Everyone at Wilhelm Castle was drunk for the wedding.
As they began to get drunk, voices that had been hidden began to come out from the table where the lord's adjutant, Paris, was sitting.
"The Isla family."
Among them, was the knight who had crossed the line with Armin. Soren muttered in disbelief.
"Be careful what you say."
Paris tried to calm Soren down, but the knights next to him had already begun to join in.
"Don't you remember how many soldiers the Marquis of Isla sent to the Imperial Palace? And that daughter is marrying into the Archduke Wilhelm family. Fortunately, she doesn't act as a spy."
"Even that woman was the lover of Walter Kainen, who was famous in the capital. That bastard tried to insult the lord."
Paris frowned at the sight of the knights calling the Emperor their son and speaking of him as if insulting his name.
He had no idea where to start or how to start.
No, to be honest...
'I don't even want to stop it.'
Yes.
This is probably closer to his honest feelings.
The daughter of Marquis Isla, who served as Walter's closest confidant throughout His Majesty the Emperor's reign, as the knights say.
And there was a woman who was so obsessed with Walter that rumors spread all the way to this distant northern land.
Now that she was the Archduchess, a woman like that would start interfering with the castle's finances and meddling in its affairs. Just thinking about that made even Paris feel sick to his stomach.
"Wha Is there anything to worry about? Let's trust the Lord. He will take care of it."
Fortunately, the oldest of the knights, Karl, spoke up, seemingly mediating the matter.
Soren said in a slightly softened voice.
"That's true. What kind of person is the lord? He wouldn't let that woman do something so foolish. He's not one to be influenced by beauties."
No matter how pretty she is.
Soren couldn't deny It because he had seen the woman's face.
Not only Soren, but everyone looked at the woman's face.
Anyone who looked at her face for even a moment could not fail to notice her beauty.
The face of an ugly person requires endless examination to find the reason for its disorder, but the face of a beautiful person is overwhelming even with a quick glance.
That's what the woman did.
What was it that made that woman look beautiful?
Was it the curly hair?
Were they small, plump lips?
Were the eyes big and round like a doll's?
In either case, the sight of a woman wearing a wide-brimmed bonnet, which seemed to be the type worn mainly in the sunny South, was quite shocking to Northerners.
It's so pretty, and it looks like a doll that a Princess would have if you had seen it in a picture book.
Lively red cheeks that don't crack even in the cold northern wind, shiny pink hair, and light green eyes that remind you of the green leaves of summer.
The woman was beautiful, but at the same time, she had difficulty finding favor with the northerners.
Because it seemed as if all the colors of the Northerners, robbed by the harsh winds and long nights of the North, had gone to that woman.
Of course, unlike the little dolls in picture books who always have kind smiles on their faces, there was something a bit strange about that girl's eyes.
[What should I do now?]
Those eagle eyes.
A rough and rugged movement, like that seen in knights handling rough iron.
Perhaps all the knights here cannot help but admit that their souls were momentarily captivated by that sight.
But that was only a moment.
The woman standing before the priest, wearing the traditional northern veil, once again became like a living doll, and everyone came to their senses and looked at the woman again.
The daughter of an arch-rival.
The lover of an arch-rival.
Now they were forced to serve such a woman as their master.
Well, of course, there's not much that a woman can do in this castle without Armin's permission.
If that woman does anything stupid, Armin will cut off that beautiful head right away.
Armin was that kind of man.
He may look rough and mischievous, but he has a cold heart.
"In that sense, Hannah!"
At that moment, Soren called out to a woman in a black dress who was sitting at another table.
Then the woman slowly turned her head and looked at Soren.
Wherever the cold purple eyes passed, the knights turned their heads and coughed in vain.
Hannah Vlad.
Hannah, a maid who had worked in this castle for a long time, was also Armin's old friend.
"How about making some progress in your relationship with the Lord? Since it would be difficult to marry the Lord anyway, you are in charge of producing a successor..."
Ting.
That was when.
The meat knife flew out of Hannah's hand and landed right in front of Soren's plate.
All the knights who saw that became quiet.
But Hannah looked at Soren without saying anything, wiping them off from the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
"Oh, sorry. My hand slipped. Can you pick up my knife?"
"How could the knife have slipped and ended up here and stuck like this."
Soren muttered as he struggled to pry Hannah's knife from the table.."
It was when Soren, who was of a large build, barely managed to pull out the knife that was stuck so deep that it would not come out easily even if he tried to pull it out, but fell backward due to the recoil.
Hannah got up from her seat and approached Soren.
Instead of helping Soren up, she snatched the knife from him and crouched down in front of him, saying.
"Don't talk nonsense about the lord, Lord Soren. No matter how close we are, If you do that again next time..."
Hannah said, sharpening her butcher knife between his legs.
"I'll cut you to pieces."
"...!"
It was when Soren's face turned white.
Pares motioned to the knights nearby to take Soren away.
Pares said to Hannah as he watched Soren being dragged away, trembling.
"Please don't be so angry, Miss Hannah. Let me apologize on your behalf..."
"You're apologizing instead?"
Then Hannah looked up at Paris with a smirk.
"It's funny. You let this whole situation go. Their conversation just now was nothing short of insulting the lord."
At those words, Paris's brow furrowed.
It wasn't that he was offended by Hannah's words blaming him. It was just that her words were a little unexpected.
He looked into Hannah's purple eyes with a strange expression.
Listening to what she was saying now, it sounded like Hannah was rooting for Armin and Diana's marriage.
However...
'Didn't this woman have a crush on the lord?'
He opened his mouth with that thought in mind.
"It can't be helped, since everyone in this castle finds it difficult to accept this marriage. It's impossible to completely eliminate the opportunity for the knights under your command to express their grievances. Miss Hannah. I'll pour you some wine as a token of my apology."
"No, I'd rather have wine."
Hannah held out her palm as a sign of refusal.
She spoke firmly, sweeping her jet-black hair back.
"I don't plan on getting drunk tonight."
Hannah wiped the grease off the knife she was holding with a napkin.
The sword, which was nothing more than a meat cleaver, sparkled and shone as if it contained life.
"Because if the woman inside does anything bad to the Lord, I will kill her with my own hands."
"..."
Paris coughed in vain as he looked into Hannah's murderous purple eyes.
Of course, he wasn't supporting the marriage.
Hannah Vlad, no matter how he looks at this woman... she's a little strange.
He said with that thought in mind.
"No matter what. His Highness, would you let that frail woman suffer..."
"I don't know about that."
That's when Hannah spoke decisively.
“Gyaaaah!”
A scream echoed from somewhere.
At the ear-piercing sound, everyone in the hall looked up first.
Because the screams came from the master's bedroom upstairs.
It was the moment when Hannah Vlad was about to jump out reflexively.
Paris grabbed Hannah's wrist.
Although not as skilled as Armin in using Aura, Paris was already drawing his sword from its scabbard...
"I'm going. I..."
That was when.
Before Paris could finish speaking, someone was seen coming down the stairs.
All the knights looked up at the person coming down the stairs, nervous that Diana Isla had really harmed their lord.
That was Armin.
Hannah bit her lip when she saw his chest soaked in blood.
If that blood had been Armin's, Hannah would have run out immediately.
But the blood on his chest wasn't Armin's.
Diana Wilhelm was lying in Armin's arms, her body drooping like a wet rag, and there was blood on her lips.
Armin walked toward Hannah without hesitation, holding the woman in his arms.
"Your Highness..."
"I've been poisoned by Ophir poison. Get me an antidote right now..."
While Paris was struggling to interpret the sentences that were uttered with heavy breathing, Hannah had already disappeared to find the antidote. It was a lightning-quick execution.
Armin then overturned an entire table, clearing away all the glasses and plates on it, and laid Diana down on the table.
Armin muttered as he looked at Diana lying there with her bloodshot eyes.
"What do you mean, dying together...?"
The corners of Armin's mouth rose slightly.
"That's just a dog's death."
Amin, who had been mumbling so quietly that Paris couldn't hear, soon called Pares.
“Paris.”
"Yes, my lord."
"Catch all the new maids who come to this castle within a month and bring them before me."
That was the moment.
Blood flowed between Armin's lips.
Paris's eyes widened at the sight.
"Your Highn..!"
"Bring her back alive, no matter what."
With those words, Armin collapsed onto the table.
Armin, who had fallen, held Diana's hand tightly until the end.
The two people's hands were connected to each other, turning white.
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