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Due to some events which started the day Erionella was announced as the Duke's Fiancée, a mansion in the territory of the Duke was given to Count and Countess Renowarin and they had to stay there for their own safety.
And the little child who was just two and had poor health.
Because the 'Count Julian's daughter' incident, was clearly just the beginning of things which got crazier by the day.
And Erionella was getting annoyed by it so she decided to visit the Duke.
Its grandness was on par with the imperial castle. Doors and stair railings made of gold, and thousands of rooms that she was sure the Duke nor any of his descendants had ever entered.
"Excuse me, your Grace" Erionella said politely as she entered his office. "I'd like to discuss something with you."
"And so would I" Crinoel said as he laid out a map of the continent on his table.
"We need to share our plans for the invasion as you will basically be my sword in the battle and I the wielder. The sword, useless without a wielder. And a man, useless without a sword in a war" He said as he pointed to the marked points on the map.
"This is the best back line for us to set up camp as far as geographical proximity is concerned" He said pointing at the town sharing a border to the west side of Ulenov "To the west of Ulenov is where the magical barrier has proven to be weakest. But the people are angry and scared as people have been getting sicker with various diseases each day.
We tell them it's the demons that are causing it, but they refuse to believe. That we're just giving them a made up story so we can use their town.
It's one bastard in particular that's instigating those kind of thoughts in their head. Or should I say bitch as it's a woman" Crinoel said angrily as he tapped his desk.
"Could you tell me more about the town. Like what you have seen personally. I think I have a solution" Erionella said as a plan formed inside her head.
'Getting the people to allow us use their town as camp will be the easiest thing I'll do. I'm pretty sure I know who he is referring to as bastard and bitch.'
"I'll have someone who's been going there often tell you. He'll explain it better as he's there every day" Crinoel said gently as he looked back to his desk.
"When can I speak with the person?" Erionella asked as she calculated the perimeter of the area she planned to cover first.
"The person is here right now"
Stylishly dropping in from the window to the floor on his knees facing Erionella and handing her a rose. His red hair similar to the rose he stretched out to her and his eyes grey like the dull mixture of black and white but still had a sparkle in them. "A rose for a rose like yourself"
Erionella knew who it was from the moment he dropped in from the window. Her favorite male character in the novel.
Once again she made a mental note of the important characters she had written down and seen.
-Mareeonel
-Beneditel
-Max
-Sonia
-Veloryn=Seen
-Harim= Now Seen
-Elliot= Seen
-Crinoel= Seen
The character who she had a serious crush on and reread the scenes he was in due to his pretend playboy attitude.
A major fan club was formed for him with his crazy fans.
Sir Harim. Was how the protagonist of the story called him. A former slave who was saved by Crinoel when he was a small boy.
He was seen as a playboy with the way how he was friendly with ladies, but he never actually flirted with ladies who didn't seem interesting to him.
And he almost NEVER saw a lady as interesting.
He was just polite and had good manners.
And that was what drew women to him.
Well that and his beautiful face.
Erionella looked at Harim with sparkles in her eyes, while Crinoel looked at the sight and clicked his tongue distastefully "On one knee, giving a rose to my fiancée right in front of me. And you my fiancée, why do you look at him like that?"
"Because his hair is similar to the rose" Erionella said as she looked deeply at Harim.
"My lady, my hand is starting to cramp as I am like this" Harim said as he pushed the rose towards her.
"Well, that's the plan~" Erionella said as her expression changed to an angry one "Giving me a red rose and waiting for me to accept so you can prove to the Duke, that I'll mess up early or easily fall to temptation, just to get rid of me isn't nice"
In the imperial language giving a red rose to a lady had no special meaning. If a man were to woo a lady it would be with a blue rose.
But giving one to a lady who is already engaged and her accepting it, signified that she was not contempt or did not desire the person she was engaged to.
If she had accepted the rose in public and said she did not know of it having a special meaning, she and the Duke who proposed to such a person who was not properly educated would be ridiculed.
In the novel, Harim had used this trick on the Duke's Fiancée who he thought of unworthy for the Duke.
No matter how much you like a book character, if they try to make your plans fall apart, you are bound to get angry.
"My family may not be active in the imperial capital, but I've been briefed on common symbols" Erionella said as she stylishly stood up from the couch she sat on before flipping her hair and facing Harim one more time "For your own good, throw away the thought that you can undermine me in any way, Sir Harim"
The two men in the room were surprised at the mention of Harim's name which had not been said yet. They looked at each other questioning if they had heard right.
"I'm leaving now your grace, I'll take my time to think if I can forgive Sir Harim for this act of his" Erionella said as she opened the door then closed it with a wink when she said 'Sir Harim'
Click. The door was closed gently as Harim immediately stood from the ground and had a serious expression on his face.
"Investigate deeper about her and bring all you've discovered. Everything from even nine months before she was born, on my table by next week" Crinoel said as he rested his head on his arm.
"Yes, Sir" Harim said as he jumped out of the window and covered himself with his cloak.