…
The next day found Mattheus, with Brunilda his ever-faithful shadow, walking back to the manor before having breakfast. He had just come back from seeking out and finding the knight in charge of security on the estate to ask some questions.
The knight had confirmed that Nina hadn't left the Grant estate in the past few months. The last time she had gone out was before the accident that left her a widow. Consequently, most of the time while she was pregnant was during the mourning period.
He had also chatted up some of the guards during this whole short trip around the grounds and it seemed to corroborate with some of the maids' remarks. That was, Nina Grant didn't very much like military men. The guards and knights gave the excuse some of them can be rough and look scary, but the tone the maids had used suggested more a dislike than fear from the Lady.
Mattheus already had an idea what answers he might get from Nina when asked about her general father from this trip and wasn't sure he wanted to involve himself.
In fact, Mattheus was wondering why they were even pursuing this suspicion of Brunilda's when Nina Grant was now healed and didn't seem to have a mental illness. Well, unless lovesickness could be considered a mental illness—which it could very well be. But it was not exactly an illness he could heal.
An affair or drama over star-crossed lovers was not really important for him to know about, right?
Yet, no matter what he thought about it, he found himself priming the woman for certain questions a few hours later. Nina Grant had surprisingly gotten up early, so the two were taking a casual brunch together when it came time for Mattheus to give a follow-up.
He started with safe topics, keeping friendly but polite until they were almost done with their meal. Mattheus had already checked to see there were no after-effects to the healing she went through the previous day, so he could quickly excuse himself if this entire thing went mushroom-shaped.
Mattheus eventually asked about the General and the late Howard Grant.
Even without Brunilda's insight, the man could see that Nina's replies to his questions were very proper. Very rote. The woman had her own thoughts about it that were not being said.
Mattheus took a moment to drink his tea, pale-gray eyes smoothly shifting around them in the conservatory.
Despite it being just the two of them having a conversation, they were not exactly alone. It was just part of being an aristocrat—there would always be retainers around, normally.
"Sorry, but is it possible we can talk privately, my lady?"
Nina Grant looked only a bit surprised by the request before looking to Yvette and nodding.
Soon, it was just the two nobles and a cat.
"Sir Crown?" The woman seemed to prompt him once the maids were gone.
Mattheus clasped his hands before him. "I will be leaving soon now that you are healed, Lady Grant. So if you have any grievances you want to share with someone uninvolved, please, I am willing to lend an ear." He spoke sincerely, "Sometimes, if one holds something back for a long time, it can poison one's health physically. If I can alleviate some of that weight in your heart before I leave, I would be more than happy to. I am, in the end, someone who just wants to help others, after all."
Nina Grant's expression was complex but, most of all, Mattheus could read that she wanted to reveal something she couldn't say before the servants.
"My lady… did you ever learn to love Sir Howard?" he asked softly.
She visibly struggled a bit before she admitted, "No, Doctor, I never loved him."
"Do you hate your father for not being around and having you marry someone you didn't love?" was asked delicately.
Blue eyes met his gaze and there was a curious tilt to her lips. As if she was a bit rueful. "To tell the truth, Doctor? I hated him for a long time. It is only recently that a dear friend made me realize he had his own struggles after losing Mother."
Nina Grant cast her gaze out, staring at the flourishing plants in the glass extension of the manor while they were well into autumn. She looked slightly troubled.
"I must thank you for saving him, Doctor Crown," she said to Mattheus after meeting his eyes again. "If you weren't there… I would never have the chance to reconcile. He always seemed so… strong and almost immortal to me. But the fact he nearly died from his shellfish allergy from carelessly eating at the royal ball. It made my father a bit too human for me. A bit too mortal…"
Mattheus opened his mouth to comfort and reassure the woman over her father, only for Brunilda to suddenly break her silent observation as a "dumb animal."
"Ask if that friend was Benjamin Michaels," Brunilda piped up. "Mattheus."
He smoothly changed his words. "Is that dear friend of yours Mister Michaels?"
Nina Grant looked at him with surprise. "… Yes. Yes, but how did you know?"
Mattheus took the time to explain how Michaels name often popped up when he talked to the maids as he internally went through the list of topics Brunilda thought were relevant to find out.
As he let the widow tell her some of the meetings she's had with the administrative assistant, he wondered if he really needed to ask about her lost children. Sure, it would be very revealing information but it was also potentially the most taboo topic for Nina Grant.
But he was a man and Brunilda probably noticed something he didn't. It wasn't like his friend could ask Nina Grant herself, being a cat, which left the difficult task to him.
Mattheus was biting the bullet, part of him being driven by the fact he felt bad Brunilda was a cat even if his friend seemed very fine with her circumstances most of the time. "My lady—"
"I think we need to talk to someone about Benjamin Michaels."
Hearing the tone of his friend's voice, he hastily ends the conversation. "My lady, I must apologize but it seems I forgot to do something very important. If you would excuse my rudeness for leaving in the middle of a conversation…"
"Of course, you may go, Sir Crown."
And so, Mattheus leaves the slightly confused Nina behind as he heads through the entrance to the conservatory. He nodded at maids waiting at the doors, murmuring his thanks and goodbyes, and stayed silent until he was a distance away.
"Why?" Mattheus murmured as he walked through the halls with purpose, just in case there were listening ears. He walked in the general direction of where the offices for Nicholas Hart. Hopefully, the aide would be at his office.
"Nina Grant knew the General was allergic to shellfish when the cook himself hadn't been. And where could she get such information from when the two of them were estranged until very recently?"
Mattheus's heart raced at the implications of Brunilda's words. Surely others could make the connection with the General and the shellfish avoidance pointing to a potential allergy. But it still did not eliminate the small chance this involved the group the Original had been part of.
Benjamin Michaels was probably a spy.
If that were the truth, a lot of the pieces would fall into place. Tiny details that didn't make sense to him before about the assistant or some of the statements from the maids.
Mattheus recalled the assistant had been the newest hire too. Not a sleeper agent then. At least, he didn't think so, considering how bad Benjamin Michaels was at in keeping a low profile in hindsight.
'I really hope this is Brunilda jumping at shadows and I'm just getting pulled along by the mood,' the nineteen-year-old thought even if he didn't really believe it.
Brunilda was rarely wrong.
The tall young man spotted the butler further down the hallway. "Gerald!"
"My lord, how may I assist you?" Gerald asked, maintaining a bland expression and tone that Roland also tended to sport. (Maybe it was a sign of a competent butler.)
"Where is Mister Michaels?" Mattheus asked.
He could probably just have the guards detain the man or something. If it was a false alarm, he would apologize. But better to be paranoid than sorry.
It was a good thing he met the head of the guards and knight company earlier today. He already spent the morning navigating the grounds to knew exactly where to go.
After all, there was no telling how many accomplices Benjamin Michaels had if he were a spy. Easier to go through the security side, which General Grant paid much more attention to than domestic or administrative, when it came to Noll's Hill.
"Mister Michaels left for the capital earlier this morning, my lord. He was sent with some documents the General requested."