Chapter 37
The air quickly became turbulent as the knights on horseback passed by.
Everyone on the bustling streets paused to look at the marching knights, their eyes drawn to the man on the white horse at the head of the group.
“It’s the Duke of Iselle.”
A woman blushed as she said it. She wasn’t the only one with a flush on her cheeks as she looked at the man. It was a common occurrence whenever Iselle Scallion, the next ruler of the Archduchy of Hazen, rode through the city.
Someone asked, “The Duke is about to marry a princess from the Kingdom of Lysa, isn’t he?”
And someone else immediately answered, “Yes, she’s the youngest princess that the King and Queen are very fond of. She hasn’t been out of the palace since she was born.”
“If that’s the youngest princess, she’s famous for that song, written by the great bard Asion.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard of it too.”
A beautiful princess of gold, with a heart finer than velvet. The song about the princess, written in such glowing terms, was well known here, and so the faces of those who gazed upon the duke were etched with pride. As the only son of the Archduke of Hazen, he was the pride and joy of the people here.
“How lucky for the princess. She’ll be the wife of such a handsome and affectionate duke.”
Duke Scalion was not only beautiful in appearance, but he was also known for his gentle nature. As a student in the Kingdom of Lysa, he would only return home during vacations, and even in those short periods of time, stories would emerge, usually about how he had rescued a child who had stolen medicine to cure his parents’ illnesses, or how he had saved a girl from being sold into a brothel by her father and punished him for it.
It didn’t matter if the stories were true; it mattered that their master was such a good and decent man.
In a place famous for its emeralds, there is a saying, “It is easier to find a flawless emerald than a flawless human being.”
To the people of this place, Iselle Scallion is just like a flawless emerald.
-hee hee hee!
Just then, a sharp horse whinny was heard. The procession was disrupted as a woman suddenly ran into the street. The knights immediately drew their swords and surrounded Iselle.
“What are you doing? Who do you think you are!”
It was the lieutenant, Jace, who shouted with anger in his voice. At first glance, the woman’s demeanor was desolate. She held no weapons in her hands. It was clear from the circumstances that she had no intention of harming the Duke. But the offense of daring to stand in the Duke’s way was not one that could be easily forgiven.
“Tie her up!”
The knights immediately surrounded the woman on the ground. Her shoes came off as she struggled. They were about to drag her away and put her on the horse when a voice called out.
“Loosen the ropes.”
It was a clear voice. Moderately high-pitched, the voice was as soft as a breeze. Duke Iselle Scalion looked down at the woman.
He said, “It seems she was only trying to beg, so give her a modest sum of money and let her go.”
At that, the lieutenant let out a long sigh. “Master Iselle, you shouldn’t keep tolerating rude people like her. What if something really dangerous happens?”
“If you’re weak enough to be at risk of being attacked by a woman like this, you might as well just die.”
His words were tinged with laughter. The knights immediately untied the ropes at the Duke’s command.
At that moment, the woman rushed past them and shouted, “I don’t want money, all I want is to solve my brother’s wrongful death!”
At those words, someone in the crowd sighed. If you have a grievance, you should go to the magistrate, not the duke. Do you think our duke has the time to listen to all that?
“My brother’s name is Hugh. He was a guard at the gates of the Hazen Castle not long ago. He tried to deliver a letter to the Duke and died the next day.”
Iselle was about to start his horse off when he pulled on the reins and stopped, turning around to look at the woman crouched in the street.
“He tried to deliver a letter to me?”
The woman nodded vigorously. “Yes, that’s what he told me the day before he died, that he was going to deliver a letter to the Duke, but he couldn’t, and the magistrate who investigated it said that he had committed suicide, but he had no reason to commit suicide; he would never have taken his own life; someone must have killed him!”
Iselle looked at the woman, who was now sobbing. His violet eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he turned away from her.
He gave the order, “Bring that woman.”
***
The Duke’s room was very austere. Filled with a few dark-colored pieces of furniture, it was barely decorated. The only decoration was a portrait of someone on the wall.
As soon as the woman saw it, she realized that the beauty in the portrait was none other than the rumored Princess Lysa.
Seated at an angle and smiling slightly, her hair was a dazzling blonde, and her eyes were, as rumored, a deep green reminiscent of summer greenery. Her skin was as white as snow and her cheeks were rosy and flushed. She looked like she had been loved and nurtured, and it was easy to see how anyone could fall in love with her.
Seeing that the woman’s gaze remained fixed on the portrait, the duke drew a curtain over it. The woman flinched as the black curtain obscured the portrait, as if she had done something wrong.
“Would you like to finish what you were saying earlier?”
The Duke’s tone was still soft, though, and he sat down at an angle across the desk, as if ready to listen.
The woman spoke urgently, “A week ago, my brother was found hanging on a nearby hill, with a will at his feet.”
“And you don’t think it was a suicide?”
“Yes, because it could never be.”
The woman clasped her hands together. “My brother was getting married, he was so happy, he always said he couldn’t wait for his wedding day to come. Why would someone like that suddenly kill himself?”
“Sometimes people kill themselves for pretty sudden reasons. For example, because they owed money without their family’s knowledge, or because they did something really wrong and couldn’t live with it…”
“That’s not true. My brother was never like that, he raised me by himself after my parents died, he would never do something like that to me!”
Iselle gave a rueful smile as he looked at the woman who looked like she was about to burst into tears again at any moment.
“I wasn’t trying to blame your brother, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that you have to take all possibilities into account. So, is it true that your brother was trying to deliver some sort of correspondence to me?”
The woman nodded her head. “Yes, my brother came home that day and told me that there was a letter from the Basque tribe, asking him to deliver it to the Duke.”
“But I never heard of such a thing, and I have nothing to do with the Basque tribe.”
“My brother told me everything that happened during the day, and he said that someone from Basque had asked him to deliver it to the Duke, and that it bothered him that he couldn’t.”
“Then why couldn’t he deliver it to me directly?”
“He said that His Highness the Archduke had taken it and offered to deliver it for him.”
“That’s odd, because my father is not one to tamper with my things.”
Iselle’s eyes darkened. When the woman noticed he seemed to doubt her story, she said hastily, “My brother told me that the emerald bracelet came with that letter.”
The Duke’s eyes snapped to her. “…emerald bracelet?”
The woman nodded. “Yes, he said that the envelope contained an emerald bracelet with a letter. When the Archduke saw it, he was very surprised and said that he would deliver it personally to you…”
‘An emerald bracelet.’
After muttering those words to himself, he turned back to the woman. “So you’re saying that after all that happened, your brother was found dead, with a forged suicide note.”
“Yes, actually, the note was very strange. It was definitely in my brother’s handwriting, but my brother was barely literate and struggled to write, but the sentences that were left behind were so eloquent, it was definitely not written by him.”
Iselle was silent for a moment, but then he smiled. “I see. I’ll look into this myself. You should go home and get some rest. Your brother’s sudden death must be hard enough on you.”
The woman stopped sobbing at this reassuring gesture.
The woman stopped sobbing at this reassurance. They were right after all. They said Duke Iselle Scalion would listen to my grievances and make things right.
After the woman left the room, Iselle paced the room and thought about the conversation earlier.
It had been a week ago that he had been away from the castle. He had been invited by Lord Flennen to spend the night at the lord’s house. When he returned to the castle the next day, he had received no word or letter from his father.
Why the Basque tribe?
If he were to succeed his father as Archduke of Hazen, he would have to make political connections with the Basques, who were his immediate neighbors, but as yet he had no such personal relationship.
Should I ask my father about this first?
He quickly dismissed the idea. He and the Archduke were obviously very close, but if what the woman said was true, his father must be hiding something from him.
So what is my father hiding?
Normally, he might not have thought much of this. After all, he didn’t tend to get involved in his father’s affairs.
But this time, the emerald bracelet the woman had mentioned bothered him, for there was only one bracelet he knew of, and that was the one he’d given Rosetta as an engagement gift.
“Come in.”