"How could it be!"
The man shrugged his shoulders and looked exaggeratedly frightened.
"I dare to fight the one who will be the ruler of the East!"
Barcas, who had been staring silently at the man's face, put the glass to his lips without saying a word. When he did not immediately respond to the provocation, the man seemed to be a little excited.
The man with a humorous expression on his face growled.
"However, I am a little curious. What on earth did you think of betraying His Royal Highness the First Princess, and taking on the trouble of the imperial family?"
Tension began to flow in the hall.
Barcas moved his eyes and scanned the faces of the nobles who sat on the left and right sides of the long table.
The loyalists of the family, who lived in Calmore, the heart of the East, and had been the hands and feet of the Sheerkhan family, had a disgruntled look on their faces.
However, the aristocrats who were in charge of the provinces, large and small, were watching their reactions with an appreciative gaze. Apparently, they were trying to gauge whether the young successor of the Grand Duke family was someone who could be entrusted with them and the future of the East.
He spun the wine in the glass lightly and slowly opened his mouth.
"Betrayal, that's a gross exaggeration. As we all know, my engagement to her was based on political interests. If the situation changes, the content can also change."
"What has changed?"
The man stood up on his forehead.
"Is Your Majesty the Emperor's words so great that it breaks the promise of many years?"
"Do you think that the orders of the ruler of the empire are light?"
He tilted his head and asked.
He was speechless for a moment, and his face was red with a black beard. The man chuckled loudly.
"What a great loyalty! I don't think I can even imitate someone like you."
"Lord Gutban, you seem to be overly excited."
A middle-aged nobleman sitting across from him cautiously dissuaded him.
But the man didn't even pretend to listen. He picked up a goblet full of wine, gulped it down in one gulp, and wiped the corners of his mouth roughly with his sleeve.
"Someday, the time will come when our great Emperor will step down. Then His Highness the Crown Prince will become the ruler of the empire. What do you plan to do then? Will Your Highness be willing to accept the loyalty of the East?"
"This marriage is something that His Highness the Crown Prince has agreed to."
Barcas tilted his glass to reflect his face on the red liquid, and then slowly continued.
"Nope. Later, he became more proactive."
"What the hell is that..."
"Let me just explain that this marriage was beneficial to His Highness the Crown Prince to some extent."
He interrupted coldly.
"I can't dare to talk about the imperial family's disgrace."
Suspicion spread across the faces of the nobles. This could also be interpreted to mean that he had the Crown Prince's weakness.
Barcas watched them exchange glances and spoke in a light tone, as if to evoke the atmosphere.
"Once the questions have been cleared up to some extent, let's conclude this pleasant conversation."
Then he raised his glass and looked around carefully.
"Come on, everyone. As the head of the Gutban family said, it was the wine that the next Grand Duke of the East received as a reward for his 17 years of loyalty."
Barcas raised the corners of his mouth and relaxed his glass as he added.
"When will you be able to taste this kind of delicacy again?"
The nobles, who rolled their eyes as if they didn't know how to react, soon raised their glasses with awkward laughter. It was clear that everyone wanted to break the uncomfortable atmosphere at this point.
But the man didn't seem to want to back down. He shouted, slamming his steel hammer-like fist into the table.
"How can you believe that! All the people of the Empire know how much His Highness the Crown Prince cares for His Royal Highness the First Princess. His Highness the Crown Prince could not have made the decision to throw Her Highness the Princess's honor into the mud!"
Barcas wiped away the smile that had been hanging from his lips. The man's words and actions that he couldn't understand at all were running out of patience.
He leaned his head against the backrest and made a gesture as if to ask him to continue. The man wasted no time in pouring out his words.
"Do you know what rumors are circulating right now? Even the heirs of the East fell to the witches of the Taren family. Just as His Majesty the Emperor was deceived by the viper-like woman and betrayed His Majesty the late Empress, the next Grand Duke Sheerkhan was deceived by her daughter and betrayed Her Royal Highness the Good 1st Princess! That's what they're talking about!"
The last words were almost like shouting. A booming voice filled the hall.
"If Her Highness the First Princess also follows in the footsteps of Empress Bernadette, how will she repay for her sins!"
"Let's listen, let's listen, and there is no limit!"
An Impatient Darren Drew Sheerkhan interrupted the conversation.
"Alek Gutban, you are a vassal of the Grand Duke's family! Do you think it's acceptable to talk like that to the heir of the Grand Duke's family in this castle of Raedgo?"
"When a leader goes astray, it is also the vassals' job to speak out against him!"
The man shouted curiously at Darren and turned his eyes back to Barcas.
"My Lord could have made the First Princess adored by the entire empire, the hostess of the East! But he brought a wicked woman from illegitimacy as his bride. How can we get over this situation quietly...!"
The man who had been yelling suddenly stopped talking. Barcas, who was looking down at the man as if he were watching a ridiculous play, froze for a moment.
A small man with a ragged hood pressed to the top of his head stepped up behind the bear-like man's back, tipped a bottle of liquor over his large head, and poured a thick liquid as red as blood.
The sudden situation caused the sound of heavy breathing in the hall.
The victim was also shocked and could not react immediately. The man, who was drenched in the pouring of alcohol with a dazed face, jumped up from his seat only after the bottle was empty.
A huge body of nearly seven cubets (about 210 centimeters) rose eeriely above the uninvited guest, whose entire body was covered by a robe.
"What kind of crazy guy would do this...!"
The man twisted the man's wrists with a rough hand and peeled off the hood from his head. Then, her long hair, which had been curled up in the hem of her clothes, poured down like a golden waterfall, devastating her vision.
The man's body stiffened as he raised his fist as if he was going to slap his cheek at any moment.
The woman shot a venomous look through her disheveled hair.
The man, who was shaking faintly as if he had been electrocuted by his intense gaze, gulped down and swallowed dryly. His pupils, dark like tar, dripped down her face with stickiness.
Barcas, who was clutching the goblet as if to crush it, immediately stood up. He stepped behind her and pulled her slender body into his arms, unconsciously twisting her wrist as if he didn't want her to be taken away.
Suddenly, something stirred in his stomach. Barcas looked down at the dark hands holding her in a dim gaze.
The man was still licking every inch of her face with his fascinated eyes. A chill gusts up his spine. He squinted at the strange sensation of his back bones getting cold, and suddenly, the sound of a whip slapping rang out.
The man looked down at the woman with stunned eyes. He didn't seem to understand what had happened.
She raised her arm and slapped her wine-covered face once more.
"Where do you dare to put your dirty hands?"
The man finally came to his senses, let go of her wrist, and took a step back.
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