Chapter 6

* * *

Lucas was walking through the Grand Duke’s castle hallway with Serena.

“You suddenly left the table during a meal with the Grand Duke. That was reckless.”

“Sorry, Brother.”

Serena admitted her mistake with a gloomy face. But soon she frowned and complained.

“But that lowborn woman kept acting without manners!”

“Serena… Sir Marion is one of the empire’s greatest swords, a Swordmaster. Even if she was born a commoner, you should still treat her politely.”

Lucas pressed one hand against his forehead as he scolded her gently. Serena puffed out her lips.

“Tch. I don’t even need some stupid Swordmaster.”

Watching his immature little sister gave Lucas a headache.

There was nothing to gain from making enemies of Swordmasters.

To resist the pressure from the Crown Prince and the Empress, the siblings needed powerful people on their side.

That was why they had come all the way to the cold northern lands—to arrange a marriage meeting with Kaiden Baltstein, another Swordmaster and the Grand Duke.

But after today’s meal, Lucas realized something unexpected.

Kaiden cared about Marion.

‘That’s different from what I heard. I thought their relationship was bad.’

Lucas had noticed Kaiden paying attention to every little thing Marion did and quietly taking care of her.

It felt similar to the way Lucas himself watched over Serena.

‘They’ve spent ten years together. Well… after that long, maybe they became more than comrades. Like family. Kaiden is twenty-eight, and Marion is twenty-three, right?’

Lucas wondered whether it was possible to bring Marion to his side.

But everyone already knew Marion liked the Crown Prince.

And the Crown Prince was Lucas’s enemy.

For now, it seemed more important to focus on making the marriage between Kaiden and Serena succeed.

Even though rumors secretly spread that the Grand Duke was impotent…

At that moment Serena grabbed his arm and shook it.

“Brother, look! The Grand Duke and Sir Marion are over there.”

Lucas turned his head.

Beyond the corridor, the two of them were walking through the garden.

Kaiden seemed to be saying something with a faint smile, while Marion looked angry.

‘The Grand Duke’s eyes are too…’

Warm.

The gaze he had shown Lucas and Serena during the meal had been cold.

The difference made Lucas uneasy.

Then suddenly both Kaiden and Marion turned sharply toward Lucas and Serena.

Lucas quickly tried to smile and greet them.

“Die, Second Prince!”

At that moment, an assassin suddenly rushed toward Lucas.

“Ugh!”

Everything happened instantly.

“Your Highnesses, are you alright?!”

The guards immediately crowded around Lucas and Serena.

The assassin had already collapsed on the ground.

Beside him lay a fist-sized rock.

The soldiers quickly tied up the assassin and dragged him away.

Lucas held his frightened sister while looking around in confusion.

Then his eyes met Marion’s.

“Are you alright, Your Highnesses?”

Before he realized it, she and Kaiden had already approached them.

“That just now… was an assassin?”

“It seems so.”

Lucas understood even less now.

“It really was an assassin…? Then how was he defeated so quickly?”

This was completely different from the battles Lucas usually faced.

The assassins targeting him normally fought with bloodshed and deadly struggles.

Lucas himself was an excellent swordsman, yet even he had failed to notice this attacker.

That meant the assassin had definitely been strong.

And yet they defeated him in the blink of an eye?

Without spilling even a single drop of blood?

Marion shrugged casually.

“He seemed weak for an assassin. He got knocked out by just a rock.”

“A rock…”

Lucas muttered blankly.

Then, without realizing it, he looked at Marion with shining eyes.

‘So this is what a Swordmaster is like.’

At that moment Marion spoke lightly, as if she had already finished her job.

“Grand Duke, I’ll head home now.”

“To where?”

Kaiden immediately turned toward her.

Lucas and Serena no longer seemed important to him at all.

“To my house.”

“Stay at the Grand Duke’s castle.”

“No. I need to go home—”

“That is an order.”

“I don’t want to.”

Tension filled the air between them.

Watching the silent argument, Lucas suddenly had a strange thought.

‘Are they dating?’

The thought crossed his mind for a second, but he quickly shook his head.

Why would the Grand Duke date Marion?

Lucas quietly observed them.

Kaiden and Marion were glaring at each other as if they truly wanted to bite each other apart.

The pressure between two Swordmasters was terrifying.

Technically, Marion was openly talking back to her superior.

Yet she showed no fear at all.

In fact, she even seemed equal to the Grand Duke.

Who else in the empire would dare speak so casually to Kaiden Baltstein?

Not even the Emperor himself could do that.

‘Swordmasters must share something special.’

A sense of kinship.

Competitiveness.

Mutual respect.

There was a bond between them ordinary people could not understand.

Lucas silently scolded himself for his earlier suspicion.

‘How foolish of me. They’re just comrades.’

Though he felt slightly sorry saying it, there was no way Kaiden viewed Marion romantically.

It wasn’t because Marion lacked charm.

With her red hair and gray eyes, she was definitely an attractive woman.

But—

‘Her birth status is too low.’

If she had at least been the daughter of a low-ranking noble family, maybe he could imagine the possibility.

But impossible things were still impossible.

* * *

Another uncomfortable dinner had begun.

Kaiden refused to let me go home, so once again I was forced to sit between the Second Prince and Fourth Princess during a royal meal.

I wanted to stay as far away from the original story as possible, but I kept getting involved with Lucas, the male lead.

I glared at Kaiden while chewing my meat.

‘He dragged me into this because he didn’t want to be alone with the royals…!’

Then our eyes met.

Kaiden slightly raised one eyebrow as if saying:

So? What about it?

I barely stopped myself from throwing my spoon and knife at him.

If Lucas and Serena weren’t here, I absolutely would have thrown them.

“Thanks to Sir Marion, we were able to spend the afternoon safely today. Thank you very much.”

Lucas spoke to me.

He meant saving him from the assassin earlier.

I wanted to say:

If you’re thankful, pay me in money.

But remembering Madam Marché’s lessons, I forced myself to behave politely.

“It was nothing. I only did what I was supposed to do.”

Lucas answered with a smile.

“How reassuring. The future of the Gratier Empire is bright.”

…He’s handsome.

The male lead really did shine differently.

Lucas had silver hair that contrasted Kaiden’s black hair, along with beautiful red eyes.

He was unbelievably pretty.

Serena was also beautiful with the same hair and eye colors as her brother, but compared to Lucas, she lacked sparkle somehow.

‘Is this the male lead buff? Kaiden is the masculine handsome type, while Lucas is the beautiful type. Then just how pretty is the heroine who captures the hearts of men like these?’

Then Lucas looked at Serena.

“Serena. You should thank her too.”

Serena glanced at me proudly from beside me before speaking.

“Thank you, Sir Marion.”

“Ah. Yeah. Sure.”

I answered lazily, making Serena glare at me.

Honestly, I didn’t want to act kindly toward someone who called me lowborn earlier.

“Try it first.”

Then Serena spoke to the maid serving food.

Everyone’s eyes turned toward her.

“Is there a problem?”

Kaiden asked.

Serena widened her eyes innocently.

“After what happened with the assassin earlier, I’m scared to eat anything. I want the person who brought the food to taste it first.”

‘That sounds like she’s saying she doesn’t trust the Grand Duke’s family.’

The thought crossed my mind briefly.

Still, after today’s assassination attempt, it wasn’t completely unreasonable.

Kaiden seemed to think the same thing and gestured for the maid to taste the food.

The maid slowly lifted a spoon beside Serena.

“Ahhh!”

“Marion!”

It happened instantly.

The maid suddenly pointed the knife in her hand toward Serena’s throat instead of the plate.

I immediately tried to knock the weapon away—

But Serena moved at the same time.

The knife pierced straight through my left hand instead.