厨房从后面挺进李婷

Obviously, there had been a bloody massacre here that had happened just before our arrival. And it was for that that I blamed myself the most. If only we had arrived a little earlier…

Perhaps my father would still be alive.

I still couldn\'t believe what had happened, and the ceremony passed like a fog. In the end, instead of Rachel\'s birthday, we had her father\'s funeral…

Not even close, I couldn\'t imagine how she was feeling right now. First her mother and then her father passed away on the same day. Expectedly, she would now hate her own birthday for the rest of her life.

At the private burial ceremony, only the two of us and the priest-who conducted the ceremony-were present. Usually, a funeral for a famous aristocrat made as much of a fuss as a wedding. Eventually, it turned into one of the secular events.

But Rachel was against having anyone else there. Even the servants, who had served the estate for decades, were not allowed to come. Now she didn\'t want to see anyone at all.

While I sobbed and sobbed during the procession, Rachel didn\'t make a sound. Her expression had remained the same stone since we\'d first discovered Duke Cassius\' body. It was impossible to read her mind.

The Duke was buried in the family tomb of the Cassius family immediately after the rites were completed. His coffin was placed next to his wife and everyone was asked to leave.

Even me.

Rachel locked herself in there alone and spent some time. I understood that she needed some time alone, so I didn\'t bother her about it. But in the end, I did get worried.

Instead of the week we had originally planned, we stayed in the Duchy of Cassius for almost an entire month. All because Rachel simply refused to come out.

The girl was in such a damp and cold place with no food or water at all. Probably hadn\'t slept either. Of course, I tried to get her out of there.

But she didn\'t respond to my pleas to come out, and I couldn\'t force my way in. The entrance to the tomb was opened with a secret mechanism: the location of which remained known only to members of the Cassius family. That way, even if a crowd of people tried to break down the door, nothing would work.

I had only to wait and hope.

Finally, after almost a week and a half, when I was sitting on the doorstep of the tomb as usual, I heard footsteps behind me.

I immediately turned around and sighed a sigh of relief.

— Rachel!

The girl looked very tired. But apparently, she didn\'t care about her own condition very much. She always did.

Without saying a word about what had happened or what she had been doing the whole time, Rachel just looked at me and said:

— We\'re going back.

I hesitated.

— N-now…?

— I\'ve been away too long. I have my hands full at the palace.

Rachel seemed distant and clearly wasn\'t going to discuss the matter much. I didn\'t argue with her.

— Okay… Just wait a little while.

— Why?

— I want to say goodbye to my dad, too.

Rachel sighed heavily and looked away.

— I\'m going to go pack. Don\'t stay here too long.

I nodded.

After the girl left, I went down to the tomb. It was a dark and cold place… even I had trouble staying more than half an hour. I couldn\'t imagine how Rachel could spend so much time here.

I approached the crypt-over which a plaque bearing the name of Duke Cassius was carved.

I knelt, and, for the first time in my life, I bowed so low to someone.

When her forehead touched the cold tile, tears welled up again. Though it seemed that she had cried everything she could for the past few days.

— Thank you for everything, Father,» I murmured silently. «And I\'m sorry… for not being able to keep your promise.

***

We set out on the return trip to the Imperial Palace on the same day.

We didn\'t exchange a few words with Rachel the entire trip. Even though we sat next to each other, the girl rarely paid any attention to me. She mostly stared out the window with a gloomy look and didn\'t react at all to what was going on.

In a way, it even seemed to me: that we were back to our past relationship. When Rachel almost always ignored me, and I was only trying to get close to her. After a shock like that, though, it wouldn\'t be surprising if a girl forgot about everything else.

It\'s possible that for a period of time Rachel would pull away from me altogether.

At least, that\'s what I initially thought.

But when we got back to the main gate a couple of days later, Rachel suddenly gave me a hand to help me down. Then, for the first time in a long time, she spoke:

— Are you feeling okay?

I was a little surprised, but I nodded right away.

— Y-yes… I\'m fine.

Rachel sighed.

— Go rest in your room. I\'ll come see you a little later.

— Mm-hmm.

The girl turned around and, along with her retinue that had instantly appeared, headed for the palace. Apparently she had a lot of work to do in the meantime. Plus, in addition to the palace, she now had to take care of the affairs of the duchy as well…

How difficult it all is…

I felt uneasy at heart, but at the same time I understood — that in this situation there was not much I could do to help. Perhaps, except for simple support, there was really nothing I could do.

I went back to my chambers on my own, where Melinda and Maxie were waiting for me. They both knew what had happened, and they didn\'t bring it up again. I could see in the maid\'s eyes that she had been as weepy as I had been.

Maxie was not personally acquainted with Duke Cassius, so she did not feel much about it. But, so as not to disturb us, she was tactfully silent on the sidelines while Melinda twisted her heart in front of me.

— I can\'t believe this happened…! — The maid was sobbing, and not even handkerchiefs helped her,» «How could anyone do such a thing to His Grace!

I sighed.

— I have no idea…

Obviously there had been a murder at the manor that day. There must have been more than one murder. We have as yet been unable to discover the identity of the mysterious men.

At any rate, one thing was certain: once it happened, neither Rachel nor I would let the bastard get away with it. A good man like Duke Cassius didn\'t deserve an ending like that.

And Melinda was in agreement with me.

— The whole empire thought him a villain…» she sobbed, «But I know His Grace wasn\'t that bad!

I patted her on the shoulder.

— I know.

— His Grace hired me when I was a child and inexperienced-no other aristocrat would have done the same.

I sighed.

— Madam, promise me that as soon as you find this bastard, you\'ll call me too!

— Why is that? — I was surprised.

— I also want to avenge His Grace!

In fact, I don\'t think the maid\'s help would be much use once Rachel got her hands on it. But at any rate, I couldn\'t help but be touched by her devotion.

— Sure,» I smiled weakly.

I didn\'t know how much longer Melinda would continue to use me as a consolation vest-until Maxie ripped her off.

— That\'s enough! — She said, «Are you going to flood the room with your tears?

— B-but…!

— Let\'s go now. Your landlady\'s just arrived and you\'re already on top of her.

Melinda was still sobbing, but she obeyed her. She stood up, while Maxie immediately grabbed her by the arm.

— You can be alone now,» Maxie said understandingly, «We\'ll be back a little later.

I nodded.

After those two left, I finally felt like I could rest. It wouldn\'t be bad to take a short nap…

So much had happened lately-that I just wanted to close my eyes and be anywhere but in this nightmare.

I hoped that one day everything would be all right again.

In the meantime… I just had to accept it.

Completely exhausted-I collapsed on the bed with my clothes on. Meanwhile, as my rest was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

At first I didn\'t want to open it until the drumming on the door kept getting worse.

Eventually I couldn\'t stand it and got out of bed after all.

— Who is it? — I muttered tiredly.

And when I opened the door I was very surprised.

— Daddy?!