One day, a request came to Kalia. It was to assassinate Shan Cirxus, the hero who ended the Hundred Years' War and now Count Targayel.
As soon as he received the request, Epen, the guild master, was troubled. Since the target was the hero, the guild discussed whether to accept the request. Some suggested refusing, but the client gave him a blank check.
Money was the biggest motivation for assassins. When the client said that he would pay whatever he wanted as long as he killed, Kalia eventually accepted the job.
In fact, there was money behind accepting the request, but there was also something else. He was curious about the skills of Shan Cirxus, who was famous as a war hero.
How much of it must he have to be to be called a demon and worshipped? Kalia also thought that their skills were no less than any other. Therefore, if they put all their effort into it, they thought they could handle someone like Shan Cirxus.
The strategy for dealing with Shan Cirxus was different from the previous assassination. After all, he was not someone who could be killed by shallow means such as hiding and throwing a secret weapon. They chose a method similar to a surprise attack, where several people would rush in at once.
On the day of the surprise attack, the entire guild prepared thoroughly and headed to the Targayel mansion. Not long after the wedding, the mansion was in disarray and not properly guarded. Since the private soldiers had not yet arrived, they were able to easily sneak into the Count couple's bedroom.
But upon entering the bedroom, Epen realized something was wrong.
The first was that Shan Cirxus had not yet returned from the palace. According to sources, he should have been home long ago and was in his bedroom. However, the Countess was the only one in the bedroom.
The second was that Countess Erzenes Targayel was carrying swords. Rapier and mangosh, were not meant to be wielded by anyone. It was disconcerting, even though they were unsheathed.
The third and final thing was that Erzenes was not surprised at all when she saw them. At first, Epen was very nervous, thinking that there might be a secret guard, but that was absolutely not the case.
She, with her beautiful appearance that had never touched the water, just blinked as assassins filled the bedroom and drew their swords. To be precise, her expression was a mixture of annoyance and trouble.
His intuition, gained from his long career as an assassin, told him that the situation was not normal. However, what he saw right before his eyes was a frail woman, and he could not leave the witness alive.
It was at that moment that they finally decided to kill her and were about to all rush towards her.
"For a moment!"
At Erzenes' shout, for some reason, everyone froze. And then, without realizing it, he focused on Erzenes' words. She said with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m in a bit of a difficult situation right now.”
“....”
“I’ll turn a blind eye to you for once, so why don’t you just step aside? I won’t even investigate who’s behind it.”
It was absurd. Kalia was an assassin guild that was second to none on the continent. He couldn't understand what she was believing in and why she was acting like this.
Was he going to deal with this many people, each of whom was a professional assassin with outstanding skills? At this point, it was a matter of pride. I couldn't stand being arrogant like this.
When Epen remained silent, the Kalias aimed their swords at Erzenes. Erzenes sighed deeply and shrugged her shoulders. Then she quietly adjusted her grip on her sword.
“...!”
The moment Erzenes took her stance, Epen shivered. A chill ran down his body. The woman who had been beautiful and pretty just a moment ago was gone. A murderous glint began to flow in her blue eyes. She still hadn’t drawn her sword, but it was as if she had.
“Because I don’t have time...”
Erzenes nodded with an arrogant expression.
“Everyone, come at me.”
With those words, the Kalias all rushed towards Erzenes. There were fifteen of them against one slender woman.
However, rather than thinking it was excessive, it felt far too insufficient. Even if he gave it his all, he couldn’t guarantee victory. The hand holding the sword shook in fear as his instincts screamed.
The result was obvious. The match was simple enough to be absurd, and the price for misjudgment was severe. She was overwhelming. With her incredible speed that was hard to follow with the eyes, her movements were minimal, and not a single inch wasted.
The irregular attack using two swords was extremely tricky, but there was not a single mistake in handling the swords. There was no gap in attacking without any defense. In the blink of an eye, the whole situation was resolved.
“Ugh... gasp...”
Before he knew it, all of the Kalias had fallen to the ground. The only one left was the guild master, Epen. Epen looked at Erzenes with trembling eyes.
Her sword was still in its scabbard. She had taken down all of Kalia without even sharpening the blade, just by striking. As if she was playing a joke, Erzenes showed no sign of difficulty.
A thick bead of sweat ran down his forehead and dripped down his chin. Epen knew. She had deliberately attacked him just long enough to keep him from losing consciousness.
Being able to control your own attacks while fighting multiple people was truly a monstrous skill. She aimed her rapier at Epen, who was very nervous and asked him a question.
“Isn’t that Kalia?”
Epen froze at the words that immediately revealed his identity. Erzenes frowned and said.
“Yeah, at this level, there’s only Kalia in Baluar. You know? If you go somewhere and talk about today...”
There was no need to ask about the omitted last part. Epen nodded hurriedly. But her words did not end there.
"And!"
All sorts of thoughts swirled in his head as to what would happen next. The scene of her torturing him to reveal the truth naturally followed. Epen was contemplating whether he should kill himself with the poison he had hidden in his mouth, but Erzenes said something completely unexpected.
“Wake up the kids and go quickly.”
“...?”
“Ah... I have to clean it up quickly.”
What is this situation? Epen blinked. It seemed like she was joking, but Erzenes' face was serious. She groaned to herself and then pushed the fallen Kalias hard to the window.
The best assassins rolled under her hand like children playing ball and piled up in front of the window. She gathered the Kallias together and thought for a moment before asking Epen a serious question.
“Is this height okay?”
"What..."
To Epen, who asked stupidly, Erzenes looked out the window alone, estimating the height, and then confirmed that there were bushes below and spoke.
“It’ll end with just one limb broken. I’m in a hurry, so I’ll throw them.”
Then, one by one, she started picking them up and dropping them outside. Epen looked at the scene with a blank expression.
***
“Oh, really...”
Elze shook her head and hurriedly cleaned up her bedroom. Even though she said she would finish it as neatly as possible, the bedroom was still quite messy. Fortunately, there were no broken items, so she thought that if she just cleaned it up, it wouldn't be noticeable.
She threw the assassins out the window in a hurry. There wasn't much noise, perhaps because of the bushes below. She didn't knock out the captain, so he probably took care of his comrades and escaped.
In fact, she wanted to investigate the mastermind behind it, but assassins are usually always prepared to commit suicide. If a corpse and blood stains appeared on the bedroom floor for no reason, she wouldn't have anything to say to Shan.
And Elze was suddenly in the middle of cleaning, something she had never done before. She was regretting not having sent the assassins to clean up after herself.
“...Are you still awake?”
Elze, who was straightening a crooked picture frame while on tiptoe, twisted her hand. Then she turned around.
“Shan?”
She was so busy cleaning that she didn't even notice Shan coming. He raised his eyebrows once, closed the bedroom door, and came in. Then he looked around the bedroom in silence for a while.
Even though Elze had tried hard to clean up, the bedroom was still a mess. Expensive porcelain imported from the Kingdom of Ly was strewn across the carpet.
Elze kicked the porcelain away with her foot, but it rolled onto the marble floor. Amidst the loud creaking noise, Elze smiled awkwardly and said to him,
“A little... dizzy, huh?”
Of course, it wasn't just a little dizzy. Fortunately, Shan didn't ask. He walked briskly and stood in front of Elze. As he approached, he smelled the cold night air from outside and a faint smell of wind. Elze shivered slightly from the cool chill, and Shan hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“I’ve left you alone for too long.”
He felt sorry for some reason. Of course, Elze had a great time while he was gone, so there was no need to apologize at all. Elze spoke to him with an indifferent expression.
“Not at all? You could have stayed a little longer.”
“...”
Shan didn't respond to Elze's words. His face hardened slightly. Elze was puzzled as she watched Shan, who was clearly showing his displeasure. There was nothing in what she had just said that could have offended him. She glanced at his face and this time Elze spoke first.
“You must have been busy. You even had to stay at the palace for a few days.”
Instead of answering, Shan looked at Elze quietly. His gaze was subtle. It was as if he was expressing something he wanted to say. However, Elze was becoming increasingly unable to read his intentions. When she was about to become frustrated, not knowing why he was doing this, Shan said.
“Didn’t you wait for me?”
Elze nodded roughly and answered.
“Oh, I’ve been waiting. I was wondering when you would come. We have some things to discuss.”
“...”
But this time it didn't seem to be the right answer. Shan became silent again.
***
As soon as the wedding was over, Crown Prince Raymond summoned Shan to the palace. Shan, who was attending the palace council for the first time as Count Targayel, was a new star in politics. Many nobles watched Shan Cirxus Targayel's every move.
The nobles had only two attitudes toward Shan: welcoming or rejecting.
The high-ranking nobles, who could be called the established powers, disliked Shan, who would divide their wealth and honor. On the other hand, the nobles of lower rank or those with strongholds in the provinces welcomed Shan, secretly hoping that he would become the center of the emerging powers and lead them.
After the meeting, Shan was surrounded by several nobles and greeted them. After a while of talking here and there, there was a moment of silence when a soft voice was heard.
“Congratulations.”
Shan turned his head and looked back. He saw pale blue-gray eyes.
“...Count Targayel.”
The one who had called Shan was Duke Seraph. He was also the one who had exerted the greatest influence in making Shan the Count of Targayel this time. However, Shan was not a person he liked very much. Shan, who did not want to talk to him much, simply expressed his courtesy and gratitude.
“Thanks to Your Excellency’s consideration.”
Duke Seraph smiled quietly at the simple greeting without any particular flattery. He spoke with his face dazzlingly beautiful under the sunlight.
“I sent you a small gift to celebrate the slope of House Targayel.”
"Thank you."
Even though Shan was showing that he wanted to end the conversation quickly, Duke Seraph didn't back down. He smiled and said what he wanted to say. And at the words that followed, Shan narrowed his eyes.
“I heard that your wife traveled abroad as a peddler.”
Duke Seraph said with an angelic smile.
“I’m not sure if this gift will suit Madam. I hope she’ll like it.”
“...”
Shan had to work hard to control his expression. The nobles looked down on merchants. Now, Duke Seraph was sarcastically belittling Erzenes about her past as a merchant.
Although they were part of the same pro-imperial faction, they were competing for the Crown Prince's trust. Duke Seraph's intention to humiliate and discourage him was obvious. It would have been right and noble to let it slide. However...
“What do you mean by that now?”
Shan bumped into Duke Seraph.
“It almost sounds to me like Your Excellency is trying to insult my wife. Of course, that’s not what you meant.”
Duke Seraph's eyes widened at Shan's straightforward speech. Shan smiled crookedly at the Duke. A harsh aura gushed out.
“I apologize. I am an ignorant man who has only wielded a sword on the battlefield, so I am not yet accustomed to etiquette and my words may be rude. I believe Your Excellency will understand.”
Shan said that and quickly left the place. Duke Seraph's gaze was fixed on his back, but he didn't look back.
As soon as he left Duke Seraph, Shan frowned and shook off his sleeve. He had only had a brief conversation, but he felt very dirty. He couldn't stop thinking about Duke Seraph's face mocking Erzenes. He wished he had held it back, but he didn't regret letting it out.
Duke Seraph was a man he would have loved to have met on the battlefield. If he had, he would have killed him right away.
"Ha..."
Anyway, this is why he doesn't want to come to the palace. Shan took a deep breath to calm his emotions, then headed straight to the Crown Prince's Palace. Raymond was waiting for him.
He had been held captive in the palace for several days, and now he wanted to go home. However, be had to stop by the palace because the Crown Prince had told him that they had something important to talk about and insisted that he come. Shan had already contacted the Targayel mansion to say that he would be home today, but he was worried that he would be late leaving the palace and not be able to return home.
Raymond was waiting for Shan in the reception room, with a tea set ready. As soon as Shan entered the reception room, he jumped up from his seat and welcomed him.
“Shan! No. I’m sorry about that.”
Raymond, who had achieved what he wanted, couldn't hide his joy and laughed so hard that his mouth almost split. He smiled brightly and called again.
“Count Targayel!”
Shan nodded slightly to Raymond to show his respect. Raymond burst into laughter and said,
“I’m still not used to it. Can I call you by your name like I used to in private?”
“Do whatever you want.”
For reasons different from Raymond's, Shan was still unfamiliar with the name Targayel. He simply preferred to be called Shan. Targayel was a name that suited Erzenes much better than he did.
Shan had to try to keep the corners of his mouth from rising as the thought of Erzenes came to his mind without warning.
What could she be doing? He has been away from home for a long time. She might be lonely. There was no one in the mansion with whom Erzenes could talk comfortably. The feeling of missing someone and worrying about them was unfamiliar. Shan felt a sense of wonder at himself, but on the other hand, he wanted to go home quickly.
Anyway, to get back quickly, he had to finish talking to Raymond quickly. But he didn't seem like Raymond was going to let him go easily. Shan sat down across from him and started drinking tea together. Raymond started talking nonsense.
“I recently received a huge bill from the Elijah Mercenaries.”
“Is that so?”
Judging by his expression, Raym seemed to be going to ask him to do something annoying. He often left things that were difficult for him to handle to Shan, and whenever he did, he would always start with a long explanation before the main topic.
“As you know, the amount of money that went into Elijah was enormous. The empire’s finances were in shambles after the war...”
Shan focused on drinking his tea, ignoring what he was saying. The tea tasted pretty good.
He wonders if Erzenes likes this too. He remembered her on the first night when she was so excited that she was pouring a bottle of wine alone. Maybe she liked alcohol more than tea.
Is there an injection? If so, what would it be? Come to think of it, he didn't know much about Erzenes. He didn't know much about Elze either...
While he was thinking about Elze and Erzenes, Raymond's words suddenly caught his ear.
“...So I would like to leave Elijah’s handling to you, Shan.”
Shan put down the teacup he was drinking from without saying a word. The sound of the teacups clinking echoed through the silence. Shan spoke slowly.
“...I don’t know what Your Highness is thinking.”
Raymond laughed out loud. He cracked a teaspoon and asked,
“Ah, I’m sorry. Did I twist things too much?”
He smiled brightly and spoke clearly.
“I want you to get rid of Elijah.”
Shan didn't answer, but Raymond continued talking on his own.
“Of course, externally, it has nothing to do with me. I trust that you will take care of that.”
“...”
“They may be capable, but aren’t they really a troublemaker? If they make a mistake and end up crossing over to the enemy’s side, there’s nothing more troublesome than that.”
Raymond talked to himself for a while, then realized that Shan was still not responding, so he stopped talking. Silence flowed. Raymond was puzzled as he watched Shan remain silent. A low voice was heard.
"Your Highness."
The low voice scratched deep inside. A tingling sensation ran through his body. The sunken purple eyes swayed. Shan met Raymond’s eyes tightly and spoke slowly.
“Even beasts know grace.”
“...!”
Raymond flinched back. It was an instinctive step before he could even grasp Shan's meaning.
“...”
Raymond bit his lip. His hands, which had been leisurely shaking the teaspoon, were shaking violently.
Shan slowly lowered his gaze and immediately apologized.
“I'm sorry.”
As the tension in his throat subsided, Raymond took a deep breath. He tried to force a smile, but he couldn't hide the twitching muscles in his face. Shan waited until Raymond calmed down and explained in a calm tone.
“There’s something I haven’t told you. Captain Elijah is the one who saved my life.”
"That...!"
Raymond looked surprised. He didn't know. Shan didn't bother to tell him about his personal life. Raymond thought of Shan as a brother and cared for him, but only when he was sure that he was on his side. There was no reason to make him feel vulnerable by saying unnecessary things.
But, since Raymond was in this situation, Shan had to be prepared to give up his life and persuade him.
“If it’s a money issue, I’ll take care of it. Please put Elijah on hold.”
Raymond thought for a moment. In fact, the rudeness Shan had just shown was not something that could be easily forgiven. If Raymond valued authority, he would have kicked Shan out.
But Raymond was wise. He knew how valuable and useful Shan was to him. So instead of questioning his rudeness, he closed his eyes and accepted Shan's offer of persuasion.
“Well... the payment is a secondary issue...”
Shan could easily guess Raymond's intentions as he trailed off. The price was one thing, but what he was most worried about was Elijah being hired by the enemy. Shan answered quietly.
“I will make sure that they never betray Baluar.”
"How?"
No one has been able to catch Elijah so far. Shan's words were like saying that he would hold water in his hand. Shan said to Raymond, whose face was filled with disbelief.
“I will accept the Elijah Mercenaries as Targayel’s private army.”
***
When Shan left the Crown Prince's Palace, it was already night. The night sky was full of stars, almost pouring down. Even though he cut Raymond off, it was already too late.
Raymond seemed to want to keep him in the palace again today. Shan was barely able to escape by making an excuse that he had some business to take care of at the mansion.
Shan frowned as he looked back at the Crown Prince's Palace behind him. He remembered his conversation with Raymond. He had expected him to target Elijah, but he had not expected it to turn out like this.
The best way to protect Elijah in this situation was to hide them under Targayel's wing. Of course, it was uncertain whether Elijah would listen to Shan's words, but he had to convince them somehow.
First, it was important to divert the Crown Prince's attention by pretending to bring them in as a private soldier. Then, he planned to find another way, such as smuggling them out of the country or pretending to be dead.
Shan pushed aside his thoughts about Elijah. There were more important things to consider now. He had been working all day and had left the palace late at night, but he didn't even feel tired. It was because he was thinking about Erzenes.
After riding the carriage out of the palace and riding for a while, Targayel's mansion came into view. The moment he saw the gray brick building, his heart started pounding. Erzenes was probably asleep. The servants came to check on their master's return and attend to him. But they all left. Putting everything else aside, he wanted to see Erzenes right away.
Shan tried to keep quiet so that he wouldn't wake her up. He headed towards the bedroom as quietly as possible and carefully opened the door, but he could feel a rustling noise inside.
When he opened the door, the bedroom was a mess. The interior of the bedroom had just been finished, and all the furniture and decorations were scattered about, each claiming their own identity. However, he didn’t even notice that the room was messy. All he could see was Erzenes.
“Shan?”
When Erzenes, who had discovered him, called his name, his chest tightened. And when he looked into her blue eyes... That joy was hard to explain.
Shan, feeling anxious, walked briskly toward her. Then he stood right in front of her and looked down. It was nice that he had approached her, but he didn’t know what to say. His past memories of never hesitating in front of a woman felt like a lie. Shan, after much thought, came up with a safe answer.
“I’ve left you alone for too long.”
However, things did not go as Shan had expected. He had thought that Erzenes would say a word or two to reprimand him. However, she did not seem to be waiting for him. Shan, who had naturally assumed that she would be lonely and waiting for him, felt like he had been hit in the back of the head.
The love Shan knew was all about obsession and possession.
Up until now, women have been obsessed with Shan and have even risked their lives to possess him. If Shan did not do as they wanted, they would even curse him.
So he had secretly assumed that Erzenes would act the same way... But she was different. She still looked at him with clear eyes. Feeling strangely uneasy, Shan spoke bluntly on purpose.
“Can we talk?”
“Talk?”
Was it unexpected? Erzenes looked surprised. It was as if he was asking if there was something to talk about between him and her.
Shan took off his coat and threw it carelessly on the sofa, then headed to the wine rack in the corner of the bedroom. There was a bottle of wine and a glass there. The maids brought it in from the wine cellar every day.
Shan came to the sofa with wine and a glass and uncorked it without saying a word. Erzenes sat across from him with a bewildered expression and accepted the glass.
Two glasses were filled, and Shan and Erzenes were silent for a moment, sipping their wine, just as they had on their first night.
Shan glanced at Erzenes. He wondered what she was thinking. He could not guess her thoughts just by looking at her expression. He was tempted by the ivory hair that shone faintly under the dim light. Shan tried to suppress the urge to touch it and asked cautiously.
“Don’t you... hate me?”
There was a lot of meaning in the question Shan asked. When he thinks about what he did to Erzenes, there really wasn't a single thing he liked about it.
He had already demanded a contract from them at their first meeting and had taken away the title of Count of Targayel... When he thought about it, he had truly been a bad man. Erzenes tilted her head at Shan’s question. She tilted her head for a while before asking a question.
“In what part?”
“Anything, everything.”
Erzenes blinked for a moment, then put down his glass and said.
“Oh, of course, there are a lot.”
“..."
“Honestly, you know that you have a really unlucky personality, right?”
The words that were thrown out one after another flew straight into Shan's heart and pierced his heart. It was so direct that he felt like he was being beaten up with words. But somehow, he couldn't stop laughing. It was really funny how he felt good even when he was being cursed at.
When talking to her, it was hard to tell if he was talking to a mercenary with a strong mouth or the mistress of an elegant noble family. Judging from the way she treated her maids, she was definitely a noblewoman. However, seeing her say everything she wanted to say, she didn't seem like a pretty girl.
Maybe a nobleman or a mercenary, maybe both.
***
In fact, she was a little embarrassed. Elze had never thought that there would come a time when they would sit side by side like this, having a drink together late at night.
But actually drinking with him wasn't awkward. It was as natural as if it was every night. And he asked her some cute questions. When Shan asked her if she didn't hate him, Elze deliberately made a sarcastic remark.
Shan didn't frown at the straightforward answer but instead smiled. Elze couldn't figure out why he was smiling, but she laughed too. In the soft and relaxed atmosphere, Shan poured wine into Elze's glass and said.
“I thought you would resent me.”
"Why?"
“...Like the problem of rank.”
"Ah."
Elsa fiddled with the glass in front of her. The red wine sparkling in the clear glass was beautiful. She ran her fingers along the long, straight stem and spoke softly.
“Anyway, Astin didn’t want to become a Count. The child wasn’t in a position to become one, and I couldn’t accept it either...”
Even if it was originally a hereditary title, there had to be a symbolic award ceremony held at the imperial court. However, even though Astin had come of age, there was no mention of a title from the imperial court. It was too obvious that the imperial court intended to abandon House Targayel to think that it was due to the chaos of the war.
She felt powerless and sad. However, since she had no way to make a living right away, at that time, Elze decided to give up her pride. And she sent a letter to the royal family asking for financial support, saying that she would give up her title.
However, after much thought and hardship, there was no reply to the letter sent. The silence, which was neither acceptance nor rejection, made even the last expectation disappear cleanly. With that, Elze gave up on any more support from the royal family and completely forgot about it.
She didn't know it would come back in the form of this political marriage.
“It doesn’t matter as long as you keep to the terms of the contract.”
But the current situation wasn't so bad. After all, Astin's dream was to study public administration and become a manager. And Shan had both the money and the power to push Astin forward.
Elze asked Shan to provide financial support for Astin so that he could focus on his studies and provide a background for him to enter government service. Shan readily agreed, and this was stipulated in their prenuptial agreement.
With the war over and the income cut off, Elze was also feeling the financial burden of maintaining Targayel's mansion on her own. In many ways, marrying him was more beneficial than detrimental.
In fact, aside from all that, because the other person was Shan, there was also the fact that she did not show any particular opposition to the marriage and obediently followed the imperial order.
She hated it because it was Shan, but she liked it because it was Shan.
He was a man who felt an indescribable attraction. And after the war, she missed him a little bit...
What are you thinking? Elze was internally reproaching herself for thinking such nonsense when Shan suddenly opened his mouth.
“I was a little worried.”
Shan continued with a slightly anxious expression on his face.
“I’m afraid you... will regret getting married.”
Elze had never understood why he was acting like this before. He was a man who didn't need to be desperate. And it was the same in the opposite case.
“Aren’t our relationships supposed to be governed by the contract anyway? If you just keep the terms, there’s nothing for you or me to regret.”
Elze said that and put down the wine glass she had finished drinking on the table. Shan seemed a little frustrated. He opened his mouth several times to say something and then closed it again. Elze added a word to him.
“It’s a political marriage, but I think it’s not so bad.”
Then Shan's face softened. Elze glanced out the window. It had been quite some time already. Shan must have been tired from working late at the palace, but Elze, who had worked out hard that day, was also tired. Shan quickly said.
“I’m tired, but I’ve been holding you back for too long.”
He stood up and reached out his hand to Elze. Somehow as if it were natural, Elze took his hand. The moment their hands touched, something tingled in her body. Shan stared at Elze for a moment, then pulled hard.
Her body naturally rose and she leaned towards him. Elze was held in Shan's arms. And Shan immediately kissed Elze.
As soon as their lips touched, his tongue slid in as if it had been waiting. His fingers traced her waist and gripped it tightly. With the somewhat hasty movement, a hot heat rushed in. Her waist shook at the strange sensation of her mouth being swept over. When a faint moan escaped, he reacted more violently.
The moment when the passionate kiss ended and their lips parted, each breathing heavily.
Elze whispered to Shan.
“We have sex once a month.”
“...”
Shan had no choice but to quietly let go of his hand.
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