Reincarnated As My Husband's Mistress-Chapter 16: [] The savior who grabbed hands in the swamp of death

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Everyone froze at the icy tone. What had they just heard? In the deceased Duchess's bedroom, filled with servants and even a strange guest, they were ordered to strip. The servants looked at Grand Duke Noah with bewildered and fearful eyes. But he did not add a single word.

"Your Highness..."

Gaspar, the butler, who couldn't stand it anymore, quietly called out to Noah.

"There are maids here, perhaps individual searches would be more appropriate..."

"What does that matter?"

"!"

"Whether the rat is a man or a woman is irrelevant."

The atmosphere in the room turned icy. The servants who had worked at the Grand Duke's residence for a long time knew his temperament well and began to prepare to take off their clothes with resigned faces. However, the young maids who had just started working there trembled so hard their teeth chattered, their hands clutching their aprons tightly. The butler Gaspar twisted his lips into a smile at the sight. Pretending to sympathize with them, he found the situation quite interesting and amusing. In the end, the men stripped first. From the burly men to the scrawny ones, as they dropped their jackets on the floor, a few old maids, whose turn would come next, naturally rummaged through the clothes.

"... Will finding a rat be easier if you let a rat do the searching?"

The strange noblewoman, who had been watching the scene with a strange tension, opened her mouth. Her face was slightly flushed as she stood in front of the men who had completely undressed. Strangers might think she was embarrassed, but Adriene was not. She was oddly excited. Most of the servants in this room didn't know what she looked like as the Duchess. It was possible because she rarely left the bedroom and only a few maids like Annie attended to her. But seeing Annie brazenly holding her head up among them, as if she had done nothing wrong, aroused a strange sense of competitiveness in her.

'How daring.'

"May I take charge of searching the women?"

"!"

A small commotion arose among the maids. It was humiliating enough to be searched by the Grand Duke and the butler, but to be searched by a strange noblewoman?

"Your butler has a point."

"..."

Noah seemed speechless for a moment, as if he hadn't expected her to speak up.

"Your Highness, this is a household matter..."

At Gaspar's interference, Noah seemed to come to his senses and shook his head.

"Please excuse yourself, Madam."

And Adriene felt Annie's gaze fixed on her.

'I wanted to find it.'

My mother's pendant necklace. The other things were precious too, but the necklace held the only portrait I had of my mother, so I cherished it particularly. I walked alone down the long corridor. I felt drained of energy. I must have been tensing up without realizing it. Wearing the black shawl Gaspar had given me, I stood on the stairs and watched the people at my memorial. I could see some maids carrying refreshments from a distance. They didn't know what was happening on the second floor.

'If anyone else besides those in the bedroom has my mother's necklace...'

Maybe I could buy it from them, even if I had to pay a lot. And I had plenty of jewels with me. I carefully descended the stairs, trying not to attract attention. Fortunately, the noisy atmosphere made it easy to hide among the large statues. I approached two maids who were setting up refreshments and quickly examined their necks. There was no trace of the necklace. The chain was plain, so she could easily wear the pendant without anyone noticing. I bowed my head slightly, looking disappointed. I had tried to avoid showing my face.

"Who are you?"

Another maid grabbed me suddenly as I was about to check the others.

"Who are you, dressed like that...?"

And as soon as she saw my face, her face turned ashen.

"Vi, Vivien..."

"No, it's not."

Given her slightly familiar face, this maid must have seen Adriene's face a few times. A few other maids, who had heard a little commotion, surrounded me. The maid who had pulled me was staring at me as if I were a corpse. I was suddenly overwhelmed by fear.

"Marie, what's wrong?"

They didn't seem to think I was a guest, given my vague attire. Perhaps they thought I was a musician who came quietly to play music, or a singer who occasionally sang at memorial services, as they didn't treat me with respect. Instead, the maid named Marie froze, staring at my face. I froze too. It was fine when there were only one or two of them, but as soon as four or five of them gathered, I felt like I couldn't breathe. The familiar grand duke's residence. The familiar murmurings. Those eyes that looked at me like I was a corpse. Nothing was unfamiliar, and at the same time, nothing didn't hurt.

'Snap out of it. Snap out of it.'

I scanned their necks and tried to breathe as normally as possible, almost desperately. Fortunately or unfortunately, none of them were wearing necklaces. As I put my hand on my chest to calm myself, I felt my hands trembling. Right in this atmosphere, surrounded by these maids, the memory of the day I died suffocated, came flooding back into my mind.

"Get away, get away..."

"Jasmine! Come here! Here, here, someone who looks like Lady Vivien..."

Maids came flocking from somewhere in the hall. Sweat was dripping down my back. It wasn't because I was afraid of the maids. It was because the helplessness I felt at that time, when I couldn't do anything, was vividly remembered. The moment of death when I couldn't see anything even when I opened my eyes, and no voice came out when I opened my mouth. It felt like that moment, which was no longer in the past, had come to life right in front of my eyes.

"Haah... Haah..."

"Hey, hey! What's wrong with you!"

"Oh my goodness, someone call someone!"

The back of the maid who ran away. The murmurings of the maids in their maid uniforms and their low, horrified voices. Everything was similar to that day. The atmosphere of the day I died. The day I couldn't touch the bottom when I fell into deep water, and no matter how much I reached out my hand, no one caught me. The day of death that was cruel only to me, a death swamp that I could never escape from. I let out a silent scream.

'Save me...'

My hand instinctively reached out to the maid who seemed to not know me. I felt like I could breathe if someone just held my hand.

'Save me!!'

And the maids who saw my face turned pale. If they just reached out and grabbed my hand, if they just did that, I could get out of this terrible swamp... My eyes were stinging. All the things I had been holding in turned into bitter tears.

'Save me, please, please!'

And just as my vision was about to blur, everything turned completely black. I felt someone approach me from behind and cover something over my head. I could feel a warm, large hand grabbing my arm, which had been groping in the air. An unfamiliar touch. A strange mixture of the scent of herbs, cigars, and lavender. A familiar scent.

'No way.'

"You seem to need help."

It was a whisper so low only I could hear it. The arm that had been flailing in the air was now gently held in his hand. Just like at the victory celebration, the two arms bound behind me were pressed down more firmly by warm but insistent hands.

"Will you take my hand?"

The word "help," which sounded so absurd, felt like a lifeline. I nodded, trying to suppress the feeling of being strangled by the voice of the savior in the darkness.

"...Certainly, you asked for my help yourself."

As I nodded vigorously again, the bonds on my arms suddenly snapped. At the same time, a hot hand naturally slid down my arm and took my hand from behind. It was a hand far too big for me. It was definitely the same suffocating feeling, the same pounding heart as when I experienced death.

"Is this how the Grand Duke's residence treats its guests?"

I felt like I was being pulled out of the death swamp in an instant, holding his hand. The low, rumbling voice that had always kept me tense began to strangely calm my mind. As I leaned my back against his solid and massive body, my pounding heart surprisingly slowed down. He was wearing the white jacket he always wore. It was covered in medals and gleamed golden, enveloping my head.

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"Your, Your, Your Highness..."

"Tell the Grand Duke."

A maid nearby, who recognized him from the gap in the jacket, started to stammer. A cold and low voice came out from above me, on his body that touched my back.

"Since the star of the Empire has arrived, he should properly show his face as a matter of courtesy."

At the words "star of the Empire," the maids who surrounded me were in a panic for a different reason. As if afraid of being punished, they scattered instantly, continuously apologizing.

"Haah..."

As their footsteps faded away, I let out the breath I had been holding. A strong force held me tightly, having already lowered the jacket from my shoulders.

"...Are you alright?"

A statue of breathtaking beauty. And a pair of eyes like freshly spilled blood on the face of that statue were directed at me.

It was Lord Roardnes, with his stiff expression. As expected, it was him. ***

"Blessings of the gods! I greet Your Highness, the Second Prince, the great star of the Empire!"

Butler Gaspar quickly ran to greet the VIP. Feeling strangled, Roardnes opened his mouth, lightly loosening his cravat without taking his eyes off the pale countess.

"Where is your master?"

"Uh... I'm sorry, but... right now, my mistress is a little busy..."

"You're taking a long time to say you want to die."

Gaspar's two hands naturally went to his own neck. Without realizing it, his eyes were drawn to the sword that was clearly visible on the side of the beautiful prince, who was known as the troublemaker of the royal family. The prince's face, which he glanced up at, was very cold.

'What on earth is happening today!'

The Grand Duke is furious, and the uninvited prince has suddenly appeared, and he seems to be in a bad mood.

"Bring your mistress here immediately."

"Yes, yes!"

Gaspar quickly retreated. The Grand Duke's message to wait a little longer became useless.

****

"Thank you, thank you, Your Highness."

I thanked him, feeling a little better than before. But my body was still trembling slightly. Roardnes stared at me as if glaring, as if conscious of the surrounding gazes.

"I'm fine now, so you can..."

"I hope you won't forget."

I looked up at Roardnes, trying to completely suppress the fear that had subsided. He looked angry.

'If I say I need your help again...'

'Then you'll have to tell me exactly what kind of help you need.'

I suddenly remembered a conversation from a while ago.

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