".....Eve."
"It's all because of that marriage contract."
She seemed curious about the situation, so I explained it to her.
The marriage contract between my grandfather and Grand Duke Kallakis' father was already a well-known 'secret.'
But only few people knew about the details.
Charlie scrunched her nose. Her face, which normally looked good in sunlight, displayed her obvious anxiety.
"Do you have to get married? Can't you just hire a sage or something to destroy the contract?"
"Well....", I spoke vaguely.
Charlie didn't know that I was going to marry his father and kick Gilbert out of the Kallakis household. Fortunately, Reina directed the attention towards her before Charlie could enquire any further.
"It's such a waste. If Eve were to put in effort, she could even become empress."
I'd rather start a revolution than marry the prince who asked for my cup size.
I laughed softly at my thoughts.
"I'm sorry to worry you. I didn't know I was being followed."
My consciousness stopped working long ago.
"Why would it be your fault? I'm just upset I wasn't able to stop it. Anyways, rumours will never be anything more than rumours. Count Bertrand is infamous for being a flirt, but he'd never be anywhere near as rude as the young master. I hope he falls down and cracks his skull open."
Reina, who was on edge the whole time, laughed when she heard Charlie's complaints.
"Pffft, ah, sorry. It's just… that's so funny to imagine."
Thanks to her laughter, the older ladies started to calm down as well.
Soon, everyone shared one thought about Gilbert.
"How can he treat Maevia like that? Does he treat other women even worse?"
"Did you see that look in his eyes earlier? Absolutely savage. If we weren't there, I think he might have forced Maevia to come with him."
"The way he treats her is the absolute worst. What the hell's the Grand Duke doing? I can't believe he's letting the Kallakis name be shamed like this."
Secretly, Charlie asked me to listen to what the ladies had to say.
"Maevia, why don't you increase the number of guards?"
"If he does it again, make sure his hair looks just like the prince's, pfft."
Reina bursts into laughter once again, tilting her head down. I responded to her,
"Such a method, I'll make sure to remember it."
All of a sudden, Charlie held my hand.
"Eve, make sure to tell me if any trouble comes your way. You've been helping me so much, so it's a bit shameful for me since I've only ever been on the receiving end. This is the least I could do for you."
"Um, I've never given you anything though?"
"It's not always good to be so humble! You've always taken care of me, haven't you? When I wasn't able to find a partner for the party, when you told me about how the man my sister is meeting was an asshat.... and...."
"All right. I'll ask for your help when the time calls for it."
I nodded enthusiastically on purpose.
Charlie smiled widely.
"Good. Shall we go for a second round?"
That day, I ended up returning at eleven pm.
Deep, focused blue eyes.
The man looked noble yet apathetic, like a well-known god who ruled the underworld. He possessed an unrealistic beauty. His behaviour, too, was unrealistic.
It had already been three hours.
'What do you think the report's about?'
'Don't ask me.'
The knights stayed in their seats, holding their breaths and communicating with their eyes.
Though they weren't in a position to inquire, they couldn't help but be curious about the report that had their lord staring into space for three hours straight.
If they hadn't known it was a report, they would have thought it was a treasure map of some sort.
Out of the bunch, the youngest knight's face started to show worry.
The lord had finally left his room after such a long time, so of course he was happy. But his condition must have worsened.
Especially his mind.
'My Lord, did you hear the page turn?'
'No.'
'…..Hasn't he been on the same page since earlier?'
The knights took glances at each other.
They stopped thinking it was a peaceful situation.
They served Grand Duke Kallakis, who was the lord of such a vast territory in a fairly small kingdom that it was almost funny.
Up until 500 years ago, the northern territory was just a snowy white area swarming with wild beasts.
However, the first Grand Duke Kallakis managed to drive the beasts away into the northernmost area, making a big chunk of land habitable, including the northeast and northwest. Since then, the Kallakis family ruled the northern area, with the previous Grand Duke reigning under the alias of 'Esmeralda'.
Even if the Grand Duke rarely ever left his room, even the Emperor was incapable of looking down on him when entering his territory.
But this wasn't just because he was 'Grand Duke Kallakis.'
It was because he was Aedis Kalid Kallakis.
Lord of the Northern Sky.
King of Beasts.
The Imperial family concealed the presence of the Kallakis family. That was, until Gilbert left the North.
They also desperately tried to keep the Grand Duke from revolting against them. Even if he wasn't a Kallakis, he already had enough power to take over the world.
Originally, he was supposed to be a character defeated by the hero, but he'd rather spend his time being a boring man than a super powerful one.
But all of a sudden, the Grand Duke's shadows made a chaotic move.
The shadows coughed out an odd, distorted and tiny black bird.
"Gyak! Gyak!"
The bird – which came out of nowhere – flew to the Grand Duke's side.
It seemed like it kept crying because it was grumpy, but the way it opened and closed its mouth continuously was quite fierce.
"Gyak! Gyaak!"
The Grand Duke reluctantly looked away from the report. Then, the crow familiar projected an image as if it had been waiting.
The Grand Duke's adopted son, Gilbert, was going around the capital wreaking havoc and acting without a lick of self control.
[Don't you dare ignore me! You know what position I will be taking in the future!]
His bloodshot eyes were a sight to behold.
[I'll be the Lord of the Kallakis household! I'll kill you with my own hands!]
The scene ended with a piece of ceramic flying into an attendant's face, drawing blood. The Grand Duke put down the report after seeing the short yet intense mess.
A cold, dreadful silence ensued.
The knights stopped exchanging glances.
The Grand Duke lifted his head and spoke,
"...I was waiting to see how low he could go, and it's truly disgusting."
It was brief and to-the-point. There was also a bit of irritation in his voice.
The fact that the Grand Duke, who was usually insensitive to anything and everything, was showing such disgust meant that he found this very inconvenient
'If I don't breathe right now, I'll die.'
All of the knights who were holding their breath had the same thought. There was even one guy who said he could hold it for ten minutes.
Displeased, the Grand Duke remembered his predecessor who had passed his title to him before dying.
He was the only one who wasn't afraid of him when he manifested his abilities. Though, he did trouble him by writing him into useless contracts.
No, it wouldn't have been that bad if it was just one simple contract that he was forced into.
He wasn't going to do anything at first.
It'd already been a long time since he was forced to take care of the terrified kid, but Rahen seemed to still want him to do nothing.
Right before Gilbert left for the capital, Rahen pleaded,
Please believe in Gilbert just this once. He has always lived in the shadows, so he's never seen the light.
When he gets to the capital, he will definitely come back as a hero.
Please don't stop him so that he can find his true potential.
At that time, the Grand Duke had stayed silent. After all, it didn't concern him whether or not Gilbert tore the Empire apart.
He let Gilbert and Rahen live, so he was already doing his job by not kicking them out of his territory.
But now, someone who he had never met before was contacting him from the capital. They wanted him to step out onto the stage.
"…Gyak?"
The crow tilted its head when it saw the expression on his face.
In the blink of an eye, he started staring at the report again.
It was a report with information on Maevia Astin Morgana.
I'm not asking you to marry me, I'm telling you that you are going to marry me.
He'd never been forced into anything like this before.
It seemed like she did things recklessly without fear.
"Ah, how annoying."
He mumbled under his breath in a low tone whilst putting the paper into his pocket. The knights didn't want to get hurt, so they put on a neutral expression.
Then, his aide, who had pledged allegiance to the Grand Duke, came in and knelt down on one knee. He looked like he was worshipping him.
"My Lord, everything is ready."
"Let's begin as soon as the sun rises."
"My Lord..."
"I'll go first."
The Grand Duke stood up, a listless smile present on his face.
Marriage.
"I can't allow my wife's hands to get dirty."
It was troublesome, yet seemed like fun.