“What are you talking about?”
“That you are the Margrave’s mistress.”
Her heart sank. As Roxana lowered her gaze, searching for a way out, Enoch’s voice continued.
“Your name is not Melanie. You are not Lady Taldon, nor are you a distant relative of the Margrave. Have you forgotten how you introduced yourself when we first met?”
“…….”
Back then, she had been a nun. Enoch, who had been watching the silent Roxana with an unreadable expression as she faced the sudden crisis, pressed her slowly.
“You said a man vouched for your identity back then. Do you remember?”
Mary’s husband. It was John. Roxana lifted her eyes, which she had hastily lowered. As their gazes finally met, Enoch said quietly.
“There are too many people here.”
It was a command to follow him.
* * *
“Go inside.”
The place he led Roxana to was a lounge used for catching one’s breath during a banquet or for secret meetings. As the banquet had only just begun, there was no one else around. As soon as the door closed behind Enoch, Roxana took off her mask and spoke urgently.
“It is reasonable for you to suspect me, Your Highness.”
“Then tell me. Who are you?”
“As you can see, I am the Margrave’s mistress.”
“A mistress…….”
Once she regained her composure, she could view her situation more objectively. Roxana recited exactly what Curtis had once told the King.
“Yes. I am originally the daughter of a frontier gamekeeper, and I was fortunate enough to catch the eye of the Lord, the Margrave.”
Enoch could not remember her face anyway. If he had been certain, he would have already reported it to the King. If she spoke well, she could escape this situation.
“A gamekeeper’s daughter.”
At her smooth explanation, Enoch took off his own mask.
“Then why were you in the convent?”
“I am ashamed to say that I felt burdened by the Margrave’s attention, so I hid there for a while. However, I soon returned to the castle.”
“Why?”
“Because I love him. At that time…… the reason I did not answer when you asked me to reveal my identity was because being a mistress is not exactly an honorable position. I did not want to unnecessarily disturb the Duke’s peace of mind.”
Enoch, who had been listening to Roxana’s words with his suspicions raised, unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fist. He was listening under the premise that it was a plausible lie, but the eyes that spoke of ‘love’ were sincere, without a shred of falsehood. The possibility he had considered began to waver.
“You love him?”
“Yes.”
It made no sense. If. If the woman before him was the former fiancée he thought was dead. If she were ‘Roxana Dalton,’ it could not be. To love the man who destroyed her family and took everything from her? It was impossible, even if the heavens were to turn upside down.
Just as his certainty began to waver, there was a knock at the door.
“May I come in, Your Highness?”
It was Baron Boden. When there was no answer, Baron Boden spoke again.
“I have prepared what you ordered.”
“……Wait for a moment.”
“Yes.”
At the firm command, the presence outside the door vanished. Enoch, sitting on a couch in front of the unlit fireplace, gestured for Roxana to sit opposite him. As she sat down hesitantly, he went straight to the point.
“Do you know the name ‘Roxana Dalton’?”
“…….”
“You must have heard of it. Have you not?”
Her expression was calm. There was no agitation, no wavering. As his narrowed gaze watched her persistently, she composed herself and nodded slowly.
“Yes. I have heard the name. She is the daughter of the fallen Marquess of Dalton. The Margrave told me.”
“That woman also had red hair, just like you.”
“I heard as much.”
“What else did you hear about her?”
“That she died.”
“Died?”
“Yes. I heard the Margrave killed her on the day Pewi was occupied.”
The conversation flowed naturally, and Roxana’s expression and voice were as still as a stagnant lake. Enoch willingly threw a stone into that lake.
“I think you might be her.”
Ripples spread across the calm surface. Roxana managed to lift the corners of her mouth.
“I am flustered that you would say such a thing so suddenly.”
“Is it an absurd story?”
“Commonly speaking, yes. Why would you think that?”
She could not hide her red hair, but red hair was not exactly rare. In fact, it was a color seen more often in farming villages than among the nobility.
Enoch lowered his gaze to Roxana’s hands, which were folded quietly.
“For a gamekeeper’s daughter, you are quite graceful, and your behavior and aura are quite aristocratic.”
“I was educated at the convent. As it happens, the Mother Superior was of noble birth.”
“And what about deceiving Baroness Philomena and my sister by calling yourself Melanie?”
“That was my wish. Because my status is so lowly……. I begged him to do so because I did not want to be a hindrance to the future of the Margrave, who has not yet taken a wife.”
“How touching.”
Unlike his words, his voice was cold.
“When you returned to the Royal Castle from the convent, why did you hide in my carriage? And what is your relationship with that coachman?”
“I was hesitant to ask the Margrave to send for me formally after I had rejected his heart and fled to the convent. So, I intended to see his face from afar and return to the convent. That is why…… though it is not honorable, I hid in Your Highness’s carriage. At the time, that coachman simply took pity on my circumstances and showed me compassion.”
Roxana rose from her seat and knelt.
“I am truly sorry for deceiving Your Highness unintentionally at that time.”
Enoch, who had been watching Roxana, who did not retreat an inch, watched her kneeling form and unconsciously reached out an arm before pulling his hand back. His chest felt tight, seeing her bowed like a sinner. He did not know why.
“……Sit back down.”
Had his suspicions been cleared? The hope in Roxana’s eyes, which had looked up, was frustrated the next moment by his expressionless face. As soon as she stood up and sat on the couch, Enoch poured out his hypothesis.
“How about a story like this instead? The Margrave, who destroyed your family, fell for your beauty, spared your life, and hid you in a convent.”
“…….”
“And once the House of Dalton was somewhat forgotten, he brought you back. To keep you by his side.”
Roxana swallowed hard under his piercing, deep blue eyes. Enoch turned his head toward the door and called for Baron Boden, who had been waiting.
“Baron.”
“Yes.”
“Bring them in.”
With the firm instruction, the door slowly opened. The Baron entered with a woman wearing a mask. Roxana looked back and forth between the woman and the Baron with puzzled eyes, and Enoch gestured for them to come closer.
“We must go through the final verification process.”
“……What?”
“Take off your mask.”
The woman, who nodded, took off her mask with trembling hands.
Although she had her eyes closed, Roxana recognized who she was at a glance. At the same time, she quietly gripped the hem of her dress tightly.
It was Mary. The maid who had served her most closely before the House of Dalton was destroyed. The maid who had helped her when she went from the convent to Curtis’s castle.
In the tense atmosphere, Enoch looked down at Mary and asked.
“What is your name?”
“M-Mary Arden, Your Highness.”
Mary, who had bowed with her forehead to the floor, answered the question in a trembling voice. Enoch, who had crossed his long legs, pressed her slowly.
“I heard you were a subject of Pewi before.”
“Yes.”
Mary, terrified, acknowledged it.
“What did you do before Pewi was annexed by another territory?”
“I worked as a maid…… at the castle of the Marquess of Dalton.”
“What kind of maid?”
“A maid who served…… Young Lady Roxana Dalton.”
“Then you must know her well. Lift your head and open your eyes.”
At Enoch’s instruction, Mary lifted her head. The moment she slowly opened her eyes, she met Roxana’s gaze. At the same time, time stopped between the two women.
A cold question fell over Mary’s head.
“Speak for yourself. Have you ever seen this woman?”
“…….”
Mary, who had been staring blankly at Roxana, nodded slowly. It was the end. Roxana squeezed her eyes shut.
“……Yes.”
“Where?”
It was truly the end. Just as Roxana was about to interject with pale, trembling lips at the follow-up question:
“At my home.”
“What?”
“She was a nun at the time. She asked me for help, so I helped her board my husband’s carriage. That is all.”
Mary, who answered without hesitation, pressed her forehead to the ground again. Enoch, narrowing his brows, confirmed in a low voice.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. I am certain.”
“Even at the risk of your husband’s life?”
“……Yes.”
At the repeated affirmation, Roxana’s eyes gradually turned red. Just as Enoch, who had been watching Mary intently, was about to rise from his seat, Baron Boden, who had been watching from a few paces behind, approached Enoch and whispered something. Enoch, who rubbed his brow for a moment, confirmed it once more.
“I heard you have a newborn baby at home.”
A baby. At the mention of her son, Mary hurriedly lifted her head. Enoch, who had discovered the subtle tremor, asked again, as if pressing down on her.
“Mary Arden. Speak. Can you take responsibility for those words, even at the risk of your son?”
Instinctively, Mary looked at Roxana.
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