Albrecht, hearing what I said, looked strangely bewildered.
Q"The mission I received from His Majesty is to protect Your Highness the Grand Duchess, right? What do you mean by real mission?..."
When I saw that sight, I couldn't help but laugh.
I stared at him, unable to hold back the laughter that was flowing out.
"Did you think I wouldn't know? The real mission you received from my father... It's not like protecting me. That's just a pretext, your real purpose is..."
After lowering his voice, I whispered quietly to Albrecht.
"You're going to assassinate the Grand Duke, right?"
It was as expected.
Albrecht did not raise his head in denial.
He seemed surprised that I had figured out his purpose so quickly, so I explained it to him appropriately.
"I know my father better than anyone. He would not send anyone to take care of his precious daughter."
I continued, trying hard to ignore the sadness rising in a corner of my heart.
"If he sent someone, it would be to eliminate his enemies, not to protect me."
Albrecht, who heard what I said, kept his mouth shut.
Then at some point.
"Still, you have a keen sense of humor. If you were born as a hanger-on and had no sense of humor, life would have been really hard. I guess that's a blessing in disguise."
That is, it was true that my father had sent Albrecht to eliminate Kishian.
'Even after failing once, My father still can't come to his senses and...'
I spoke to Albrecht, inwardly resenting my father for making such a stupid mistake again.
"You'll fail. Kishian, that man is not a man who would die at the hands of a mere assassin."
"Then is there any other way? I thought you said you would cooperate with me a little while ago."
I told Albrecht, who showed his anticipation without hiding it, what he wanted to hear.
"Yes, I will cooperate, but I cannot directly intervene. Find out his weaknesses and convey them to you... That is all I can do."
As soon as I finished speaking, Albrecht's eyes flashed like a snake's.
"Is it really possible to find out his weakness? You know that. That man was no ordinary human being. When His Majesty sent someone to eliminate him, the assassin reported: "He was shot straight through the heart with an arrow."
I didn't answer because I already knew the story.
Albrecht said with an eerie smile as if trying to scare me.
"But surprisingly, a man survived having his heart pierced by a blade and falling off a cliff. And he came back completely unharmed."
After lowering his voice as if he were telling a terrible story, Albrecht opened his mouth again.
"It is said that in the Lennon family, sometimes someone with special powers is born. His Majesty dismisses it as a baseless old story."
"It wasn't just an old story, I guess."
I was the first to come to that conclusion.
I could see him furrowing his brows as if he was offended that I had interrupted him, but I ignored him and continued talking.
"Kishian has that special power that runs through the bloodline of the Grand Duke's family, and that's why he survived the attacks of assassins and monsters without being shaken."
Albrecht nodded in agreement.
"He is a man who is even more cunning than he looks. He thoroughly hid his power while in the palace. Because of that, even His Majesty let his guard down and the first assassination attempt failed, but this time it will be different."
"..."
"Since I'm the closest person to him, at least on the surface, I might be able to figure out the monster's weaknesses."
I silently accepted his gaze, which seemed to be filled with blatant anticipation, and then slowly opened my mouth.
"It wouldn't be impossible. As you said, I am now the Grand Duchess, his wife."
There weren't many beings who could find out about the secrets that Kishian held.
His closest associates, his retainers, and me, his wife.
It made sense that Albrecht had contacted me. He must have wanted to get some useful information out of me.
I continued to shake the bait at Albrecht, who still had a low expression full of anticipation.
"I'll find out and let you know so you can complete your mission, but this is quite dangerous. I could lose my life."
"Do you want a price?"
"You're not that dull. Yes, there's something I want."
I briefly explained my requirements to him, who expressed interest.
"Once the Grand Duke is assassinated, I plan to leave this Grand Duke's territory for my own safety. Please give me a way out, and a fake identity to use after I escape."
"Hmm? But if you disappear..."
"The forces that have gathered around him will hold a grudge against the imperial family. If I disappear as soon as the Grand Duke dies, they will think of me as the culprit and will immediately point the finger at the imperial family as being behind me."
It seemed as though Albrecht had intended to frame me and have me executed in the Grand Duchy.
If they could just pass all the blame on me and cut off the tail, the royal family could avoid unnecessary friction with the Grand Duke's forces.
But he hesitated to answer because he knew that if I ran away, he wouldn't be able to do that.
I further explained to Albrecht, who was showing signs of reluctance.
"Of course, I don't plan on running away without a plan. I... plan on pretending to be dead first."
"Are you going to pretend to die in an accident, throw a corpse away and run away?"
"If I pretend that I assassinated the Grand Duke alone and committed suicide out of fear of the consequences, there will be no harm to the imperial family. Just don't go around telling everyone about this plan."
Albrecht's answer was delayed as if he was hesitating.
It was something to worry about.
If everything went according to plan, it wouldn't be too bad for the Emperor whom Albert served.
But if things don't work out that easily, not only me, but the entire royal family will be in danger.
So, I waved the tempting bait again in front of Albrecht, who was hesitating.
"I promise that I will find out the Grand Duke's weakness and pass it on to him at all costs. Then, the assassination that once failed will bear fruit. Isn't it worth a try?"
A look of agony clearly appeared on Albrecht's face.
I waited quietly like a fisherman with his fishing rod in the river.
There was no impatience. After all, he had no choice but to take the bait I threw.
Didn't they also put in some devices to make it more reliable than the actual fit?
If I had told you I would help you without any compensation, you might not have believed me. He is a very suspicious person.
However, I showed my will to escape from the airspace.
I think you'll just cooperate with me, even if it's just for the sake of escaping.
As expected, the waiting time wasn't that long.
"Understood. I'll make all the necessary preparations for your escape, including a fake identity, of course."
***
The deal with Albrecht went smoothly.
It was a deal that was concluded quickly and smoothly without any obstacles.
So after the deal was done, the first thing I did was to put the rumors to rest.
The nobles who had gathered at the Grand Duke's Palace as guests had already heard rumors about Albrecht.
Rumors were spreading that the Grand Duke had been violently abusing the servant the Princess had brought along for some reason.
So I served them a meal and explained to them in person that there had been a slight misunderstanding and that everything was resolved well.
Thanks to this, the rumors were at least seemingly put to rest.
Kishian was also able to escape the misconception that he was violent, and Albrecht was able to be released from the dungeon.
Since the Grand Duchess herself came forward and said that it was nothing serious, Kishian lost the justification for keeping Albrecht imprisoned any longer.
For now, it seemed like things were going more or less as planned.
However, there was something I did not anticipate.
While I was so busy, Letie's discontent built up and eventually exploded.
“Why are you so busy? You don’t even show your face, and it seems like you don’t care about me at all.”
Letie, who had suddenly appeared, expressed her dissatisfaction with a pouty expression.
It wasn't a complaint or a lack of understanding, since she had been practically neglected since she came to this northern part of the country.
Instead of responding sharply, I gave a proper explanation.
“I couldn’t help it. Because of Albrecht, strange rumors were spreading.”
"When you say Albrecht, you mean the servant of my father that I brought with me back then?"
“Yes. That man."
I was going to tell her what he did to me, but I held back.
'Letie has no idea who Albrecht is or why he came here.'
All Letie knows is that Albrecht is her father's lackey.
I decided to try to cover it up a bit, as I was afraid that the situation would get complicated if I leaked useless information to Letie, who knew nothing about it.
"The guy made a small mistake. It wasn't a big deal, but I still had to step in and fix it."
"I see..."
Letie returned to her innocent day, completely unaware of the terrible and dark conversation that had transpired between Albrecht and me.
"So the urgent matter is over now?"
“Yeah, right?”
"Can we finally have dinner together tonight?"
"Dinner?"
When I showed a puzzled expression, not knowing what kind of meal she was talking about, a sunny smile spread across Letie's face.
"I wanted the four of us, my sister, Ednan, and the Grand Duke, to have a meal together."
Ednan was the name of the Duke of Herssen.
Ednan Lin Herssen. The group Letie affectionately called him Ednan. That is, the sisters and Kishian and Duke Herssen wanted to dine together.
At that moment, of course, worries arose.
"... I don’t know if he’ll accept. He’s so busy.”
Kishian was indeed busy, but I felt like I shouldn't have him and Duke Herssen in the same place.
Because it seemed like Kishian didn't have good feelings towards the Duke of Herssen at the moment.
Above all, if either Letie or Duke Herssen made a slip of the tongue at the dinner table, it would be a big problem.
Letie, as always, seemed unimpressed with my reaction this time.
"We just wanted to eat. Is that hard? Is he that busy?"
“Of course.”
It was the moment when I was about to say, 'Of course, that's natural. He is the one who rules the vast northern territory alone.'
"It's not that busy, Ma'am."
I turned my head in the direction where I heard the familiar low voice.
Kishian, who we don't know when he came, was leaning against the crack of the bedroom door and looking at us.
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