Barcas, covered in dust, stormed into the city gate, left the light horse convulsing and foaming at the mouth, and crossed the parade ground.
Upon hearing the news of the Grand Duke's arrival, hundreds of mounted warriors poured out of the barracks. Without even the main body of the knights bending in unison, Barcas went straight up the stone stairs and passed through the inner gate.
The scenery of the garden, with the hint of late autumn, filled his vision.
He strode across the courtyard with thick leaves and into the Great Hall, which was lined with dozens of servants.
"Oh, are you here, Sir?"
The butler waiting by the door greeted him in a trembling voice.
"You have had a lot of trouble coming a long way. You must have already received the report..."
"How is Lucas's condition?"
Barcas, who pulled back the hood he was wearing in his head, calmly cut off the butler's words.
The man, whose wrinkled face was full of sadness, replied in a firm tone.
"Thanks to the High Priest's effort, he barely got over the hurdle... The wound of his neck may be deep, and he may be permanently disabled..."
The man couldn't finish his words and kept his mouth shut.
The maid who was waiting on the left side of the gate on his behalf carefully explained.
"The High Priest said that the exact progress can only be confirmed when the master regains consciousness."
"Is he awake?"
"At the time of the accident, the bleeding was so severe. It will take some time for him to fully recover."
Barcas, who had stood stiff for a moment, let out a subdued voice.
"I want to check the condition myself. Where is Lucas?"
"We put him in the sleeping room on the second floor that the priest originally used."
Barcas crossed the hall without delay.
As he climbed the dark carpeted stairs, he came into view the bedroom door that Grand Duke Sheerkan had used for generations.
The head maid guided him past her to the multi-level corridor.
"That's the room."
The maid pointed to the double-door room located in the wing and said.
Barcas stepped forward and pulled the doorknob. A dark bedroom was revealed with a heavy friction sound.
Barcas strode into it and slowly looked around the room.
The maids who seemed to have gathered to attend to the court, the High Priest with the gloomy face, and Raina with red eyes surrounded the bed.
"Greetings, I meet Your Excellency."
One of the maids who found him belatedly hurriedly lowered her head. Starting with this, the people who filled the room all stood up and bowed to each other.
Barcas walked past them and approached the bedside. Through the veil, he saw his brother lying dead, with a bandage around his neck.
Barcas, who was staring down at the bloody face, asked the priest who was standing at the head of the bed.
“Is there any good news?”
The priest shook his head with a gloomy face.
"I think we'll have to wait and see. I'm constantly casting healing spells, but the wound was so serious..."
Barcas looked down at Lucas again.
Until a few months ago, his energetic face had faded to ash and was pale. Since he had been wandering around for more than ten days, it was only natural that he became a corpse-like mole.
He clenched his fists. At that moment, a sharp voice echoed from afar.
"Are you satisfied now?"
His gaze turned to the other side of the bed. Raina, who looked haggard as Lucas, was staring at him with resentful eyes.
"Even though all the vassals agreed that the wolf should be dealt with, you only listened to that woman and ignored us. It's all because of my brother that Lucas became like this. That happened because my brother left the wolf alone!"
"Oh, young lady!"
The maid of honor dissuaded her in fear, but Raina didn't care.
"Get out right away! My brother doesn't deserve to be here!"
A shout that was close to screaming echoed through the bedroom.
Barcas, who had been staring at his brother with an expressionless face, eventually left the room.
In the hallway, seven vassals who had heard the news were waiting.
One of them spoke in a solemn manner.
"Your Excellency, we can no longer condone Her Highness Grand Duchess's atrocities."
Barcas didn't respond.
The man, who had shrunk his shoulders as if he was intimidated by his gaze, immediately continued his words solemnly.
"Her Highness the Grand Duchess secretly released the monster that attacked Master Lucas. She doesn't care about the safety of our Easteners! How long should we remain silent while watching her evil deeds!"
As if agreeing with his words, another man stepped forward in an excited tone.
"We must immediately get rid of the monster that attacked Master Lucas! And please give appropriate disposition to Her Highness the Grand Duchess!"
Barcas looked at the hallway where the darkness began to fall with an expressionless face.
There was also a dark shadow over the bedroom door she had shared with him.
When he thought that she might be listening to their accusations, his nerves all over his body ran sharply. Feeling disgust for himself, Barcas closed his eyes and opened them.
"Immediately form a punitive force. I'll take care of the wolf myself."
"To Her Highness the Grand Duchess..."
"I will also give her appropriate disposition."
As id to ask what kind of punishment would be imposed, the elder vassals quietly dissuaded the man who stepped forward.
Barcas passed them and climbed the stairs leading to the third floor. When he entered the room next to his study, he saw a clean bed and a pre-lit fireplace.
Barcas took off his rag-like robe, threw it casually on the floor, unfastened the breastplate, and placed it on the stand. Then he took off his sweaty and dusty coat and washed his face with the water in the basin, when he heard the knock on the door outside.
He only spoke after a long time.
"Come in."
Soon after, a ghostly whitish figure entered the room. Barcas looked at her with frozen eyes.
Thalia Roem Sheerkhan looked just as she did when she woke up after hovering between life and death.
A woman with a lot of hair hanging down her back casually looked up at him with anxious eyes.
After staring at the face he had met for the first time in months, Barcas casually picked up a towel and wiped his face. Then he gave instructions in a cold tone to the guards who were waiting at the door.
"Take the Grand Duchess to her room on the third floor. For the time being, she is strictly forbidden from leaving the house without my permission."
The guards approached her to carry out the order. The woman, who hurriedly approached him to avoid the guards, said pleadingly.
"Come on, just a moment, talk to me for a moment."
Barcas, who was wearing a clean new shirt, slowly looked back at her. Her body was wrapped in a puffy linen dress, was visibly thin.
In an instant, an unexplained anger burned in his head. He desperately suppressed it and nodded to the guards standing at the door.
"You're waiting outside."
The guards retreated in fear that the order would fall.
When she heard the door closing, her shoulder dropped a little as if she was relaxed.
Barcas, who had been watching her closely, took out a new doublet from the shelf and said in a cold tone.
"I can't give you my time for long. If you have something to say, please do it quickly.'
"Lu... Is Lucas okay?"
At the question that flowed hesitantly, Barcas let out a dry smile.
"What do you think?"
The woman bit her lip tightly and lowered her head.
Barcas, who had been watching her with icy eyes, turned his back with a tired sigh. Then he put on a woolen doublet over a thin shirt and picked up a pair of wyvern leather armor from the shelf.
As he put on his body one after another, a thin voice mixed with crying broke the silence.
"Khan... Please save him."
Barcas, who had been stiffening his body, slowly turned his head. She grabbed his arm and continued desperately.
"Oh, whatever you say from now on... I'll listen to anything. I will never quarrel with the vassa again... I'll be nice to the servant too... If you tell me not to leave the room for the rest of my life, I will do it... Please, please, don't kill Khan."
In an instant, his stomach became hot as if he had swallowed boiling oil.
He grabbed her chin roughly. Then he tilted his head over her face and spat out menacingly.
"Right now, my brother is wandering around the torticollis. But you're worried about the safety of the monsters."
Blood flowed from the woman's face.
Barcas, who was staring at the bright blue face as if to devour it, let go of his hand as if he was angry. Then he turned around and said.
"I'm done listening to your foolishness. As long as it hurts people, it cannot be left unattended."
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