The next day he got up early, finished his work, and invited Liddell to join him in the now-closed tower.
Howard was eager to follow, but that would have interfered with the Marquess’s work, so he brought a guard instead.
The rest of the servants opened the entrance, which had been sealed with chains and padlocks.
The guard then had to stand at the entrance while the tower was open.
The door was opened with a heavy creak.
“I guess I’ll have to oil the hinges.”
Frederick instructed his servant in his usual calm tone.
“Come on, Liddell, you look like you’re in a bad way.”
With these words, he extends his hand to Liddell as a matter of course and without hesitation.
As he holds his hand, he remembers the disgusted look on his face the moment he touched him at the soirée in King’s Landing.
I am still afraid that Frederick will remember the past.
The fact that there were no female servants in the castle until Liddell visited shows that he was extremely misogynistic. Or was he afraid of women?
Enter the tower. It is terribly deserted and only dimly lit.
Because of the lack of sunlight, it is colder than outside, and Liddell shivers despite his coat.
There is a staircase in the middle of the building that turns and leads to the second and third floors.
“Where do you want to start?”
“I think I’ll start upstairs.”
Why is that?
Does he have any idea what’s going on?
“I found a floor plan of this tower. I thought the top floor was used as a watchtower, but it looks like it was used to lock people up.”
“What?”
“I think that might be me.”
He says seriously, holding a lamp in one hand in the dimly lit tower.
“Oh, no, no. Wasn’t your husband carefully raised as an heir?”
“Is that really what you thought when you saw me earlier?”
I didn’t know how to answer. It’s true that I feel I was raised strictly rather than with much love.
He never laughed and was always a very thorough person.
“Then my colleague told me that I don’t like the tent very much when we go camping.”
“What?”
“He said I usually sleep where there is a fire or light.”
“Were you afraid of the dark?”
He nods at her.
“The servants asked me that the day I came back here. They asked me if it was safe to turn off the lights in my room when I went to bed.”
I have a bad feeling about this.
“You think you were locked in that tower.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry you had to go through all that. But I’m afraid to check it out for myself. I feel safer with you.”
Frederick squeezes Liddell’s hand.
“Not Andrea-sama?”
“He is trustworthy, but it is you who will be with me for the rest of my life. That’s why I want to be safe with you. The marriage contract was a terrible thing, but when I saw the will, I was sure. I trusted you, or maybe I worshiped you deep inside me.
It didn’t look like it, but the will left him more than enough money. It doesn’t seem like he was neglected. For some reason, he wasn’t as good with women in general as he was with Liddell.
Liddell was slowly led to the top of the tower. He was actually out of breath when he reached the top floor.
At the top of the stairs was an open door through which a light shone softly through a casement window, illuminating the glittering dust. I marveled at how much more peaceful it was than I had expected.
“Liddell, look at this…”
Frederick’s nervous voice causes him to turn and see that the door across the street has been smashed.
And behind it, darkness closed in and nothing could be seen. Liddell backed away.
Liddell backed away. “I’m going…”
With those words, Frederick steps to the other side.
Before he knows it, he is moving quickly and their hands are apart. Liddell hurries to his coat so as not to leave him alone, he thinks.
He is standing in front of the door, which has been broken open by someone with an axe. The room is dark and smells bad. I can’t see anything because there’s no daylight coming into the room, but it’s a very bad environment.
“Sir, can we stop now?”
Liddell muttered in a shaky voice.
“Liddell wait here.”
Frederick left Liddell at the door and went in alone. Then he checked the room.
As soon as he comes out, he takes an axe and tries to enter the room again.
“Sir, what’s going on?”
“There was a board on the window.”
What?
I have a bad feeling about this. The smell of feces and urine mixed with a faint hint of blood.
A few thuds of an axe are heard, then the room is illuminated by the bright lights outside.
I was blinded for a moment as I saw an abandoned room with the desk and crude bed cruelly destroyed.
The next thing I saw were squiggly words carved into the wall.
-Help!
Liddell gasped.
