Subliminal Wayfarer

 

“Promise me. On the day Grace comes of age, all of my assets will be passed onto her.”

 

Before her death, Eleanor presented Kafrenn with a contract, securing a substantial amount of money as collateral.

Just signing the contract would earn him one million crans, and fulfilling its terms would pay another million.

One million crans.

That amount was nearly equivalent to a year’s taxes from his domain’s residents.

It was an enormous sum that the lower classes could hardly even dream of.

That a noblewoman, especially a foreigner—his wife—who should be quietly embroidering or sipping tea at home, could even speak of such a sum was unthinkable.

Kafrenn’s initial feeling upon seeing this was rage.

 

“When on earth did you hide this sum? You must be mad! Hiding money behind your husband’s back! Where have you hidden it? Give it to me now—my money!”

“Why are you calling it your money?”

 

Throughout their marriage, Eleanor had been a compliant woman.

No, she had pretended to conform to reality, lived as if she was subdued.

But the months before her death were different.

She went out of the mansion frequently despite her illness, met people that the marquis didn’t know, and in the end, she defiantly met his gaze with cold eyes.

…How dare she.

Yes, how dare she.

 

“Where else could you have possibly gotten that one million crans from? Unless it’s my money you’ve been stealing!”

“What if it’s neither from you nor from me?”

“Hah! How can you give it to me if it’s not that kind of money?”

“That’s not important, Kafrenn. What matters is whether you will enter into this contract with me.”

 

Despite her pale and sickly complexion, the woman who still possessed the beauty of a twenty-year-old extended the paper to Kafrenn.

 

“I know everything will go to Norman eventually. So please, let me leave the little that I have to Grace. You can do that much.”

 

Raw resentment gleamed in her cool eyes.

It was Marquis Kafrenn who had deceived a young noblewoman from abroad and taken her as his second wife.

He had been infatuated with her, desperately pursuing her to the point of obsession.

Using somewhat unseemly methods, he had taken her into his arms and welcomed her into his home as his wife in a near-mad state.

After six months of relentless pursuit, using all manner of underhanded tactics, he had forced Eleanor’s guardians to hand her over to him.

And as if that wasn’t enough…

 

“Promise me. I will raise Grace without lacking anything. If you want, I can even name her as my successor! So please, stay by my side! Damn it, if you leave now, you’ll never see Grace again! No, I’ll send that child somewhere no one knows and let her grow up as a wretch!”

 

Kafrenn had held her back when she wanted to return to her homeland with Grace.

Begging and clinging, and finally resorting to threats.

He had forcibly taken the infant Grace and hidden her, neglecting the frail child until she was on the brink of death from a respiratory disease.

When Eleanor finally got her baby back, the child was already too weak.

Too fragile to undertake a long journey by boat and jolting train.

Even the marquis had to admit, looking at the frail breaths of the infant, that her life could end at any moment.

His first thought was, ‘If the baby dies, that woman will run away.’

To the marquis, what mattered was a male heir, not a daughter.

Perhaps he might have changed his mind if his daughter had resembled him somewhat. But no, she was the spitting image of her mother, making her even more alien to him.

Yet, despite this, Grace was important.

It was merely an excuse to hold onto Eleanor.

He knew nothing of love.

But to Marquis Kafrenn, Eleanor was like a drug.

A woman who drove him mad. A woman he could not live without.

Yet his obsession and passion ended when she contracted an incurable disease that marked her days until death.

He did not want to touch a sick person.

Eleanor had a peculiarly oppressive aura.

As her illness worsened, it became more pronounced.

 

“After all, the money left to you will all come to me. But why should I bother with such tedious matters?”

“Right now, this money isn’t mine. So, even if I die, it won’t go to you. So… you’re saying you won’t sign the contract? Fine. Then I’ll find someone else.”

 

Just before she died, Eleanor lost her sight.

Of course, it’s unknown since when her vision had weakened.

Eleanor was always expressionless and composed.

Only just before her death did the marquis barely realize that she could hardly see.

Moreover, since she had lost her vision just before dying, Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin had no reason to fear her threats.

A sick, powerless woman who could not see.

She had no power or strength, but she was always as beautiful as when he first met her.

Yet still…

Despite being such an insignificant woman, Kafrenn found it strangely impossible to ignore Eleanor until her demise.

So, in the end, he held her back and made her sign.

He scribbled his name on the yellow paper with a signature.

 

“The contract must be honored, Kafrenn.”

 

The very next day, she brought one million grand from nowhere.

 

“…No, she must have taken it from that bastard.”

 

Ruediger Luxen, claiming to be Eleanor’s cousin, suddenly appeared one day.

A man with dazzling blond hair and silver-rimmed glasses.

After meeting him, Kafrenn knew Eleanor had changed.

Such a vulgar woman!

Do you think I’d be fooled if you say he’s your cousin?

It was an appalling face he never wanted to think about again.

Even after Eleanor died, that bastard had the audacity to show up.

Trembling with rage, Kafrenn insulted him so that he could never return to this place, never set foot in this country again.

He did not hesitate to tarnish the name of the dead.

And that’s why… after Eleanor died, Kafrenn thought everything was over.

Only later did he realize that the few items his dead wife wanted to pass on to Grace were of considerable value.

The marquis quickly sold those items before Grace became an adult.

He stacked up several gold bars with the money from those sales.

Thanks to this, he quickly secured his position in the council.

Then… Kafrenn learned that the incense censer directly received from Eleanor was a rare antique.

He sold it without hesitation when he heard that just offering it at an auction would fetch a high price.

At that time, the written contract with Eleanor was already out of his mind.

In fact, he had torn up the contract before Grace even reached her coming-of-age.

It was a contract with no need to be honored, what fool would keep it?

By doing so, he thought that the insipid contract had ended completely.

“I definitely burned it, but this time it must be… completely burned…”

…If only the contract didn’t creepily reappear every time it was forgotten.

Marquis Kafrenn stared in dismay at the reappeared yellow paper.

It felt as if he had seen a ghost.

It reappeared whenever he destroyed it, again and again. What trick was used?

Could it be… Eleanor had a confidant left behind in this mansion?

‘…The head maid is most suspicious.’

But how could the head maid have opened his safe?

The keys to the doubly, triply locked safe could only be opened by Kafrenn himself.

Crunch.

“Do you think I’ll be frightened by this?”

Kafrenn muttered darkly as he violently tore up the contract.

“You are dead, Eleanor. Dead…”

What can a dead person do? Huh?

After shredding the contract into pieces, Marquis Kafrenn threw it out the window and grabbed his coat to leave.

In his hand, he carried a chest containing five gold bars.

He left the study hurriedly, as if unburdening himself of any attachment.

Through the open window of the study…

The pieces of yellow paper merged into one and floated back into the study like a trapeze artist.

Fluttering softly, it settled quietly right in the center of Kafrenn’s desk.

As if it had never been torn at all.

 

* * *

 

The parties acknowledge that the contents of this contract are absolute and compulsory in nature.

At the request of Client Eleanor Rhodesia, Contractor Kafrenn O’Ellin shall perform the obligations outlined in this contract.

The terms of the contract are as follows:

Kafrenn O’Ellin shall bequeath the inheritance of Eleanor Rhodesia to their daughter, Grace O’Ellin, upon Grace’s independence.

Should Grace O’Ellin’s independence be delayed beyond the age of twenty, Kafrenn O’Ellin shall deliver Eleanor Rhodesia’s belongings to Grace O’Ellin in the year she turns twenty.

The specified items are as follows:

1. A silver hand mirror engraved with evening primroses.

2. A pair of pearl earrings.

3. Five pouches of medicinal herbs.

4. A gold bracelet set with a red ruby.

5. An untitled book bound in dark red leather.

…

…

…

The delivery of these twenty items to Grace O’Ellin constitutes the fulfillment of the contract.

The term of this contract is the duration of its execution. Should the contract be altered without Eleanor Rhodesia’s consent or its terms not be fulfilled within the designated period, penalties for breach of contract may be incurred.

The extent of these penalties will be equivalent to five times the degree of non-compliance observed, or a fine and loss of titles amounting to Cr 10,000,000.00 (ten million crans).

 

* * *

 

When Grace and Selena returned to the mansion, the sky was a vivid orange.

The delightful aroma of buttered bread and chicken salad with citron sauce was in full preparation.

“Welcome back, Your Ladyships. Did you enjoy your outing?”

Gabriel greeted them warmly with a smile.

Selena gracefully smiled as she handed over her gloves.

“It was very enjoyable. Going out only occasionally makes it more fun. If we did it too often, it would lose its charm.”

“That’s fortunate indeed. If you went out every day, His Lordship might put his work aside and follow you both around. For the safety and peace of the family, I must ask that outings be kept to a minimum.”

At Gabriel’s playful words, Selena chuckled lightly and looked at Grace.

“What do you think, Grace?”

Grace, following behind, smiled back and replied.

“His Excellency? I doubt he’d find our outings to be enjoyable.”

“That can’t be true.”

A deep, resonant voice soon contradicted Grace’s statement.