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Chapter 9
As Astaldo entered the underground dungeon, what came into view was a lifeless corpse.
The dead man, eyes wide open and blood foam spewing from his mouth, was the suspicious man who had attacked at the banquet hall.
Astaldo’s cold gaze turned toward Bulder.
“Why is he dead?”
“He used supernatural ability. He tried to attack by manipulating his weapon. I nearly had my head pierced.”
Bulder said. As Astaldo looked in the direction Bulder pointed, a spear was embedded in the wall along with strands of hair.
Turning his gaze back, he saw that Bulder’s ponytail had been badly cut. The spear had grazed Bulder’s ponytail before lodging into the wall.
Astaldo tapped the corpse lightly, and the body swayed feebly.
“Give me your orders.”
For a knight without supernatural ability to survive against someone who had it was commendable. Astaldo said, looking at the corpse.
“Did you find out which side he’s from?”
“Not surprisingly, he’s from Guihgit. He denied it, but his accent was Erpina, the capital’s accent.”
Astaldo nodded.
“But why did he wield a dagger at the banquet hall? With that level of supernatural ability, he could have attacked from a distance.”
“That’s… we found it strange too.”
“…”
“Rather, he shouted at us, asking what we’d done, saying we’d used sorcery. It seems we used some kind of sorcery that prevented him from using his supernatural ability.”
It was a baffling statement.
“Was there something that prevented the use of supernatural ability?”
“Wasn’t Nuit’s trophy in there? We should investigate. With that, we could take down that rotten Emperor…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. Astaldo understood. It meant they would have a countermeasure against Guihgit, who was provoking Wesselwolf.
It was worth having brought back the trophy from Nuit, the country of sorcery. But was it really the trophy that blocked the supernatural ability?
For a moment, the melody of the harp that Eda had played flickered through his mind, but it soon faded.
“We did capture Nuit’s royalty. Interrogate her.”
Astaldo gave the order calmly.
—
***
After Ivar Wesselwolf’s death, Astaldo ascended to the Grand Duke’s position.
Everyone assumed Astaldo would seek an heir from someone else.
That was understandable, since Eda, one of Ivar’s wives, was so inadequate.
There were many rumors about Eda.
The woman even Ivar discarded. An ugly woman. A woman with a strange personality. But some people’s opinions changed after seeing her at the succession banquet.
Because her performance on the instrument was beyond imagination—truly fantastic.
Come to think of it, there had been rumors that Ivar favored Eda. That Ingrid had been enraged because of it.
And seeing her play, didn’t it make sense that Ivar would like her?
Moreover, having survived Ingrid’s harassment, she was clearly no ordinary person.
Perhaps she had been hiding great ambition.
It might have been Eda who used her influence to push Ingrid aside and become Astaldo’s official wife.
This woman, who had secured the position of Grand Duchess twice, would surely now stir up the Grand Ducal Palace as she pleased.
Niv, who had been assigned as Eda’s escort knight, thought the same. He too had wanted to become Wesselwolf’s wolf, but was assigned as a noble lady’s escort solely because he was a woman.
However, after serving as Eda’s escort for a few days, Niv realized that his assumptions had completely crumbled.
“Your Highness, does the Grand Duke have no intention of moving?”
“That’s disrespectful to Her Ladyship.”
Clodel said sharply. But Niv’s thoughts remained the same. Eda literally stayed in bed and hardly ever went out.
Very occasionally, when no one was around, she would quietly take a walk and return.
Other than that, she would endlessly gaze out the window or lie in bed. That was all.
Niv realized within a few days just how foolish the idea of an ambitious Grand Duchess had been.
She showed no intention of leading Wesselwolf’s social circles, nor of entering the imperial court.
A Grand Duchess who just quietly passed the time. That was Eda.
She seemed to have no zest for life, no ambition. Unlike the noisy world around her, Eda was always serene and quiet.
Yet whenever a sound occurred, she would flinch and look up in surprise.
Niv clicked his tongue.
Astaldo, who should have questioned the Grand Duchess’s seclusion, showed no interest whatsoever.
He had even been away for several days. When he should have been accompanying the Grand Duchess to official events to ‘acknowledge’ their marriage publicly.
Was he planning to take a new wife after all? Niv thought he simply couldn’t understand Astaldo’s intentions.
After the succession ceremony, Eda’s world became quiet again.
One female escort knight who disapproved of her had appeared, but she didn’t disturb Eda’s peace.
Niv was taciturn and didn’t openly criticize Eda like the others did.
It couldn’t have been better. What Eda wanted was a quiet life.
A life where she wouldn’t get caught up in disputes, wouldn’t become a laughingstock, wouldn’t be mocked, and ‘wouldn’t be hit.’
It was a perfectly ideal life.
She would fulfill her duties as Grand Duchess, but aside from that, she wanted nothing.
And so, no one sought her out. Not even her husband.
Her bedroom was cold and lonely, as if that passionate night had never happened.
But was she sad? No. There was bitterness, but it wasn’t surprising.
She had lived her life swallowing bitter loneliness and the sorrow of being abandoned.
So being ignored by a man she’d only slept with once was something she could accept.
She just hoped that if her husband—that man—took a new wife, he wouldn’t bring someone like Ingrid.
But that would probably be difficult too.
Giving up. Giving up, always giving up again.
Eda closed her eyes.
She knew that no one sought her out.
She knew that no one wanted her.
If anyone wanted her, it was only when they had use for her.
“Milady!”
Clodel’s voice was heard. There was a hint of urgency in it, and for some reason, her heart started pounding.
Even though she always pretended to be composed, just Clodel’s tone alone made anxiety creep in.
As if something bad had happened.
Clodel came running in, somehow looking extremely excited.
“The Grand Duke…”
Had he taken a new wife? Or was he going to cast her out… As all sorts of dark thoughts crossed her mind, Clodel smiled brightly and said.
“He sent you a gift!”
Huh?
Eda opened her lips, then closed them. A gift, just now?
At Clodel’s gesture, a servant brought in a wrapped box. It was a box wrapped in bright pink paper with a light green ribbon tied around it.
“…”
Eda looked between it and the people. Strangely, it didn’t feel like it was meant for her.
This shouldn’t be happening. Why was something good happening?
A gift? Wasn’t there something else inside this gift? For example, a severed head like the one brought to the funeral…
The box was far too large. Assuming the worst, Eda opened the gift box with slightly trembling hands.
However, what was inside was a musical instrument—a lute.
Eda blinked for a long time.
Eda had liked the small harp too, but she preferred the lute, which could accompany singing.
It was such a perfect gift that Eda couldn’t do anything at all.
It wasn’t that she’d never received gifts before. Risonel and Ivar had also given her presents.
But this person had given her something knowing what she liked. It struck a peculiar chord within her.
“He said you may play it whenever you wish.”
At Clodel’s words, Eda finally smiled brightly and nodded.
She strummed the strings with familiarity. For the first time, a radiant smile spread across her face.
“Tell him thank you. Please make sure to tell him I’m grateful.”
Her flushed cheeks were rosy with emotion.
