try begging
Grace scoured through magazines and newspapers she had collected from the city center, readingevery article thoroughly.
She examined the photographs with a magnifying glass as if she were aninvestigator.
In one corner of a photograph focused on charred epaulettes and medals, Grace spotted somethingfamiliar.
A half-burned cigar case, belonging to the man.
The corpse had been reduced to bones and was charred black. The vehicle in which the body wasfound was the same.But it wasn't just the bones that were left.
At the same time, the annex of Winston Manor wascompletely destroyed by a fire of unknown origin.
The article included a statement from the investigating officer suggesting arson. It was analyzed asan attempt to destroy important evidence from what had once been a military facility.
"Rubbish."
The police had reported finding bullet wounds and broken ribs, suggesting a murder investigationwas underway.
No, this is rubbish too.
Despite all evidence pointing to Leon Winston's death, Grace alone refused to accept it.You are not that man.
She was staring at a photograph of the charred bones occupying a tabloid page when someoneknocked on the study door.Grace hurriedly gathered the newspapers and magazines, locking them in the drawer.
It might beEllie.
In the past few days, with the man's photos circulating in the newspapers and magazines, Grace hadnot taken Ellie outside the manor.
Now she understood why there was no radio. The child knew her father's name. If she knew the lastname, she might think her father was dead and be heartbroken.
"Come in."
"Grace."
Fortunately, it was Martha who had knocked.
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"No. I was curious since it's so quiet."
Martha's smile was not bright enough to dispel her concern.The three of them had never discussed the obituary.
Martha, cautious not to provoke Grace, hadbeen quietly hovering around, worried about her. It was clear that Joe thought the man's death wasfor the best, but he kept silent.The one who needed to break this uncomfortable silence was Grace.
"Martha, thanks, but you don't need to worry. That man isn't dead."
The man had faked his death and was simply planning to come here in exile. A prominent figure onthe continent couldn't just disappear without a trace one day.
It didn't make sense for him to steal a fortune and not show up.
"By the way, I've also prepared a will that all of your shares will go to you in the event of mydeath."
She had only instructed to contact the lawyer if her new identity died, not if 'Leon Winston' died.
So....
"That man is alive."
"Yes, you're right. I've been worrying for nothing."
Despite her words, it was clear Martha didn't believe Grace. She was merely agreeing to sootheGrace's anxious mind.
That's not it.
Just wait.
That man will suddenly appear at my door one day.
Let him show up.
I'll give him a slap for making me a pitiful widow who stubbornly denies herhusband's death, a misunderstanding I don't deserve.But even a week after the obituary, Grace's palms remained unpunched.
Five days across the ocean, and another five or six hours from the port to here. A week was morethan enough time for the man to arrive.Grace picked up and put down the phone dozens of times a day.
She wanted to call and ask, butthere was no number to call.The annex was gone.
The only number she had was for the Western Command's Special OperationsUnit. Calling them after going into exile would be a suicide mission.
She was contemplating sending an anonymous letter to Campbell's private residence whensomething arrived from across the sea.
Not the man, but a heavy parcel.It meant he was coming soon.Expecting that the man had sent his belongings, Grace opened it with anticipation, only to find,disappointingly, her own things inside.
Her old diary, to be precise.
What is this nonsense?
Two weeks had passed since the obituary.
In that time, Grace had developed two new habits.She gazed at the distant sea whenever she had a moment.
At the end of the sea was the hell she hadleft behind, the man she had left behind.Then, at exactly four in the afternoon, she would take a walk near the manor's front gate for over anhour.
Four o'clock was when the train from the north arrived at the nearby station.To Joe and Martha, Grace might appear as a madwoman waiting for a man buried in the ground.The funeral was already over.
A photo of Lady Winston and the now 8th Earl Jerome Winston following the funeral processionwith sorrowful faces had appeared in the newspapers.For some reason, the Winston family had tried to hold a private funeral.
Given Lady Winston'svanity, it was an unexpected decision.
However, due to the strong demands from the public wholoved the hero, the parliament and the royal family proposed a state funeral, and the ceremony waseventually held grandly in the name of the nation.
Afterwards, the man was posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel. The same fate as herfather.
The marriage to Princess Aldrich, scheduled for early June, was instead conducted by JeromeWinston. The gossip of him inheriting his deceased brother's title and fortune, as well as his fiancée,made headlines in tabloids.
But to Grace, who knew their circumstances well, the marriage seemed less of a sudden coincidenceand more of a planned event.The mastermind must be that man.
Jerome Winston killing his brother to gain a lover, title, and fortune was unlikely.Even if he discovered his brother had embezzled half the fortune and had a scandalous affair with agovernment official.
As Grace oscillated between relief and anxiety like a swinging pendulum, articles about LeonWinston disappeared from the pages.
News of the hero's untimely death from a distant kingdom didn't make much of a splash here.
Despite being a good tabloid fodder, it quickly lost interest, making it hard for Grace to keep upwith the news.
However....
[The state is the murderer of my brother.]
With this sudden revelation, the name Leon Winston reappeared on the front page.
The revelation came from Jerome Winston himself, during his honeymoon abroad.
As Grace read the article in the newspaper, she realized in one paragraph why he had chosen to starta scandalous revelation while at what should be a paradisiacal honeymoon location.
That place was once a colony of the kingdom, now an independent country with poor relations withthe local government and the Rochester royal family. He seemed to have deliberately taken refugein a country with strained relations to avoid being extradited if things went wrong.
The content of the revelation was something Grace already knew well.Jeffrey Sinclair, the eldest son of the Duke of Aldrich and Baron Chapman, had been falselyaccused of being a rebel by the joint company of Sinclair and Chapman to eliminate Sinclair'scompany from the bidding for the Briar Diamond Mine.
After successfully securing the miningrights, it was revealed that the true owner of the joint company was the King himself.But what was new was that Leon Winston had witnessed the whole affair, preserved all theevidence, and, tormented by guilt, had started preparing the exposure recently.
Upon learning this, the King's closest aides had spread false rumors about the man being a rebel andhaving illegitimate children with the government. When he refused to be silenced and attempted toexpose the King's misdeeds, they assassinated him, according to Jerome Winston's claim.
[Initially, we planned a family funeral, but it was considered an insult to leave the funeral in thehands of the state that killed my brother...]
Grace scoffed.
Everything except the Sinclair conspiracy was nonsense to her.
However, it was not the same for others.Given that the man had previously survived several assassination attempts by rebels, it wasexpected that the perpetrators would be remnants of the rebels this time too.
The shock ofdiscovering that the perpetrators were actually allies, rather than enemies, sent ripples across thenation and even beyond, from the Old Continent to the New World.
Of course, the royal family immediately denied the allegations, claiming that they were baselessdelusions without any concrete evidence.
While there was no proof of the assassination, the overwhelming evidence regarding the Sinclairconspiracy was a significant blow to the royal family.Moreover, the rumors about Sinclair and the King had been circulating in financial circles for years,aligning with the authoritative claims of nobility, which added to the credibility.
So, they had been spreading rumors deliberately for years.Realizing that the man had meticulously prepared for this revelation over a long period sent a shiverdown Grace's spine.
Just as suspicion began to lean increasingly towards the royal family, a catalyst appeared.A reputable newspaper featured a letter prominently on its front page.
It was from Samuel Sinclair,the eldest son of Jeffrey Sinclair.
[After my father was arrested, when I was only ten years old, soldiers took me to an undergroundinterrogation room at the Western Command. I vividly remember trembling with fear as a soldierkept asking me strange questions and pressuring me for answers.
During that time, a blonde officer intervened and advised me not to say anything, telling me that thesoldier's threats about my father ending up in prison were lies, and that my father would be framed.It was only later that I realized this officer was Colonel Leon Winston.]
A respected businessman was wrongfully imprisoned by the King, who should have been a nationalhero.
The righteous hero loved by the people was murdered by the King while fighting againstinjustice.
The claims ultimately became accepted facts.
Then, the public took to the streets.It started with the workers' union of Croft Explosives, which was originally associated with SinclairExplosives.
The union had been falsely accused of being rebels by the government, so they hadample justification to oppose the King.Soon, other industry unions, including those in the explosives sector, joined the protest.
Additionally, those disgruntled by the disparity between the rich and the poor added their voices,leading to increasingly louder calls for the King's abdication.Although the military announced a re-investigation, apparently trying to release Jeffrey Sinclair, itwas too little, too late to quell the raging anger.
The royal family and military, feeling the pressure from the rapidly growing protesters, made adecisive mistake.
[Death of protestors due to military gunfire]
A peaceful protest had escalated into violence. The public began organizing militias, and eventually,Jeffrey Sinclair regained his freedom when the militias stormed the detention center.
The military could not prevent it, having been dismantled in the process of violent suppression.The military, now disgraced for falsely accusing civilians and becoming pawns of the King, faceddissatisfaction from its officers.
Especially soldiers from commoner backgrounds, unhappy withtheir previous mistreatment, not only turned against the military but some even joined therevolutionary forces.The conflict triggered by a noble's revelation eventually escalated into a class struggle betweenaristocrats and commoners.
What began as a demand for the King's abdication transformed into acall for the abolition of the monarchy.The kingdom, which had enjoyed peace after the fall of the rebels, quickly turned into a battlefield.
Grace watched this entire process unfold from across the sea through the media.
The man's presence was evident.
Guilt?
Grace laughed when she read Jerome Winston's statement about guilt.
Sinclair and the public wereessentially being used as pawns in Leon Winston's quest for revenge and exile.
It had to be this way.
Even though the whole world accepted his death as fact, Grace alone could not.
Leon Winston was not dead. The man who wanted to die by her hand could not have died bysomeone else's.