquets in her childhood—from the lush shrubbery to the structure of the paths.

“Heehee… Sometimes I should take a stroll in the garden with my husband to reminisce about those times…wait…”

Ines, who was smiling while making plans for the future, doesn’t finish her sentence.

That’s because she catches sight of Chloe and Claude on a bench at the edge of her vision, and in a most unexpected position.

“Who… Lady Ines?”

“…Miss Chloe, what is this?”

Seeing Claude sleeping on the bench using Chloe’s thigh as a pillow, Ines demands an explanation from Chloe.

“The master has been very tired from working too much recently, and when he tried to rest briefly in the garden, he suddenly fell asleep.”

“…Is that so?”

The explanation makes sense. She knows very well that her husband has been working a lot, having witnessed it herself.

And Chloe couldn’t have left the suddenly sleeping Claude alone.

“I was planning to just wait until the master wakes up. It’s warm, and it’s still daytime.”

“…Thank you for your effort.”

“Hehe, it’s just what I should do.”

On the surface, it’s a perfectly normal conversation, but beneath that, it’s anything but.

Chloe’s words carry the meaning, [The master might wake up, so stop making noise and get lost], and Ines, daughter of the Lorel ducal family, immediately understands this.

Ines feels both jealousy and hatred toward Chloe, who has Claude all to herself, while Chloe looks at Ines with a superior and mocking gaze. It’s the look of a victor looking down on the defeated.

“…As you said, I suppose we have no choice but to wait until my husband wakes up…huh?”

Regardless of how Ines feels about Chloe, she agrees with her about not disturbing Claude’s sleep, but then tilts her head in confusion.

‘…What’s this?’

The bushes behind the bench are unnaturally flattened, as if someone had fallen on them.

That’s not all.

Though faint, there’s a familiar scent coming from those bushes—a scent she’s often smelled in the bedroom.

The servants behind me don’t seem to have noticed the smell.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Despite clearly finding suspicious traces, Ines quickly changes the subject.

She instinctively realizes that now is not the time. She doesn’t think it’s likely, but she needs to prepare for any possibility.

“You may all return now.”

“Lady Ines… but to wander outside without attendants would be improper…”

“I have Miss Chloe here as an attendant, don’t I? I’ll wait here until Claude wakes up.”

“…Yes, understood.”

Ines speaks firmly, making it clear she won’t accept any objections. Though her voice is extremely quiet so as not to disturb Claude’s sleep, the will behind it is very strong.

Lorel’s servants realize that further argument is pointless and immediately bow their heads before backing away.

“Excuse me.”

“…Yes.”

Because the justification is so perfect, Chloe cannot prevent Ines from sitting on the bench.

Ines creates a place to sit by placing Claude’s legs on her thigh, and simultaneously quickly examines Claude’s clothes.

His clothes are slightly soiled with dirt and grass, and quite wrinkled.

“…My husband’s clothes are quite dirty, aren’t they?”

“Pardon?”

“…”

Seeing Chloe tilt her head with an expression of complete ignorance, Ines feels something stirring inside her.

“Why are you actingㅡ”

“And there’s definitely the same smell coming from the bushes behind…”

“…”

Chloe’s eyes, which had been smiling until just now, instantly turn cold as she stares directly into Ines’s eyes.

Seeing this, Ines becomes even more certain.

“…You, what did you do?”

“Heh, as if you don’t know.”

Until now, the two had maintained at least a minimum level of courtesy despite their dislike for each other, but not anymore.

With Claude between them, Chloe and Ines reveal their true colors.

Ines stares at Chloe with pupils contracted to their limit and speaks in a strained voice, while Chloe looks back at her with cold eyes and responds in a mocking tone with a sinister smile.