It was not difficult to leave the palace. Thanks to the pass issued by the palace, getting out of the capital was also not difficult. However, everyone agreed that it was best to proceed as cautiously as possible before entering Woodpecker territory.
Adi was fiddling with the long strands of her wig. It was stuffy. But the most painful thing was to travel like this with the Duke in his carriage.
“Long hair is beautiful too,”
Jules said.
“But your real hair is better.”
Juls said this, remembering Adi's real hair. He thought that golden hair would have looked great even if she had grown it out and tied it up. They would also be beautiful unraveled. Whether they are short or long does not matter. In any form.
Honestly, he wanted to see her true form. Not this brown hair, but her natural golden color and the way she looks in this dress.
However, now he felt anxious. It still takes time to get to safe lands.
- You worked hard, Adi.
“...Thank you for your concern, Your Grace.”
“Be that as it may, I can still take you to Woodpecker.”
With these words, Yuls turned his gaze to the window. If Adi is in Woodpecker, it will be much easier to find out about the curse. After all, the forests and lands of Woodpecker intersect with the domains of witches.
In the window of the carriage Bert could be seen galloping along on horseback. Jules opened the window and called, “Bert.”
- Yes, Your Grace.
Jules chuckled.
- Niece?
—…….
- The last name Dean suits you, Adi.
At that moment nothing else came to mind. It was impossible to imagine her as anyone. For a maid or servant, her clothes were too good, so the most reasonable thing was to say that she was a relative of someone influential, who had arrived under the patronage - and that was the only thing that came to mind.
“I was just wondering what to do when we get back.” How about you get a niece, Bert?
“……I need to ask my wife.”
“Wouldn’t your wife like a daughter?” You have three sons.
- This is more than likely.
-What are you both talking about? Even if he was dressed like that, he is not a woman.
Roy said this. Those who knew the truth remained silent at these words. Whatever it was, Jules didn't care. After all, he achieved what he wanted.
Adrina Grimaldi will be heading to Woodpecker.
— The southern forests are quite deep.
Juls said this, addressing Adi.
“With the exception of a tiny road where only one carriage can travel, they are full of meaning.” It's easy to get lost there, and there are monsters.
Monsters. She heard that there used to be a lot of them everywhere, but these days it's rare to see them. A forest where such creatures exist.
“From here to the Red Oak Grove is ten days, and to cross the forest itself... if as usual, then four days.”
Did “business as usual” mean there was another way?
- It will be a long journey, Adi.
* * *In the Outer Palace of Palesa, on the inner side of the wall, a man was lying. Guards surrounded him. Lef Zid looked at the fallen man with a stony face. He was wearing the knight's uniform of House Woodpecker. Judging by the height and so on, it was not Bert Dean or Roy Gallardo. Besides, only one person had such blonde hair.
Adi Grimaldi.
When Lef turned the corpse over, it turned out that the face was disfigured. It looks like the man fell while climbing the wall and hit the iron railing - a deep dent was left on his face. The blood-soaked blond hair was the same shade as hers. The growth was also the same.
Lef put his hand in his bosom. There he found what he most did not want to find. Knight's notebook. He opened it and inside was the signature of Adrian Grimaldi. Lef frowned.
At the same second, quick steps were heard from afar. The guardsmen could be heard saluting the approaching man. Lef stood up and greeted the man.
- Lef.
- Your Mightiness.
Spencer Grimaldi's face was frozen. This was an unexpected situation. The guardsman, looking at the two of them, said: “It seems he stumbled while trying to escape.”
“He hit the railing and his face was smashed.” However, other features suggest that this is Sir Adrian Grimaldi.
Familiar golden hair. Lef Zid handed the notebook to the frowning Count Grimaldi. The Count opened it. Signed by Adrian Grimaldi. The same signature he knew. The same signature that he forced Adrina to rehearse over and over again until it came out naturally to her.
Some of the pages in the notebook were torn out, some remained. The handwriting on the surviving sheets was definitely Adi's.
- Dead?
This couldn't happen. She didn't need to run in the first place. The Count has already prepared another body for replacement. He was going to present the double's head to the royal family, and take the real Adi - Adrina - to Grimaldi to use her one last time.
But the real one has disappeared, and in front of them lies a body that they did not prepare. Is this really Adrina?
As if having heard the news that Adi had been found, aristocrats began to gather nearby. Among them was Claude Dalcatir.
Claude was one of those who knew the truth and the true essence of this incident. He also knew that they were going to present the king with Hadrian's double corpse. Therefore, he decided that this was the very body prepared by the Grimaldi family.
If only their expressions weren't so petrified.
"Something went wrong." That was the first thought that came to his mind.
Claude came closer and asked:
- What is this? What's happened?
- Is he dead?
The corpse, of course, was dead. Claude's question was not about the "double." Judging by their faces, doesn't it seem like the real Adrian has died?
Spencer Grimaldi looked at Claude. Looking at his face, it became clear: Claude definitely did not know anything.
“Make it so people can’t see,” Spencer ordered LeFou.
Lef ordered the guards to set up some kind of canopy around them to block the view. Because of this unexpected demand, it took some time before the screen was installed.
Once Adrian's body was hidden from prying eyes, Spencer sent all the guards out.
When it was said that this could not be done, Lef, on the contrary, showed firmness. He stated that Adrian Grimaldi was already dead and would not escape anywhere, and the family needed to check some details, so he asked the guards to leave for at least five minutes, and they eventually retreated.
- Your Highness, won’t you come out?
- Do you have secrets from me too?
“I’d like to, but it looks like you’re not going to leave.”
- Yes, I’m curious. How can you prove that this is your son?
Spencer took a deep breath without opening his lips. Then, looking at Lef, he said:
- Undress your body.
Lef took off his clothes. A cape, a shirt, and then a chemiz. Claude frowned at the sight of the naked upper torso.
- Isn't this Adrian?
- It looks like he is.
-......
This is a woman. And yet he claims that it is Adrian?
“Count, don’t you think we need to talk?”
- We'll do it later.
- No, I want to listen to you right now. I have a strong feeling that your son is actually a woman.
- You noticed correctly. Adrian Grimaldi is a woman.
Claude frowned. So he gave the girl a knighthood?
- To be precise, -
At this point the Count continued:
- This is Adrina Grimaldi.
Only then did Claude remember about Adrian’s supposedly dead twin sister.
- The one that you, Your Highness, so desired to receive.
“And you raised her as a man only because you didn’t want to give her to me?”
“Adrian died and I had no other choice.”
Probably the knighthood was given not to a woman, but to a man; he died, and a woman took his place.
“That’s why I didn’t want to send her to you, Your Highness.” After all, if Adrina had come to you, our bonds could have been sealed with blood.
- And I don’t mind. If only my child could become both a prince and a count at the same time.
With these words, Claude tried to look at Adi’s face, but immediately recoiled. She had been a beauty in life, but now her features were so disfigured that they were unrecognizable.
“It’s all over now.” After all, your daughter is dead.
On the other hand, Claude was curious. The Count is obsessed with blood purity. Is this why he put his daughter in this place when his son died?
Usually in such cases it is customary to adopt a child from among distant relatives and raise him as an heir. Why didn't he do this? Grimaldi is not male…….
This Grimaldi can give birth to a child.
And it doesn't matter who the father will be. If he has the blood of Adrian, no, Adrina, he will be a true Grimaldi. And no one can deny this.
—…….
However, now this was pointless. After all, she died like this.
However, the count, as if not wanting to give up, lifted the corpse's trouser leg and examined the ankle. Then, bowing his head in bewilderment, he ordered Lef to hand him the sword. Is he really going to abuse a dead body? At that moment, when Claude asked this question, the count, taking the sword, pressed the sheath to the wound on the corpse.
Squinting his eyes, the Count let out a short laugh.
- That's how it is.
The wound was much wider than Lef's sheath.
“Perhaps this is not my daughter.”
Over time, the wound could heal and shrink, but it could not get bigger. Returning the sword to Lef, the Count lifted the head of the corpse. Upon closer inspection, the length of the hair also seemed different.
Claude, seeing the face from the front, winced.
“But this man could very well be the one who committed the regicide and took the life of the Marquis Luigi.”
The Count unclenched his hand. The corpse fell to the ground with a thud. The Count turned to Lef:
“Cut off this man’s head and present it to the king.”
- Yes, Your Grace.
After answering, Lef grabbed his sword from its sheath. At this sharp, chilling sound, Claude involuntarily opened his mouth. The actions and dialogue of these two seemed truly monstrous. Claude had seen a lot of horror and cruelty before, but now it seemed to him that everything he had known before was only a small part.
These people are used to this. Unlike Claude, they did not just give orders, but did everything themselves.
- Damn it.
Claude walked out of the tent, covering his mouth with his hand.
- Crazy old man.
Nausea rose in my throat.