Don't Keep a Dog in the Garden - Chapter 4

Cassia, her face hardened as she cast one last glance at the imperial palace, turned her body, and Whisker, tireless, still held out his hand.

“Take it, Your Grace. I will escort you to the highest place.”

Cassia stared at that hand, then let out a hollow laugh.

The man rumored everywhere to be mad, yet to think he would dare speak of treason right in the Emperor’s front yard.

“Reckless, Duke. I could tell His Majesty of your treasonous intent.”

“Your Grace has taken my love too lightly. Do you think I wouldn’t have prepared myself for that much?”

His dazzling smile made it impossible to tell whether it came from his madness or from a love that itself was mad.

Cassia turned away from Whisker’s hand at last.

“I don’t need another’s hand. If I must go somewhere, I will go by my own strength.”

Whisker, mouth slightly open, gazed at her retreating back with an expression overcome.

The morning sunlight, dazzling as her eyes, descended like a crown upon her head.

Whisker clenched and unclenched his fist, stiff with tremors, suppressing the impulse raging inside him.

Then, hastening after Cassia’s long strides, he confessed in an excited voice.

“Indeed. I have fallen for you once again, Your Grace.”

“Enough nonsense. It disgusts me.”

“It is no nonsense, but I shall stop for today. Since I offended Your Grace, I also offer my apology.”

Whisker bowed his head politely, then smiled faintly.

Was the Bureau Chief ever such a shameless man?

All the rumors that reached her ears spoke only of horrors.

Cassia turned away from him and walked toward the carriage stop.

Like a puppy following its master, he trailed behind, gazing silently until she had stepped into the carriage.

When Cassia shut the door and leaned back against the seat, finally out of his sight, the carriage soon began to move.

Cassia let out a sigh and closed her eyes.

She was exhausted.

The long and grueling night had passed, and yet she had a foreboding feeling that even more exhausting days were to come.

***

At the entrance of the Grand Duke’s residence, those awaiting their mistress stood tense.

The news that she had been summoned late at night by the Second Prince, and that she was under investigation as his murderer, had kept them awake in the same unease all night.

Especially Rinox Orlendo, the Knight Commander of House Diorent, who greeted his liege’s carriage radiating a fearsome aura.

The moment Cassia alighted, he bowed deeply before her and cried out, “If ever you intend to leave me behind again, then cast me out here, Your Grace!”

Cassia let out a sigh at her knight commander’s impassioned loyalty.

“Rise, Rinox. I am thinking it fortunate that I didn’t take you last night.”

Despite her words, Rinox stubbornly kept his head lowered.

It was unlike him, who obeyed her commands absolutely.

Rinox was, in a sense, different from Whisker, also like a dog.

With his gentle green eyes, his massive, solid build, and his short brown hair, he resembled a military hound.

A knight who, if ordered by his master to die, would not merely pretend but truly lay down his life.

Had Rinox been there last night, he surely would have drawn his sword against the inspectors who tried to drag Cassia to the Inspection Bureau.

Shaken by the thought, Cassia rubbed her temple and spoke again.

“Stand. I am tired.”

Sensing the deep weariness in her voice, Rinox finally rose.

Then he caught sight of the red bloodstains marring her beige dress and turned pale with shock.

“Your Grace! Blood!”

At his cry, the household staff raised screams.

Though she had wiped away the blood that had splattered on her hands and face, she could not change her dress in the palace. Expecting this reaction, Cassia calmly raised her hand.

“It’s not my blood. Be at ease.”

“You are not hurt?”

“No. I’m fine.”

Even with her answer, Rinox could not stop scrutinizing her, while the butler, Ellen, asked anxiously, his face filled with worry.

“Your Grace, are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“I heard you were interrogated at the Inspection Bureau. Nothing happened?”

“Nothing…”

Cassia abhorred worrying those around her.

So, as was her habit, she was about to say that nothing had happened, but without realizing it, her words trailed off.

Too many things had happened in just one night.

And she had returned with a foreboding sense that even more would happen.

While Cassia was anxious about what lay ahead, a murderous aura seeped from her loyal knight’s shoulders.

Rinox, too, had long heard the vicious rumors about the Bureau Chief Whisker’s interrogations.

“That dog bastard dared lay hands on Your Grace?”

“It’s not like that, Rinox. Nothing happened.”

Cassia quickly answered her knight commander, who looked ready to storm off in search of Whisker.

Yet even as her words fell, the murderous aura did not fade from Rinox’s green eyes, so she emphasized again firmly.

“Nothing happened. I said nothing happened. Don’t act, only wait.”

At Cassia’s strict command, Rinox drooped his head sullenly. “Yes, Your Grace.”

Letting out a shallow sigh, Cassia moved toward the inner residence and asked the butler, Ellen.

“Was there no trouble at the mansion last night?”

“There was none at night, but Marquis Orlendo and Count Taft came calling early this morning.”

At Ellen’s answer, Cassia glanced back at Rinox following her.

Even when his own father’s name, Marquis Orlendo, was mentioned, his expression showed no change.

Marquis Orlendo had close ties with House Diorent, enough to have given his second son to serve as commander of the knights.

Cassia had an idea why the two men had rushed over so early, so she sighed again.

“I must wash first.”

Cassia went up to her chambers, and Ellen went to inform Marquis Orlendo and Count Taft, waiting in the reception room, that she had returned.

While the two men, who had hurried over before dawn, patted their chests in relief, Cassia immersed herself in the bath.

Soaking in the warm water, she let the stiffness in her body melt away and recalled the ashen eyes that had glared at her.

That inferiority, that vigilance, and the fear that had turned into hatred.

In Elium, the capital of the Fedemillon Empire, there was a rumor that circulated now and then. No one knew who first began it, nor did it stop spreading even if the subject hated it.

That the Emperor should hand the throne to the descendant of the Golden Dawn, even now.

So-called public sentiment.

For Giiern, it was enough to drive him mad.

And now, the very hunting dog he had bought to bite Cassia had wagged its tail at her. Truly enough to drive him insane.

“Still, this time he has gone too far,” Cassia muttered as she rose from the water.

To think he would even use his own son’s death as a means to eliminate a rival.

She had intended to live quietly if left alone, but now, to avoid death, she too would have to move.

Binding her long, wavy black hair and dressing herself in a blue gown, Cassia descended to the reception room.

Marquis Orlendo, whose ancestor had been a loyal vassal of Slayden, and Count Taft, despite Giiern’s persistent threats, always rolled up their sleeves when it came to Cassia’s affairs.

Their faces, having lost sleep after hearing what had happened to her the night before, were filled with anger and concern.

“So now he even goes as far as framing you?”

Marquis Orlendo raised his voice. There was no need to say who the subject was.

When Cassia answered that she had agreed to cooperate with Whisker to catch the true culprit, his voice grew louder.

“If that damned dog bastard is involved, it’s a trap in itself, Your Grace! You mustn’t have dealings with him!”

Two years ago, Marquis Orlendo had nearly lost his family when he stumbled into Whisker’s trap.

Having offered his eldest son’s life to barely protect his house, his voice brimmed with hatred.

Cassia understood his feelings and even agreed with him, but there was no other way.

“It’s His Majesty’s command, so I have no choice.”

“What could His Majesty possibly be thinking… no, no, that’s obvious. If you refuse, he will seize on it as defiance, so it can’t be helped. But, Your Grace, please beware the Emperor’s hunting dog.”

“I will take your counsel to heart.”

By the time Marquis Orlendo and Count Taft finally left, having shouted themselves hoarse, the sun was high in the sky.

With no time to think of anything else, Cassia fell into sleep as if collapsing.