Chapter 40
Translator: Latte Editor: Sasha
“Ah, Your Grace!”
Heinz quickly followed after Caville and called him in a hurry.
At the end of the corridor on the 2nd floor, Caville turned towards Heinz, before entering the parlor.
“Ah, Your Grace! Will you please listen to me?”
“I’ll count three, so make it quick. One…”
“Princess Larissa, the capital…!”
“Two, three,” Caville said as he shook his hand, telling him to go away.
Heinz bit his lips angrily. Caville gave him a cold glance after seeing him not quickly taking his leave despite being told to.
Eventually, Heinz turned and sighed deeply.
He turned around and tried to go down, but the slime standing near the stairs irritated him greatly.
Speaking of which…
‘What the hell was wrong with the leader these days… ?’
After returning to the duchy, the duke’s personality seemed a little strange. At first, he thought it was because of the atmosphere of the mansion.
However, he definitely found something strange when he was patrolling the territory at dawn.
Caville suddenly jumped off his horse to pick a flower on the field. Then, he laughed like a maniac all alone. Furthermore, he was carrying a hand-mirror and kept staring at his face.
At that time, Heinz really got goosebumps.
It was downright creepy.
After Heinz came to the estate, he had something he didn’t like.
Of course, the duchy was beautiful and rich.
He also liked the knight’s accommodation.
Heinz and his men lived as wandering mercenaries.
He was satisfied with the fact that he could settle down in a comfortable place.
Moreover, the facilities in the training ground were surprisingly luxurious.
In fact, it was true that his worries prevailed until he arrived at the estate.
He was worried that the men who were former mercenaries like himself would be depressed.
Fortunately, Solar and other knights who fought with them together on the battlefield took care of the mercenaries. Plus, the servants were kind.
However, there were times when he would feel alienated.
He had no choice but to feel that way because he was not originally from the duchy.
It had only been a few days since he arrived, so he thought it would get better.
However, whenever he felt left out, the more he got upset and angry.
Besides, the knights remaining in the mansion had never gone to the battlefield, yet they took no shame in bragging about their knighthood… It was absurd.
‘They’ve done nothing but play around and eat luxurious food… .’
Worse of all, Heinz thought it was ridiculous when they talked about their ‘precious’ duchess and praised her.
‘What the heck did the madame do to make the knights like that…?’
Even in the banquet hall, the duchess looked very extravagant.
Her pink hair was luscious and looked as if it was covered with expensive palm oil, and her skin was white and shiny.
In addition, the dress and jewelry that she was wearing looked quite expensive.
‘Tch! Braggart… ‘
Heinz had glared at the duchess throughout the banquet.
In fact, before coming to the mansion, he imagined her to be a scary-looking witch because of the age gap between her and the duke.
However, the duchess looked more gentle than what he had imagined.
So, he felt even more annoyed.
Heinz was sure that she was planning something atrocious behind his back.
‘I hope the princess comes soon… ’
Heinz was excited to hear that Princess Larissa was coming to the estate.
No matter how much he thought about it, the princess was the perfect wife for the duke.
Even though she was a princess, she did not look down on Heinz and his crew because of their background as mercenaries. Rather, she respected and showed them a polite attitude.
Such kind gestures were unfamiliar to him, who had always been told he was a useless mercenary.
For a person with such a high status as her to care for them…
When she was interested in the duke, Heinz thought that the respected duke and the kind princess was a fated pair.
Heinz had made up his mind.
He decided to become the stepping stone of the love that would connect the two!
It didn’t matter to Heinz that Caville was already married.
He was a war hero, so he should have no problem in getting a divorce.
Even if they got divorced, it was better for him to find a better wife.
“Yo-Your Grace! Why are you doing this?!”
“Your Grace!”
Huh?
Heinz, standing still and indulged in thought, turned his head and looked back.
There was a huge racket coming from the parlor.
* * *
In fact, the two Barons were also feeling a sense of crisis because of Princess Larissa.
So, before the princess could arrive at the estate, they intended to introduce Iris to Caville.
Through their eyes which had a rose-colored filter, Iris was very lovely. Enough that they had expected for the duke to fall in love with her at first glance.
Before the war broke out, they knew roughly that the relationship between the duke and the duchess was as close as a brother and a sister… but they didn’t care about it too much.
For seven years had passed without her sending even a single letter.
So they thought it obvious that the relationship between the two of them would become sour.
When they came back to the mansion for the banquet, they saw that the ducal couple were not on bad terms, but they thought it was just a pretense.
However…
“Baron Vendos, Baron Bernard. Why are you talking about the qualifications of the duchess?”
The duke, who suddenly barged into the parlor, asked with a very cold voice.
He seemed to be mad.
The two barons were dumbfounded and glanced at each other.
“Your Grace the Duke. We are just loyal to Your Grace…”
“Yes, as your vassals we…”
The duke’s reaction was disappointing.
Was His Grace the Duke now on the side of the duchess? On the side of that woman who hadn’t sent a letter in seven years?
They felt betrayed.
‘How dare they say that to my wife?’
Without hesitation, Caville pulled his sword out of his scabbard and pointed it at them.
“Yo-Your Grace! Why are you doing this?!”
“Your Grace!”
“……”
The two barons were startled and backed away. One of them tripped over a chair and fell with a loud thud.
Elody was surprised.
“Your Grace!” Elody said with a confused expression.
As soon as Caville saw Elody’s frightened face.
Clunk—!
He dropped his sword on the floor.
For him, who grew up on the battlefield, it was impossible to drop his sword on the floor.
However, the moment he saw Elody’s surprised expression, he unconsciously threw his sword to the ground.
“My wife…”
“Please… Calm down.”
“But how dare they…!”
Elody was embarrassed.
Honestly, he didn’t have to get angry like that…
It seems like he had only heard the end of the conversation, but seeing him angry like this scared her.
If he had heard the previous conversation, he would have already killed them by now.
“Your Grace! What’s going on?”
Heinz, who ran belatedly, entered the parlor.
“……”
The room was a mess.
The two barons were on the floor, and the duke was standing with the duchess.
The situation was starting to make sense.
‘Ha! Is she already trying to control the duke and defeat the two barons…? Unbelievable.’
Heinz still didn’t know why he hadn’t left his wife.
“The two of you, leave now.”
At Elody’s words, the two barons slowly stood up.
Their pride was hurt because they had no choice but to listen to the duchess’ orders.
“Get out,” Caville snarled while releasing a bit of his mana.
The two barons immediately rushed out of the room, afraid of the duke’s powers.
“……”
The air was filled with awkward silence.
Elody backed away, clutching her trembling fingertips.
She was terrified of Caville killing the two barons.
She was frightened because it was the first time she saw Caville’s holding so much killing intent…
“Wife.”
Caville looked at Elody with gloomy eyes.
His heart sank at Elody’s frightened expression.
He had never thought of murdering them in front of her in the first place. He was just trying to make them beg for forgiveness…
Elody took a deep breath and spoke, “Caville, when punishing the vassals, you have to go through a formal trial. Of course, it was different on the battlefield… But you are the duke who rules them… so…”
Killing them would be a natural punishment if this were the battlefield, but this was a duchy with many rules and regulations.
No matter how high his status is, he couldn’t recklessly punish the vassals without the right procedures.
“Okay, wife,” Caville replied in a soft voice.
His cold voice that struck the two barons were infinite terror and was far different from this one. He sounded like an entirely different person!
Elody was mortified because it was the first time she saw Caville’s cold look.
Although it looked like Caville was sometimes a naturally cold person because of his appearance, it wasn’t the only reason behind that scary aura.
“I was wrong, wife. I’m sorry for frightening you.”
“……”
But seeing Caville purely blinking and asking for forgiveness, she felt strange.
“It’s okay. I wasn’t surprised.”
‘Liar…’ Caville pouted his lips and thought to himself.
He could clearly see her fingertips trembling…
The appearance of his wife, who tried to pretend to be calm, was extremely cute. But at the same time, he felt bad for her.
“But wife, they insulted you.”
“That’s not really an insult…”
“Well, I took that as an insult.”
“……”
“But Caville, they’re the people who have stood by you on the battlefield. I know you have bad feelings for the vassals, but I want you to be a duke who is respected by them.”
“……”
“It would be nice if we could hold another meeting…”
“Alright, wife.”
Actually, Caville had no intention of doing that, for he thought that it would be useless.
In any case, his main goal was to live with his wife for the rest of his life.
The support of the temple and the vassals was a different story.
Honestly, it would have been fine even if he didn’t have their support.
“Besides, Baron Vendos and Baron Bernard are vassals who had participated in the war. Murdering them is bad for your reputation.”
“Yes. Wife,” Caville replied kindly.
He didn’t care about his reputation because to him, his wife was the most important and his first priority.
However, he did not intend to forgive them.
‘It’s alright as long as I don’t kill them, right?’
Caville smiled gently and reassured Elody.
When she saw Caville’s cute smile, the corner of Elody’s lips also turned upwards.
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