Chapter 86

Iris occasionally talked about it. About how, when she was a commoner in the East, she sometimes dreamed of having tea time outside where the scenery was beautiful. However, contrary to what she dreamed of, tea time always took place indoors. Having tea time outdoors with the moonlight as illumination was impossible in the cold North.

‘Even if it were possible, we couldn’t have done it.’

It was about time for the Count Laurel to have caught on to the fact that Iris was alive. For safety, it was best for Iris to show herself in the castle as little as possible. The servants in the castle only knew her as the Duke’s guest, not as a member of the Laurel Count family. Because the more people knew, the more likely the secret was to leak out.

When I entered the drawing room, Iris was already there, waiting. With a smile spread across her face, as if she were incredibly happy, she immediately jumped up from her seat. I expected her to rush over as usual, as if happy to see me, but surprisingly, Iris cleared her throat and greeted me like this:

“I greet the mistress of the North, the Duchess.”

“…”

Although it was a short time, she carried herself quite well.

‘As expected of the heroine.’

She looked at me subtly, her eyes sparkling like Adel seeking praise for a job well done. I had consistently maintained a business-like attitude toward her, so I didn’t quite understand why she held such high regard for me.

As the silence lengthened, Iris, who seemed to think something was wrong, became timid and looked at me cautiously.

“Ah… you’ve improved a lot, Lady Laurel. The etiquette lessons will be over quickly.”

I belatedly offered praise, regretting my slow response, and her crestfallen expression immediately brightened again.

Sitting down, I dismissed all the servants who were serving tea. This was because Iris was still insufficiently cautious and occasionally brought up the Laurel Count family’s story in front of the servants.

In the drawing room, with just the two of us, I couldn’t stop worrying about what she might bring up. However, Iris took a sip of the warm tea and said,

“The tea is truly fragrant.”

A sufficient amount of time passed, but Iris only talked about trivial things and didn’t bring up anything important. Although I was puzzled, I decided not to point it out and move on. After all, my expectation that she would say something important or serious was just my prediction. Iris might genuinely have wanted to have a tea time with idle chat, just like other noble young ladies.

“It’s camellia tea. Does it suit your taste?”

“Yes!”

When I responded appropriately with a faint smile to Iris’s words, she answered brightly and then abruptly let out a sigh that sounded like an expression of admiration.

“Haa, you are truly so cool.”

Although it was a small voice, I heard it clearly, so I tilted my head, wondering what she was talking about. Iris blinked her eyes, looking at me, and then her face turned bright red. Covering her face with both hands, she let out a shriek.

“Aah! Did I just say that out loud?”

“Yes. Who do you think is cool?”

I thought for a moment, but there were so many cool people in this castle that I genuinely couldn’t guess. So, when I asked directly, Iris tapped her two index fingers together and looked at me cautiously.

‘Could it be?’

I subtly looked at the window side. It was possible that Nine might be visible outside the window. However, the dark window outside, with the sun having set, had no light, so nothing was clearly visible.

As I was looking around, Iris finally covered her face again and spoke in a small, hushed voice.

“The, the Duchess is cool…”

“Excuse me?”

At the unexpected answer, I genuinely couldn’t control my expression and looked at her with a surprised face. Then, perhaps because she was already embarrassed and had nothing to lose, Iris slowly began to tell her story.

“Sometimes, when the dressmaker brought work to be done, there were expensive noble dresses. I used to look at those dresses and dream. Of meeting a prince from a fairy tale, falling in love, and wearing beautiful dresses to live happily ever after… those sort of unrealistic dreams.”

In her childhood, Iris lived in a small village in the East, doing needlework for pay. Although Iris hadn’t mentioned it, it was a fact I knew from reading the original novel. Iris smiled wistfully, unlike her usual self, but soon her eyes sparkled as she continued.

“Then one day, a noble young lady who had come from far away liked my embroidery, called me directly to praise me, and gave me extra money.”

I wondered why she was suddenly talking about her childhood, but I listened to her quietly.

“Seeing her, I came to admire the life of a noble. I used to imagine the lives of the noble ladies whenever my life was dull.”

“…”

“And the image I dreamed of in my imagination resembles the Duchess…”

Iris stammered out her words, then buried her red face in her hands again in embarrassment.

“The Duchess is the ideal person I wish to become.”

I was so flustered by the unexpected words that I couldn’t find anything to say and just stared at her.

‘She really meant that I was cool?’

Iris lifted her head and said shyly, “So… I wanted to become close to the Duchess. Thank you for accepting my sudden invitation for tea time.”

Her face was so transparent that I could immediately tell there was no falsehood mixed in. She was truly a person who admired me and had gathered her courage despite her shyness. I was surprised that Iris thought of me that way, and at the same time, I felt relieved.

‘I thought she might have fallen in love with Nine.’

I thought I would hear from her that things were progressing according to the original story. But it seemed that the one she looked at with such eyes was me.

My tension instantly eased. I took a sip of tea, composing myself so as not to let my feelings show, and replied to her.

“I see. Thank you for seeing me in a good light.”

Iris, who had been constantly watching me, smiled brightly even at my light response.

Just as the atmosphere became harmonious,

“Ugh.”

A suppressed groan was faintly heard.

“Whew, I was worried that you might find it unpleasant…”

“Wait a moment.”

I immediately raised my hand to stop Iris’s words. She looked at me with a puzzled face but obediently closed her mouth.

‘Did I mishear?’

It was a very faint sound, so I could have ignored it. But my intuition screamed at me not to disregard it. However, when I looked around, the outside of the window was still dark, and nothing particularly unusual was visible.

‘Wait. Is it too dark?’

I looked out the window again, but there was nothing but darkness. I had looked out the window just a moment ago to see if Nine was visible. 

‘I didn’t notice anything strange then.’

However, this level of darkness was definitely unusual. Illumination magical tools were installed at regular intervals in the garden surrounding the main Eclipse estate. Those lights turned on around sunset and were turned off around nine in the evening.

I had started tea time with Iris around seven o’clock. Not even thirty minutes had passed yet.

‘Besides, it’s too quiet.’

Although I had dismissed all the servants, Annie, a few other servants, and at least one guard knight should have been outside the door. But when Iris and I stopped talking, it was too silent. So much so that I couldn’t even sense a human presence.

Soon after I realized that, a red liquid flowed in through the gap under the door. Probably blood.

Only then did Iris also seem to grasp the situation; she covered her mouth with her hand and looked back at me with fear in her eyes. I motioned for her to stay still and stood up.

Various devices installed in the main Eclipse Duchy estate, which I knew about as the Duchess, flashed through my mind. I quickly removed the mounted animal head over the fireplace in the drawing room. Behind it, a longsword and a dagger were revealed. I took the longsword, having learned swordsmanship, and gave the dagger to Iris so she could defend herself in case of an emergency.

Despite being afraid, she quickly hid her fear and had a cold, sharp look in her eyes, showing that her resolve for revenge was not a lie. Since it would be difficult to enter the drawing room through the windows, I focused my guard on the door.

“…”

“…”

Perhaps they were wondering why we were so quiet.

Someone opened the drawing room door.

Squeaaak.

The sound of the door opening echoed eerily.