..Eve.

Its 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? Cant you just hire a sage or something to destroy the contract?

Well., I spoke vaguely.

Charlie didnt 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.

Its such a waste. If Eve were to put in effort, she could even become empress.

Id rather start a revolution than marry the prince who asked for my cup size.

I laughed softly at my thoughts.

Im sorry to worry you. I didnt know I was being followed.

My consciousness stopped working long ago.

Why would it be your fault? Im just upset I wasnt able to stop it. Anyways, rumours will never be anything more than rumours. Count Bertrand is infamous for being a flirt, but hed 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 Charlies complaints.

Pffft, ah, sorry. Its just thats 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 werent there, I think he might have forced Maevia to come with him.

The way he treats her is the absolute worst. What the hells the Grand Duke doing? I cant believe hes letting the Kallakis name be shamed like this.

Secretly, Charlie asked me to listen to what the ladies had to say.

Maevia, why dont you increase the number of guards?

If he does it again, make sure his hair looks just like the princes, pfft.

Reina bursts into laughter once again, tilting her head down. I responded to her,

Such a method, Ill 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. Youve been helping me so much, so its a bit shameful for me since Ive only ever been on the receiving end. This is the least I could do for you.

Um, Ive never given you anything though?

Its not always good to be so humble! Youve always taken care of me, havent you? When I wasnt 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. Ill 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 reports about?

Dont ask me.

The knights stayed in their seats, holding their breaths and communicating with their eyes.

Though they werent in a position to inquire, they couldnt help but be curious about the report that had their lord staring into space for three hours straight.

If they hadnt known it was a report, they would have thought it was a treasure map of some sort.

Out of the bunch, the youngest knights 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.

..Hasnt 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 wasnt 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 wasnt 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 hed rather spend his time being a boring man than a super powerful one.

But all of a sudden, the Grand Dukes 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 Dukes 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 Dukes adopted son, Gilbert, was going around the capital wreaking havoc and acting without a lick of self control.

[Dont you dare ignore me! You know what position I will be taking in the future!]

His bloodshot eyes were a sight to behold.

[Ill be the Lord of the Kallakis household! Ill kill you with my own hands!]

The scene ended with a piece of ceramic flying into an attendants 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 its 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 dont breathe right now, Ill 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 wasnt afraid of him when he manifested his abilities. Though, he did trouble him by writing him into useless contracts.

No, it wouldnt have been that bad if it was just one simple contract that he was forced into.

He wasnt going to do anything at first.

Itd 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 hes never seen the light.

When he gets to the capital, he will definitely come back as a hero.

Please dont stop him so that he can find his true potential.

At that time, the Grand Duke had stayed silent. After all, it didnt 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.

Im not asking you to marry me, Im telling you that you are going to marry me.

Hed 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 didnt 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.

Lets begin as soon as the sun rises.

My Lord

Ill go first.

The Grand Duke stood up, a listless smile present on his face.

Marriage.

I cant allow my wifes hands to get dirty.

It was troublesome, yet seemed like fun.