If they hadn't known it was a letter, 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 winter , who was the lord of such a vast territory in a fairly small kingdom that it was almost funny.
Up until 600 years ago, the northern territory was just a snowy white area swarming with wild beasts.
However, the first Grand Duke winter 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 winter family ruled the northern area, with the previous Grand Duke reigning under the alias of 'Elizabeth'.
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 winter.'
It was because he was Noah Cyrus Winter.
Lord of the Northern Sky.
King of Beasts.
The Imperial family concealed the presence of the winter family. That was, until Derrick left the North.
They also desperately tried to keep the Grand Duke from revolting against them. Even if he wasn't a winter, 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 cat.
"Meow ! Meow !"
The cat – which came out of nowhere – walked 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.
"Growl! Growl!"
The Grand Duke reluctantly looked away from the latter . Then, the cat familiar projected an image as if it had been waiting.
The Grand Duke's adopted son, Derrick , 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 winter 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 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 Eckles seemed to still want him to do nothing.
Right before Derrick left for the capital, Eckles pleaded,
Please believe in Derrick 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 Derrick tore the Empire apart.
He let Derrick and Eckles 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.
"…meow?"
The car tilted its head when it saw the expression on his face.
In the blink of an eye, he started staring at the letter again.
It was a letter with information on Judith Luz Heart .
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 troublesome ."
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.
To be continued….