The Abandoned Princess, Yet She Is Loved - Chapter 97

“Are you the new girl?”

 

The next morning, a stranger approached Grace as she stepped out of her assigned dormitory. The woman had brown hair tied tightly back and wore an apron, clearly a maid working at the duke’s estate.

 

“Yes, I arrived yesterday.”

 

“You look quite young. How old are you?”

 

“I’m twenty-one.”

 

Grace answered her curious questions politely. The woman looked to be in her mid to late twenties.

 

“I heard you’re in charge of managing the library?”

 

“Yes. I also clean the other rooms on that floor, but my main duty is managing the library.”

 

“Ah, I see. How is it? Think you’ll manage?”

 

“It wasn’t too dirty or anything, so it was fine.”

 

“This estate is relatively well-kept, after all.”

 

The woman gave a broad smile. Grace returned a small one in response. It felt a little awkward that a complete stranger was speaking so casually to her, but the woman didn’t seem like a bad person. As they walked down the hallway, they chatted casually. Other staff members moved about in the corridor.

 

“But you really stand out with that appearance.”

 

“…Me?”
“Yeah. Black hair and red eyes? I’ve never seen that combination before.”

 

“Ah… I see. My whole family looks like this, so I guess I’m used to it.”

 

Grace gave an awkward chuckle. She had dyed her hair to conceal the crimson red that symbolized the House of Reinheim. The dye would last about four days, so she just needed to leave the estate before it wore off.

 

“Have you worked here long?”

 

The woman’s name was Petty. Thinking she might know something useful, Grace decided to move past just answering questions and initiate a topic herself.

 

“I’ve worked here for over ten years.”

 

“Then you must know everything about this place.”

 

“There may be a few things I don’t, but I know most of it.”

 

Most of it, she said. Grace nodded slowly.

 

“Is His Grace the Duke not currently in residence?”

 

“He lives in the capital, so he only drops by here occasionally. Maybe once or twice a year, if that. Lately, though, he’s been coming more often.”

 

“Since recently?”

 

“Yeah, ever since the soldiers started showing up.”

 

She was talking about the foreign soldiers roaming around the estate.

 

“When did the soldiers first appear?”

 

“It hasn’t been that long. They started increasing in number about two months ago, I think.”

 

“Are they difficult to deal with?”

 

“Oh, don’t get me started. The staff here are having such a hard time. They complain that the food doesn’t suit them, that the beds are uncomfortable… You’re lucky you weren’t assigned to the quarters where they’re staying.”

 

Grace listened carefully to every word Petty said.

 

“And the number of soldiers keeps growing. It’s like every week or two, more show up.”

 

“Where are they coming from?”

 

“I think they’re from the Bahorne Empire.”

 

Bahorne Empire. Just as I thought…

 

Sally, who had been secretly reporting on her, was also from Bahorne.

 

“Because of the soldiers, things have been a bit tense around here. A prince even visited once…”

 

“A prince?”

 

“Yeah. His aura was intense. You could just tell he was someone important.”

 

Petty let out a sigh. She seemed like a naturally chatty person, freely sharing things even when not asked. For Grace, this was a rare and valuable source of information.

 

Prince Vladimir is secretly stationing Bahorne Empire soldiers here. And people from Bahorne are talking about transferring the power of Armento through blood.

 

There was definitely some kind of deal between Vladimir and the Bahorne Empire. Vladimir brought in Bahorne’s military force. In exchange, he must have offered them something they wanted.

 

Bahorne wants Armento’s blood. They want to gather quantum energy and obtain the power of the divine beasts.

 

Ah… So that’s why…

 

A scene flashed through Grace’s mind—when she saw Mina’s corpse in the palace, completely drained of blood.

 

That was Vladimir’s doing.

 

If he offered Armento’s blood in exchange for Bahorne’s military power, it would make sense. But after that, there hadn’t been similar incidents.

 

If people were being killed and drained of blood, it would surely be noticeable. And yet, there hadn’t been any major disappearances or murders involving large numbers of Armento people in the capital. There was no clear way to guess how they had obtained more blood.

 

“I think I should go now. The library is this way.”

 

At the end of the hallway, Grace said her goodbyes to Petty.

 

“Oh, go ahead. Let’s chat again sometime.”

 

“Yes. I hope your work isn’t too tiring today.”

 

“Since we’re working in the same estate now, let’s talk whenever we bump into each other.”

 

“Of course.”

 

Grace smiled and walked off toward the library she was in charge of.

 

Inside the library, she carefully closed the door behind her to make sure no one passing by could see.

 

Becky had said she would inspect the condition of the library and rooms around three o’clock tomorrow afternoon. That meant no one would come today to check on or manage the place.

 

Grace immediately went to the bookshelf and pulled out the file containing the letters. She quickly began transcribing them.

 

She wanted to copy the next letter that arrived too, if possible—but she didn’t know if she’d have the time.

 

Where could the key be?

 

Four hours later, after sending the transcribed letter out with the wind, Grace sat in thought.

 

Yesterday, after coming up from the basement, she had searched the library for the key but failed. She had checked the desk, shelves, and all the drawers—nothing even close to a key.

 

Could it not be here? Maybe it’s in the Reinheim residence in the capital…

 

Was it in the duke’s possession? But if that were the case, they wouldn’t be able to access the basement here when needed.

 

The key must be somewhere in this estate. Perhaps it’s been hidden in a way that prevents just anyone from accessing it…

 

No matter how many times she thought it through, the conclusion remained the same. Grace finally decided to carefully search the estate. She began with the floor she was assigned to, inspecting every place that could hide a key.

 

Nothing here.

 

She moved to another floor, starting with the one directly below the library.

 

Petty had mentioned that the duke’s office was there. No one was around. Grace entered the rooms, starting from the farthest one.

 

Nothing…

 

She searched thoroughly but found nothing in the first five rooms. As she was about to enter the last one, Becky appeared between the hallway walls. Their eyes met immediately.

 

“Oh, hello!”

 

Grace greeted her stiffly. Becky looked at her with a puzzled expression.

 

“Niki, was it? Why are you on this floor? It’s not your assignment.”

 

“Oh, I got the floors mixed up. I’m sorry.”

 

“You must still be getting used to the place. That happens.”

 

Becky lightly patted Grace’s shoulder and disappeared. Grace waited until Becky was completely out of sight before entering the room.

 

Inside was a large desk and several bookshelves. It was clearly an office prepared for the duke’s work.

 

She walked over to the desk and started looking for places a key might be hidden.

 

There was a three-drawer cabinet underneath the desk.

 

The top two drawers were empty. The bottom drawer, however, was secured with a padlock.

 

It’s locked too.

 

Seeing the lock made her feel hopeless. How was she supposed to open this? Grace slumped forward in despair, gripping the lock tightly. Her nails dug into her palm.

 

“…Ah.”

 

She winced and looked down at her hand. She’d gripped too hard. Her palm was slightly torn in the center, a bead of blood forming.

 

That’s when something strange happened.

 

The shackle of the padlock slowly slipped open, releasing the lock.

 

Grace removed it and opened the drawer.

 

Inside, lying alone in the center of the otherwise empty drawer, was a single key.

 

This is it.

 

Her heart began to pound like a drum. She grabbed the key and headed back toward the library.