Lively voices came from behind the door. As Spencer Grimaldi stood in front of the door, a servant knocked. Once it was quiet inside, the servant announced that Count Grimaldi had arrived and opened the door. When the count entered, the door closed quietly behind him.
- Count.
Luigi greeted the Count with a beaming face. The count's gaze turned to the table. The living room was bright and cheerful; Unlike Claude, there were not bottles of alcohol on the table, but tea cups. And before him sat the Marchioness of Conolly.
“Thanks to you, I ended up here.” Konya was good, but my homeland is still nicer.
Having said this, Luigi motioned for him to sit down. The Count positioned himself so that Luigi, who was sitting at the head of the table, was on the left, and he himself sat directly in front of the Marchioness. The servant placed a warm cup in front of the count and poured some tea.
“It seems, as the Count said, Claude is really addicted.”
Luigi laughed cheerfully as he said this.
“If this spreads, the aristocrats who supported Claude will turn on him.”
Many nobles knew about this fact. They did not talk about it only because Claude's current position was not so easily shaken.
— How do you like Thuringia? - asked the count.
- Moderately dry, moderately pleasant. The art there is beautiful, but the people are a little stupid.
Luigi spoke as if lost in memory. Soon, expressing obvious dissatisfaction, he shook his head and even clicked his tongue.
“He demands impossible changes.” And this country won't last long either.
With that, Luigi stood up. His gaze was directed towards the door. Apparently the servant called him from outside; Raising his hand apologetically, he said, “Wait a little,” and, straightening his clothes, left.
As soon as the sound of the door closing was heard, Count Grimaldi put down his cup. It was the Count who spoke first.
“I thought, Marchioness, you were helping Duke Woodpecker.”
The Marchioness of Conolly, without raising her head, just turned her gaze to the Count and said:
- Why on earth would I do this?
- But he is your nephew.
- Why would he be my nephew? He is the Witch's Child.
The Marchioness of Conolly said that her only nephew is Luigi, and she only temporarily cooperates with the Duke due to coincidence of interests. Having sipped her tea, she froze and raised her head.
“Are you, Count, calm about the fact that your son is now with the Duke?” You didn't plan this.
-...Yes, I didn’t plan to. If the Gallardos hadn't joined Woodpecker in the first place, would I have gotten my son involved?
Having said this, the Earl glared at the Marchioness of Conolly.
“Then you should have extirpated them to the last seed, madam.”
“Shouldn’t these words be addressed to your friend, and not to me, Count?”
“My relationship with Sir Kenneth Max has long been damaged.
At these words the Marchioness of Conolly fell silent. The relationship didn’t just deteriorate - it was the Count who abandoned Kenneth Max. He so skillfully presented a fact known to everyone.
Silence reigned again. The Marquise said nothing. The Count was also silent. They just glared at each other, as if testing the waters. After a long silence, the count picked up the teacup, tilted it and immediately put it back in its place.
- However, His Excellency is delayed.
The Count said. Then he called to his guardian knight: “Lef.”
- Yes.
- Go and check if anything has happened to His Excellency.
- Yes, I’m listening.
Having said this, Lef walked away. He grabbed the door, and the moment he turned the handle and pushed it, a scream escaped through the crack of the door. A high, piercing sound made the Marchioness of Conolly flinch. Lef opened the door and rushed to help.
Lef arrived at the place where the marquis lay defeated with a sword sticking out of his heart. Someone shouted: “Your Excellency!” Count Grimaldi and Marchioness Conolly emerged from the room.
Marquise Conolly, seeing Luigi lying on the floor with a sword in his body, screamed piercingly. Noticing the count, Lef rushed in pursuit of the man, who, having hit the marquis, fled, and shouted:
- Adrian!
* * *—So, do you intend to return ahead of schedule?
— Yes, after spring, preparations for summer and autumn will soon begin. It is also necessary to think about collecting taxes; Moreover, this year, besides me, there are other high nobles and members of the royal family present here, therefore I think it would be advisable to leave first.
This was a plausible excuse. In essence, this meant that he wanted to quickly return to his possessions, because there were too many people around whom he did not want to see. The king did not even think of holding Yuls. Although he departed somewhat earlier than expected, Duke Woodpecker had already achieved his goal, and it was even surprising that he did not immediately disappear at all.
- Well, if so...
Just as the king was about to give permission, the door quickly swung open and the Butler burst into the room. Even in the most extreme haste he always maintained decorum, and it was the first time Jules and the king had seen him enter so unceremoniously; both looked at him in amazement.
Running almost to the throne itself, the Butler bowed his head for a moment, then quickly ran up the steps. Looking at Yuls, he put his hand to his mouth and reported to the king in a whisper.
The monarch's expression instantly hardened. Then the king, without taking his eyes off Juls, let out a dry laugh.
— Julius.
- Yes, Your Majesty.
- They say your bodyguard killed Luigi.
- What?
Julius asked again in disbelief. Kill Luigi? There was no one among his bodyguards who was capable of such a thing. Not believing his ears, Julius asked:
- Really Bert?
— Adrian Grimaldi.
-...
Julius was speechless. If this is so, then even more incredible. Did Adi even know what Luigi looked like? The king chuckled, bowed his head, and a strangled chuckle escaped his throat, as if he was having a hard time holding back his laughter.
“Weren’t you planning on leaving today?”
He looked at Julius, his eyes wet with laughter.
— Did you have a presentiment, or what?
His instincts had never failed him before. Maybe this time it was all about the Witch’s Blood? This time it also almost came true, but the Count was faster.
- Let me in.
At the king's word, the butler began to move. He opened the doors of the Audience Hall again. Spencer Grimaldi stood outside. Spencer walked slowly into the center of the Audience Hall and stood behind Jules.
- Your Highness.
The king turned to Spencer with a significant expression on his face.
- Luigi is dead.
- Yes, Your Highness.
The Duke looked at the Count.
“My child did this.”
“Is this really what caused that strange anxiety?”
“I’ll take responsibility and bring him.”
- You will bring it, and then what?
The king asked.
- After all, this will not make dead Luigi come back to life.
“I will present the head of my child to your Majesty.”
The King knows how obsessed Spencer Grimaldi is with his bloodline. And so he declares that he is ready to present this head...
The king chuckled. He knows how Grimaldi works.
- Yes.
After all, he himself had gone through similar things in the past.
- Do as the count wishes.
The graph consistently follows the same method.
“Still, since a member of the royal family was killed, the head should be displayed in the Palace of Palesa.”
Spencer Grimaldi bowed his head.
The king knows. The head he sends does not belong to his son.
The king hasn't seen Adrian Grimaldi's face lately, so he doesn't know what he looks like. Even if the severed head was displayed on the Outer Wall, no one would recognize it.
Who would stare at a corpse so closely? In addition, a rotting head is very different from a living person. The slightest resemblance is enough for everyone to decide that it is him.
“However, the count should not think that this will all end.”
This is all a pre-orchestrated performance.
- I will remember your words.
The script was written by the Count, and everyone is dancing to his tune.
The count left with a smile, but the king remained with a petrified face. And Jules Woodpecker...
- And you go.
His face was pale. The king knew that there was some kind of connection between Juls and Adi Grimaldi, but he did not know exactly what it was. Judging by the expression on his face, she must be quite important to him.
“Shouldn’t you go back to your estate?”
But if the Count acts in this way, then the personality of Adrian Grimaldi will disappear. The king was even curious what this young duke would do.
- Let me take my leave, Your Highness.
Jules said goodbye and went outside. Gavin was waiting for him outside. Juls asked with a stern expression:
— Did Adi return today?
—……I didn’t see him after noon.
— Ivan is still watching Adi?
- No, he stopped watching.
Jules's face contorted in response to Gavin's words.
“If the matter is urgent, it won’t be difficult to find him.”
To Gavin's follow-up words, Youls replied, "Yes."
- We need to find him right now.
* * *When Adi opened her eyes, she was in an unfamiliar place. It was completely dark there. Small space without a single window. Undoubtedly, this was someone's reception room. Feeling the wall and opening the door, she stepped out into a bright gallery.
The layout was familiar, but the marble floors, curtains and decor were different. While Adi, wondering where to go, began to move, someone pushed her and ran past.
Adi took a couple of steps back from the sudden blow and was about to follow the man when she saw Lef Sid nearby. At the same moment, Adi, remembering that it was Lef who hit her in the neck, rushed forward.
- Adrian!
It doesn't matter what it was, but it was definitely a trap. We need to get out of here. This was the only thought running through my head. But am I wrong? The faster Adi ran, the more persistently she was pursued.
At that moment, when it became clear that she would certainly be grabbed, someone grabbed her hand and pulled her along. She was ready to push the stranger away when she saw Ivan’s face. He pressed his index finger to his lips, demanding silence.
Adi fell silent. Ivan acted silently. Silently and carefully, he opened the picture frame, large enough for two to comfortably fit inside, and stepped into the passage behind it. Even the sound of the frame being closed was quiet.
Adi followed Ivan. The path lay into the unknown; she did not understand where or how they were going. From time to time light broke through. Ivan looked through the holes in the wall, checking the situation outside, and they moved on. Soon he opened the massive door and went outside.
It seemed that it was not a door, but a painting.
Coming out after Ivan, Adi saw a long shadow falling in front of her.
- They showed up.
- Your Excellency.
It was Duke Woodpecker. The passage where Ivan led her led directly into the duke’s bedroom.
- What's happening?
— There are problems, Adi.
Yuls said. Adi looked at him in bewilderment.