Chapter 130
Late Regret
Emperor William IV stared anxiously at the knights who rushed out of the courtroom like arrows.
Eleanor glanced at him briefly, then walked toward the room assigned to her with a faint smile.
It was obvious what the emperor was thinking.
While she had been unconscious, would the evidence remain untouched? Would it still be safe and intact? That was what he was worried about.
Honestly, Eleanor herself was not completely certain. She had prepared and arranged everything carefully, but human affairs do not always go according to plan.
Even so, throughout the long recess, she had remained completely calm.
Because Eleanor had faith—
She believed that the person she left behind at the Astoria mansion would carry out the task perfectly.
***
The Astoria Mansion
The knights rode their horses at full speed and reached the Astoria duke’s mansion quickly.
But when they arrived, the entire place was already in chaos.
The flowerbeds at the front gate were trampled and ruined, and strange bits of trash were scattered everywhere.
Inside the mansion was no different. The walls that once held expensive paintings and decorations now looked bare, as if teeth had been knocked out. The silk curtains were torn, and the hallways were filled with useless junk that wasn’t worth selling.
The once-prestigious Duke Astoria household had fallen this far. The knights were shocked by the miserable sight before them.
It wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.
First, the investors—angry about losing their money—must have rushed in like a pack of dogs, stealing anything valuable.
Second, the servants, knowing they wouldn’t get paid, likely stole whatever they could and ran away.
A typical story of a family drowning in debt.
This wasn’t the knights’ concern. What worried them was whether the evidence the emperor wanted was still there.
Every cabinet, shelf, and drawer had been looted. Would the lady’s room really be unharmed? Their chances of success seemed extremely low.
“Where is the young lady’s room?”
They climbed the stairs, looking around. The mansion was messy, but still huge. They considered asking a servant, but nearly everyone had already fled.
Just then, footsteps sounded from below the stairs.
“Are you from the Imperial Palace?”
A middle-aged woman came up gracefully, her dark brown hair neatly pinned up. From her clothes and polite manner, she clearly wasn’t an ordinary maid.
“I am Mary, the head maid of the Astoria mansion. If you are looking for Lady Ellie’s room, I will guide you.”
The timing was perfect. The knights quickly followed her.
***
Eleanor’s Room
The room they arrived at looked completely different from the rest of the wrecked mansion.
It was clean. Someone had entered and checked things, but compared to the rest of the house, the floor and walls were intact.
The room was too small and simple to belong to a duke’s daughter. Few pieces of furniture, almost no decorations.
Right—Eleanor had been abused. There was nothing worth stealing, so her room had suffered the least damage.
The knights clicked their tongues at the duke’s pettiness and hurried to the wardrobe. They opened the large doors, and in the messy pile of clothes, they found an old, worn box.
“This is it!”
Inside was an emerald-decorated cravat brooch—the one Baron Griffith had worn the day he went missing. It was stained with dried blood.
The knights were thrilled to have completed their mission. They didn’t bother wondering how such a valuable item survived untouched. They simply assumed the shabby room and old box protected it.
Mary quietly smiled as they celebrated. She too was relieved—she had completed her lady’s request.
“Hide this box, and once all the debt collectors and servants leave, place it inside my wardrobe.”
This was the message Eleanor had sent Mary through Hilda.
A simple task—one that allowed Mary to help Eleanor without risking her own safety. It suited her perfectly.
***
A Witness Appears
“Head Maid, have you seen Baron Griffith near the mansion recently?”
A knight asked her.
Mary hesitated, then replied:
“I am only a low servant, so I don’t know who he was. But… if you mean a man with black hair, a thin body, a long nose, and a funny mustache… I did see someone like that.”
It was an exact description of Baron Griffith.
The knight leaned forward eagerly.
“Explain more!”
“I only saw him being dragged to the basement by the soldiers. I don’t know what crime he committed… but after that, I never saw him again.”
The knights exchanged looks. He went into the basement but was never seen coming out. It was the strongest confirmation they could hope for.
They rushed out of Eleanor’s room and headed straight for the basement.
Mary stayed near the entrance, closed her eyes, and breathed out slowly.
She finally felt relieved. The guilt she had carried for ten years was finally gone.
She also worried—would helping Eleanor cause trouble later? But she calmed herself quickly.
Eleanor had promised her generous rewards and safety. And with the Lord of Royster standing by Eleanor’s side, that promise would be kept.
Just as Mary was relaxing—
A sharp scream rang out.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Pain suddenly shot across her scalp—someone had grabbed her hair.
“Aah! My lady, let go!”
Mary tore the woman’s fingers away. The woman staggered back weakly.
It was Nora—once the most precious noble girl in the empire, but now she looked pitiful. Her hair was messy, her cheeks sunken, dark circles under her eyes. She looked like someone waiting for her family to be executed.
“You! Who did you allow into the basement?! How dare you bring outsiders in without my permission?!”
She screamed at Mary.
Mary sighed in annoyance, fixing her hair.
Nora, who had locked herself in her room during her father’s trial pretending to be sick, was now acting like a noble lady again. It was laughable. Her loyal maids had all run away—she had no one left to serve her.
‘Pathetic girl… completely clueless about her own situation.’
Mary wanted to grab Nora’s hair and drag her across the floor—but she didn’t. She was an adult, the head maid of the mansion, and someone with enough dignity to show pity to a ruined young girl.
“How could I stop them? They came under the emperor’s orders.”
“…What?”
Nora quickly turned to look at the basement entrance.
The emperor sent knights during the trial… and they had gone straight down to the basement…
Her face turned deathly pale.
This was bad. Very bad. Things were already the worst they could be… but this would make everything even worse—dirty, humiliating, and irreversible.
“This is enough. Let’s go back.”
“Yes. With this, the trial will be…”
At that moment, the imperial knights came up the basement stairs and saw Nora.
They flinched at her changed appearance, but quickly ignored her and walked past.
“Stop!”
Nora screamed desperately. She knew she couldn’t let them leave.
But the knights gave her only a cold glance and kept walking. One even let out a mocking snort.
“Did you not hear me?! I said stop!”
She ran toward them, trying to grab them—but her weak, starving body was no match for grown men. She bounced off them easily and fell to the ground.
The knights mounted their horses and left the mansion at once.
Shaking on the floor, Nora clenched her teeth.
Not a single servant came to help her up. Even though not all of them had run away, no one cared for her anymore.
In this huge mansion, Nora was completely alone.
Not just here—in the entire world.
Arlo hadn’t seen her since the hunting festival. The duke who ordered her to get pregnant had been foolish enough to fall into a trap and was now imprisoned. The investors had taken everything shiny and valuable. All she had left was a useless, half-paralyzed man, Damien—and unwanted responsibility.
There was no one on her side.
It was the same emptiness she had felt back in the slums. But because she had tasted warmth for a short time, this felt much worse.
‘Why did I even do all that?’
She had slept with nameless men—doing disgusting, humiliating things—just to get pregnant. She had been pitied by the man she loved and had acted seductive toward men she didn’t love.
Why… why did I do all of that?!
She had done such repulsive things, tried so hard—
Yet in the end, she had nothing. She was alone again.
This couldn’t be happening.
If she had known this… she would have—
“…I shouldn’t have betrayed her.”
The words slipped out of her mouth.
Yes. She had refused to admit it until now, but this was her true feeling.
If she had known it would hurt this much… if she had known she would end up with nothing… she never would have done it. She wouldn’t have betrayed Eleanor. Wouldn’t have been greedy. Wouldn’t have thrown away her entire life.
She wouldn’t have been this miserable.
Truly… it was regret that came far too late.
